Chapter Eight #3
“Speaking of happiness, Bishop is off. Is she going to be okay?” she asked. “She looks about ready to cry,” Maura admitted.
Oh, he was aware.
The storm was about to hit landfall, and he was expecting the worst-case scenario.
“We’ve hit a bump in the road,” he said, keeping it pretty light. The last thing he wanted was to make Ridge upset, too. He was already preparing for a fight.
And he was exhausted.
“I hope it all works out,” Jagger said, seeing how the man he was helping had his arm around Lucian’s waist, and his head on his shoulder as they walked.
If Jagger was a betting man, he’d say that likely had something to do with it. While he understood helping your friends in a time of need, the closeness was a little more than friendship.
He’d bet on it.
A lot had happened in Lucian’s world, clearly.
Because he wanted to get this over with, meaning his talk with Bishop, he motioned toward the stairs.
“Come on up, and I’ll get you a space,” Lucian said.
When Maura glanced over at her husband, that look passed between them.
It said one thing.
There was definitely trouble in paradise.
Oof.
Unlucky them.
Meanwhile…
As they left the garage, Bishop gave them a few minutes to head up before she followed.
There was a million and one things going on in her head, and she needed to regroup.
Now, with the kitchen clear, Bishop went inside and got herself a glass of water. As she drank it, she stared over toward the Monroes’ house.
The melee was calming down, and she could see the crime scene team wrapping up their work.
She didn’t want to relive what Wynter did to herself, because she’d seen her body.
And that was going to live in her mind forever.
“Why didn’t you just do the bare minimum, Wyn? What was going on in your head?” she asked, talking to herself. “Everyone warned you. What could you have possibly believed being stubborn would get you?”
Sadly, there was no answer.
Not that she expected one.
The bottom line was that had she just spoken to one of them, or possibly worn the protection, this would have had a different outcome. What was going on in her head that she’d ignore the family and their directives to keeping her safe?
Going forward, she was not taking that necklace off because the shit got real in this town.
Real ugly.
PASS.
As she watched the cops at the gate, next door, she was grateful they hadn’t stopped to talk to the ones waiting for them. Tonight would be a mess, and honestly, she just wanted to deal with the bare minimum and get through it.
Ridge was a wreck.
Lucian was a ball of nerves.
And she was worried.
The bottom line was that everyone was on edge, and with good reason to be. Ironically, it all hinged on one family.
The Monroes.
As she stood there, she stared down at her wedding ring and wondered what was going to happen to their marriage. Would they be strong enough to withstand this, too?
So much had happened in their world over the last five years, and Bishop felt like her feet were about to be kicked out from underneath her.
And that was scary.
Instead of staying in the kitchen, it was clear that she needed to calm down. Remembering what Lucian had said about using the meditation shed, she headed out the back door and to the space her husband had created for himself and his lover.
Jesus.
H.
Christ.
That was a heavy word to carry, too.
It drew up scary pictures where she was left behind, and now, she was forced to focus on where she fit into this. Until she knew that, there would be no rest for her.
Bet.
On.
It.
Punching in their daughter’s birthday, Bishop headed inside to get comfortable.
The place was absolutely silent, and it smelled like the two men’s cologne.
The whole time, she wondered if this was where it happened. Was this the place her husband broke his promise to her? Because there was no doubt in her mind that the two men had consummated their relationship with sex.
She’d bet her badge on it.
For Lucian’s sake, she hoped and prayed he didn’t lie about this. As someone who spent her whole day being lied to, she could smell them.
That would piss her off.
For now, it appeared the ball was in his court.
As she sat in the one chair, she stared at the bed and began thinking about her friend who died.
Did Wynter find out about it, and was that one of the reasons she was depressed?
While she believed it was post-partum, could it be that her husband had been dick deep in someone else, or had Lucian’s dick in him?
Was that part of the weight that ended up being her downfall? Because not once had Wynter ever let on that she was upset about it.
In fact, the opposite was true.
Wynter seemed okay.
When the door opened, she didn’t look over. Already, she knew who it would be because whenever Lucian entered a room, she could feel that energy.
It screamed power, masculinity, and once…HERS. Now, it was anyone’s guess.
