Just An Empty Voice Screaming Out For Help -Closed:Ash-

[Kaydence Morgan]

As she closed the bedroom door quietly behind her, Kaydence Morgan leaned against the back of it and closed her eyes.

With a sigh, her body slowly began the descent to the floor. Defeated. Overwhelmed. Angry. Miserable. Depressed. Any emotion one could think of that could coagulate to push a woman to her limits, she was feeling it. She had always liked to think of herself as a strong female. A woman with many secrets, many lies and enough trauma to cause significant mental illness, somehow, she always managed to come on top. Didn’t matter the situation. Didn’t matter the length of time. In the end, Kaydence was strong-willed. Never knew how to take no for an answer even if it seemed the only option. Had a drive that most could only imagine. The first half of her life had been a cakewalk. Never had a want for anything. Didn’t have to spend her life living in fear. Had an upbringing that many envied. Simpler times that she now took for granted as she was older. Somewhat wiser. Had been forced to grow up almost instantly after graduation. Distressing events seemingly happening one after another after another. Each teaching her a lesson about the dark side of adulthood. Situations that Kaydence would have likely only seen in scenes of movies. Had endured enough pain to last a lifetime. Yet she always came back swinging. Could never be down for too long. Out of all the evil things he had done to her, that had been a mentality she had adopted from an early age thanks to her older brother Darren. ”Never let them see your weakness. ” She often heard in her head, a mantra she had never been able to rid herself of. ”The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow.” She was sure he had recited the last quote from one of his books but it had stuck with her nonetheless.

Even being able to overcome so much, was it safe to assume that everybody had their breaking point? With the way Kaydence was feeling now, she was convinced they did. She did. As her backside hit the carpet, she pulled her legs up to her chest and placed her forehead on her knees. Couldn’t picture when things had gone so wrong. She knew damn well when they had. The minute she had agreed to come to Austria with Lukas for Noah was when she had jeopardized everything. Should have fought harder. Should have taken some time to herself to come up with a valid reason for staying behind in Sweden while Noah came here to finish whatever business dealing it was on his own and then come back for them. She could have done it. Fuck, she had always gotten out of sticky situations before. Why should this time have been any different? Kaydence couldn’t at all assume it had something to do with an inner desire to face the ghosts of her past once and for all. Because it simply wasn’t there. She had fled for a reason. Being Kaydence Morgan was simply too fucking dangerous. Too many bounties on her head. Both alive and dead she figured. Austrian Ministry on one side. Darren, the rest of her family and his loyal band of followers on the other side. Wasn’t safe with her, at the time, fairly decent knowledge of the dark arts and the defense against them. Wasn’t safe being here even if she was behind the walls of a magically protected house. Hadn’t been safe tucked behind one of the most notorious Aurors in the wizarding world. Always felt like her life was spent locked away between four walls in feeble hopes that no one could find her. In reality, Kaydence never thought that someone who really wanted to find her couldn’t. So, that was why she had left. Why she fled to start over. Why she had left a man who she deeply loved because it wasn’t fair to put him in harm’s way.

Yet given the behavior of one Ashton Wentworth in the multiple encounters since she had been here, her reasoning for leaving was something he had never been able to fully process. He was arrogant in thinking that he could protect her. Just because he had endured rigorous defensive training, and had several mental flaws that clouded his sane judgment, it didn’t put Kaydence in a position where she ever felt fully safe. Safer, yes, but not to the point where she felt totally at ease. It had easily been the hardest decision of her life. Just up and leaving the fateful night without a word to him. A hastily scribbled note that would no doubt torment him as he struggled to understand why he felt he didn’t deserve a better reason. She could have asked him to go with her. He very likely would have. Would have probably dropped everything, went and got himself a new identity as well and they could have travelled to some unknown destination where they lived out their days with the other. Arguing and fighting daily over her spending habits and his drinking but ultimately being at peace that they were together. Might have even had a small family. They had never discussed children but seeing how Ashton had interacted with Lukas, it could have been a possibility. Their time together had been the most Kaydence had ever seen him be civil to another individual person. Fairly certain saw him smile at the young boy more than he ever had at her in one sitting. However, that was a mere fantasy. Would never be able to know if that would have been able to be a reality. She had ruined it by acting in her own self-interests as she always did. Had ran off and got herself a new life that worked for the most part. Had developed such severe anxiety that she somehow still found herself in solitude more often than not.

Taking deep inhales and deeper exhales, Kaydence opened her eyes and stared at the darkness that was her lap. So much had happened today. So much had happened a week ago. A few weeks ago. A few months ago. So many events within a course of a year that was so reminiscent of her younger years that it frightened her to her very core. She knew this routine. Knew that if she didn’t find someway out of this mess that things were only going to get worse. This time, she had a little boy she needed to think of. A fiancé. This wasn’t a simple game of running off to another country. Now she had two more men in her life that could easily suffer as a consequence of her past actions. She found herself at a loss of what to do. Tired of feeling so restricted. Tired of being so fucking anxiety ridden all the time. Tired of feeling like she had eyes watching her, waiting for her to make the wrong move so they could pounce. Needed to find some way to put an end to all of this. Lifting her head from her knees, Kaydence opened her eyes and leaned it against the door. ”The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow.” But what the fuck was supposed to be happening tomorrow? Didn’t want to think about it. Her head hurt when she tried to. Actually, her head had been hurting for the past hour but being alone now and forced to confront the thoughts in it were only exasperating things. Her hands moved to her face and she slowly ran them down the sides. Couldn’t imagine how she looked right now. Wet hair from the rain they had just narrowly avoided being pummeled with as she had apparated Lukas and herself back to the condo earlier. Mascara running down her cheeks and whatever smudged foundation was still lingering. Was beginning to feel so numb that she could have just remained like that for the rest of the night and not even thought twice about it.

However, Kaydence had to. She had separated from Lukas only minutes prior. They were both filthy from their excursion on the beach. Her son more so given how he had been playing around in the sand for Merlin knew how long before she found him and Ashton. Had agreed to go their own way temporarily to shower and clean themselves up before rejoining and spending the rest of the evening together. Lukas had been in a somber mood since they had gotten back to the house. Had been so disappointed leaving Ashton. Must have felt like all the men in his life that he admired could so easily up and leave whenever they felt like it. It broke her heart. Killed her knowing that he was sad. Wanted to do everything in her power to make sure he knew that she would always be here for him. That no matter how tough times were, no matter how mad he was with her, that she would always be there regardless of whether he felt he needed her or not. Always. Sighing, Kaydence put her hands to the side of her and pushed up from her position on the floor. Needed to get moving. Needed to be that person who wouldn’t break a promise to Lukas. Slowly, she walked over to the bathroom. Took the familiar path to the shower and pushed aside the curtain to pull the spigot out and to the right. As the water began to heat itself, she slowly unbuttoned the rest of the buttons from the front of her red dress and peeled the wet fabric from her body. Dropping it to the side, once assured she could feel the steam coming from the water, Kaydence entered her shower and again closed her eyes. Wanted to just let the hot water hit her head and roll down her skin and feel something other than numbness for a few minutes.

Once she finished, Kaydence pushed the spigot in and stepped out of the shower. Grabbing a towel, she quickly rubbed at the short mess of wet, tangled hair to expediate the drying process. She then wrapped it around her head before reaching for another one to cover her body. Moving out of the bathroom, she walked over to Noah’s dresser and opened the second drawer. Combing through the piles of sweatpants, she stopped when she reached a pair of distressed black ones. Pulling them out, she closed the drawer and then moved to her own. This time, grabbing a comfortable sports bra from the top and an old purple tank top from the middle to complete the lazy look. Kaydence dried the rest of her body off before slipping the bra and top over her head and then stepping into Noah’s sweats. Had always loved wearing men’s clothing. They were always so fucking cozy. Picking up the body towel, she threw it towards the laundry basket before doing the same with the one on her hair. She walked towards the bedroom door where her wand had fallen and picked it up. Placing the end on her head, she mumbled a simple drying charm and instantly shivered as her head began to feel warm once again. Sighing again, she walked over to her nightstand, placed the wand on the top and turned to face the door. As if on cue, a tiny knock sounded almost instantly. Smiling, Kaydence closed the space between herself and the door and placed her hand on the knob to open it. Her sights landed on a much cleaner Lukas, hair still damp and unruly as ever in a pair of dark blue basketball shorts and a white shirt. Opening the door enough for him to come in, she waited until he had to close it just enough to leave a small space.

“I hope you’re tired,” she said, chuckling to herself as he went running to the bed and jumped into it. “I could use a nap after your excursion today, which, we are still very much going to talk about.” Lukas crawled his way towards the pillow and shimmied himself under a blanket. Kaydence began walking towards the bed. As she did, her son lifted his arms above his head and released an overdramatic yawn. ”I’m beat! I definitely want to nap before dinner.” Shaking her head, she climbed into Noah’s side as she reached the edge of the bed. “Good.” Pulling the blanket over her legs, she settled in next to Lukas who quickly placed his head on her shoulder and wrapped an arm around her stomach. ”Can you put on the TV?” Giving the boy a kiss on the top of his head, she grabbed the remote from the side of the bed. “Cartoons or action?” He looked up at her as she pressed the on switch. ”Action!” Placing her chin on top of his head, Kaydence extended her arm in the direction of the tv and began to press buttons. “I guess we’ll see what we can find.” Continued to mash down on them until a gasp from the side of her stopped her. ”This one!” As her eyes honed in on the screen, couldn’t hide the frown that appeared as a result. Lukas’ attention had been caught by a movie. One with lots of orange and blue lights set in a futuristic world. The very same movie she and Ashton had mindlessly watched the first night she had picked him up from being a drunken spectacle and taken him back to her condo at the time. Of course, this would be on. Shouldn’t have at all been surprised by the way fate just kept seeming to rail her. Too tired to argue with Lukas over switching the channel. She was just going to have to chalk this one up to a loss. Adjusting herself, Kaydence moved her arm under her son’s head and watched the familiar scenes in front of her. ”I wonder if Mr. Wentworth has to battle a lot of bad guys like this guy in the movie mom.” Felt her chest tighten up. “Probably,” she responded quietly, really hoping the boy would stop talking about his new hero. Her answer seemed to do the trick as he began going off on a tangent about lasers.

