After the brief text exchange with Nikki, Ashten felt her stomach take an ugly turn and swallowed hard to keep the contents at bay. She was almost positive that if she were to look at herself in the mirror her face would be drained of all color.
She didn't say a word to her brother before making a quick exit. She briefly paused just as she crossed the threshold of Tommy's dressing room and for the first time in a long time she wasn't quite sure what to do. Ashten chewed on her bottom lip, weighing her choices.
Find Tommy and make an attempt at some damage control?
No. She shook her head and turned in the direction of Nikki's dressing room. She needed to talk to him first. It was possible that Nikki was wrong or didn't know for sure that Tommy knew anything. That thought gave her a glimmer of hope.
That feeling was short lived as she took a few steps down the hall and could already hear muffled yelling. Just as the sound hit her ears, her phone buzzed with an incoming text. Almost as he sensed her approaching, Nikki fired off a warning shot.
Nikki: Do NOT come in here. Let him bitch at me and get it out of his system
He knew her too well. He knew she would come running but insisted on taking the heat. At the moment, she was relieved beyond any measure as she leaned against the wall just outside of Nikki's open door listening to the heated exchange.
"Put your fuckin phone down. Are you kidding me right now?!" Tommy's raspy voice bellowed.
Nikki let out a huff and refrained from raising his voice. "I'm texting Ashten to tell her you know. I don't want you ambushing her."
"Ambushed?! You mean like I just was?!"
"You weren't ambushed. You were sticking your nose in where it didn't belong." Nikki rolled his eyes at Tommy's dramatics.
"Kind of like you having your nose in Ashten's pussy where it didn't belong?" Tommy spat.
"It's not what you think. And watch your fucking mouth, T-Bone."
"Are you telling me I didn't see what I just saw?? That I didn't see a picture of her wearing nothing but YOU and taking it like a fucking porn star?!"
Ashten closed her eyes and hissed through her teeth all the while wishing the earth would open up and swallow her.
"No," Nikki warned. Even though she couldn't see him Ashten could tell by the tone of his voice that Nikki was fighting tooth and nail to maintain his temper. She heard him breathe in and release a deep breath. "I'm telling you all of this was total accident."
"Accident!?" Tommy yelled in astonishment. "Fucking someone isn't an accident, Sixx! You don't just trip and fall into a vagina!" Nikki was silent and Ashten could hear Tommy pacing around the room as he lit a cigarette. "How long?"
"How long what?"
"How long have you been fucking Ashten?!" Tommy asked, his voice lowered a few decibels probably due to being raw from the flu and all the screaming.
"Since the Royal Underground shoot but..." Nikki began but was interrupted as they began talking over each other.
"The Royal Underground shoot?! That was six months ago....."
"And I'm not just fucking her..." Nikki continued while Tommy kept yelling.
"Oh, don't even tell me this is anything but a fling..."
"It's not a fling, Tommy," Nikki said when Tommy finally stopped to take a drag from his cigarette. "I love her."
Ashten could practically hear Tommy roll his eyes. "Yeah, until you get bored with her and move onto the next willing pussy that catches your eye. Like you ALWAYS do. You don't care if anyone gets hurt. You don't give a shit about anyone but yourself!"
"Think what you want about me. It's fine," Nikki sharply conceded. "I'm no angel. Never have been. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it. I'm a dirty fucking dog. But let's talk about Ashten Montgomery for a second."
"What about her?" Tommy grumbled, exhaling smoke through his nostrils.
"She's done everything you've asked her to do and....."
"Yeah, and some things I specifically asked her NOT to do. Her job description does not include bouncing on your dick and looking pretty," Tommy snapped, again interrupting.
Nikki breathed out through his nostrils and chose to ignore Tommy's nasty remark. "Ashten loves you. Like you are her own brother. Her own blood. Do you really think she would risk hurting or upsetting you over something that was just a fling?"
"Does it fucking matter? She's a fucking liar and so are you!"
"She is not and T-Bone, there is no reason to get pissy about this. We didn't plan it...."
"Of course you didn't. You just let it happen like you always do! You don't respect anything if it gets in the way of what you want. Including me!"
"That is not true," Nikki barked back and shook his head.
"Really? Clearly both of you seemed to think I was stupid enough not to know what was going on in my own house," Tommy stated, his voice cracking a bit.
Ashten closed her eyes and her heart sank. She wasn't sure if the waiver in his voice was from being sick but it was quite clear he was hurt. Hurt because he felt as if he'd been played for a fool. She swallowed the large lump in her throat and hung her head as the two continued to bicker.
"Hey!"
Hearing a whisper yell, Ashten looked up and to her right as Jozie approached, her brow furrowed in confusion
"What's up with those two?" She inquired and leaned against the wall behind Ashten while they listened to Tommy's voice escalate. "Why is he freaking out?"
"Because of me," Ashten mumbled back exchanging a glance with her.
"Why you?" Jozie still wore a mask of confusion but her eyes widened in realization once Tommy started going on about how Nikki can't keep his dick to himself.
"That's why."
"Oh. Oh shit," Jozie whispered back.
"What's going on?" Both girls looked over as DJ approached with an equally perplexed look.
"Tommy's freaking out," Jozie stated.
"I hear that. Why is he freaking out?" No sooner had the question left DJ's lips when the three of them heard something slam against a wall.
Ashten didn't know if it what a piece of furniture or a person but she did know she was sick of standing around listening to Nikki face the fire for something in which she was a willing participant. She pushed herself off the wall and slowly walked in the room, stopping just beyond the doorframe. Tommy's back was to her and he and Nikki were in each other's faces still screaming. Nikki looked up briefly and met her eyes, shaking his head slightly to try deterring her from coming into the lion's den.
