The moment Hayley’s eyes met his, everything ceased to exist around her. She drowned in the intense depths of his gaze, her heart racing faster with every passing second. Something was amiss! He didn’t seem the same Ashton she had left behind four years ago! The Ashton in front of her had a deep gash above his left eyebrow, his jawline looked sharper, chiseled, and determined, and his body more mature. More than anything else, it was the brooding and distant look in his eyes that surprised her. Ashton was always aloof, but he wasn’t cold! It seemed as if he had been through a hurricane in the last four years!
“Ready to go?” he asked, wrenching his gaze away from hers and raising an eyebrow at the others. It was obvious that he wasn’t thrilled to be their chauffeur tonight. His behavior surprised Hayley! It was as if he didn’t know her at all! Maybe he didn’t want to know her! It was only her foolish heart that clung to a fake hope.
“I’ll follow you in my car, Alyssa,” said Hayley, refusing to accept a favor from him. She was an adult and responsible enough to drive on her own. It got his attention, and he again focused his eyes on her.
“I’ll drive all of you. No arguments.” His gaze bored a hole in her face with its intensity, but Hayley refused to bow down.
“We’ll be late, Hails. Leave your car here. Anyway, you have to return to my apartment after the party.”
“Is she staying the night?” asked an excited Skylar, while Ashton followed their conversation with a poker look on his face. It was difficult to fathom what was going on in his head!
“Yes, you can too.”
“Done!” Hayley smiled and followed the girls out, with Ashton close behind her. She could feel the warmth emanating from him, but she took a deep breath, refusing to get affected by his nearness. Although they had met after four years, it was strange that he didn’t say a word to her yet. Maybe he wasn’t as affected as she was!
They reached the parking space, and Ashton unlocked his car for them. Alyssa and Skylar trooped into the back seat, but before Hayley could join them, Ashton grabbed her hand. A jolt of electricity shot up her body and she looked at him with surprise.
“Get in, Hayley!” he said, releasing her hand to open the passenger door for her. Hayley’s jaws dropped at his bossy attitude. He was ignoring her, right? So, what happened now? She glared at her friends, who giggled knowingly. Bitches!
She climbed inside, refusing to meet his eyes, strapping on the seat belt. He strode towards the driver’s side and sat beside her, filling up the entire space with his presence. Hayley looked out of the window to calm her erratic breathing. She couldn’t let him realize how much this meeting meant to her. Seeing him suddenly after so long had totally unnerved her.
“They’ve just started. We should reach early,” said Ashton, driving out of the condominium. The club was just a ten minutes drive away, and they reached before time. All throughout the way, it was only Alyssa and Skylar who chatted non-stop with each other. Hayley preferred to answer them briefly, all the time looking out of the window.
As Ashton parked his car, Alexander drove in with Eva and Sienna. With Alexander having all the access to the club because of his membership, they couldn’t have gone in without him. “Took you long enough, bro?” muttered Ashton with a chuckle while Alexander elbowed him out of the way with a grin.
They entered the crowded nightclub and Hayley tried to focus on the neon lights; her head already spinning on hearing the loud thumping of the background music. She blinked to see the bodies gyrating on the dance floor, drinks flowing freely around the place, people laughing, couples desperately grinding against each other, making out wildly in every corner. She hadn’t been to such a place before but refrained from broadcasting her lack of experience. At her college, her friends went out during weekends but she didn’t.
Her gaze went towards Ashton, who smiled at a girl who collided with him on purpose. Her blood boiled with jealousy at seeing him interact so charmingly with other women right in front of her, whereas all throughout the drive, Ashton ignored her pointedly, as if she wasn’t sitting beside him at all. Even now, he was more interested in the scantily clad women dancing away, beckoning to him to join them. It hurt Hayley tremendously! He had truly changed!
The manager of the club rushed forward to greet him, leading them through the crowd towards the upper deck.
“Bro, please, can we check out the bar first? Why don’t you leave us alone for a while?” said Alyssa, expecting her brother to retaliate, but he glanced at Eva who evaded his eyes and sighed, giving in already.
