Chapter 38
ALEX
They had only just made it to the restaurant when Ruby’s phone buzzed. She glanced down at it, her eyes widening. She looked up at him with a shimmer of panic in her eyes and then she looked back down and hid her phone in a rush. Unease settled in his gut when she smiled tightly without meeting his eyes.
- I need to go. Something just came up,” she said.
She smiled at his mother and then turned to walk away before he could even stop her.
“Ruby,” he called, rushing after her. “Where are you going?”
She looked into his eyes and the guilt he saw in them wrecked him. She was hiding something from him. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just need to head back to the hospital real quick” she said.
And then she blinked twice, her telltale sign. She was lying.
She grabbed his hand and smiled at him. “Go ahead and have lunch with your mother. I’ll see you later.”
She squeezed his hand, and then she walked away, flagging down a taxi as she went. He stared after her, his heart uneasy.
He grabbed his phone and called his security team the second slle stepped in the taxi. “Tell me exactly who just texted my wife, and what the contents of that text were,” he ordered as soon as Blake, their head security officer, picked up.
“Yes, sir,” he said.
He paced on the pavement as he waited for Blake to retrieve the data. “Everything okay?” His mother asked. “Where did Ruby gol
He shook his head. “It’s nothing, Mom. Something came up, though. Can we reschedule?”
She frowned at him and nodded, but he could tell that she was concerned. She had been worried about them for a while now, and he had let his anger at Ruby overwhelm his mother’s needs, her happiness. “Of course, Alex. I’ll have the driver pick me up.”
He smiled at her and pressed a kiss to her cheek as she grabbed her phone to call the driver.
“Mr. Blackwood,” Blake said on the phone. “It appears the text message came from your brother. The contents were as follows: I need you, Ruby. Now. Please meet me at this address,” he said. He waited for Blake to give him the address, a thousand thoughts whirling through his mind. What the fuck were they up to? An affair? After she swore to him that nothing was going on between them? He should have known better. He should have known the second he found out about the fucking lingerie bullshit.
Pure rage filled his every vein when he realized the address was a room in one of the best hotels in the city, a hotel he partially owned. His hands were shaking as he got behind the wheel. Each scenario that came to mind was more painful than the last. It felt like Natalie all over again. Finding her in the apartment he had bought for her, Cole on top of her. He was stupid to have put his faith in Ruby. To think that money could buy her loyalty.
He was seeing white as he walked into the hotel lobby. The receptionist was visibly nervous to find him there in person without any prior notice, and she stared at him with wide eyes. “Give me a duplicate key card to the Presidential suite,” he told her.
She blinked and hesitated, but thankfully for her, her manager stepped up and handed him the key before he could fire her for her incompetence. He took it and wrapped his hand around so tightly that it cut into him. Dread filled him as he took the lift up, scared of what he would find. He stood in front of the door, his heart aching in a way it never had before. Ruby…. he should’ve remembered whose little sister she was. Whose daughter she was. She had him fooled, and he had fallen for it
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10:25 Wed, Oct 16
Chapter 35
He slid the keycard through quietly and opened the door as soundlessly as he could, catching it before it slammed closed He leaned back against the wall, listening for means, but instead all he heard were pained sobs. He froze, his back straightening.
“He broke my heart. Tore it to shreds.”
He frowned, confused and took a step closer until Ruby and Scott came into view. His heart dropped when he found his half naked brother in his wife’s arms. It appeared all he was wearing was boxers, but Ruby was still fully dressed. He struggled to make sense of what he was seeing, what he was hearing
This, this wasn’t an affair. But what was going on?
“I really thought that Marcus was different.“Scott said. “I fell so hard, Ruby. I thought he was the one. I was going to tell my family about him. He already works with my brother, so I thought it might be easier for them to accept him. He’s Alex’s CFO, and I know Alex quite likes him, so I was really hopeful.” He inhaled shakily, his eyes falling closed. “But Marcus was just after the money. Today was the first time we slept together, and it was magical to me, so magical, Ruby, But he he filmed it and now he’s blackmailing me.”
