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Given tiave him a chance

"Deep, dark secrets, huh I fear you’re in for disappoint I’m married to my business, and I despise my family almost as much as they despise me My real family are my business partners and their women"

"Except that your sister came to see you recently Have you reconciled?"

This tiaze went beyond Josie for a moment before he allowed it to drift back to her face

"I suppose you could say that I’m not completely convinced of her sincerity as of yet I’d like to think she’s finallya break from the wolf pack, but only time will tell"

"What did they do? To you both?"

Ash sighed "Gave birth to us? Hell if I know My mother has zero maternal instinct, and yet she had four of us It baffleswould continue to have children she considered a burden"

Josie’s nose wrinkled and her eyes flashed with sy with them? Even when you were a child?"

"I rarely saw them when I was a child," he said dryly "We were packed off to school and only ca the holidays and even then we had a nanny More often than not,Involved in the social scene My grandfather made a lot of money in his lifetime, but we don’t come from old money We would be considered nouveau riche, a fact ive my assumption, but she sounds horrible"

"It’s no assumption She and my father are both lousy people Not just lousy parents, but lousy in every aspect I firmly believe the only reason she had so e faive hi else, my mother will not piss off the old man because she depends on him too ing, such as it was The only times she or Dad ever had time for us was if the oldlousy parents or the parents around others"

"That sucks," Josie said "I adored randmother They onderful women So what happened with your sister? And how old is she?"

"Brittany is the youngest She’s thirty now My e to a e lasted two years and Brittany bailed, getting nothing in the divorce settlement That pissed my mother off even more because in her words, she’d worked damn hard to land a husband for Brittany and the least she could do was suck it up and re her a richand the means to funnel money to her parents"

"Wow," Josie whispered "That’s insane I a I didn’t think there were really people like that in this day and age"

He smiled "Sorry to burst your bubble"

"So what prompted Brittany’s visit?"

"She wants out," he said quietly "As I said, she got nothing in the divorce and she’s been living with ree but has never had a job She came to ask me for help Pri for an ally Emotional support as well"

"And did you help her?"

"Of course I set her up in an aparth cash to last until she starts work In a few days she’ll take a position in one of ave her the means to start a new life, but it’ll be up to her to ive her shit She’ll want Brittany back under her thus I just hope Brittany has the balls to stand up to her"

"I think it’s wonderful that you did so much for her She must have felt like she had no one to turn to"

Ash shook his head "She didn’t And regardless of how shitty she may have treated me in the past, I do realize that she didn’t really have a choice Mo else She seems sincere now, and if she is, then I’ll do whatever I can to help her I don’t care what otten to that point yet, but she will"

"Other siblings? HowBrittany I have two older brothers who are both in their forties and neither one of them can support their families without help from my parents and the oldto do with them, how did you make it? I mean you’re obviously successful"

"I think it’s your turn," he pointed out "I’ve spilled uts and so far all I know about you is that your dad is an asshole and yourbattle with cancer"

"I’ll let you ask a question as soon as you answer my last one"

He arched an eyebrow at her "Then I get two because you’re already over quota"

Her lips twitched in amusement "Do you have any idea how sterile this conversation is with all the talk of keeping score?"

"It doesn’t have to be And okay, I’ll answer, but this is the last one until you catch up"

"Deal," she said with a smile

"I becae Jace’s parents were killed in an accident when he enty and he had to take over caring for his ed after that Before we had a fuck-it attitude and while we rades, ere more concerned with beer and woe We started with a single hotel Poured our heart and soul into it, and every penny we could scrape up or borrow We waited a year before we expanded Using the first hotel as collateral, ere able to secure financing for another property Fro the early hotels and their success, we expanded rapidly and began to have an easier ti to do with your success, then"

"None whatsoever," he bit out "I wouldn’t take a dis attached And I wanted them to have no part of my business"

"Guess they didn’t take that very well," she rinned "Nope They were pissed that A: I ive them money It’s kind of like if your dad showed up to happy fahtened at thehis hand across the table to cover hers once more Aand racing across her skin

"Now it’s my turn to ask you twenty questions"

"Hey, I didn’t ask you twenty"

"Close enough," he hed "Okay, okay Ask away"

His gaze i where the collar had rested It had been the first thing he’d noticed when she’d walked out of the pawnshop, and he hadn’t dared to get his hopes up But the fact that she’d accepted his dinner invitation, even if he’d blackht as a barrier between the between them Whatever the hell it was

"Why aren’t you wearing the collar?" he asked softly