CHAPTER 26. IN A DEEP SHIT
RYDER
“Don't you get it, Tiffany? I'm gonna be out of town for a day or two. There's no way in hell I'm attending these meetings,“ I stared horribly at the hundred scheduled meetings she'd emailed me. How the fuck did my schedule become this jam-packed? And I'm just one person, My God. How am I expected to attend all these meetings?
“But Sir, the meetings were confirmed and scheduled at the beginning of the month. It would be rude to cancel now. Can't you reschedule whatever it is you wanna go do out of town?“
“I'm visiting the flooded packs. There's no way in hell I'm canceling that.“
“But–“
“Cancel the meetings. I don't care if I come off as rude and inconsiderate. I'm not attending them. But feel free to reschedule…“
The undertone sigh from her showed her damning frustration about everything. The meetings were over a hundred. Asking her to cancel and reschedule was a herculean task. But there was no other way.
“Isn't there a possibility that you're gonna send in a proxy? Canceling these meetings might be bad for business,“
“A proxy?“ I gave it a brief thought, but couldn't think of anyone who'd fill in that position right now.
Darius, alongside the other warlords, has been at the pack house all night. They've been working their ass off, getting ready for our trip. They'd packed up everything we needed, and since dawn, they'd been out there making sure we weren't leaving behind any necessary thing.
There was no way he'd stay back, not him, not any other warlords…
“I'm afraid Darius can't. He's leaving with me…“
“But Jason isn't. Maybe you can send him in as your proxy?“
I shook my head as if she was right in front of me.
“Nah, I'm sorry, Tiffany, but Jason got a job to do. He can't be my proxy,“
“What job could be more important than securing meetings worth over a billion dollars?“
“There is such a job. Don't ask. Just know he can't be my proxy. He's taking care of something more important,“
She sighed, louder this time, not willing to conceal her frustration anymore.
“What about your fiancee?“ she asked, her voice in a low tone. “Would this be too much of a feat for her?“
A low growl sizzled in my throat at her words. “Ciara's out of town. She's on a fucked-up philanthropist work.“
I said, still infuriated by how devious that bitch was.
She was supposed to go take care of the flooded Ice-pack. But instead, Ciara had invited the media, engaging in countless interviews and announcing to the whole world that she was my kryptonite and we would be hitting the aisle pretty soon. She was such a social climber, using me as her perfect ladder up to the world of relevance and popularity.
“I've been watching the news. Are you both in love as much as she portrays?“ Tiffany asked. She was jealous. I could feel it in her words.
“Ciara can make as many false claims as she wants. Doesn't change the fact that I'd rather jerk off all my life than have to touch her pussy,“
“But, she…“
“I don't care what she says, Tiffany. And don't call her my fiancee again. I might not be able to hold back and just snap your neck,“ I said through clenched teeth.
“I'm sorry. I just thought…“ She fell silent, trying to keep the tears in her voice at bay.
“What?“ I urged her, needing to hear it all.
“I just thought you really do love her now, and that's why you became cold to me,“
“I didn't become cold to you, Tiff. I just nicely rejected your sweet pussy. That's all I did,“ Even without seeing her, I could still feel her cheeks flush at my words.
“Why?“ she asked in a sexy whisper.
“Because I'm madly in love with someone else!“ I breathed out, unable to keep it in anymore. “You're a ten, Tiffany. And if I could, I'd still wanna thrust inside your pussy, but I can't. Not when my heart and body crave for someone else.“
She said no words but I could hear the fast racing of her heart. If only I knew what to say to make her feel better.
“Does Ciara know about her?“
“Not yet. But she'll find out eventually. 'Cause I don't plan on keeping it a secret much longer. Ciara and the whole world will know about the one who truly holds my heart. My real kryptonite,“
“I see,“ She mumbled, silencing a sob.
Right there, I knew there was no fixing this. I've hurt her and there's nothing I can do about it. Nothing I'd say would make this right. Might as well give it a rest!
“Cancel the meetings and do keep me updated if something comes up.“
“Okay, Sir. Do have a nice trip.“
The line went dead.
“Trouble in paradise?“ Jason's cocky voice reverberated in the room. He'd just walked in. He took a seat, crossing his legs and watching me with a sly smile.
I flung my phone on the table with a sigh. “I just told Tiffany I was in love with someone else,“
“You did what?!“
“I had to. She wouldn't stop asking why I sidelined her. I couldn't help it when she kept insisting it had to do with Ciara,“
“But dude, she's hurting! The timing isn't perfect. Now you've crushed her completely,“
I looked at him sharply and he raised his hands in defense, “How do you know that?“
“Know what?“
“That she's hurting,“
“Easy. I'm the smartest between the both of us when it has to do with women, pussy, and fuck.“
“Keep talking,“
“Tiffany has had it rough these past weeks. She's been hitting the club. Drinking a lot. Crying a lot. I'm sorry I have to break it to you, but she's not as tough as you thought she was. The girl's hurting, man,“
“I had no idea, Man. I thought Tiffany understood perfectly that what we had was a good, fuck-mate relationship.“
“Yeah. At first, she did. But you grew on her and she couldn't help but fall for you,“
“She told you that?“
“Not directly. But she has your photos on her nightstand. She quizzes me about you anytime we meet. Man, it was pretty obvious that she'd fallen head over heels for you,“
“How could she be so dumb? This was a no-strings-attached thingy. Why would she wager her heart?“ I asked frustratedly. This wasn't the first time I'd left girls broken and shattered. But this time, it's different. Tiffany was no random fuck-mate. She was more of an asset to me. If she's emotionally damaged, I'll be ruined.
“Well, you don't get to choose who you fall in love with, do you? Your heart makes the choice and you follow blindly, stupidly, just like you..“ he made a sarcastic eye gesture.
“Yeah, just like me and my insane feelings for Hara.“ I admitted, ignoring his insulting words.
“Yes, that. She's yet to accept the mate-bond but you're already acting like a lovestruck, teenage bastard,“
“Say the word 'bastard' again and I'll rip your head off!“
“My point exactly!“ Jason laughed. “I called you a lovestruck teenager and you cool with it. Just not cool that I added bastard,“
“I guess that's because I'm indeed acting like a lovestruck teenager, Goddess help me.“ I puffed, facepalming myself.
A knock on the door had me looking up but Jason was already headed to the door. He had a brief conversation with whoever it was before shutting the door.
His eyes were glued to the newspaper he'd just received as he returned to his seat.
“What have you done?“ he soliloquized, his voice sounding anxious.
“What's going on?“ I asked, noticing how shaky he was becoming.
“This,“ he slowly placed the newspaper on the table.
My gaze caught the photo that had made the front page. It was me and the dead, inebriated bastard I'd run over with my car last night. Someone had taken a picture of when I'd alighted my car to check if he was truly dead and it made the papers, with a headline which read 'IS THE ALPHA PRINCE LOSING HIS MIND?'
“You're in deep shit, Ryder.“ Jason said. “Really deep shit.“