Burn (Breathless #3)(106)

Clinton and Starks exchanged sharp glances.

“We’ll be in touch,” Starks said to both Josie and Ash.

Then they turned and walked out. Ash followed, closing the door forcefully behind them.

He turned back, striding toward the bed, his expression fierce.

“I’m sorry about that, baby. Never thought they would have come in here like that. I’m sorry I left you alone to deal with that. It won’t happen again. If they show up, you aren’t to talk to them without a lawyer present. If for some reason I’m not with you, you call me immediately.”

Her hand was shaking despite the grip she still had on the bed rail. Ash carefully pried her fingers away and cupped them in his hand, stroking soothingly with his thumb.

“They asked where you were last night between seven and ten,” she said, her voice quivering. “They think you did it.”

“I was here with you,” Ash said in a soft voice.

“I know. I told them that. But they still think . . . and they asked about Gabe and Jace. Ash you have to warn them. They think one of you did this. You didn’t, did you?”

Her voice had a pleading note she couldn’t control.

Ash slowly shook his head. “I didn’t do it, baby. I was here with you.”

“But did you have it done?” she whispered.

He leaned over and kissed her brow, leaving his lips there a long moment.

“I didn’t have to. He stole from a lot of people. Fucked over a lot of people—the wrong people—in his business dealings. Once they found that out, his life wasn’t worth a dime.”

She gave him a perplexed look when he stood back up. “How did they find out?”

Ash smiled, but it wasn’t a warm smile. She shivered at the darkness in his eyes. This was a man you didn’t f**k with. No matter how he appeared. Laid-back, charming and easygoing, underneath that carefully constructed façade was an intense man with unbreakable determination.

“They may have had a little help,” he said in a dark tone.

She sucked in her breath as she stared back at Ash. “So you did have something to do with his murder.”

Ash shook his head. “No. I didn’t. If you’re asking if I have blood on my hands then yeah, no doubt. I slipped the right information to the right people. What they did with it was up to them. I didn’t kill him. Didn’t have him killed. But I made it possible with the information I provided. I guess you have to decide if you can live with that. And me.”

Slowly she nodded, a little numb, but relieved too. She couldn’t face the idea of Ash going to jail because of her. Of it ruining both their lives. Not when she planned a life with him.

“He deserved to die. He wasn’t a good man. And that goes against everything I’ve ever believed in. It’s not for me to judge. Before I would have been appalled over justice being taken this way.”

“And now?” he asked quietly.

“You’ve changed me, Ash. I don’t know if it’s all good. Or all bad. I don’t know that it’s either. It just is. You’ve changed me. Made me better in some ways. Murky in others.”

“I don’t want you to ever be touched by the gray areas I’m immersed in, baby. I want you clean. I want you to shine, just like you always do. We’ll never talk about this again. Don’t ask and I’m not going to say. You may know things—I will not lie to you—but you will not be confronted with them. Ever. Can you live with that?”

“Yeah,” she whispered. “I can live with that.”

“I love you, baby,” Ash said in a tight voice, filled with emotion. “I don’t deserve your love or your shine, but I want it because with you I can feel the sun. I don’t want to go back to those shadows.”

“You don’t have to,” she said quietly. “Stay in the sun. With me.”

“Always, darling. Nothing will touch our children, Josie. You have my word. Nothing ever touches you or our kids. Gabe or Jace, Mia and Bethany. You’re my family. I’d die for any one of you and you’ll all stay in the sun where you belong.”

“You belong there too, Ash. And I want you there with me.”

She broke off, frowning as she realized what he’d said.

“Wait, are we having children?”

He smiled, slow and sexy, his eyes knowing. Arrogance and male confidence radiated in waves. “You’re having my babies, Josie. Bank on that. How many is up to you. I want boys first. And then a little girl. Because she’ll need big brothers who’ll always look out for her. They’ll be different from my brothers. They’ll give a shit. We’ll be a real family.”

Josie sent him a tender smile, full of her love for him. “Yeah. We’ll be a real family. I want six. Think you can handle that?”

Ash looked dumbstruck. “Six? Holy shit, woman. That’s a hell of a lot of knocking you up I gotta do.”

She nodded solemnly. “Don’t you think we should get started?”

“Hell yeah,” he muttered. “Don’t want to be an old bastard when you have the last one. But you have to get well and out of the hospital before we start working on that first baby.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny box.

“I wanted to do this at just the perfect moment,” he said gruffly. “But I can’t think of a more perfect time than when we’re talking about our kids and how many we’ll have.”