Wrath's Genesis

Chapter Forty Five

"I can't believe that bastard really had the nerve to approach you like that! The nerve of him to speak to you after he bribed his way to your position! I'm so glad you were able to handle that asshole and put him back in his place."

Ash declared, her loud words carrying over to the couple seated beside us who seemed even warier of us. I chuckled in amusement, the moment reminding me of so many moments where Ash had caused a scene. She was our firecracker, the missing piece to our merry band of friends.

We love her because she would do anything for us. Go to war for us with anyone. She is everything.

I granted the couple a small, apologetic smile and bow before turning back to my friend who unsteadily filled my wine glass with the last of the second bottle's contents.

"Yes, well, he isn't worthy of our time or effort. He's a s**t human being and we really aren't here to talk about that, yeah?"

Ash's grin was broad and beautiful as she raised her glass to me.

"You got that right, sweetheart! Cheers to putting bastards in their place and standing on our own two feet!"

I clinked my glass against hers, the two of us downing the contents in one go before waving the waiter over for more. I hiccuped through Ash's order for more, thanking my lucky stars that I had canceled all my afternoon meetings. I knew a lunch hangout with Ashley Wilder would not be enough to sate her or myself.

I should probably stay sober for Soren's payback, but Ash needs this and so do I...

I also owe her for ghosting her, for not keeping close, especially now when the third member of our group was gone. We needed each other now.

"God, I wish Noah was here. Did that brat really drop off the radar just like that? Without telling any one of us anything?! I am going to rip him a new asshole when I see him!"

Ash seethed, her anger melding with my own despite what I now knew. There were too many secrets revealed, too many variables that left me questioning whether I truly knew my best friend. If Ash knew what I do now, she would probably have gone off the rails. The need to lose it was also within me, lurking beneath the surface.

I wanted to question everything, to be angry and rage over my best friend keeping all these dangerous things from me but I needed to find him first. To make sure he was okay for his safety was all that mattered. I knew Ash had been holding back, stopping herself from asking more questions. I knew she could see right through me.

She's been so patient...so understanding. I know that won't last for long, though...

"Will you really not tell me what is going on?"

Ash confirmed my very thoughts as the alcohol settled within and made her a little less reserved and more incensed by the secrets. She was revealing her true emotions and her questions were certainly understandable. She deserved answers, those that I could not give her now knowing what I did.

I can't put her in danger, in the same mess as me. I know I may be too late, but whatever I can do, however, I can help, anything to protect my best friend from the chaos of this world.

"I mean, I have been trying to hold back. I have been struggling to trust you, but this is all too out of the ordinary. Not only have you stopped looking into Noah's sudden drop off the planet-I'm sorry I didn't believe you the first time, but you also got married! To a man we don't even know! And do not get me started on his psychopathic, walking red flag of a friend!"

Ash declared, raising a brow at my silence as I poured the new bottle of wine into her glass and my own. Her questions were expected but the candidness was still enough to catch me off guard, enough to struggle to hold back my true emotions. To comfort her during her distress.

Instead, I bit my tongue and downed my wine glass in one go to keep sane and hold myself back from revealing everything. To unburden myself. Her profession made her so easy to approach, talk to, and get lost in.

"I know there is so much more happening here, Em. I know you want to tell me but something is holding you back and I get that, but I just want to know that the two most important people in my life are okay. I need you to know that I can still be so much more than just the party animal or the loud friend. I can be a confidant. You can trust me, Em."

I took her hand in my own after placing my glass down with unsteady hands, a tick that Ash was quick to latch on to but said nothing. Instead, her eyes and body language relayed all that I needed to know. Her words tugged at my very soul and urged me to reveal even if just a little bit, just so I could assuage her fears.

She's hanging on by a thread. She needs more...

I could understand her fears, her emotions. They were the same volatile feelings that coursed through me every time I thought of the situation we were now in. They were the same feelings I expressed to Soren, the same fears that always kept me on edge, longing to know that Noah was not in some ditch somewhere.

This is why I need to make sure that Soren keeps his end of the deal. That I keep to my plan and succeed in accomplishing what I have set out to. This isn't just about me but about so much more. There are people depending on us.

Releasing a small sigh, I finally turned my gaze to meet my best friend's own. I was afraid of her seeing the lies wedged deep within my eyes, too ashamed of her knowing that I had been deceiving her. Even now, with a fuzzy brain from alcohol, I still want to consume more liquid courage that would help me in my lies of omission.

She deserves more, though...She needs some part of the truth...

"Listen to me, Ash. I promise you that everything is going to be okay. Yes, there is more here. But everything will be just fine. As you have trusted me before, I need you to continue to believe in me. Believe in Noah and I. Soon, we are going to be sipping those over-the-top mojitos Noah makes and shouting drunkenly at the TV during our movie nights."

I afforded my best friend the widest smile I could muster, squeezing her hand in my own as I relayed all the reassurance I could through my gaze. My sentiments seemed to reach my best friend as she smirked back at me and squeezed my hand right back, her free hand reaching forward to brush a stray strand of my hair behind my ear.

Always so caring and loving...I really don't deserve her...Neither Noah nor I do...

"He really makes the worst mojitos. More Gin than Mango juice. That crazy bastard."

We both chuckled, reminiscing on days past and the insane movie nights that almost always ended in absolute chaos and a morning of hangovers and grumpily making hangover soup.

"You two really aren't lightweights, huh? Very impressive, ladies."

The waiter stated with a grin as he placed our third round of mojitos on our table several minutes later, earning a thumbs up from my best friend as she granted him her most endearing puppy dog eyes that almost always got us the drinks we needed. I struggled to hold back my chuckle as I noted the star-struck look in the man's eyes.

Yet another one bites the dust. God, she is so lethal. I love her so damn much...

"We definitely wouldn't mind more drinks, handsome. I promise to give you anything you want right after."

Ash grinned wide, her inclination to make promises despite the fact that she could comfortably pay for the damn drinks-making me shake my head. She has always been the one to stir the pot, huh? She can be such a troublemaker.

"You should not be making promises you cannot keep, my little bird. Otherwise, you just might get someone murdered and thrown in a VAT of acid, never to be seen again."

Diesel's voice was so sudden, so unsettlingly cold that we both froze, all including the waiter whose flirty gaze shifted into absolute terror in the wake of the cold glare he was receiving from the two men standing right behind him.

"And you should not be encouraging her, malyshka. Or anyone else, for that matter."

My husband's small smile directed at me was instantly replaced with cold detachment as he glared at the two men who seemed to have been caught staring right at us. I chuckled and hiccuped at the same time, the familiar protectiveness he exuded sending warmth right through me and absolute reassurance.

I can get used to this for life...Consequences be damned...

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