“I could feel you calling to me, Bishop. You wanted to speak to me?” Lucian asked.
The whole time he’d been getting the Armstrongs settled and tucking Ridge into a bed, he could feel the turmoil. The second she came in here, that energy hit him.
This place was protected, balanced, and a location for calm. His wife was anything but, and he understood that.
Lucian did this to her.
“I would like to, yes.”
As he approached, taking the leather seat not far from her, she could feel his walls up, as if he was bracing for some assault.
Well, they had something in common.
“When did the sex happen?” she asked. “I’m not talking about in the static. When did you both break that promise to me and fuck on this plane?”
OOF.
There it was.
The words…they hung there.
This was exactly what he’d feared, and he wasn’t shocked that his wife came here to do battle. This was exactly where it happened, and now, he was about to pay.
For a crime he didn’t even recall.
It took him a few seconds to compose himself. As he stared at his wife, his heart hurt. She was gorgeous, and he knew that losing her was going to do so much damage to him.
Bishop was his salvation, his goodness, and the only reason he got up each day for the longest time.
She saved him.
And he’d hurt her.
So, in silence, Lucian sat there as he contemplated what he was going to say. Just as he was about to open his mouth, she stopped him.
“Please don’t lie. I know that you’re now actively in a relationship on this plane with him, Lucian. I can feel it in this room. It happened here. On top of that, you called him baby. Up to this point, I was your only baby.”
Jesus.
He’d never realized that he’d said that word to Ridge, but now, he understood why she was hurting.
“Bish,” he began.
Only, she stopped him.
“Tell me when. I deserve that at least. I’ve been faithful, and I’ve helped build this life. Don’t make it foul by lying to me and trying to gaslight me. WHEN?”
What choice did he have?
He could throw himself on the mercy of the court and pray that his wife let him keep their marriage. Deep down, that was his fear. He was between a rock and a very difficult place right now because both people needed him, and neither asked for this.
He’d broken the promise.
He’d put his dick in another human being.
Yes.
That was on him.
He came clean.
“The last time we went into the static. I told you that I lost the ability to flip between the two planes. That darkness came for us, and it locked us in a box. Somehow, it stripped me of my control.”
She knew when that had been.
It was earlier in the day.
“If it matters, I didn’t intend to do it.
Ridge told me I didn’t, at first. He lied to protect us, and I had no clue it happened.
Had I known, one hundred percent, I would have come to you, Bish.
I would never intentionally break a promise to you.
I would never tarnish all we’ve built and been through by cheating on my wife, intentionally.
Stressing out my pregnant, armed wife, was never my intent. ”
Slowly, she turned her head.
Their gaze met, and she stared into his eye.
“And where does this leave me? You have a new love now, and I’m the old one. Are we done? Am I having and raising this baby alone, along with our daughter? Am I the training-wheel spouse, no longer needed or wanted?”
Jesus.
Did she actually think that he didn’t love and want her? That he’d walk away, or cheat on her to get out of being a husband and father?
He wouldn’t.
Above all else, his career and his accomplishments, being a husband and father, was far more important to him.
He loved being a dad.
That she genuinely felt what she was saying…
That hurt him in ways he couldn’t explain. It was a dagger to his heart that his sweet, protective Bishop believed she was no longer wanted or needed.
Staring into her eyes, he saw the fear and damage.
When Raven said sex magick was problematic when you weren’t doing it with your spouse, he wasn’t kidding.
This was one hell of a triangle.
“I don’t know where this leaves you, Bishop, because I don’t have the power here.
I did the crime, but you’re the one who decides my punishment.
I know I could lose you, Bishop. I know that I technically had an affair.
I know that now, because it was part of the sex magick we did in the static, it’s bound us here.
I can’t answer that question. I’m at your mercy like this put you at mine. ”
The whole time he spoke, she wanted to weep.
No.
Vomit.
The bottom line was that she loved this man more than anything. He’d stood by her and paid for her face to be fixed, and the whole time she was life-flighted to the hospital, it was his voice in her ear, begging her to stay.
For him.
And she had.
Lucian was the ONLY reason she fought for her life.
Now, she had to know the truth.
“Do you love him like you love me?” she asked, holding her breath the entire time.
Slowly, he nodded.