Wasn’t sure how it happened but shortly after Lukas had talked himself to sleep. Once assured he was out, Kaydence muted the television and repositioned her head on the pillow though doing so gingerly as not to disturb him. Satisfied with the instant relief on her neck, she closed her eyes and within seconds, found herself drifting off into the same sleep her son had.

[Ashton Wentworth]

Sleep wouldn’t come.

Ashton had a gnawing ache in his stomach to call his own children. He wanted to know what they were doing. He wanted to know how they were and what his daughter was currently into. What was her favorite color? Was his son still refusing to eat anything that his cat deemed too smelly? Had they managed to talk the child into getting rid of that ugly, fat cat yet? He hoped so.

As Ashton lay there on the bed of his ugly, small little room that was all he could think about. Lukas and the twins. Separately, because he had no real right to be thinking about him in any capacity other than hoping that he was still safe and sound at home. It was moments like this, where he was laying here and totally alone where he wanted nothing more than to be back home. He wanted to be on the couch of his baby Mama’s house even. He wanted to see his babies, he wanted to see Kaydence. He wanted - a good deal many things and he was going to be able to do none of them. He was helpless until such a point as Noah returned home. Until that man made contact again, Ashton couldn’t know when to move. Which meant that he had no new orders coming in. Sure, he was supposed to still be out there right now, a part of the night life scene. Keeping his name active for the purpose of having a good story and alibi for when Noah did check in with him. He was supposed to still be dedicating his life to that cover story that had been created for him in the meanwhile. Until this job was over that was the only priority that he was supposed to have.

Only now he was distracted. Thinking about what she was doing. If those threats that Mikkhal had made were real in any part whatsoever. If they were, even just a little. Was there really anything that he could do about it? Lazy hands lifted the neck of the bottle he was nursing up to his face. Thumb slipping from where it had been acting as a stopper to pour that amber liquid straight down his throat. Had already polished off the better half of the bottle. Wasn’t willing to admit to himself just how quickly it had gone done. Was even less willing to admit to how homesick he was currently feeling. Things that Ashton wasn’t comfortable with, and thinking about his own feelings was number one on that list. Likely, nothing was happening. Even more than that he should have been picking himself up off the ground and getting cleaned up. Should have been taking his tipsy ass toward that scene that he didn’t much care for. He should have been drinking there. Playing cards and cheating to win. He should have been keeping up because it was no secret that Ashton was moving large merchandise over some borders. It was knowing that big things were happening because they needed to be known but in all honesty, Ashton was just fucking tired. He was beyond exhausted and he wanted nothing more than to sleep. Only sleep wouldn’t come.

Large frame still dirty from the beach - the shower still running in the other room because the intention was to use it but now he was just wasting water. He had meant to eat. He had meant to pull his fucking boots from his feet - and none of it would happen. He was head busy. Too many thoughts and he hated it. He liked being blank minded. He was a man built for action. He was the sort that needed to live in the moment in the heat of battle, that was what he desired. Only life didn’t work that way. It was all head games and politics. Who was doing what and moving pieces that needed to be placed in certain places and he hated it. It wasn’t the way that he was wired. Was a round peg attempting to fit into a square hole. Would just have to find sleep. Even if it took a second bottle to do it.

[Kaydence Morgan]

She was dreaming about him again. Had become a reoccurring thing over the past few weeks. Hadn’t at all meant to yet had no way of knowing how to stop it. They tended to play out in different ways but in the end, always the same. Always wound up together. Except this time, Lukas was in the picture. Making it worse, the dream wasn’t even distressing. It was quite the contrary. Glimpses of memories from years ago. Real ones that Kaydence was rather fond of. Then a few that had never happened but ones that her subconscious always secretly envisioned. A marriage. A private ceremony with only two of them, a minister and somehow Tristan Stavros as witness. Him in those damn black boots of his, black pants, black dinner jacket and a simple black shirt underneath. Her in a form-fitting white maxi dress with a few inches of train. A crown of flowers resting on top of her head. White plumerias and purple blue blossoms. A simple and quick union but a meaningful one nonetheless. Flash forward to finding out she was pregnant and his uncharacteristic reaction to the news, pulling her in close and kissing her with a passionate fury. Delivering the child who turned out to be surprisingly tall for a baby with big beautiful blue eyes she couldn’t tell matched hers or his. The child learning to walk, sitting behind him cheering as he awkwardly wobbled over to his father with flailing arms. A few years older and reading a book to him in bed as she looked up to see his father propped up against the doorway with his arms crossed watching. Even more time gone by and she was watching him through the window of the kitchen playing Aurors and DeathEaters with his father in the backyard. Amused with the little sparks coming from his toy wand as his dad fell to the ground, clutching his chest in mock agony.

Then a final image. The three of them on a swing, overlooking the ocean while they swung almost in sync with the peaceful tide. Lukas with his head on her shoulder. Kaydence’s arm wrapped around his small frame and Ashton mindlessly rubbing at the back of her neck. Looking over to him, she smiled when his eyes met hers. He gave her a small squeeze before winking at her with a smirk. And in that moment, she was the happiest she had ever been. Not a care in the world. No worry. Whatever it was in their pasts they had been trying to escape somehow they had. Just the three of them against the world at a place that was their own little piece of paradise. It was the first time in a long time that she had dreamed something so peaceful. So unrealistic. Somehow already knew that when she came back to reality it was going to be difficult to deal with. And sure enough, as the world around them started fading to black Kaydence suddenly awoke. A sharp intake of breath as her vision settled on the dark ceiling. Took a few seconds for her to realize where she was but less than that for the familiar heavy feeling on her chest. Once she realized she was in bed, her head instantly turned to the side. Lukas was still next to her, couldn’t deny the relief that washed over her. He was on his side away from her but still sound asleep. His beach trip had obviously taken a lot out of him. Kept her eyes on him for an extra moment or two, watching his body move in and out slowly with every breath he took. Even from this angle she could see how peaceful he looked. Her eyes then averted to the light coming from in front of them. She had left the television on but fortunately that same movie from earlier wasn’t on. Couldn’t focus on what had replaced it though.

Kaydence’s eyes moved back to the ceiling as she laid there in silence for minutes. Pressure on her chest kept getting heavier, as if it were going to crush every rib and pierce her heart with its weight. She wished she could have said it was another anxiety attack. Certainly felt as if it could have started that way but she knew that wasn’t the case. This feeling was soul-crushing. The longer she laid there, the worse it was getting. Those last images of her dream replaying over and over. A fantasy that was just that. Yet her brain refused to turn off. Could feel the sadness bubbling up. The yearning for what could have been. She needed to get up. Carefully sliding her way out of the covers, Kaydence stopped once she had gotten out of bed and once again looked at her son who hadn’t moved in the slightest. Turning on her heel, she quickly made her way to the bathroom. She closed the door behind her, only turning on the light when she heard the soft click from the latch. Taking the few short steps to the sink, her hands grasped the side of the counter. Head dropping, she closed her eyes, forcing each breath to deepen more than the last. Stayed that way for however long before finally opening her eyes again and raising her head to stare at the reflection in the mirror. Vacant, sad, tired eyes looking back. Small, but noticeable bags underneath her lids. Didn’t at all like the woman she was looking at. Didn’t at all like that feeling so fucking evident on her features. Wasn’t a new one to her but one that she hadn’t felt in a very long time. One that was not at all appropriate for Kaydence’s current situation. Was on track to be married within weeks. Had her son with his real father. Should not have felt like something was missing.

Continued to grip onto the counter as she listened to the soft tapping of the rain on the roof. Had almost forgotten about the bad weather that had started from earlier. Only added to the somber mood. Heaving a sigh, Kaydence forced her hands from the counter to turn on the spigot. Waited a moment before putting her hands underneath the running water and lowered her face over the bowl. Brought the water up to her face and shivered slightly as the cold hit her bare skin. Repeated the motion two more times before she turned the handle off. Leaned over to the side and grabbed a towel, burying her face in the soft fabric and allowing it to rest there as if hoping taking some time would help alleviate this sickening feeling. Once feeling like her air was being constricted, she removed the towel and dabbed it around before replacing it back on the holder. A quick glimpse into the mirror proved it had done nothing of the sort as the same face looked back at Kaydence from earlier. Couldn’t bare to look at herself any longer. Moving back to the door, she turned the light switch back off before opening the door and leaving it ajar as she stepped through it. Looking over towards her dresser with the digital clock glaring back at her, she saw that it was seven thirty. They had been sleeping for a while. It was going to be no easy task getting Lukas back to sleep in just another few hours. It was surprising they hadn’t been roused for dinner yet. She tended to be strict on making sure they ate around the same time every night. Precisely six thirty. Perhaps the house-elves had been too nervous to wake them up.

