2. Cross to Bear
CHAPTER 2
CROSS TO BEAR
(DECLAN)
I sip my beer as I watch Tiff return to the VIP area. My heart completes the usual flip it does in my chest every time I see her, but I immediately notice that she seems distressed after her phone call. She’s walking even more purposefully than usual, and her eyes are darting around the club constantly, and it looks like she’s searching for someone.
Her eyes land on my sister, Danielle, who’s been called Daisy by my family since birth. Tiff grabs my sister’s arm, and they have a quick conversation before Tiff spins on her heel and strides out of the VIP area. I frown as I watch her leave while I walk over to Daisy.
“Is Tiff okay?” I ask quickly.
She’s disappeared into the crowd now, but I’m worried about her response because she’d usually come and talk to me, not my sister .
Daisy shakes her head. “Her grandfather had a heart attack. She’s going to find Jazz and go to the hospital with her, but she couldn’t find Ben to tell him.”
“Fuck.”
My blood runs cold because I know how much Tiff relies on Milton Carter and how hard she works for him at Carter Group. I’m so proud of how she’s built on her grandfather’s legacy, ensuring that the multi-billion dollar business has stayed at the top of its industry.
“Ben’s probably in the bathroom or something. I’ll go look for him and let him know.”
Daisy nods as she pulls out her phone, probably to text Jazz, and I head toward a bathroom where I’ve seen Ben snorting drugs more times than I can count. He’s not there, so I search the bar and check the VIP area again.
I’m on my third sweep of the club when I find him. My stomach drops as I catch sight of him in a dark corner on the second floor of the club. He’s sitting in an armchair with Ashley Kirkpatrick straddling him, their mouths are connected, and her arms are wrapped around his neck. One of his hands is up her shirt, clearly wrapped around her breast.
I halt at the sight, blinking for a few seconds before my entire vision is clouded by rage. I growl as I storm toward them, intending to rip Ashley off him so I can punch his smug face. I’m only ten feet away when I stop again, as I remember Tiff .
This is going to break her.
How do I tell her this? I can’t watch her heart be torn to pieces in front of me. I don’t want the knowledge that I now have. What if he lies and says he didn’t do it? I pull my phone out of my pocket and snap a picture of the two of them before I continue toward them.
My momentary pause has abated my rage, but my anger is still boiling, and I know I can snap any second.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I snarl when I reach them.
Ben pulls away from Ashley and stares, glassy-eyed, at me. She has the same vacant stare that tells me they’re both off their faces right now.
He turns to look at Ashley and grins. “Fucking this sexy bitch.”
“Mmm, yes,” she says, moaning as she grinds herself on him.
His pants are still on, so they probably haven’t fucked yet. “Ben, you need to stop. You can’t cheat on Tiff.”
“What? No. It’s fine, Dec.”
I grab Ashley’s arm and try pulling her off Ben, but she yanks it away. “Fuck off!”
“You need to fucking stop,” I growl.
“Get fucked, Dec!” Ben pulls Ashley further away from me.
“Is there a problem here?” a deep voice says behind me .
I turn to see two security guards in suits, looking more than ready to haul me out of the club. I’ve been kicked out of places enough times to recognize the signs.
“He grabbed me,” Ashley accuses as she flips me the bird. “Asshole.”
One of the security guards grabs my arm, and I yank it out of his grasp. “Fuck off. I’m leaving anyway.”
They follow me all the way to the entrance of the club, so I don’t even get a chance to tell Daisy I’ve gone. I order a car to take me back to my townhouse, and as soon as I’m in the vehicle, I pull out my phone to text her. At once, I’m greeted with the picture of Ben and Ashley, and I blow out a breath of air, the reality of what just happened finally sinking in.
It seemed like they were more than happy to fuck right there in the club, and I feel sick thinking of Tiff getting cheated on while she’s at the hospital with her grandfather. I quickly send a text to Daisy.