Ruby hugged him tighter, her expression anguished. “We’ll figure something out, Scottie. Everything will be okay. We need to tell Alex. Hell know what to do.”
Scott pushed her away harshly, pure panic transforming his face “No!” he shouted. “My brother can’t find out,” he said, his voice high and panicked. “He’ll never see me the same way. He’ll lose all respect for me. He’ll find me despicable. A gay brother? He’ll never accept it. To have gotten blackmailed, too? He’ll just think I’m weak. You can’t tell him, Ruby. You promised. You swore you’d never tell.”
Ruby wrapped her arms around herself, looking as panicked as Scott did. The anguish on her face… fuck. He walked into the bedroom, startling them both. Scout’s expression transformed into one of betrayal, and then hatred. He looked at Ruby in disbelief and Alex shook his head.
“She was acting suspicious,” he said to his brother. So I followed her.”
He walked toward the bed and picked up Scott’s discarded clothes, his eyes roaming over the messy room. He threw Scott’s clothes at him and shook his head. “Get dressed,” he said.
Ruby rose to her feet, looking worried, and he sighed. He didn’t even know what to say to her. To think he had suspected her of cheating with his own brother, when he couldn’t have been rubre wrong. He had somehow managed to push his brother so far away
that he trusted his wife more with his secrets than he did him. And his wife… he accused her of disloyalty over and over again, when he couldn’t be more wrong. It was her loyalty that kept her from telling him the truth, even when that would have easily resolved all their issues. She kept the promises she made to Scott, even as he made her suffer for it.
Tears streamed down Scott’s face as he got dressed, and he was choking back sols, unable to look him in the eye. It broke his fucking heart to see his brother like that. He couldn’t remember the last time he had even seen Scott cry–not in years. He should’ve been the first person his brother turned to in this situation, yet he was the last person he wanted to find out. He grabbed his phone and called Elliot, one of his closest friends, and a total computer genius. He picked up almost immediately.
“What’s up?” he said. “How do I get to extort you today?”
He bit back a smile and shook his head. “I need camera footage removed,” he said, glancing at Scott.
“How were you filmed, Scott?” He asked, his voice very soft. “With what device?”
Scott swallowed hard and lifted his head slowly, fresh tears in his eyes. “I… Alex..”
Alex smiled at him and shook his head. “Just tell me what device it was.”
He nodded, big fat tears rolling down his cheeks. “It was his phone. I don’t remember what model it was.”
10:25 Wed, Oct 16
Chapter 38
B
Π
He sighed and nodded at his brother. “Elliot, I need you to fry every single device owned by Marcus Smith. He’s one of my employees. 1ll write you a blank cheque.”
He could hear Elliot typing furiously through the phone before be replied. “Is it for Scott?” he asked, his voice soft.
“Yeah.” Alex murmured. “His boyfriend betrayed him.”
Elliot fell silent. “I see. So, he’s uh, he’s gay?”
“Yeah, so?” He snapped, furious. “Is there a problem?”
“No, no,” Elliot said. “I just–1 just always thought he was really care.
Alex blinked in surprise, completely thrown. He didn’t even know what to say to that. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Well, I’m sure you know how to get your hands on his contact details, though now probably isn’t a good time.”
Elliot laughed nervously. “Okay, well, consider it done. No charge, since it’s for Scott.”
Alex laughed, he just couldn’t help it. How was he only just finding out that two people he had known forever weren’t straight? Was he really that clueless?
“Thank you,” he said. “I also need you to uncover every bit of din on him and have it go viral. I need enough to be able to fire him without having a lawsuit on my hands, I don’t want him ever being able to find another job.”
“Come on,” he said to Ruby and Scott. “We’re leaving
3/3