Annoyed, her ring-laden hand moved to her mouth as she yawned. Needed to get Lukas up and get food in his system. Hopefully, he’d be starving enough to fill himself with food so he’d grow tired again faster by feeling so full. Wishful thinking. Had started moving towards the bed but Kaydence suddenly felt like she was being watched. Freezing, her hand clenched into a fist at her side instinctively. Wand was on the nightstand on Lukas’ side. Might have to jump across the bed and wake him in the process but she’d be able to get to it fast and yell an incantation almost instantly. Her head started moving slowly around, needed to figure out where the target was. As she did, her darkened line of sight found it immediately. Could only see the dark silhouette from the doorway. Felt her nails sink in her palm as her fist tightened. Feet instantly started moving towards the door, closing the space within seconds. Placing her other hand on the door knob, she opened it just enough to see Mikhhal on the other side. “What the fuck do you want?” she said dangerously as her body moved to block his view. The man chuckled in response. ”Miss. Nash. You are so feisty today. What could have possibly turned your mood so sour?” Her eyes narrowed into such narrow slits they were almost closed. “I don’t know. Could be the fact that my fiancé’s lapdog has been pestering me all day. Could be the fact he was just spying on me and my sleeping child. Could be a combination of both. You pick.” Mikkhal clicked his tongue disapprovingly in response. ”You’re terribly on edge Miss. Nash. Were you having nightmares?” Couldn’t stand his condescending tone. Wanted to punch him in that smug face of his so badly.

“What. Do. You. Fucking. Want?” His hands went to his pockets. ”Simply checking to see if you and young Mr. Eklund were awake yet. It’s past your dinner time. I was figuring out whether to tell the kitchen elves to begin prepping food or go back to their closets until the morning.” Kaydence smirked at him. “How thoughtful. You can tell them to start promptly. I’m waking Lukas up now.” Mikkhal nodded his head. ”Then I shall.” Instead of turning around, he remained there, staring at her with a strange look on his face that made her feel extremely uncomfortable. Allowed for a little more silence before she bobbed her head. “Well? Can I help you with something else? Or are you going to continue to let an eight-year-old starve?” Another smirk on that asshole’s face. ”You’re right. Always looking out for young Mr. Eklund’s best interests. Aren’t you?” Didn’t like that sudden tone change in his voice. ”I shall let them know to be ready within the next half hour.” Turning around, he disappeared around the corner of the hallway. Once he had left, Kaydence shut the door and stared at it. Had no idea what was going on with him today. Why everything sentence that left his lips sounded so accusing. He hadn’t come out and said what he was thinking but she wasn’t stupid. She could pick up every time he spoke that he was dropping not so subtle clues that there was something on his mind. She hated how Mikkhal always did that shit. Was worse about giving her a straight answer to things than Noah. Frowning, she spun around and retreated back to the side of the bed where Lukas lay. She took a seat next to him, moved her hand to his head and began to slowly rub at his head. He began moving soon after. ”Mmm.” Could see his eyelids began to bat. “Wake up darling.”

[Ashton Wentworth]

The ceiling fan was taking up too much of his focus. Spinning like it was and Ashton was willing for his mind to blank. He wanted to not think any more. He was tired of thinking. He was tired of being himself. He was fed up with being the person that he was and constantly fucking up. He hated that he was helpless to do anything about the blatant threats that had made against Kaydence today. He hated the situation that he had found himself in. He had too many conflicting emotions and he had nothing that he could do about any of them. There wasn’t going to be an easy solution. Which was fine, he was used to having to fight for things. He was used to struggling and having to earn everything that he got. Only this wasn’t something that he could fight for because this wasn’t something that belonged to him. Nothing about this was his. He was powerless to help any of it. Kaydence didn’t belong to him. Perhaps she never had. Whatever mess she had gotten herself into with Noah and those goons, that wasn’t his problem. Just because they had spent one night together in a drug induced haze didn’t give him any claim to go mucking about in her life again. It was everything that he had left in him, just to be laying here to be still. Empty bottle on the bed beside him and not even trusting himself enough to rise to his feet in order to cross the room and find the other sitting in that brown bag on the small table that served as his command center in this shithole of a place that he was living.

What if he had done what she had done. What if he had just fucking up and left. What if he had found here there with the asshole carving her to ribbons - brought her home and then just left her. What if he had been the one to walk away. She wouldn’t have been anywhere near where she was today. Living some rich bitch comfy life wherever she had been for so many years. Switzerland he supposed, knowing what he knew now. Fucking Switzerland. What an ironic choice for her to have gone running to. Somewhere dead center and without any political drama. Of course she had. If he had been the one to walk away, would she have ever forgiven him? If he had showed up years later with a new family and a bright future. What would she have done? Useless thoughts that toiled around and around in his mind. It was going to make him sick. Liquor didn’t turn his stomach, it never had. But in this moment, he was almost tempted to let it because he didn’t know what else to do. A physical manifestation of the turmoil that he was bringing on himself mentally. The other option would have been to hit his head against the wall until he split skin and collapsed backward on the ground. At least then he would sleep. It would have been reckless and stupid but at least that would have accomplished the goal that he had been wanting. He just wanted to sleep. He just wanted to be done with it.

There was no telling when Noah was going to be back now. He wasn’t willing to talk to Mikkhal again. Couldn’t go back on the order that he had just given because that was how things needed to go. Sure he had some leverage but by now MIkkhal had no doubt already informed Noah on his version of what had just happened earlier today. Which, no doubt, Noah wasn’t going to be too pleased with. Honestly at this moment, Ashton didn’t even give a fuck that Noah was going to be unhappy. Ashton had his own job to look after. He had his own department to worry about and what his own superiors were going to think about the situation. Should this result in him not getting the Babi - that was what he really needed to be focusing on,

Instead he was worried that something was happening to Kaydence at this moment because of it. Worse, if something was happening to Lukas. Was he even still at the condo? He shouldn’t be thinking about what might have happened to ‘Emmeline’ because it wasn’t his business. It was another reason that his phone was across the room from him because he didn’t need any additional temptations in contacting any of them about it. He had heard a couple of notifications go off. He had his own shit that he was supposed to be doing. However, he was resigned to taking the night off and that was that. Flopping his body over on the bed, Ashton fell from the bed heavily to the floor. Crawling to the direction of the still running shower and crawling into that small tub fully clothed. Working on peeling off the layers one by one as the scalding water started to allow his head to slow. Focusing only on the burn of the water instead of everything else. What other choice was there? Ashton didn’t know how to handle being helpless.

[Kaydence Morgan]

Lukas kept making noises back at her. Smiling to herself, Kaydence continued rubbing his head gently. It was rare for him to have trouble waking up. Usually only if he was really tired from going to bed late or physically worn himself out. Obviously the latter had happened today. “You’ve got to wake up sleepyhead. Dinner will be ready soon and it’s going to be a late night for you if you don’t get up now.” More movement. Resting her hand on the back of his head, she leaned over to her nightstand and pulled the small metal strand to turn on the light. Knew it would help get him up faster. Might make him a little more annoyed with the sudden light in his eyes but desperate times called for desperate measures. ”Mooooom. Why’d you go and do that?” Moving back to her position, she resumed the movement through his hair with her fingers. “Because I told you darling, you need to wake up. I wish we could just stay asleep but if you don’t get up now you’re going to have a very early morning and be a monster by the end of breakfast.” Another groan. This time, however, Lukas rolled over to his back and glared at her. ”I’m already a monster. I’m tired.” Kaydence couldn’t help but to laugh as his hands balled into tiny fists and went to his eyes, rubbing at them almost aggressively. Once stopping, he raised his arms above his head while he stretched out and yawned. How was it possible that everything he did was just so damn adorable? ”What’s for dinner?” She shrugged, removing her hand from his head and placing it back on her lap. “Beats me. We’ll be surprised together.”

Lukas’ arms dropped, resting at his sides while he began fidgeting with his hands. Kaydence could have easily sat and watched him for hours. Still couldn’t believe she had been the one to give birth to such a perfect boy. Everything about him was not at all reminiscent of herself as a child. Never really delved into Noah’s childhood to know if he had picked up any of those traits from his father. Her son wasn’t without his flaws, clearly since he had decided it had been a good idea to run away earlier, but none of them stopped her from loving him any less. His perfections outweighed the few he had anyway. He was smart, kind, generous and loving. Even as a toddler, her and Noah had been grateful to not experience too much turmoil of the “terrible twos.” Any of Lukas’ episodes were typically short-lived and he would come bouncing back happy and laughing. Kaydence would never know what she had done to be so blessed with a child like him. Maybe he had been fate’s way of showing her that even she was worthy of a little bit of good fortune in the fucked-up life she had. She never wanted him to go through any of what she had to. Wanted to protect him and keep him sheltered from the cruel world that she knew very well didn’t play favorites. Never wanted him to have to endure any pain or suffering on her behalf. Wanted to keep him as innocent and naïve as long as possible until she felt it was the right time for him to learn that life wasn’t always fair. He HAD to have things turn out differently for him. Kaydence wouldn’t allow anything less. Sure, keeping him restricted to the house wasn’t fair but eventually he would understand that it was always to protect him.

“So,” she started, placing her hands behind her and leaning back, “are you ready to talk about what happened today.” Lukas’ eyes instantly went to his hands. ”Not really.” Tilting her head to the side, Kaydence raised an eyebrow. “Not really or not, we need to get it out of the way. I need to understand so I can help if you ever feel the way you did earlier again. Why did you run away today Lukas?” The young boy remained silent for a few minutes, continuing to play with his hands as he thought about how to respond. ”I don’t know.” She said nothing as she waited for him to start again. ”I told you. I’m just bored. I never get to leave the house. You’ve only let me go play in the yard twice. And even then I couldn’t even go down the hill.” Her face softened. Could hear every ounce of sadness in his voice. ”You promised we’d go to the beach soon. And we haven’t. You said we’d go back when Dad came home but he hasn’t been home.” Kaydence had to look away for a moment and take a deep breath. Guilt flooding through every single part of her body. ”I just wanted to go see the water. Like at home Mom. Mikkhal kept telling me how nice it was here and how he was just waiting for you to tell him you wanted to go. So that made me kinda mad I guess.” Instantly felt her blood froze. Turning her eyes back to him, she looked at him with confusion. “Mikkhal told you we’d go to the beach when I said we could?” Lukas finally looked up at her and nodded. ”Yeah. He said we’d have a lot of fun like you did when you went that one time.” Could feel the guilt ebbing away as anger replaced it. Mikkhal butting in again where did didn’t belong. Now he was planting false statements into her son’s head? Who the fuck did he think he was?

