Chapter 512: No Promises

Ash looked at her friends not knowing how to handle the information they had told her. She had come to Pan for Mina, but she was also on assignment and her hands were tied. Pulling off her wig, she put her feet up on the mattress and sighed loudly. She rubbed her eyes as if she were exhausted and Mina felt like she was looking at a mob boss who was plotting an assassination.

"Ash, please don't do anything reckless. He was able to keep me locked up for weeks without anyone even batting an eye. I have worked hard to get to a point where he is not threatening to kill me or my family, but now his cousin has taken over the role."

"Wait. What? Then why did he give you that mark?"

"Because he wanted to mock me. Cylus and Willow were trying to make me more popular so that he couldn't just take me again-"

"Again? Wait Mina stop, go back to the beginning, your story is worse than Willow's!"

Mina was afraid to tell Ash anything. She and Willow knew that the woman was a little over the top; almost crazy in the way she handled things. Part of the reason people never laid their hands on Mina was because they were afraid of what Ashlyn would do. She never got physical the way Willow would, but she could twist and spin words in a way that was agonizing, and once she had enough information about a person, they were doomed.

Ash had ruined the reputations of more than a few Miss Maggie's but could never get enough dirt on Maggie herself. There was also the fact that Ash's parents' inheritance and retirement was in a bank that was run by the Arden family, so she had to tread carefully. Mina was afraid that the woman would try to do something similar to President Lee, and she jumped when the woman sat down and kicked her feet wildly in anger.

"Are you telling me everything? And I mean everything." Mina searched her memory. When she was confident she had been honest, she nodded. "Is that why his friends are so close to you?" Mina shook her head vigorously.

"I'm not sure if they know. He remembers what happened that night, and I don't know what he has been telling people. Before you ask, I left the country with him because he made me believe he wasn't working with his cousin. I am already suspected of being a political rival trying to infiltrate the Lee family. So Ash, no exposing articles or books." Ash just looked at her friends, she had told them everything, without pause, and it hurt her that they weren't doing the same.

"We have only been apart for two years, and suddenly we are hiding things from one another? Mina you should have called the moment you found yourself in a situation that made you so desperate. I may not be as rich as your 'new friends,' but I can afford to help, and you," Ash said while turning to look at Willow. "I'm not sure where your confidence went, but Jeremy doesn't deserve you. I won't do anything for now, but I won't promise to behave forever."

"Please Ash, the man killed someone for bringing me sanitary napkins, he sent two men to their deaths for talking to me, and there is another woman whose life is tied to mine." Ash considered Mina's words, and she knew that the woman wouldn't make things up just to deter her. Mina's fear was real, and her worry showed in her eyes. Willow just looked too tired to respond.

"Fine, but don't expect me to pretend to be friendly toward him." Mina shook her head in understanding, still stroking Willow's hair. "Jeremy is a different story. If he survives this-"

"No," Willow shouted while sitting up. "Please this is my fault. He is the way he is because of me. Let me just talk to him first." Mina had never seen Willow behave in the manner she was behaving; crying and begging was something the woman had never done. In their group, Ash was the mouth, Willow was the hands, and Mina was the brain.

"Why?" Mina asked in a whisper.

"Because I need to let him know that what he tried to do was unforgivable. I want closure and I want to give him that closure as well." As Willow spoke, she realized that a part of her was not fair to Oric, who she had never given the opportunity to explain until meeting years later at Connor's party.

----

It was morning, and Cylus brought the women a change of clothing. He knew from Oric that Willow had also gone to the hotel room, so he had Olivia help pick out a few things for them. He also bought breakfast for the women, who were still fast asleep when he arrived. Willow looked the most exhausted, and Ash, just looked like she wanted to kill someone. Her black curls looked tangled and matted, and he noticed that her nose was a little crooked.

Cylus did not know what it was about the woman. Perhaps it was her 'I don't care' personality, or the way that she tactfully reminded Oric and everyone that the event last night was for Mina. He saw her as a good friend, and he was glad that Mina had the woman to lean on. He thought of his cousin, wondering if he had been too controlling of the people around her. The only meaningful relationships she had were made through Mina in recent months, and he wondered how lonely she must have felt before meeting them.

"What are you ladies doing today?" he asked, and after taking a long and annoying sip of the coffee Cylus had brought, Ash told him their plans. Cylus rejected the idea immediately.

"We didn't ask for, nor do we need your permission." Cylus took it back, he did not like Ashlyn Tanner at all. "You are more than welcome to join us."

"I will not, and Mina is not going. I don't want her involved in anymore drama with that man, if he touches her again, he won't need a hospital because I'll kill him." Ash quickly turned her head to Mina and Willow, who had conveniently left that part out of the story.

"They didn't tell you, did they?"

----

Willow walked toward the hospital room where Jeremy was being treated. She did not know the extent of his injuries, but she had heard the medic the night before say that he was in serious condition. Her whole body shook, expecting the worst because she had seen the blood, and although Oric told her that most of it came from his own hand, she was not convinced. Willow looked at Ash, hoping to gain confidence from the woman, who had stayed behind a few feet to give her privacy. She stepped into the room, where Jeremy's mother, sister and Claire were waiting on the man.

"Willow," Jeremy breathed out, she felt her heart break, not because of the condition he was in, because he looked relatively okay compared to what she expected. Her heart broke because he had been gently rubbing Claire's belly.

"You have got some nerve showing your face here. Is it not enough that you almost destroyed his relationship; now you want to kill him too?" Willow's words were lost as she watched Jeremy's sister approach and slap her. Jeremy tried to get up, but he winced, and it was then that Willow noticed the cast on his leg.

"I just came to-"

"Leave!" the woman shouted. "Stop chasing after my brother. He was finally happy until you showed up again." Willow went to walk out, but Ash was standing in the doorway blocking her path. She saw the redness on Willow's face and her eyes darted to Jeremy's sister.