Chapter Eighteen #5
They weren’t one hundred percent sure how Ridge would take this, and she didn’t want Lucian handling this alone. The last time, Ridge got in a shot to his family jewels—and while not intentional, she wanted his man bits intact.
For later use.
“I’ll stay. I have time.”
Well, then, it looked as if they were going to both have one hell of a miserable time telling Ridge.
Getting out, they headed toward the door, and Lucian unlocked it. Once inside, they re-secured it and found the family in the waiting area.
Everyone was watching them, curiously.
“You guys look like you’ve lost your best friends,” Booth stated. “What happened?” he asked, worried about them.
Bishop told them.
“We found out some bad things, and we have to break them to Ridge.”
Uh-oh.
Honestly, they weren’t sure how much more Ridge could take. While Lucian was gone, there hadn’t been a peep out of him as he hid in their shared office.
Not that they could blame him, but it still worried them.
Booth lifted a brow.
“What kind of things?”
Lucian hesitated.
“Oh, no. It’s going to be bad,” he said, when the man didn’t answer right away.
The energy in the room…it was off.
Because it was pertinent to the case, Bishop shared, but only because it was a small group and they’d need to keep this quiet.
Ridge’s personal life didn’t need to be office gossip.
The last thing she wanted was the whole place gossiping—like they had been regarding Lucian and Ridge—and Ridge having to hear it over and over again.
Thank God Trey wasn’t around, or he would have run his mouth nonstop.
“Wynter was seeing a therapist for depression, and in the process, she had an affair with her doctor. It’s been ongoing for over four months.”
She let that hang there.
Booth gasped.
“Oh, shit.”
Yeah, tell them about it.
So, to save Ridge, Lucian went there.
“We’re not telling the whole business,” he stated. “Would you like everyone to be talking about something so personal?” he asked.
And that hung there right next to the other bomb.
At least Booth and Raven had the common sense to look chagrined as they were busted.
“In my defense,” Booth said, “Trey was telling everyone. It was hard not to hear about it.”
That was the ONLY reason Lucian wasn’t pissy. From here on out, he was drawing the line in the sand when it came to Ridge and his personal business.
Someone had to protect him.
That someone was now him.
“I assumed. Well, he won’t know about this, since he’s in lockdown at Raven’s, so we’re going to be adults, or I’m going to get bitchy.
It’s one thing for everyone to be gossiping about his and my relationship in the static, but it’s a completely different thing to be constantly bringing up his wife’s infidelity. ”
There was the warning, and he hoped everyone got it. Lucian loved everyone in their family, but he wouldn’t allow Ridge to be hurt.
Raven reassured him.
“We won’t speak of it. I promise.”
That worked for Lucian.
“Thank you. Now, we’re going to have to go tell him, and hope he holds up.”
No one envied them of that job.
With that, he and Bishop headed up the staircase, and to the offices upstairs.
Once inside, they found Ridge sitting on the couch there. His legs were tucked up, and his chin was on his knees as he stared off into space.
When he heard Lucian clear his throat, announcing his arrival, he looked over.
The absolute misery in his eyes…
It was heartbreaking.
Immediately, Lucian headed his way and sat beside him, so they could get this over with as quickly as possible.
“Hey, Baby, are you okay?” he asked, as Bishop sat in the seat facing the couch.
He shrugged.
“I was just reliving all of this and hating myself for not being there for Wyn. Did I check out?” he asked. “Of the marriage?”
Oh, boy.
This wasn’t good.
Ridge hadn’t, but he was about to find out that Wynter had. This was going to be a sucker punch to the gut.
No.
Freaking.
Doubt.
“Absolutely not,” Lucian said, leaving a kiss on Ridge’s forehead.
“You didn’t know this was going to happen,” he said, staring at his wife.
“There was no way you could see this coming, Ridge, and we’re sorry for that.
Life throws some wild punches, and all we can do is take the ones that land and dodge the others. ”
Ridge was leaning against Lucian and felt it.
“What happened? I can feel the energy coming off of you, and it’s not good.”
Oh, boy.
“Just tell me,” he said softly.
This was going to suck. The whole time, Lucian was staring at his wife, willing her to be gentle because he could also feel Ridge’s energy.
He couldn’t take much more.
As her husband nodded, signaling it was time, Bishop knew she needed to get this over with for all of their sakes.
“We found some things out, Ridge.”