Rolling her upper lid over her bottom, Kaydence began anxiously tapping her fingers behind her. “Did he say anything else?” Lukas nodded again. ”He just said we’d go soon. He told me all we had to do was look to where the water was and go in that direction. So earlier, when I remembered, I just walked out and went straight.” That son of a bitch had told Lukas how to get to the beach. No fucking way that was coincidental. If it wasn’t, what in Merlin’s name would have made him say that? How the hell would he have thought that appropriate knowing how young and impressionable Lukas was? And if he was subtly telling her son how to go to the beach, why would he not think of Noah’s reaction to his eight-year-old taking it upon himself to just up and leave because his assistant told him where to go? Fingers picking up speed behind her. Blood boiling. ”It took me a little while to get there, but when I found sand I just went to the right Mom. I dunno how far I walked but then I started getting scared. I know I coulda just turned around but I forgot what path I needed to go back to. And that’s when I saw Mr. Wentworth.” Her fingers stopped tapping the bedspread. “What was he doing?” Lukas shrugged. ”Just kinda standing there looking at the water. He looked sad. But I remembered him from my card Mom and I forgot about being scared. But then I was nervous to go talk to him and all of a sudden he looked at me and then asked me what I was doing kid.” Shaking her head, Kaydence could easily see that image in her mind. She also suddenly felt immense gratitude that he had been the one to find her son. Couldn’t have been a worse person but grateful nonetheless. Flashbacks of that dream came to her quickly. Closing her eyes as if it would erase them, she opened them and gave Lukas a small smile. “Well you were very lucky to be found by a celebrity, huh?” A smile erupted from the corner of Lukas’ lips. ”He’s the best mom! He looked really weird for awhile but then asked if I knew how to skip rocks. I didn’t know so I said sure and then he wanted me to prove it.”

Kaydence didn’t know how to respond to that. So she went silent, her brain trying hard to process the picture Lukas had painted for her from start to finish. “How did you get out?” His eyes moved to his hands again. ”The patio. I found a little ledge and climbed over the fence to it. Then I was real careful and got down the hill.” At least he was singing like a canary. Straightening herself up, she brought her hands to her face and allowed them to slide down past her eyes. Keeping there for a few seconds, she again found herself struggling with a plethora of emotions. Wanted to yell. Wanted to scold. Wanted to cry. Lukas’ disappearance had scared the shit out her. Hadn’t felt that scared since she had been attacked by Darren’s minion. Never had wanted to feel that way again. Finally, Kaydence’s hands moved down the rest of her face to land on her shoulders. Turning herself to face Lukas, she leaned over him to place her hand back on his head. “I know its very hard for you to understand right now Lukas, but what you did was very dangerous. You should have not left this house without an adult.” Her fingers began to once again run through that messy hair of his. “I’m very sorry if you were upset with me and felt like you needed to teach me a lesson. I promise you; I’ve learned it. I’m also very sorry that Mikkhal told you that he was going to go with us to the beach when I told him. I will need to speak with him about not doing that. But listen to me. You absolutely cannot do that again. Lukas, there’s a lot of bad people in this world and its hard to tell which people are good and which ones aren’t. You are very, very lucky you found Mr. Wentworth because it could have been very bad if it wasn’t him.”

Lukas began to move his lips around. ”Yeah I know.” Taking a breath, Kaydence continued. “I don’t think you really know Lukas. You’ve been fortunate to have a good life. More so than others. You haven’t really seen bad things happen. One day you will. Everybody does. Until then, me and your dad have to protect you and by running off alone, we can’t do that. So you need to promise me that this was a one time thing. You don’t make any decisions like that on your own. If you’re sad, you talk to me and we’ll see if we can’t figure something out, alright?” He nodded again. “Do you promise?” Lukas looked at her. ”I promise. I’m sorry Mom.” She smiled. “Sit up.” He pushed himself up. Leaning over, Kaydence wrapped her son in a tight hug. Didn’t want to let him go, especially after she felt his arms envelope her. “I love you. More than anything in this whole world.” As he began to pull away, she did the same. ”I love you too Mom.” She patted his blanket-covered leg. “And as punishment, no dessert for the next few days. You shouldn’t have even gotten that ice cream today.” Lukas’ brows furrowed. ”No strawberries either?!” Her lips formed into a tight line. “No strawberries either.” Why did he constantly have to bring up reminders of Ashton? “Now come on. Let’s head downstairs and get ready for dinner.”

[Ashton Wentworth]

Thankfully, Ashton had had the foresight to have at least kicked off his boots. Soggy pack of cigarettes tossed from his pocket to the floor. Water heavy articles of clothing lay where they had been thrown over the edge of the bathroom. The whole thing was flooded with water. Had floated that second bottle toward him and kissed his liver goodbye. In all honesty, he had kissed that goodbye a good deal of time ago. There was so little else that he could think about - at least in this moment the hot water had depleted and by the time that Ashton left that shower, he was shaking with cold and goosebumps covered his skin. He shook like an animal to rid the water from his person. Stumbling backward from the effort and how intoxicated he was slowly becoming. Really, his organs had to of been rotten by now. There was nothing there useful. Didn’t even need to try to be an organ donor. Laughed at the thought. Towel pressed lazily over his body as he padded back toward the bed, neck of the bottle he was quickly burning through still held precariously in his grasp. Really what else was there to do. Ashton stumbled to the empty dresser. Still living out of the meager bag that he had packed because he just didn’t want to admit to himself that this was probably going to drag on a good deal longer. Remote snatched up and the television turned on, but he wasn’t watching it. Volume too low to have properly heard anything anyway. Tossed the remote carelessly back to where it was and had sat too heavy on the edge of the bed.

Red was rimming his eyes, Ashton couldn’t even remember how long it had been since he had slept last. Far too long. Still, his mind wouldn’t shut up. The same things bouncing around in there over and over again. Meant that he was in for another long moment. He spaced in the direction of the screen, watching the blur of colors as they changed without actually being able to register what he was seeing. Drinking all the while. He was certain that there was another pack of smokes in here somewhere. He just had to find where they had gotten off to, only standing didn’t really seem like too good of an option. ”Ex-Auror Wentworth was rumored to have been spotted on Ilfacrombe earlier this evening…Reminder to all citizens that this man is dangerous and wanted by ...please do not attempt to contact…” The same thing that it always was. Fuck. Could have been anybody that they had passed. He was willing to bed that it had actually been the fucking ice cream scooper as opposed to anybody else. Fucking little shit. Somebody wanting their five minutes of fame. He should find his burner badge. He was supposed to report his sightings so that they could be covered. So that the media coverage or whatever was ...something. Fuck. At least his head was starting to fog. Laughing at the insanity of the whole thing Ashton took another long drink. This was his life. This was where he had ended up.

“Pah.” Ashton’s eyes rolled as he dragged his body toward his bag, fishing out sleep pants and fumbling awkwardly into them. Stumbling around the room as he did so. ”....defected after violent crimes ...possible links to an underground black market…..insider trading…..double…” He was only half listening at this point. “Oh the big bad.” Ashton grumbled. His arms extending out to his sides. “SO FUCKING BAD.” he openly mocked the television in his room. The empty room that stunk of stale scotch and cigarettes. “Accio...fucking...nicoteine.” Shouldn’t have been surprised when nothing at all happened. “Bullshit.”

[Kaydence Morgan]

Kaydence stood up, allowing Lukas to take the blanket off of his person and fling it to the side. His long legs went to the right, feet just barely unable to touch the ground. She couldn’t imagine how tall he was going to wind up becoming. Noah was pushing 6’4 and she 5’10. He was likely to fall in that range somewhere. Hell, with how long his legs were he’d probably surpass his father. “You can go ahead and head down. I’ll follow behind in a minute.” Lukas pushed himself from the bed. ”Alright mom. I’ll see ya down there.” With that, he rubbed at his eyes once more before walking to the bedroom door and opening it, disappearing soon after. Once again left alone with her emotions, Kaydence stared at the wall in front of her. The anger that had briefly subsided after her conversation with Lukas had returned full force. Fucking Mikkhal. She couldn’t fathom why the fuck he thought it appropriate to implant these little ideas in that young boy’s head. Told him it was her who was preventing Lukas from going to the beach. Granted, that was only half true, but why wouldn’t he mention that it was Noah’s wishes as well? Couldn’t at all make his master look bad in his son’s eyes. Her, however, obviously a different story. She always felt that his assistant didn’t like her. Tolerated her. Swore that there were a few instances in which she had even made him nervous. This was a side she had never seen of him though. He had always looked after Lukas. As much as she didn’t care for him, Kaydence knew she could rely on Noah’s assistant to honor his bosses wishes and make sure no harm befell the little boy. So then why he tell the boy how to get to the beach?

