Page 5 of Black Lace

I take some painkillers and eat some toast, my hangover nowhere near as bad as the knowledge that Tiff’s going to be hurt. I have no idea how I’m going to tell her what I saw, so I send Jazz a message.

Dec: Hey, are you okay? Do you guys need anything? Can you call me when you’re free?

I play a video game to get my mind off things, andit’s a couple of hours later when my phone rings with Jazz’s name displayed on the screen.

“Hey, Jazz,” I say warily, my stomach churning. “How’s your Gramps?”

“He’s gonna be okay,” she says, the relief evident in her voice.

“I’m so glad to hear it,” I tell her honestly, glad their family patriarch will survive this. “There’s something I need to talk to you about,” I say hesitantly.

“Me?” she asks, sounding surprised. “Why not Tiff?”

I cringe as I inhale deeply and let out the air slowly. “Because I saw Ben kissing Ashley Kirkpatrick last night.”

There’s stunned silence for a few moments before Jazz says, “You fuckingwhat?!”

“It was after Tiff left. I was trying to find him for ages, and eventually, I found him in the back of the club, practically fucking Ashley.”

“That can’t be true. He would never. They’re getting married, for fuck’s sake!”

I grimace, and sigh. “It is true. If you don’t believe me, I can send you the picture. He was off his fucking face, of course.”

“Like that’s a fucking excuse,” she growls.

“I didn’t say it was,” I point out as calmly as possible. “Trust me. I almost punched him.” I think of his smarmy face and the way he didn’t give a fuck aboutcheating on the most beautiful woman in the world. “I wish I fucking had.”

Heat floods through me as my blood boils. For years, I’ve watched Ben with Tiff. He treats her well, but he takes her for granted. Complaining that she doesn’t want to party the same way she did when we were teens.

Sure, Tiff has changed in the last ten years, but watching her step up and prepare to take over from Milton has only made me love her more. I like how she’s grown, and it’s not like she’s ‘no fun anymore.’

“Did you say you have a picture?” Jazz asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Yeah.”

“Can you send it to me?”

I put the call on speaker, flick into the photo app and send her the pic, just as infuriating in photo evidence as it was last night. I can’t imagine being as lucky as Ben and even wanting to touch someone else. I hate him so much for what he did.

“It should come through any second.”

“What in the actual fuck?!” Jazz explodes. “This is disgusting. They’re practically fucking in this picture.”

“I swear to god, Jazz, I wanted to kill him. I can’t believe he’d do this to Tiff.”

“Me, either.” She sighs heavily. “Thanks for telling me. I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”

I assume she’s going to take on the task of letting Tiffknow her fiancé is a cheating douchebag. I’m relieved that I won’t have to be the one to break the news.

“Tell Tiff that I’m on her side no matter what happens. She’ll always have me.”

“Thanks, Dec.”

I hang up the phone and am greeted once again with the picture of Ben and Ashley. I growl and hurl it across the room, wishing I’d punched him when I had the chance.

CHAPTER 3

BETRAYAL

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