Ruthless Regret (Ruthless Games Duology #2)

Chapter 31

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

ZAIN

I don’t know who is more shocked by the fact I don’t push for an answer right there—me or Peter. But a little voice inside my head cautions me away from trying to force her to do what I want. Forcing her won’t work anymore. I know that. I’ve learned that pushing her will just make her dig her heels in, make her less likely to do what I want.

Ashley is not the pushover I thought she’d be when I first set out to put my plan into action. She’s so much … more .

I give a mental shake of my head.

That’s not something you should be thinking about. Keep your head in the game. You want to make sure your name is well and truly cleared. You want to prove that it wasn’t just a technicality that got you out of prison. You need everyone to know that you didn’t murder your best friend. Ashley has a part to play in that … just not in the way you originally envisioned.

You need her to come back to Whitstone with you. You need her to try and remember everything she saw that night.

You don’t need to think about how she felt, how she tasted, how she sounded.

You remember the part about not thinking about that?

I turn my head so I can look out of the window, an attempt to distract my thoughts from the path they were strolling down. Peter says something about next steps, and I nod, not really listening.

Ashley is so much stronger than I anticipated, and stubborn as all fuck. I have no doubt she still believes I’m looking for revenge, intent on making her break. But I know now that while her testimony played a large part in putting me away, it wasn’t actually her fault. She was molded, guided, convinced into thinking a certain way … used to achieve an outcome.

What I need now is her cooperation. She has to see why this matters, why coming back with me is the best way to get answers. But if I push too hard, she’ll dig her heels in and say ‘fuck you,’ no matter how much it makes sense.

Patience. That’s what this requires. It’s what I should have been in the first place. But, instead of taking my time once I was released, I charged forward, without considering how the world outside of prison works.

I can be patient. I’ve been patient for fourteen years. Holding back, waiting for the right moment. But the second I stepped outside those prison walls, my only thought was payback. I let it consume me, and because of it, I fucked up.

Cooperation and patience. That’s the only way forward now. I’ve burned through every other option.

Peter’s voice pulls me back to the present.

“You never told me that your mom spoke to someone.”

I glance over at him. “I only found out yesterday.”

“And you didn’t think it was something your lawyer should know?”

“No? It’s not like you need to use it as part of your argument to get me freed.”

“Maybe we need to find somewhere and talk about what else you might know that you haven’t told me.”

“Worried you might need to represent me again?”

“Worried you might get yourself killed.” Peter, ever the lawyer. Methodical, focused, preparing for the next potential problem.

He’s been the one stable, constant in my life for the past couple of years, as he fought to get my case heard. I owe him everything.

“Find somewhere quiet and I’ll tell you everything I’ve discovered.”

He reaches for the screen on the dashboard, and taps around. “There’s a private office I can book a few blocks from here. Quiet, out of the way.”

I nod, and within minutes, we’re heading toward a coworking space he’s used before. It’s discreet, private, the kind of place we can talk without being disturbed or overheard.

Once we’re inside and settled, Peter goes out to the main reception and brings back drinks, then takes a seat opposite me.

“So, tell me what you’ve found.”

I don’t waste any time, detailing everything I’d discovered in the files Knight sent me. It takes me a while, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten things, but when I finally stop talking, Peter leans back on his seat.

“Firstly, I’m not going to ask where you got all that information from. You’ve raised things that weren’t in anything I had access to. The partial print concerns me. That wasn’t in any forensic report I had. Ashley being interviewed without an adult present as a minor wasn’t allowed to be used in court, so I couldn’t use that argument in my case to get you freed. But it’s interesting that she doesn’t remember it. She was convinced she was doing the right thing. But people can be talked into believing a lot of things that aren’t true.”

I grunt in response. Ashley wasn’t lying—at least, not intentionally. That much is clear. But the question I have is what happened between those two interviews, what pushed her to say what she did? Who got to her, how, and why doesn’t she remember?

“If she does manage to remember something, it’s not going to change anything. You still spent fourteen years in prison. At best it’ll give you answers. At worst, it’ll leave you with more questions.” Peter continues. “But you have to be ready for the very real possibility that she might not remember anything at all.”

“She’ll remember.”

“But—”

“I can’t afford to think she won’t. I need her to remember.”

He stares at me for a second, then nods. “Okay. Then let’s focus on this mysterious man your mom met. Tell me more about that.”

“There isn’t much to tell. He came by asking questions. She thought he was a journalist.”

Peter frowns. “A journalist?”

“That’s what she said. He asked about me, Jason, and Louisa. Hinted that maybe Louisa was seeing someone else.”

“And she didn’t get his name?”

“No. She never saw him again.”

“Interesting. If this guy knew details that weren’t public, he must have been involved somehow. If he wasn’t part of the investigation, and wasn’t a journalist, then who the hell was he?”

“I wondered if he’s the one who the print belongs to. If I can find him, or find out who he was …”

“And if you can’t?”

I don’t have an answer to that.

“I can reach out to some contacts and see if they’d be able to access the file and do a search on the print. But It’s a long shot, Zain.”

“I know. But it’s the only real lead I have.”

Peter nods, and his expression turns focused. “Alright. I’ll start digging into it, see if I can find anything. If Ashley decides she’s not interested in helping, then it might be the only thing we have.”

I let out a heavy sigh.

Ashley. I’m sure her lost memories are the key to this. I need her to be willing to come back to Whitstone.