A sudden burst of rage came over her so quickly Kaydence didn’t know what was happening. Before she knew it, her hand curled yet again into a fist and extended her arm instinctively in front of her. Her knuckles collided with the wall. Hit it with such force that once she pulled back there were imprints left from the bone. Chest heaving, all she could see was red as her hand fell to her side. Was numb to the pain from the impact. Infuriated at the thought of Mikkhal setting her son up in harm’s way. She knew Noah wouldn’t believe her. The man had been her fiancé’s closest confidant for years prior to meeting her. He could do no wrong in his eyes. The man was even running Noah’s business for him for Merlin’s sake. How could he care so little for Lukas’ safety just to get to her? Was he setting her up for something? Mikkhal was one shady motherfucker so she wouldn’t have at all been surprised. Just needed to figure out what the fuck his intentions actually were. As she started to feel herself calm down, Kaydence’s hand began throbbing. She looked down at it, already could see the swelling and blood coming from where the middle and third one had been split open. Didn’t even care about it. Brought her non-injured hand to her eyes and covered them. She needed to keep breathing. For Lukas’ sake. Couldn’t erupt on the man in front of him. Needed to find some way to corner him and question him. Alone. Dropping her hand from her face, she spun around and made towards the bathroom. Pushed the door open aggressively. Ignored the loud smack as the handle hit the wall. Probably made a dent like her hand had more important things to worry about. She needed to get her hand to stop bleeding before she went downstairs. Went to the sink and turned the handle, hissing as the water covered her open wound. A louder hiss as the water turned warmer but didn’t remove her hand. Kept it under there for a few seconds longer before turning the handle off and grabbing the same towel she used earlier for her face. Wrapping the towel tightly around her knuckles, Kaydence returned back into the bedroom.

She walked over to her nightstand, grabbing her wand and removing the towel from her hand to toss it off to the side. Placing the tip of the wand an inch or so from the wound, she mumbled a quick healing spell to close the wound. The top of her hand still looked awful and was painful to move but it had at least stopped bleeding. Kaydence pocketed her wand in Noah’s sweatpants. Had a funny feeling she needed to given how things had been going today. It could have just been the paranoia or the anger from Mikkhal’s betrayal, but she was going to listen to her gut. Forcing a few more deep breaths, once she felt she had collected herself enough she wandered over towards the bedroom door and walked out. As she walked down the hallway and towards the stairs, she kept telling herself to calm down. Lukas had seen her upset before but nowhere near this level. She hadn’t been this angry in years. Reaching the stairwell, she used her non-dominant hand to guide her down the stairs. Felt like pins continuously stabbing at her skin. Yet couldn’t find it in herself to regret punching the wall. Only wished it had been that sack of shit’s face instead. Upon reaching the final step, Kaydence’s nostrils were filled with the smell of food coming from the kitchen. Didn’t want to think about food right now. Was so disgusted by Mikkhal’s actions she really wasn’t sure if she could even stomach any of it. Passed by the kitchen to see the house-elves working quickly. Dishes were already sitting on the counter as they had been prepared. Waiting to be moved to the dining room table once all had been finished. Perhaps she could find the time before they were called to grab Mikkhal and demand he speak with her.

Seeing that Lukas wasn’t bothering the help, Kaydence assumed he had gone to the living room. Probably watching television while he waited. She walked through another hallway leading to the living room. Could see rain drops trickling down the windows. Flashes of lightning appearing in the sky every few seconds. The storm had really gotten nasty out there. Thank Merlin Lukas hadn’t disappeared while that was raging on outside. Laughter from the other room caught her ear and she quickened her pace. Approaching the living room, she stopped in her tracks when she saw her son and that sack of shit sitting on the couch watching the screen in front of them. That anger threatening to spill over again. The man just sat there, acting like he didn’t have a care in the world spending time with her son. If it was only too easy to pull out her wand and curse him, she would. Actually, it was that easy. Kaydence just risked scarring a little boy in the process. If only he knew what she had done in the past. The lives she had taken. The battles she had been part of. Lukas would be terrified of her. Mikkhal would be terrified of her. Once they had stopped laughing, the man’s eyes turned to her and he smiled. ”Ahh Miss. Nash. Lovely of you to join us. Little Lukas here found a show for us to watch.” Another scene triggered more laughter from her son. ”Yeah Mom. Come sit down and watch it with us til we eat. Mikkhal said dinner should be done in five minutes.” Mikkhal looked over to Lukas. ”You have good taste. Just like your father.” The fingers on her bruised hand began moving across each other. Was excruciating but she didn’t care.

“Mikkhal, may I have a moment before dinner?”

[Ashton Wentworth]

The area around Ashton’s head was dampened to look almost like a halo. Ironic, given the den of sin and alcohol sweats that he was enduring. Tomorrow would be the day. It was the last coherent thought that he had allowed himself. Ashton’s eyes had finally drifted shut and the bottle in his hand had fallen to the ground. Hopelessly staining the cheap carpeting and no doubt into the concrete below it. Would take a good deal of magical scrubbing to get that free. He had just wanted to sleep. Instead he was risking house fires and comas by sleeping on his back like this. It wasn’t like it had been intentional. He had just fallen that way. Flat and sprawled out on the bedding, didn’t even bother so much as to crawl underneath it. Didn’t want to put forth the effort or the energy that would have been needed for it. Tomorrow would be a better day. He would find himself back on track. Needed to put keys back into the locks that he used to keep all the rest of this clutter in his head at bay. He was distracted enough to want to actually force the memories from his head. The work that he was doing was far too important. It was enough that even the smallest fuck up could have horrible consequences. It was work that required his full and singular attention, and he was just apparently not capable of it. Damn her for showing back up. She had left, she should have stayed gone. She should have known that her shitty ass luck was going to run into his own shit ass luck and they were going to fuck everything up. They weren’t good for each other. Good together, sure, but not for each other. They were better in the roles that they were living in. Her with her new family and clearly more than enough drama to keep every facet of her totally occupied. He had work. He had things to get done. He was sick of her.

Still. Even as he drifted down into his comatose state, it was her that he was seeing behind his eyelids. The woman was a plague. She was all things bad news. Had almost ruined his career for her last time that they had been together and now it was going to happen all over again. He was just going to have to keep to his word with no deviance. He was just going to have to deal with Noah directly. Get the Babi, arrest him and Kaydence could fucking figure the rest out on her own. She was a craft little woman, he had no doubts in his mind that she would be able to do just that. No. He wasn’t going to worry about her. He certainly couldn’t afford to think about Lukas. He wasn’t going to make them his problem. Whatever happened to them after Noah was arrested, was none of his business and he couldn't afford to let it linger a moment longer. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice - that just wasn’t a fucking option.

[Kaydence Morgan]

He hadn’t moved yet.

The longer he sat there next to Lukas with that smug look on his face, the more disgusted Kaydence felt. She knew he had heard him. Knew he was ignoring her. For what though that was beyond her. Continued standing there with her right hand placed strategically behind her leg. Didn’t want Lukas questioning what had happened to it in the five minutes or so they had been separated. Mikkhal wasn’t even looking in her direction. Too busy pretending to be interested in whatever was on television. Feeling that irritation bubble up again she forced herself to take a deep breath. Wouldn’t lose it on the man in front of her son. It wouldn’t be fair to him letting him see that side of her. The side that remained dormant for so long. Kaydence knew what it was capable of. No one else did. Especially not that prick sitting so close to her child. “Mikkhal,” she said again, her tone firmer this time. Seemed to have done that trick as Noah’s assistant slowly began turning his head in her direction again. “A word. Please.” That nauseating look on his face didn’t falter as he blinked at her. She had a feeling she was going to want to smack him with whatever he said next. ”Are you sure Miss. Nash? Wouldn’t it be better making up for the lost time with Lukas from earlier?” If she wasn’t careful she was going to cause that cut on her knuckles to reopen. It was so hard to keep her hand from remaining still though. “Of course it would be Mikkhal. However, I’m sure Lukas wouldn’t mind us going to the study for five quick minutes,” she paused, looking at her son. “Would you darling?” He looked guilty. ”No Mom. I’m just gonna stay here.” Kaydence smiled. “Perfect. Mikkhal, it won’t take but a few moments.”

Mikkhal’s expression changed to one of amusement. Bringing his fingers to his bottom lip, he used them to pull at it as if thinking of something funny. He dropped his hands to his side and pushed himself from the couch. ”Very well. Five quick minutes.” He looked to Lukas. ”Make sure to tell me about everything I miss kiddo.” Kaydence couldn’t hide the scowl on her face at his attempt to be affectionate. Had a lot of nerve talking to her son like that. Turning on her heel, she began leading the two down the hall towards the study that had been turned into her makeshift wedding planning office. She hadn’t needed much space. Just enough for a bit of privacy so she could gather her thoughts while she was looking at all those pages and trying to match colors for the various decorations and arrangements. As they approached the door, she placed her hand on the knob and turned it to the right, stepping inside quickly as she did so and moving just enough to be out of the way. Immediately, she turned back around to face Mikkhal as he entered. Once he stepped through the door frame, he turned halfway to close the door. ”I assume this is a closed door conver-“ Kaydence didn’t let him finish. As soon as she heard the bolt click into the latch, she took the few steps towards him and shoved him into the wood paneling. Fortunately for her, she had made the room soundproof, with the exception of knocking, as to focus on her planning. A muffled ‘oof’ left him as her elbow instantly went to the base of the cervical region of his spine. Using the temporary shock to her advantage, she grabbed his shoulder and swung him around, once again slamming him back into the door. Her left arm moved towards his trachea, pressing her bone firmly into the spot as he coughed in response.

