Page 13 of Ruthless Desires, Vol. Two (Ruthless Desires Series Extended Editions #2)

Wren

If I had to choose between standing under Ludo’s chilling gaze or Rhett’s angry, disbelieving glare, I’d choose Ludo a thousand times over. Nothing he could ever say to me would hurt nearly as much as the look Rhett is giving me right now.

“What,”

he grits out, “the actual hell.”

“I—”

He holds up his hand to silence me, his glare sharpening.

“First, you come down here in the middle of the night by yourself. And then you get in the pool when you know very well that you could’ve panicked and drowned.”

With a sigh, I squeeze my eyes shut, willing the betrayed look on Rhett’s face to fall away. But when I glance at him again, it’s still there.

“And then,”

Rhett continues, laughing bitterly, “it turns out that you’ve been keeping a vital piece of information from us. Why would you do that, Wren? Fucking why?”

“I didn’t want…”

Shifting from one foot to the other, I let my gaze drop to his hands. They’re clenched into fists at his sides. Fuck. How do I explain this to Rhett without him thinking I don’t trust him?

“I’m doing my best not to jump to conclusions here, Wren. But I’m struggling to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why you’d keep it to yourself that he was there.”

Rhett shakes his head, blowing out a harsh breath.

“God, I’m going to kill him. I can’t believe he thought he could get away with this.”

Fuck. He shouldn’t be saying stuff like that out in the open.

“That’s why,”

I say softly. I take his hand, relieved when he doesn’t pull away, and guide him back into the hotel. The air conditioning is cold against my still-damp skin, and I want nothing more than to huddle into Rhett’s warmth, but I have a feeling he’d push me away if I tried.

The thought breaks my heart.

“I don’t understand,”

Rhett says, frowning at me.

Keeping my voice down just in case someone can hear us, I say, “I didn’t tell you guys that Ludo was there—that he easily could’ve saved me but didn’t—because of you.”

The second we’re closed into the elevator, Rhett drops my hand.

“That doesn’t make sense. I should’ve been one of the first people you told. But instead, you hid the fact that he was there. That doesn’t look good for you, Wren.”

I let out an exasperated noise as I turn to face him.

“Rhett! Just look at yourself. When you find out that someone you care about has been hurt, your first instinct is to find the person who harmed them and hurt them back. You did it with Adam. And if he’d been a little bit more knowledgeable about the gun that was in his hand, he could’ve killed you.”

“He didn’t though.”

“It could’ve been Oliver,”

I remind him gently.

“It almost was.”

His nostrils flare.

“And don’t insult my intelligence by pretending I don’t know you want to do something to Thomas, too.”

Rhett opens his mouth to protest before snapping his jaw shut.

“I understand you’re angry at Ludo—for lots of reasons. But going off without a plan over this one thing likely would’ve gotten you hurt, if not killed. It would’ve ruined your overarching plan as well. I was going to tell you. Just not yet.”

The elevator comes to a stop, and the doors open. Neither of us move. His expression goes from pissed to understanding to irate in a matter of seconds.

“You thought that’s what I’d do,”

he says flatly.

“That I’d ruin everything we’ve spent a decade working on, for you.”

“I wasn’t one hundred percent sure,”

I whisper, watching him shake his head.

“I didn’t want—”

“You severely underestimate how much avenging Sammy’s murder means to me,”

he says, and his voice is so icy and scathing at the same time that it has the hair on the back of my neck standing up.

The elevator doors start closing. Rhett jerks his arm out, stopping them, and they slide open again.

“Go to bed, Wren.”

“But—”

“Now.”

The finality in his voice sends a wave of dread through my system. I step off the elevator, swallowing down the need to ask him where he’s going. I hold his gaze as the doors shut, even though he’s looking at me with so much disappointment it makes my throat feel like it’s closing in on itself.

Was I wrong to worry about what Rhett’s reaction would be? To assume I meant more to Rhett than I do? The thought causes a tangible, painful weight to press down on my chest.

Inside the penthouse, I shut the door quietly, frowning. Some of the lights are on.

“Wren?”

Elliot calls. “Rhett?”

He comes into view, shirtless and in sweatpants.

With the windows framing the dark ocean behind him, Elliot looks larger than life, like something out of a movie. If things were different, I’d probably enjoy staring at him right now. As it is, though, I’m fighting to do anything but burst into tears.

