Page 87 of Beyond Rosy Irish Twilight

“Jade, why don’t you give us a few minutes,” Chase said.

“But—”

I turned to her and took a calming breath. She needed to trust me, and right now she couldn’t do that because I was refusing to tell her anything. “Baby, do me a favor and go upstairs. As soon as I know anything, I’ll come get you.”

“Asher, I’ve been honest with you. You need to tell me what’s going on.”

“And I will. Just…let me cool down a little first.”

She wanted to fight back on this, but stepped back with a nod. “Fine, but I expect to be filled in on everything.”

I couldn’t do that. It would hurt her so badly, and I wasn’t even sure yet how to proceed. But if she refused to leave, it would only make this harder. “Alright.”

She headed upstairs, and only once I heard the door shut did I release the breath I’d been holding.

“What the fuck happened in there?” Chase asked.

“Get everyone together. We need to strategize.”

I turned and stormed off to my office. My head was pounding and a dizzying sensation washed over me, but I continued on. I needed to sit down before the guys saw me stumbling, otherwise they’d bench me. I yanked the door open and pulled out my prescription, tossing two pills into my mouth just as Lock walked in.

He sighed and walked over to the minibar, grabbing a water out of the fridge. “Here, asshole.”

I glared at him, but drank the water greedily.

“You need to stop pushing it.”

“Thanks for the advice,” I snapped, pinching the bridge of my nose. “We have more important things to worry about right now.”

He snorted in derision. “Sure, if you’re not worried about ending up dead.”

“I’ll be fine.”

He shrugged like he didn’t care, then sat down on the couch as the others walked in. Patrick shut the door behind him and Chase walked over to the couch, breathing heavily as he sat down. Sweat trickled down his forehead, proving today was too much for him.

“Seriously, how are we supposed to leave when the both of you look like you’re about to keel over at any moment?” Edu asked.

“I’m fine,” Chase and I snapped at the same time.

Brock chuckled, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. “You know, if this was one of Zoe’s movies, you’d both be played by Bruce Willis. Although, if you remember, I had quite the talent for acting in that film we made.”

“You were terrible,” Scottie snorted. “You were stiff and wooden. I could have pulled that scene off better while I was vomiting.”

“Hey, did you hear the lines she wrote? They were terrible. Nobody talks like that,” Brock spat.

“It wasn’t the lines. It was the delivery. You suck,” Scottie spat at him.

Brock was about to go at him again when I cut him off. “Brock, can we get back on topic?”

“Yeah, you want to tell us what happened?” Chase asked.

He was leaning back on the couch, breathing heavily. I glanced at Lock, who reached over and pressed his fingers to Chase’s throat. “Fuck, man. You need to stop pushing it.”

Lock got up and stormed out of the room. I smirked at Chase, glad I wasn’t the only one that was getting picked on by Lock. When he came back in the room, he shook out some pills for Chase. “Your heart is racing. Take these.”

Chase glared at his outstretched hand. “What are those?”

“Just take them.”

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