Kaydence’s injured hand moved to the pocket of Noah’s sweats, grabbing her wand and jabbing it right underneath his jaw. Her hand was throbbing with how tightly she was holding but the pain was nothing compared to the adrenaline coursing all throughout her. “You’re right. This is a closed-door conversation.” Mikkhal glared at her. “So, the reason he never went to the beach was because of me, huh? You were just waiting for me to give him the okay?” She stopped momentarily but didn’t give him enough time to respond. “What the fuck were you thinking telling Lukas how to get to the beach? He told me how you told him just to go straight down the hill towards the water. You were trying to make him go by himself. Weren’t you?” Mikkhal released a painful sounding chuckle. ”You’re delusional Miss. Nash. Must be paranoid after your only son ran off, can’t even imagine what that must be like. Acting out by attacking me isn’t going to get you any answers to your questions.” Her eyes narrowed. “Maybe not, but it should tell you that I’m not fucking around when it comes to my son. I will not tolerate anyone purposely trying to put him in harm’s way for whatever sick personal agenda they have.” Kaydence brought her face closer to Mikkhal’s, nose almost touching the tip of his. “I’m going to say this again, I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with you. I don’t know what the fuck you were trying to pull down at the Waterfront earlier. If you’ve got something you want to fucking say to me, grab your balls back from my fiancé and just fucking spit it out. If you don’t want to do that, then don’t think I won’t annihilate you right now.”

She wasn’t expecting what happened next. One minute, the power from catching Mikkhal off-guard was intoxicating. Felt unstoppable as he struggled to breathe underneath the pressure of her arm. He must have caught on to the temporary high she was feeling. Using his free hand, he suddenly grabbed her swollen hand with enough force to bend her fingers back. Kaydence yelped as the pain ran down her arm, unable to resume the grasp on her wand. Using his other hand, he grabbed at the back of her hair and yanked, causing another shout of pain as her body betrayed her and went limp. Mikkhal spun her around, tightening the grip on her hair as he pulled her into him. His dominant arm went around her neck and she instantly found herself struggling to breathe. ”No need to worry Miss. Nash. My balls are right where they’re supposed to be.” His hold was much tighter than hers had been. The need for air was already overwhelming. ”I could always tell you liked to play dirty but I figured you’d be able to read your opponent a little bit better. Shouldn’t have let the adrenaline get the best of you.” She gasped in response. His forearm was so tight on her neck she couldn’t have spoken if she wanted to. ”I appreciate you sharing your concern but I don’t think Mr. Eklund would like you accusing me of doing something so dishonorable.” She could feel his lips close to her ear. ”Even if it were true.” She struggled underneath his grasp but to no avail. She knew that son of a bitch had set Lukas up intentionally. ”One of the guards saw Mr. Wentworth near the beach earlier. Decided to follow him a ways. Thought it was peculiar he’d be on the island without Mr. Eklund here. Especially after how strange he felt he’d be acting after seeing the pair of you interact at dinner with your beloved fiancé just the other week.”

She’d be lying to herself if she had been surprised by Mikkhal’s revelation. Kaydence knew he had been implying something was going on between her and Ashton when they had found him and Lukas. Couldn’t have made it anymore obvious. Though she was surprised they had been obvious enough to the lone guard who had stood in the room with them. ”Emmeline Nash. Love of Mr. Eklund’s life. Yet he really knows nothing about you. Does he, Emmeline? Does anybody? I think at least one person does. Mr. Eklund may be helplessly in love with you and completely oblivious to the signs but I’m not Miss. Nash. I know you’ve got a lot of secrets and you thought you found yourself an out. I’m not sure how you and Mr. Wentworth know each other but I promise I’m going to find out. I will not let Mr. Eklund and his son suffer for whatever it is you two have planned.” Her hands went to his arm, the edges of the room were starting to darken. Felt like her eyes were bulging from their sockets. ”Once I have the proof, I’m going to make sure you never see him or Lukas again. Even if it means eliminating you from the picture completely.” With that, Mikkhal gave one final squeeze before pushing her off of him. Unable to catch herself, Kaydence fell to the floor in a heap. Felt humiliated as she lay on the floor, coughing and wheezing as she tried to regain a normal breathing pattern. Head hurt, hand hurt, neck hurt…this was not at all the outcome she was expecting. ”Get yourself together.” Placing his hand on the handle, she watched as he rubbed at the red spot on his neck where her arm had been earlier. ”Compose yourself for your son and our dinner guest. I imagine they’ll be along any time now.” Mikkhal opened the door, giving her one last look of disgust before disappearing behind the panels and closing it behind him.

[Ashton Wentworth]

There was nothing. An endless, black sea of nothing. Waves and waves of nothing that extended out as far as could be seen. Rolling over and over, stretching out into infinity. There was nothing but the darkness. There was no pain, there was no worry. Everything just stopped existing. It was a quiet void.

Until it wasn’t.

Couldn’t have pinpointed whatever it was that made him fall violently out of that sleep. When he awoke it was with a start. The sort of violent jerk that should have made him fall out of bed, only it didn’t. Left him on the rest of the bed and didn’t know where he was. Had a horrible taste in his mouth and couldn’t recognize the room around him. Too small of s space with the peeling, ugly wallpaper. Ceiling fan rotating but it wouldn’t explain the sweat that covered most of his person. It was almost like he had been gripped in the claws of a nightmare and was forced into reality but there had been no nightmare. There had been nothing. In the time that it took to realize where he was and find a way to push himself upright on the bed. Fuck. Couldn’t process the sound against the window. A soft tapping over and over again. Insistent because he had to answer it. Could see the light on his phone from the distance. Missed messages and calls he was sure. Who? That was a whole other issue entirely. Uncouth, the way he shambled toward the window, cracking it open and pressing the heel of his head against his forehead. Pressing until the pressure lessened just a small amount. Bitter, and pushing with the effort to keep from acknowledging the owl that was now fluttering around the room. No doubt looking for a tip, but he wasn’t going to press it. Letter dropped on the bed and the owl back out the way it was. Not without attempting to dive-bomb his head on the way. Which, resulted in more head ache. Which left the question, hair of the dog or healing. As he had a letter to answer, he opted for healing and a quick wave of his wand before staggering back toward the bed.

The script was one he recognized easily. They had been messaging through this method for over a year now. Which, meant that Mikkhal had at least passed on that much of their meeting today. No doubt he had passed on the rest as well. It wasn’t going to be a good thing that Mikkhal had gotten to Noah first. Issues to deal with later. The good of the news was that there was an end date in the near future. End of the week perhaps. Which meant that soon, this would all be over. The bad of it, was there was no way to explain to him that soon he was going to be behind bars. Worse still that Kaydence and Lukas were going to be out on their asses. Couldn’t think about it too long. Couldn’t process it. The other bad was that Noah was requesting that Ashton stop by the condo to pick up the travel paperwork on where the handoff was supposed to happen. He explained that normally he would have MIkkhal meet him but given that some transgression must have happened because apparently that option wasn’t possible. Expressing deep concern that the eagerness to handle all of it once he touched soil again. More things that Asthon couldn’t process. There was no way that this was good news. It was worse still because Ashton was being asked to go there alone, which was never good. All things that he was going to have to face and apparently, he was going to have to face it now.

He didn’t know if he was going to be capable of seeing that asshole. Didn’t know if he was going to be able to stand or sit there and play nice. Didn’t think that any of it was an option. Fuck.

[Kaydence Morgan]

Kaydence wasn’t sure how long she had been laying there. Likely only a couple of minutes but with the panic attack that had resulted from her violent confrontation with Mikkhal, it seemed like ages. No one had bothered to come look for her yet which was a good thing. Didn’t need Lukas to discover her writhing on the ground from lack of oxygen. Mikkhal had probably told the security warlocks to leave this end of the house alone as well. They’d all be heading outside soon enough anyway. The help, besides the house-elves, were never allowed in the house when any member of the Eklund family was eating. It had always been a strict policy of Noah’s to allow a little bit of normalcy to their lives. He had never found it necessary to have his guards breathing down their necks in that instance. Fortunately, even with his departure the team had adhered to his rule. Mikkhal had made sure of it. Kaydence honestly wasn’t sure if they would now after what just happened. She’d assume not given Lukas’ certain questioning of the change in routine. However, not a single thing had gone according to plan today.

Once the worst of the hyperventilating was over, Kaydence didn’t have a single ounce of energy to pull herself from the floor. Her breathing was still shallow but it was closer to being back to normal then earlier. Needed to get up. Needed to go find Lukas and make sure that he was alright. That he was even still in the condo. The nerves that were supposed to send those signals from her brain to her muscles were numb. She had been foolish to think that she could have intimidated Mikkhal. Had once again allowed impulse to take over instead of rational thinking which had never once worked in her favor in the past. Didn’t really know what she was expecting from her interaction with him anyway. She had been infuriated. So fucking mad that she threatened him. But what really was she supposed to do after that? Assume that he would take her seriously? Kill him? There were too many guards in and around the house for Kaydence to successfully get away with murder. Not to mention, their first priority would be ensuring Lukas’ safety. That little boy, other than her, was Noah’s world. He had always left strict instruction that their son was to be protected at all costs. She had no doubt that they wouldn’t question for a second killing her to heed his orders. Especially if she had done something so stupid as to kill Mikkhal. She liked to think that her fiancé had her back over any others but his assistant had been in his life years before he even met her. He trusted that man with his family, his life and his money. Really wasn’t sure she’d be able to sway him into believing that his confidant would have put his son in harm’s way just to prove a point about her.