“There you are. I thought I heard someone leave.”

As he moves closer to me, he narrows his eyes.

“Were you swimming?”

“Yeah. Rhett followed me down.”

Elliot glances behind me.

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know.”

This would be a good time to explain everything to Elliot, but I can’t bring myself to do it. Having him look at me the same way Rhett was mere seconds ago would be too much. I can’t handle disappointing both of them in one night.

I try to move past Elliot, but he grabs my arm and tugs me back.

“What happened?”

“I…”

Fuck, Ludo was right. I’m nothing more than a coward.

“I can’t, I’m sorry.”

I slip out of his hold, heading into mine and Rhett’s room. As I start to close the door behind me, Elliot puts a hand out and stops it.

“Why am I getting the feeling that something really bad happened?”

I try to push the door shut, but it doesn’t budge.

“I really don’t want to talk about it, and you need to get some sleep. Aren’t you taking the morning shift with Aubrey?”

“Wren, you look like you’re about to start crying. Do you really expect me to leave you alone?”

Goddammit.

“If you want someone to comfort, Rhett probably needs it more than I do. Go find him. I need to wash the chlorine out of my hair.”

“Love, just tell me what happened.”

“I can’t.”

I push at the door again, but Elliot shoves it wide open and steps into the bedroom.

“Why not?”

I try to explain, but I choke on the words. Slowly, I back away from him and try again. My voice shakes.

“Because I’m afraid you’ll hate me afterward.”

Elliot shakes his head.

“I could never hate you.”

Realization crosses his features, and then he’s stepping toward me, slipping an arm around my waist and pulling me against him.

“What did Rhett say? What did he do?”

For a moment, I squeeze my eyes shut and stay silent. But at this rate, Elliot isn’t going to leave me alone, so I might as well get this over with. I look up at him, at the way his brows are furrowed in worry and his eyes are burning with concern. There’s nothing I can do but try to soak it in, to try to remember everything about this moment. If he reacts like Rhett does, it might be the last time he looks at me with any kind of care.

Before speaking, I take a deep breath, trying to steady my voice.

“Rhett didn’t do anything. I… I did. When Jordan kidnapped me, Ludo stopped by his house one day, I think for some kind of business meeting. When Ludo saw I was there, he broke off the deal and left.”

The moment I mention Ludo, Elliot tenses, his arm around me tightening. When I finish, he looks up at the ceiling, taking a deep breath. Then he looks down at me, confusion and anger replacing the concern in his eyes.

“He left you.”

I nod.

Elliot releases me, rubbing at his face.

“I know I shouldn’t expect anything from that miserable piece of shit. But he… Jesus fuck. He just left you there. Goddammit, I knew he was lying.”

“I—”

“Wait. Wait, did you just tell this to Rhett?”

“Yes. He—”

“Fuck.”

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he taps the screen a few times before holding it to his ear.

Why isn’t he angry? He should be furious with me.

“Rhett isn’t answering. Shit. There’s no way he’s thinking straight. If he tries to get back at Ludo…”

“What? No, he won’t.”

“We need to find him before he does something he’ll regret.”

Elliot is already rushing out of the bedroom and into his.

“Elliot! He’s not going to do anything.”

I follow, lingering in the doorway while he pulls on a shirt. Oliver is still sound asleep in the bed.

Turning to me, Elliot says, “This is what he does, love. Every single time. You saw it with you and Adam.”

“I know. I—”

“Just trust me, Rhett is—”

“He won’t,”

I shout, causing Oliver to wake.

“Just listen to me for five seconds. Rhett found out that Ludo was there. And when I explained that I didn’t tell you guys because I was afraid Rhett would deviate from the plan out of anger, he got mad at me for even thinking that. So he’s not going to do anything.”

Elliot pauses, frowning.

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

Oliver groans.

“What’s going on?”

Still giving me a blank stare, Elliot says, “Rhett got mad at you because you assumed he’d continue acting the same way he’s acted for years?”

“I… I guess, yeah.”

Absentmindedly, Elliot runs his thumb across his bottom lip. Then he’s right in front of me again, stroking my hair.

“We’ll figure this out.”

I cringe away.

“Why aren’t you mad at me? I lied to all of you.”

