Page 65 of Romancing His Heart

Sloane: Fuck off and don’t bother me again.

Less than two minutes later, my phone rings, and I already know it’s Ashton.

“Please tell me you did not just send a dick pic to a random stranger from yoursafehouse?”

“I turned on the srambler,” I tell him, then close out all the screens and turn off the network.

“That was an irresponsible and stupid risk,” he fires back.

“I know.”

“What’s really going on with you, Loki?”

“I-I don’t know, dude. My head still isn’t right. I can’t remember something big, and it’s killing me.”

“I get that, man, I do. But that’s not what I’m talking about. You just sent a fifty-year-old sleaze ball a picture of your dick. You responded emotionally.”

“Retrograde amnesia?”

His bitter laughter echoes through the line. “That might work with some assholes, but not me. Sloane is making you feel things, and you’re not fighting it. Six months ago, you would have been a robot. You wouldn’t have called Seth and told him to find a man sounding like you’d happily cut anyone’s throat that got in the way. You would have seen these messages from Dom and quietly blocked him.”

He’s not wrong. But what he doesn’t know is that I would still have found the asshole who hurt Sloane. I just would have done it on my own, and I would have taken care of douche dingle Dom in a similar fashion. It’s what I do. I take care of shit behind the scenes.

“I don’t know, Ash.”

“Want to know what I think?” He doesn’t wait for me to reply. “I think you already know you’re done with SIA, and you’re struggling because you don’t know where that leaves you. You haven’t been without a plan since you were fifteen, and it’s scaring the shit out of you.”

“I’m not done with SIA until I can walk away a free man,” I tell him.

“I would expect nothing less. Seth and I are working on it. Maybe you should use this time with Sloane to figure out what you want from life now? I’m not one to push things like this, but GG is rarely wrong. Maybe that’s something you should explore while you have the time to do it, distraction-free.”

“Explore Sloane?” I say, more to myself than to him.

Chuckling, Ashton replies, “Well, that’s a dirty way to put it, but yeah. Figure out where you want to go from here, Loki. I have some ideas for you professionally, but you need to have your shit together before we go down that road.”

“You’ve been waiting for this day.”

“Waiting and planning. Ryan is retiring, and he is looking to sell EnVision Securities,” Ashton explains. “I was prepared to take over until you and Seth got out. Now that your timeline seems to be escalating, we can look into a partnership if that’s something you’re interested in?”

I’m taken aback. I’ve always known Ashton would have a plan, but that he has built his plans around me in the best possible way is humbling.

“O-Of course I’m interested,” I choke out. “We make a fucking awesome team.”

“We do. I haven’t talked to Seth yet, but I’d like him to be an equal partner. I know he won’t have the capital to invest initially, so I figured we could spot him, and work it into the terms. I think it would be good for him, too.”

Ashton is a Westbrook to his core. This family looks out for their own, and they really have taken both Seth and me in. Uncomfortable emotion threatens the back of my chest, and I’m thankful he can’t see me.

“Yeah, me too,” I agree.

“Okay, we can talk to Seth once we get Vic and his shit sorted. We have a plan for your future, Loki. Now, it’s up to you to decide what it’s going to look like.”

“Right.” Glancing up at the closed bathroom door, I have to wonder if my future is on the other side.

“I’ll call soon with an update.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Ash.”

“You got it.”