The fact that he admitted to planting that idea in the young boy’s head. Kaydence was having immense difficulty believing he could do such a thing to an innocent child. She also couldn’t understand how she would be involved that. Would he try to say that she was the one to tell him where to go? Spew some bullshit about how she had somehow forced Lukas to flee the house to get back at Noah for being away? To tell him where to go so he’d conveniently find Ashton as part of whatever fucking plan they allegedly had that involved the two? So many questions. Not a single damn answer. She could feel tears silently rolling down her cheeks. Felt so fucking pitiful. No reason for her to still be on the ground right now. Maybe Mikkhal had used some secret technique to discombobulate her for however long. Far-fetched but Noah had hired the best of the best. Who knew what advanced defensive techniques they had been taught. Get the fuck up. Could literally see the words in the forefront of her mind. Groaning, Kaydence’s throat felt tight. It didn’t feel like anything had been bruised but she was afraid to speak. Wouldn’t be able to explain the sudden raspy tone if Lukas said anything that required a response from her. Get. The. Fuck. Up. Her head rolled to the side, changing her line of sight from the ceiling to the door Mikkhal had just left. Groaning again, her injured hand slowly began moving to the right. Kept moving it until it was only a few inches away. It was still throbbing but she needed to push herself up. Bracing herself for the pain she knew would shoot once again through her arm as she pressed down on it, she let out a small cry as she felt it. Though she didn’t let that stop her from lifting herself up to a sitting position.

Once she had, Kaydence found herself needing another break. Bringing her hand to her chest, she cradled it with her left as her vision was still blurred by tears. One step down. Needed to get to Lukas. Taking another deep breath, she moved her left hand to her side. It wasn’t her dominant but she’d still be able to get to her feet. Before she was able to pick herself up, the sound of the doorbell rang loudly through the room. Eyes widening, she had completely forgot the latter half of Mikkhal’s message. A dinner guest. Who the fuck could he have invited? It was storming outside. Completely inappropriate weather to invite someone over. Even more inappropriate to invite someone over without even telling her who would be in her and Lukas’ presence. Could it have been Noah? The man did like surprises.

[Ashton Wentworth]

Clothing. That was the first order of business. Had to find clothing that wasn’t these pants. Wasn’t like Ashton had a plethora of options available to him - so the standard it was. Boots. Black jeans. Black shirt and a full pack of cigarettes. It was the staple, but if he was having to go and do this, he sure as fuck wasn’t about to get all overly fancy with it either. Pulled onto his reluctant limbs about the time that he was wanting another drink. Fuck if he was going to do this shitshow sober. Ashton gathered the rest of the bottle and poured it into his flask. Tucking it deep inside of his pocket with his wand. Pocketing his phone and some coin on autopilot and he was out of there. Short walk and he would be apparating over to the condo. Had to be careful. It wasn’t safe for him to have been on the island again tonight given that he was spotted earlier. Who knew if they were going to be out looking for him or not. Couldn’t chance it. Couldn’t stop to let anybody see his face. All the more reason he fucking hated having short hair like he currently did. Bitter, and moving across the street of the shady ass area he was living in and moved to apparated to his destination.

The air still smelled like the storm from earlier. The streets were mercifully empty in the wake of all of the rain. Everything smelled like saltwater. Was the sort of thing that were this another situation, were he in another frame of mind then perhaps he would have wanted to bottle to smell. Would have liked to have experienced it. As it was, everything smelled sour to him. Wanted to get this over with. Like ripping off a bandaid. Wanted it over. Wanted it over and done with and he wanted to go right back home. Whatever the home it was that he was calling home anyway. Certainly anything other than this. Only, there was no avoiding this. This was something he had to do. So it was. Ashton pushed through the doors and bypassed the doorman while flipping the idiot the bird. Didn’t want to deal with it. Didn’t want to acknowledge it as a real thing. He couldn’t think about the fact that the asshole could call somebody on him. Instead, he wanted to get upstairs. Didn’t want to explain how he already knew exactly which condo to go to. Though, of all of the transgressions thus far he was fairly certain that was on that wouldn’t even be looked twice at. Made perfect sense. As he was sure that Noah was tailing him, Noah could also expect the same. It was just done in the business that the two of them were sharing.

Slower steps down the whole length of the hallway. Didn’t want any of those other doors to open. Didn’t want to see any faces tonight. Had wanted to stay asleep. Was real tempted to indulge in a nip from his flash and refrained. Stopping outside of the door and attempting to think up any reason, even a bad reason, as to why he didn’t need to go into that room. Was too hungover to deal with any of it. Just wanted to repeat earlier and pass the fuck back out. Wanted to have stayed passed out. Had that sinking, gut feeling, that nothing good was going to come of this. Still his hand lifted. The doorbell was rung anyway.

The face at the door wasn’t one that he was expecting. Would have been easier were it any of the security team that they were always dragging around. Perhaps even if MIkkhal had opened the door he could have sneered. Could have punched him. Could have done absolutely anything. Also found it rather reckless that the young Mr. Eklund was the one answering the door. Guess it must have just been because he was expected. ”Ashton!” The boy came careening out the door, arms wrapped around Ashton’s middle. Too uncomfortable for him to react before Lukas caught himself. Hands jerked backward and elegantly waving Ashton into the condo. ”Er - Mr. Wentworth. Sorry.” He mumbled, his feet shuffling nervously on the ground. “Thanks kid, thought it was best to take you up on your offer after all. You don’t mind do you?” The nerves seemed to melt from Lukas, he had no idea that wasn’t the real reason that Ashton had come here and he wasn’t of a mind to correct it either. ”Of course! I’m starving. Are you starving?” Ashton nodded, following the practically bouncing body down the entryway of the condo as Ashton fought the bad memories from coming back all at once. Decorated totally differently, to be sure, but familiar nonetheless. Fuck he didn’t want to be here.

[Kaydence Morgan]

The doorbell had only sounded once but that would be all that was needed. Although the condo had yet to receive any actual guests, it was procedure for any guest to be invited in quickly. Less chance for exposure that way. Only completely trusted associates had been allowed at the Eklund estate back in Sweden. Door would practically be open the instant their finger left the switch and ushered in almost as quickly. Too much going on in Kaydence’s head for her to pick at who the stranger could be. Hoped it was Noah. Prayed it was Noah. No one else had any other business being at their condo at this time of night. No one had any business being at the condo without the head of house present period. Needed to get the fuck up and figure out who was here. Bearing down on the floor with her left hand, she gained enough leverage to give her feet enough space to prop themselves up underneath her legs and push up. It gave her body enough momentum to lift the rest of itself off from the ground and into an upright position. Another step down. Kaydence’s right hand again went to her chest. Could feel the heat radiating off of it from the increased blood flow. From the split knuckle to the amount of force Mikkhal used to bend her fingers back she didn’t need to look at it to feel that it was more swollen that after the initial impact she made with the wall. She needed to go to the kitchen and put a bag of ice on it. Hopefully had enough time before dinner.

She slowly began walking towards the door. Her hand reached out towards the handle, grabbing it and opening it once it had. Opening it gently, Kaydence poked her head out of the frame. The hallway was empty. Swore she could hear voices from back towards the front of the house but from this distance it was unclear whom they belonged to. Was about to step through when she realized her wand was still in the room. That nagging feeling in her gut hadn’t left so she knew it’d be unwise to leave without it. She turned around to retrieve it, again using the good hand to pick it up before placing it back in Noah’s pants. Walking back to the door, she slid herself through and closed it behind her. Had to go to the kitchen. Had to go check on Lukas. She also had to check on her appearance to make sure Mikkhal hadn’t left any marks she needed to try and explain away. Fortunately, one of the guest bathrooms was only a few doors down. Kaydence tip-toed her way in the direction of the bathroom, hearing the voices growing louder but the tones still indistinguishable. Reaching the door to the bathroom, she quickly slid in and closed it gently behind her. Before going to the mirror, she made sure to lock it. Didn’t need unwanted eyes catching a glimpse before she was able to do the same for herself. She then turned on the light. Directing her gaze to the mirror, she frowned as she saw the puffy mess that was her face. No make-up but it was still evident she had been crying. Eyes and cheeks were red. Lashes were wet from the tears that had only just stopped falling.

Sighing, she moved her head to the left and winced as the spot where Mikkhal’s arm had been in the cave of her neck. No mark, thank Merlin, but like Kaydence’s face, it was slightly red. Moved her head to the right and didn’t see anything on that side either. Her eyes then moved then to her hand. Knuckles were black and blue. Dried blood stuck right between the second and third and ran down into the palm of her hand. Still hurt to move but she knew she needed to wash her hands to at least take care of that. Continued wincing in pain as she turned the water on and added mango and coconut scented soap to the palm of her hand. Rubbed them together before allowing the warm water to get rid of the suds. Once the soap had vanished, she leaned over the bowl to wet her face. Kaydence knew it wouldn’t take away any of the color from her cheeks or eyes but hoped it’d at least take care of the puffiness. Turning the sink off, she turned to the towel on the rack, wiping both hands as gingerly as she could to avoid irritating the injury further before doing the same with her face. Didn’t at all look or feel in any state to be entertaining guests. Mikkhal hadn’t given her any impression that whoever was coming tonight would be someone her and Lukas needed to be dressed up for. Perhaps it could have been Noah after all. Yet if it was him, she was sure she would have heard yells of excitement coming from their son. He was quite good at raising his voice loud enough to echo through every room in the condo.

Turning the light switch off, Kaydence left the bathroom and continued her trek back to the front of the house. Voices were becoming clearer and to her relief, nothing sounded out of the ordinary. No cries of pain. No terrified yells. Gave her enough comfortability to veer towards the right and off into the kitchen. Really needed to get ice for her hand. Protecting Lukas with one hand wouldn’t be an easy feat. Would absolutely do it if she had to but would like at least a little more mobility in her dominant. Could smell the intoxicating aromas of fresh meat and vegetables. Still wasn’t sure if she’d be able to stomach any of it though. Avoiding the looks of the house-elves bustling around the kitchen, Kaydence walked over to the refrigerator and pulled open the freezer door. Her left hand moved towards the closest ice pack and she grabbed it hastily. Slammed the door shut before taking the few short steps to the counter. Placing her backside on the edge, she brought her right hand to her lap and set the bag on top of her knuckles. She closed her eyes and lifted her free hand to them, rubbing at the lids as she continued to internally sulk.