The question seems to take him aback. “I…”

“Guys,”

Oliver says. He’s sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

“What the hell is going on?”

With a sigh, Elliot says to me, “I’ll explain it to him. Why don’t you shower.”

“Are you sure? It might take longer than normal, I should probably do a hair mask because of the chlorine—”

“It’s okay, love. Take your time.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

After he kisses me on the forehead, I give Oliver an uneasy glance before I all but flee the room. In mine and Rhett’s bathroom, I turn on the shower, trying to stop myself from shaking.

They’re never going to forgive me. I shouldn’t’ve kept it from them. I shouldn’t’ve tried to keep Rhett safe.

In the shower, I thoroughly wash the chlorine from my body and go through my normal haircare routine, plus the hair mask. Like I told Elliot, it takes longer than normal. I think most of the reason why is because I’m avoiding the conversation I know will come once I’m done.

Even so, I’m still finished before I’d like to be. Slowly, I open the bedroom door and step out. Elliot and Oliver are both sitting in the living area with solemn looks on their faces.

Elliot looks up.

“Rhett texted me. He’s okay, love. He just needs some space.”

I cling to the small thread of relief, but it’s not enough to quell my uneasiness. I twist my fingers into my oversized T-shirt.

“I really am sorry.”

Oliver doesn’t look at me. It’s understandable. This was a vital piece of information for them to have, and I kept it from them. Still, it causes my heart to ache.

“Come here,”

Elliot says, patting the couch cushion next to him. When I sit, leaving some space in between us, he threads an arm around me and pulls me closer.

On the couch across from us, Oliver continues staring at the ground. He’s leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees, keeping his head bowed.

“I get why you did it,”

Elliot says.

“For the most part, anyway. You were afraid of how Rhett would react?”

I nod silently.

“Okay, that makes sense, given his track record. But if you’d told all of us together, Ol and I would’ve been able to stop him until he calmed down.”

How did I not realize that on my own?

“I’m sorry,”

I say quietly.

“I didn’t think it through.”

“It’s okay.”

Elliot’s voice stays soothing and calm, and I just don’t get it. How the hell is he not angry? “We’ve thrown a lot at you the past couple weeks, love. You judged the situation the best you could.”

I stare at him blankly. Is he serious? Considering Rhett’s reaction, I was expecting Elliot and Oliver to be just as angry.

“You understand?”

“Honestly? It’s something I probably would’ve done when we were younger. But, just so we’re clear, it can’t happen again.”

“It won’t,”

I say quickly.

“I promise.”

With a tired sigh, Elliot nods.

“I need to get some sleep. But tomorrow, after my shift with Aubrey and after Rhett cools down, let’s talk this out. You can tell us everything that happened when Ludo showed up.”

“Okay,”

I whisper, scrunching my eyes shut when he kisses my forehead.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, love.”

After kissing Oliver’s forehead, Elliot heads into their bedroom and shuts the door softly. Silence takes over the penthouse, and I have to force myself to breathe while I watch Oliver. He’s still in the same position, head bowed, with one of his legs bouncing. No acknowledgment of my presence, no words—nothing.

He hates me. My god, he hates me. What if he never gets past this?

“Oliver?”

His leg freezes, and he heaves in a heavy breath.

“Princess…”

“Please don’t hate me,”

I whisper.

Oliver’s head snaps up.

“What? Hate you? Princess, why would I—”

His eyes widen when he sees my face.

“Oh god. Wren, no. I don’t hate you.”

Disbelief ripples through my thoughts.

“But you… you…”

My throat clogs up, and I have to blink back tears.

“Fuck,”

he mutters. He rubs his face.

“C’mere, princess.”

Hesitantly, I stand and step up to him. I hover a few inches away, unsure of what he wants.

“I didn’t want to keep it from you.”

Oliver takes hold of my wrists and draws me onto his lap. His arms encircle me, holding me in place, like he knows I’m two seconds from running away and sobbing into my pillow. “I know.”

“Are you angry?”

I whisper.

“Not exactly. Your intentions were pure, and I can follow the logic. But…”

When he pauses, my stomach turns. This is it. He’s never going to trust me again.

Oliver looks up at me, and I expect to see hurt or betrayal written all over his face. But the only thing I find is… worry.

“I think there are some things you need to know.”