Page 72 of Asher Black (The Five Syndicates)
failure is not fatal:
it is the courage to
continue that counts.
Winston Churchill
My jaw drops at the sight of the pair in front of us. Asher and I are in his penthouse, surrounded by his security team. All twenty-six of them. In front of us are a man and a woman that look just like Asher and I. Sure, there are some noticeable differences, but from afar, no one will be able to tell us apart.
I study my female doppelganger. She looks like me, but not quite. Whereas my chest is fuller and I’m a little taller, she’s far paler than I am. She’s also missing a lot of hair and has eyes that are dim and sunken in.
Asher’s double is the same height as him, but the double’s eyes are brown, his hair is blonde, and his ears aren’t quite right either. He’s also wearing thick reading glasses and is bouncing around the room like he’s tweaked out of his mind. Yet, when I caught sight of his pupils, they looked fairly normal.
When the two are ushered to a team of stylists, I pull Asher aside. “Do they know what you’re asking of them?”
I try not to blush as Asher studies my face. We almost died together, and he used his body to shield mine. I don’t care that he was wearing a bulletproof suit. It was still incredibly brave, an act of bravery I never in a million years would have imagined someone doing for me.
The few lingering concerns I had about Asher evaporated after that. In its place is respect. I respect Asher for the kind of man he is to me. Respecting a man I find attractive is dangerous territory.
If I’m not careful, I might begin to blur the lines in this relationship. I’m already far more aware of his body than I’ve ever been, struggling to come up with valid reasons for not pursuing a man that would risk his life for mine. It doesn’t help that I know what it feels like to be kissed by him.
Asher sighs. “They know the risks. Damien is an adrenaline junkie. He gets off on this shit. Caroline has cancer. She’s dying. She can’t do anything about it, but the two million dollars I’m paying her will go a long way in helping the family she’s leaving behind.”
My eyes widen.
Two million dollars?!
Is that how much a life is worth?
Is it how much his life is worth or mine?
Or is the figure somewhere in between?
I nod to Asher. I can’t judge him for this. Like always, he’s right. Caroline and Damien know what they’re doing. He’s not tricking them or anything like that. Still, a part of me can’t grasp the fact that they’re about to risk their lives for us.
“Hey. Come with me,” Asher says gently.
He leads me upstairs into our room. Once the door is closed, he backs me up into the wall, his hands pressed on either side of my face. I let him, because I need the comfort right now. I need to know that what we’re doing isn’t wrong and immoral.
His blue eyes stare into mine, searching for something, though I’m not sure what. “Don’t feel bad about this. It’s their decision to make. We’re not forcing them to do anything, okay?”
It’s hard to process what he’s saying when we’re in such an intimate position, but I know this is important. This needs to be said.
“I just… I can’t help but feel like I should be doing this. Not Caroline.”
“Don’t.” The harshness in his voice is shocking. “Don’t even think about it, Lucy. Between your life and hers, yours is the one that matters. Every. Single. Time.”
“Because she’s dying?”
“Because you’re mine.”
My eyes widen, and I instinctively take a step back from him, but I’m already trapped against the wall. I study him, trying to decipher what he means by that. His eyes are guarded, and I can’t read them, so I’m left drawing my own conclusions.
And my emotions are at war with logic.
If I’m his, is he mine?
Stop what you’re thinking.