Dec: Got kicked out. I’m headed home. Let me know if you hear from Tiff or Jazz.
It isn’t long before she replies.
Daisy: WTF?! Why were you kicked out? You weren’t even drunk.
Trust Daisy to immediately ask a question I can’t really answer right now. There’s no way I can explain what happened without telling her about Ben, and I need to figure out how to tell Tiff first.
Dec: Got into a fight with an asshole. No big deal. Just make sure you let me know if you hear from the girls.
Luckily, she accepts this answer and agrees to let me know. I try calling Tiff, but she doesn’t answer, so I head to the kitchen and grab some beer and chips. I turn on the TV and watch whatever comes on, eventually passing out in the early hours of the morning.
When I wake up, I’m groggy, and my head hurts. I feel sick, but not so bad that I think I’ll puke. Memories from last night come flooding back, and I snatch up my phone. There’s a missed call from Tiff, and a text from Daisy telling me that Tiff and Jazz’s grandfather is out of surgery, but nothing from Ben.
I take some painkillers and eat some toast, my hangover nowhere near as bad as the knowledge that Tiff’s going to be hurt. I have no idea how I’m going to tell her what I saw, so I send Jazz a message.
Dec: Hey, are you okay? Do you guys need anything? Can you call me when you’re free?
I play a video game to get my mind off things, and it’s a couple of hours later when my phone rings with Jazz’s name displayed on the screen.
“Hey, Jazz,” I say warily, my stomach churning. “How’s your Gramps?”
“He’s gonna be okay,” she says, the relief evident in her voice.
“I’m so glad to hear it,” I tell her honestly, glad their family patriarch will survive this. “There’s something I need to talk to you about,” I say hesitantly.
“Me?” she asks, sounding surprised. “Why not Tiff?”
I cringe as I inhale deeply and let out the air slowly. “Because I saw Ben kissing Ashley Kirkpatrick last night.”
There’s stunned silence for a few moments before Jazz says, “You fucking what?! ”
“It was after Tiff left. I was trying to find him for ages, and eventually, I found him in the back of the club, practically fucking Ashley.”
“That can’t be true. He would never. They’re getting married, for fuck’s sake!”
I grimace, and sigh. “It is true. If you don’t believe me, I can send you the picture. He was off his fucking face, of course.”
“Like that’s a fucking excuse,” she growls.
“I didn’t say it was,” I point out as calmly as possible. “Trust me. I almost punched him.” I think of his smarmy face and the way he didn’t give a fuck about cheating on the most beautiful woman in the world. “I wish I fucking had.”
Heat floods through me as my blood boils. For years, I’ve watched Ben with Tiff. He treats her well, but he takes her for granted. Complaining that she doesn’t want to party the same way she did when we were teens.
Sure, Tiff has changed in the last ten years, but watching her step up and prepare to take over from Milton has only made me love her more. I like how she’s grown, and it’s not like she’s ‘no fun anymore.’
“Did you say you have a picture?” Jazz asks, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Yeah.”
“Can you send it to me?”
I put the call on speaker, flick into the photo app and send her the pic, just as infuriating in photo evidence as it was last night. I can’t imagine being as lucky as Ben and even wanting to touch someone else. I hate him so much for what he did.
“It should come through any second.”
“What in the actual fuck?!” Jazz explodes. “This is disgusting. They’re practically fucking in this picture.”
“I swear to god, Jazz, I wanted to kill him. I can’t believe he’d do this to Tiff.”
“Me, either.” She sighs heavily. “Thanks for telling me. I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
I assume she’s going to take on the task of letting Tiff know her fiancé is a cheating douchebag. I’m relieved that I won’t have to be the one to break the news.
“Tell Tiff that I’m on her side no matter what happens. She’ll always have me.”
“Thanks, Dec.”
I hang up the phone and am greeted once again with the picture of Ben and Ashley. I growl and hurl it across the room, wishing I’d punched him when I had the chance.