[Ashton Wentworth]

Ashton was feeling rather sick to his stomach. Something about being in this house that he couldn’t handle. It wasn’t even their permanent residence but he was still intruding. The few brief times that Ashton had gone to visit Stavros in his home, it wasn’t like this. They were such warm people. The sort of family that was so close, and so loving that it was hard to be around. For the simple fact that they wanted to be together. Was the sort of happy that a miserable bastard like himself didn’t know how to recognize or understand. It was the ideal situation. It was the sort of place that absolutely was goals for anybody. At least he assumed that was what healthy, well adjusted individuals were supposed to aspire to. Ashton wouldn’t have known how to handle himself if he were in that situation. He would have been overwhelmed. He would have sabotaged. Ashton never would have made it as long as they had. Yet, at the same time, being in that house was comforting. Always smelled like food, something was always cooking and there was always somebody around. It was intoxicating on so many levels.

Kaydence’s house was something else. Immaculately maintained just as he would have expected it to be. Was she still the one cleaning or was somebody else doing it for her now? He assumed that given her lack of freedoms that it would be likely the latter. Had more money than she knew what to do with. He wouldn’t have ever wanted to be those, the rich and bored. Where they had to worry only about what yacht to buy or where they were going to spend their vacations. Ashton was a lot better off now than he had been in his youth, but he didn’t think that he would ever be on that level. Ashton didn’t even want to come in past the entryway. He could smell dinner cooking, late meal as it was. He was going to be expected to eat, he was sure of it. He simply didn’t see why it was that he needed to stay that long. Could receive whatever message it was that Noah was supposed to leave for him, and then he should go. It seemed the theme of the day, wanting to get the hell out of there.

The small person beside him was pulling him away from the door that was locked behind them. Ashton assumed that it was toward their dining room. He was chattering on about his favorite foods, and he was asking questions but Ashton couldn’t focus on it. Thankful at least that there wasn’t some wall plastered with happy family portraits at least. He felt like he was trespassing. Needed to adopt that persona that he was supposed to maintain. Stranger still that he still hadn’t seen any other security personnel yet, and MIkkhal was likely off ordering people around somewhere. Which meant that he needed to entertain Lukas. He wasn’t resentful for it, but also had to assume that Kaydence was going to be nowhere to be found.

Rounding the doorway into the dining room, Mikkhal was seated at the right hand of the head of the table. Pretentious prick. That knowing grin on his features like he had just orchestrated some massive masterpiece and all of the final pieces had moved into place. That urge to hit something was present again. Lukas moved into a chair that seemed to have no real significance because all of the seats were placed already. Leaving Ashton to choose, and it felt like a test. He certainly didn’t want to discuss work in front of Lukas, which it was obvious that MIkkhal already knew that. Ashton’s lip curled as he picked the seat beside Lukas for lack of a better option. He wasn’t going to sit by Mikkhal at the very least.

[Kaydence Morgan]

Kaydence had only been in the kitchen for a few minutes but in the short amount of time the noise was quieting down all around her. Pots and pans no longer being smacked against each other. Any bubbling liquids had reached their boiling points and had been transferred to whatever dishes they had been needed for. Could no longer hear the blades of knives chopping vegetables on cutting boards. Looking around the room, she watched as the house-elves began flicking their wands in the direction of the dishes, causing them to levitate, before turning them in the direction of the dining room. The trays of food were slowly, one-by-one following the path created for them by the wands, leaving trails of steam in their wake. Wouldn’t take much longer for all of them to be on the dining room table, waiting to be cut or scooped into by the house-elves to serve her, Lukas, Mikkhal and whomever this dinner guest was. Kaydence should have probably known the turning in her stomach was preparing her for the identity of the stranger but given that she had been feeling sick to her stomach since she had woken up from her nap, it caused her not to think too much on it. Really had other things she needed to worry about other than dinner guests. Like the fact that Mikkhal was threatening to take Lukas away from her. Would have really liked to think that was completely impossible but she knew it wasn’t. Knew that if somehow that asshole was able to establish the connection she had to Ashton, or realistically make up one that was believable enough to Noah, she was done for.

Merlin she needed a drink. Keeping the ice bag on her hand, Kaydence pushed herself from the counter and made her way over to Noah’s stash of fine liquor. Wouldn’t be able to find anything with rum, but she certainly knew he had the best of the best of everything else. Approaching the small display, she moved to slide open the small latch connecting the two glass doors. Noah really had a bottle of everything in here. Seemed silly given how little he had been at the condo since their arrival in Ilfracombe but he always liked being prepared. Back at home in Sweden, he had one of the most exquisite liquor displays she had ever seen. A massive midnight, five shelf display with two adjacent stands connected to it. A beautiful square mirror in the middle. About a hundred glasses of various shapes and sizes, all the preferred tasting glass of some liquor or other. Had over a hundred bottles that were dusted everyday so they gleamed in just the right way when the light hit their exteriors. The current one in the condo was nowhere near as gigantic but still a beautiful shelf at that. Her eyes landed on an old bottle of Macallan, aged twenty-five years. Noah’s personal favorite. Frowning, Kaydence’s left hand extended towards the bottle. Hated whiskey but really didn’t give a fuck at this point. If anyone expected her to be tolerable for this dinner, she really needed to have a slight buzz. Grasping the neck of the bottle, she used her thumb to pop out the stopper. Lifting the whiskey, she brought it to her lips and tilted her head back. Allowed enough for a double, maybe a triple shot, before she made a noise and took the lip out of her mouth. “Ugh,” she said to no one, making a face and shaking her head as the brown liquor burned while it traveled down her throat.

Kaydence placed the bottle back in its spot, replacing the cork stopper in the opening once she had stopped. Bringing the back of her hand to her lips, she wiped away the stray droplets still clinging for dear life. ”Mistress Emmeline.” Narrowing her eyes, she looked down to the sudden voice that had appeared in front of her. Shaking back at her was one of the older house-elves Nzatem. The very same one who had turned Lukas’ plate of spaghetti years ago into worms as a cruel joke. Had been locked in the basement for a month with barely any food for that one. ”Y-y-you’re summoned to the d-d-dining room. P-p-please Mistress Emmeline.” Didn’t have to question who the one doing the summoning was. Son a bitch was probably sitting in Noah’s spot. Bet he loved that feeling of being high and mighty while the real head of household was gone. Kaydence was never able to see what her fiancé saw in that condescending bastard. “Well I guess you’re not the only following orders around here, hmm?” Could feel that temper of hers creeping in again. Whiskey had a way of bringing out the worst in people. She had seen it first hand with Ashton every night she found him with a bottle of that brown devil in his hands. That or she was just using it as an excuse to justify the sudden change in attitude. Started feeling disappointed in herself for acting the way she had earlier. Allowing herself to be left in a heap on the floor after practically being choked out by the bastard in the other room. Really hoped he was going to watch what he said in there. Wouldn’t try and attack him physically again in front of her son but with words? Different story.

Throwing the ice bag in the direction of Nzatem, Kaydence rolled her eyes when the old, gray house-elf caught the bag and then instantly dropped it due to the cold. “Pussy,” she mocked, hiding her injured hand behind her leg as she began to walk in the direction of the dining room. “It’s not even that cold anymore.” Found herself in front of the double doors within seconds. Had no idea what was waiting for her behind them but she had no choice but to find out. She closed her eyes momentarily, mentally telling herself to relax. Even though Noah wasn’t here, her behavior would surely be ratted out to him by Mikkhal. Merlin forbid she was rude in front of a dinner guest. No amount of excuses would be able to save her from his wrath. He was always one for appearances. Perhaps even more so then herself. Her eyes opened again when she began hearing faint voices from behind the wood. Placing her hand in front of the knob, Kaydence watched as the door magically opened itself. ”Mom!” Eyes turning to the direction of Lukas, it didn’t take her long to see that he wasn’t sitting alone. That the mysterious dinner guest had positioned himself right next to her son. ”Mom! Look! Mr. Wentworth came to dinner after all!” Fuck. That’s right. Lukas had invited him earlier at the Waterfront. Then Mikkhal. Wasn’t sure how she could have forgotten about that. Had shot the idea down immediately as it had left the young boy’s mouth. Had to do the same with the man. Said nothing as she allowed her gaze to wander over to Noah’s assistant who looked rather pleased with himself. More anger. Sliding her upper lip over her bottom, her eyes then moved to Ashton only briefly to make sure he could catch the glimpse of pure annoyance she felt that he was here. Wasn’t sure what the fuck he was thinking. He knew better. Putty in Mikkhal’s hands for this expose he was planning for the two of them. Such a fucking idiot. ”Miss. Nash, so nice of you to finally join us.” Had that bottle of Macallan still been in Kaydence’s hand she would have thrown it at his face.

“You know me,” she finally said, finding her spot as the left side head of table. She waited for Nzatem to pull out the chair for her before taking a seat. “Fashionably late regardless of the attire.” Couldn’t help feeling slightly embarrassed at her choice of loungewear. Nothing wrong with it but Ashton would surely notice her sweatpants being a little big for her. Used to wear his clothes religiously around his manor. Always helped her feel close to him when he was gone for long hours due to work. Couldn’t get mad at her. She had no idea he was fucking coming. Kaydence stared across the dinner table at Mikkhal. “Still finding myself a little weary from the day’s events. Had to get myself together to entertain our dinner guest.” She made sure to quote the same demand Mikkhal had given her earlier before leaving her in the study. Needed him to know she was still pissed. Her eyes went back to Ashton. “And Mr. Wentworth. How wonderful of you to take Lukas up on his dinner despite my insistence for another time. I certainly hope you’re hungry.” Turning her gaze back down to the old house-elf next to her. “Cabernet. Now.”