Page 160 of Now and Forever

I could feel his body tense before he blew out a laborious breath. “Drew won’t be able to hate you, Chloe. The man cares for you. He always has, and he always will. I doubt that would ever change because you pissed him off. Whatever it is, he’ll get over it. Don’t worry, okay?”

“Not this time. He caught me with another guy in bed.” Saying it out loud made it all the more real.

For weeks, I had begun to think I was ready to move on, but the moment I realized I had lost Drew forever, my soul had been gutted. It had torn me up so badly I knew I was a changed woman, and those scars would never heal. It wouldn’t ever leave me. It would shadow me wherever I went, whatever I did.

“I didn’t realize he liked you like that,” Jackson stated in a way sounded like he was confused, as if he didn’t understand anything.

“He hasn’t been picking up my calls. I doubt he’ll ever speak to me again.”

Pulling me from his shoulders so we were facing each other, he looked me in the eyes with determination. “Go change. We’re going somewhere.”

How could he fathom that I would want to go anywhere? If he thought taking me out to eat would make me feel good, he should think again. Also, I didn’t want to leave, just in case Drew come back. This was his home, too, after all.

“I’m staying put. He might come home tonight.”

“I’m taking you to him now,” Jackson said, surprising me. “Talk to him. I can’t bear to see you crying like this. It hurts me to see you so broken, Chloe. If he’s mad, he’ll forgive you. I know him, and I know for a fact that he doesn’t get so pissed off unless he really cares about a person. So go change so we fix this.”

He didn’t need to say more, I was on my feet, gunning for the bathroom to wash up, trying to fix my blotchy skin.

In less than ten minutes, I was dressed in jeans and a simple white top, and shortly after that, we were in a cab.

My brother didn’t say much. He simply took my hand and gave it a tight squeeze, trying to give me reassurance.

Before my mind could go into playing more horrid scenarios, the cab dropped us off at the same hotel Drew had taken me to, the Mandarin Oriental. What was going on?

---