“Fine. Enjoy yourselves, but you know your limits. I have a booking on the upper deck executive lounge for eight. You can occupy any table.” Alexander left with Ashton and they all breathed a sigh of relief.
“Let’s go upstairs and occupy a table first,” said Alyssa. They all went up the stairs to the luxurious and exclusive upper lounge, as Alexander had asked them to, and Alyssa spoke to the attendant in charge. He escorted them to a table that gave them a bird’s eye view of the entire club.
“Perfect,” said Hayley, occupying a seat. “I hope your brother won’t come checking up on us?” asked Hayley, dreading it completely, not because of Alexander but for his best friend. She didn’t wish to spoil her evening because of Ashton’s behavior.
“Well, he’s here somewhere. So I won’t rule out that option, you know,” said Alyssa. They all groaned.
“I’ll check what’s taking Skye so long,” said Alyssa, shrugging and walking away. Soon Eva followed her downstairs and Hayley needed to use the washroom before they started the celebrations. Excusing herself from Sienna, who sat quietly at their table, in awe of her surroundings, she rushed towards the washroom at the backside. On her way, she looked around for Alexander and Ashton, but they were nowhere in sight. Where exactly were they?
On her way back, she almost collided with a tall man in a black business suit who stood with two others, drinks in their hands. “Sorry!” she gasped. The man looked quite familiar, but she couldn’t recall having seen him before.
“That’s alright, babe! What’s a hot chick like you doing alone here?” he drawled, alerting her.
“I’m with my boyfriend!” she announced, but before she could escape, he grabbed her hand.
“I can please you better. Come away with me, babe!” he continued while his friends chuckled.
“Let go, f*cker! I’m not interested!” Hayley gritted out, yanking her hand free but, to her horror, the man caught her by the waist.
“Oh, come now! Don’t be shy!” he whispered, pulling her forcefully into his arms. Disgusted with his lecherous advance, Hayley twisted out of his arms and slapped him hard across his cheek, her entire body flushed with anger. There was a stunned silence, and she stormed away from the scene, leaving them gaping after her.
“Bi*ch! You blo*dy need to be taught a lesson.” A pair of arms grabbed her from behind, picking her up on his shoulders before she could realize what was going on.
“Put me down, you son of a bit*h!” she yelled, struggling to get free. The man laughed and walked towards the door with her. “Let me go! Help, please!” No one heard her pleas from the deafening music, as everyone was busy getting drunk. He walked out of the club into the cool, crisp evening air outside while Hayley fought hard to escape him. However, he couldn’t go far and collided with something in his haste to escape, struggling with a wild Hayley on his shoulders.
“Put her down, Kingsley, or I’ll call the cops on you. Don’t forget, they’re still on the lookout for you,” barked Ashton, his voice echoing all around.
“F*ck off, Pierce. The girl’s mine.”
“Wrong, she’ll always be mine. Your boss asked me to stay away, and I did. The warning won’t work if you don’t play fair,” gritted out Ashton, grabbing hold of Hayley and pulling her away from the man forcefully as if she were a rag doll. Ashton placed her down gently while Hayley clung to his torso with fright.
“Your girl?” asked the man in a disoriented state.
Ashton lost his shit and called Antonio immediately. Antonio Lombardi took over as Don’s right-hand man after Romano Ferrari died a year ago in a police encounter. Ashton had his number since it was Antonio who always contacted him for the payment.
“Antonio, I’m paying off the debt, staying away from my girl just as Don had asked me to. So why the f*ck have you sent Kingsley to abduct her?”
“I haven’t, Ashton.”
“I’ll hand him over to the cops if he lays his dirty hands on what is mine! I mean it!” he disconnected the call and glared at the man in front of him, wrapping his arms around a confused Hayley.
“Get out or I’m calling the cops on you, Bruce Kingsley! I’m sure Salvatore Gambino won’t be happy with you in police custody!” Hayley’s eyes widened with horror, now realizing where she had seen the man. He was the one who had abducted Ashton four years ago! He was the one whose pictures they flashed on news channels with an arrest warrant to his name!
“I’m going, but I’ll be back for the girl.” He climbed into a black Maserati and drove away while a million questions raced across Hayley’s mind.