He stared at her.
“What?” he asked. “What did you find out?”
This was delicate.
First, she went there.
“We can skip telling you, if you think in any way you’re not able to handle this right now,” Bishop said. “Because it’s something that can wait.”
He lifted a brow.
That confused him.
So, he glanced over at Lucian.
“Is it that bad?” he asked. “Because both of you are tiptoeing around something. Why does Bishop look like she’s ready to cry? Surely, this can’t get worse.”
Lucian did one thing.
He nodded.
Oh, well, now, Ridge was sick to his stomach all over again.
“You said you could skip telling me. Do I need to know?” he asked.
Bishop nodded.
“At some point, yes. We can hold it, if that’s going to help you start to heal. I don’t want to push you over the edge, but I don’t get to control this, Ridge. You have to decide if you want all of the bad news, and then start to heal, or heal, and take another blow.”
And he knew.
Oh, deep down, his gut already told him. As he’d been sitting there, contemplating all of this, the pieces began falling into place.
There was only one thing that was as bad as his wife taking her life.
“She was having an affair, wasn’t she?”
Oh, well, never let it be said that men weren’t just as aware of shit like this happening behind their backs.
“I’m sorry,” Lucian admitted.
He was shaking.
“Jo warned me, and I brushed it away. Only, the birth control pills and the dream I had were very clear. She was apologetic that I was going to find things out and that she couldn’t tell me herself.
A few times, I smelled another cologne on her, but I wrote it off as perfume.
I rationalized it, because I didn’t want to believe it.
Deep down, I knew my wife was having an affair, but I didn’t want to believe it. ”
That sucked all the air from the room.
Bishop slowly nodded.
As she did, Ridge’s eyes filled with tears. They overflowed and slipped down his cheeks. The whole time, he never looked away from Bishop.
For some reason, her strength grounded him.
“Hey, we’re here with you,” she said, as he reached for her.
His shaking hand moved, and he needed to hold onto something that wouldn’t let him fall.
“Bish,” he whispered. “Help.”
Moving closer, she pulled the chair directly in front of him on the couch, and their knees touched.
“I’m here. I’ve got you,” she promised.
As he clutched her hand, Lucian watched his wife keep him stable—well, as stable as a person could.
Finally, he spoke.
“Who?” he whispered. “Please don’t tell me someone we know,” he whispered. “She was with me pretty much twenty-four-seven. Please don’t let it be someone I loved,” he whispered. “Or trusted.”
Well, at least he wouldn’t lose family, too.
Finally, she went there.
“Know how we found out that she was seeing a therapist?” she asked.
He nodded.
Only, she didn’t say anything else, and that hung there for Ridge to put the context clues together.
Finally, he did.
“With the therapist?” he asked. “She was sleeping with her psychiatrist?”
There was horror in his voice.
Yeah, been there.
Done that.
She slowly nodded her head, hating that the man was going through this. She could see the guilt, the pain, and the devastation.
This was the problem with cheating.
Someone ALWAYS got hurt.
Bishop couldn’t say if it was because of Ridge and Lucian, or not. She wasn’t Wynter, and she hadn’t known what was going through her head.
Not.
Even.
Close.
“I’m sorry.”
When he started crying, Lucian comforted him. He wrapped his arms around him.
“She had to hate me a lot to do that,” he whispered. “She had to really want to destroy me.”
That hung there.
Again, they didn’t know what was going through Wynter’s mind regarding this, but they could see how it looked to Ridge.
When Ridge buried his face in Lucian’s neck to hide, it was time to call it a conversation and end it here and now. It was time to start healing as Ridge was lying flat on his back at the bottom of the goddamn barrel.
Wynter—two.
Ridge—zero.
She’d gotten another good shot in from the grave.
“I have it from here,” he said to his wife. “I’ll help him get through this,” he offered.
He could feel the energy coming off of the man, and it wasn’t good.
This had leveled him.
She was grateful her husband was giving her a way out of this. Honestly, it was for the best that Lucian help him.
That connection might be able to pull him from the pit on this one.
So, Bishop nodded.
“If you need me, call. If not, I’ll be with Honor and the Littlemoons, working this to find this person.”
As she got up, she leaned down and kissed Ridge on the top of the head.
“I love you, Ridge. We’ve got you,” she promised. “I’m sorry about all of this.”
He said nothing.
What was there to say?