Tommy turned around and met her eyes as she began to speak.
"No," Tommy held his hand up to stop her, shooting her a glare that could have silenced the devil. "Don't even bother saying a fucking thing. And if you think I'm gonna believe a goddamn word that comes out of your mouth right now you can fuckin blow me."
Ashten flinched slightly at Tommy's reaction to her, a move he didn't miss.
"Oh, what? You didn't expect me to say something like that to you, huh?" Tommy lowered his voice and took on a sickeningly sweet tone. "Well, I didn't expect you'd be a lying whore either, but here we are."
Without a word, Nikki lunged towards Tommy only to be intercepted by DJ and Ashten who held him by each arm.
"Do not make this worse," Ashten soflty plead while she gripped his bicep.
Nikki didn't respond verbally but did stop in his tracks per Ashten's request. His fiery glare, however, stayed on Tommy who stared back before turning his eyes to DJ.
"Did you know about this, Ashba?" Tommy demanded, his hands motioning back and forth between Nikki and Ashten.
"I..uh...well...," DJ stammered not really knowing how to actually answer. His reluctance, however, was enough of a confirmation for Tommy. "
"Yeah I thought so." He stomped towards the door just as Jozie was crossing the threshold. "Of COURSE you know about it! Does everyone know?! You know what? I don't even care," he stomped past her and stalked down the hallway, still yelling. "Everyone's fired! Everyone's fucking fired!!"
"That went well," Nikki mumbled and flopped down into his chair, Ashten standing next to him. He looked up and her and gave a weak smile. "I'm sorry."
"What happened?" She asked, incredulously. She knew Tommy had seen a picture but wasn't entirely sure how it occurred.
Nikki scoffed at himself. "He used the laptop and found some pictures.....It was my own damn fault. I should have put a password on them."
"Probably," she agreed, feeling a blush form on her cheeks. "What pictures did he see?"
He groaned and shot her a look filled with guilt. "The ones we took in Denver."
Ashten's eyes grew wide as saucers and she felt her heart fall through her gut. "Nikki, oh my GOD!"
"Please don't kill me," he quickly begged.
"Oh fuck! Are you serious?! How much did he see??" She wanted to burst into tears out of pure humiliation.
"I'm not entirely sure." Nikki slowly replied. "But knowing Tommy he probably got a nice eyeful before he said anything."
"Perfect," she sighed and looked to the heavens as she paced the floor.
"Maybe you should sit down," DJ suggested while watching her whip herself into a frenzy.
"No, DJ. I don't need to sit down. I need to LIE down in a great big pine box!" Despite her words, Asthen flopped down on the arm of Nikki's chair and buried her head in her hands. Nikki lightly stroked her back while the air in the room cleared.
Jozie, still thinking about Tommy's grand exit, met eyes with DJ and Nikki quizzically. "Did he just fire everyone? Can he do that?"
"I don't even work for Mötley Crüe," DJ chuckled, while placing a cigarette in his mouth.
"No, he can't do that," Nikki replied to Jozie and looked up at DJ. "And what did you just say?"
"That I don't work for Mötley?" DJ questioned.
Nikki hummed, clenching his jaw in deep thought before smacking his fist gently on the arm of the chair. "Shit, I can't believe I never thought about this. Ashten?"
"Yeah?"
"Where do your paychecks come from?" Nikki inquired, moving his hand from her back to squeeze her hip.
"From Tommy," she stated as if it were obvious.
"Right. But do they come from his personal account or do they come from a corporate account?"
Ashten shrugged. "They aren't personal checks so a corporate account, I guess."
"From the Mötley, Inc account?" Nikki prodded.
"Yeah," Ashten nodded.
"Mine too," Jozie chimed in.
"You're sure?" Nikki asked again.
"Positive. Why?" Ashten wondered where he was going with this.
"Isn't that interesting?" A slow, smug smirk crept across Nikki's face as he leaned back and crossed his ankle over his knee, his hands folded together over his abdomen. "Tommy can't fire you."
"What?"
"Mötley, Inc is a corporation we set up for tax reasons. It's how we all pay employees, pay for tours, etc. Since your paycheck comes from that corporation, legally and technically, you work for Mötley. Not Tommy."
"Ok," she nodded at him. "Meaning, what exactly?""
"Employees can only be terminated if the decision is made unanimously by the shareholders. If the decision is not agreed upon by everyone, then the primary shareholder has the final say," Nikki explained.
"Who's the primary shareholder?" Jozie inquired.
Nikki's smirk grew into an evil and victorious grin. "Me."
Although she felt a slight sense of relief, Ashten shook her head. "You can't force Tommy to keep me, Nikki."
"The fuck I can't," Nikki challenged. "And the next time I see him I'm breaking his jaw for speaking to you the way he did."
Ashten sighed and turned her sad eyes to him. "He just found out the two people he trusts most in this world have been lying to him for months. How would you feel?"
Nikki and Ashten decided the best course of action was to just lay low. Nikki figured Tommy needed some time to cool off and in the meantime, Ashten would continue doing her normal assistant duties but stay out of site. The less Tommy saw of her the better. She would continue riding with Nikki in the meantime and in a few short days they would all be flying home. Nikki told her she could move in with him if Tommy kicked her out and Ashten pointed out that Nikki ALSO lived with Tommy.
It was a hot damn mess. And just to add insult to injury, Ashten woke up the next morning with a temperature of 102 degrees and flu symptoms.
A/N—love you all. I feel this is a bit rushed but i wanted to get it out because of all your awesome comments.