“What happened downstairs? Where… where are you going?” I stammer.
“I have to go down to the police station and give a statement.”
“What?” I put my hands on my head. “Oh, no.” I begin to pace. “Why do you have such a huge box of condoms?” I ask. God knows why I want him to answer that, but I do.
He stops what he’s doing and looks at me, deadpan. “I blow them up and make farm animals for children at parties. What do you think?”
I stare at him. “Smart ass.”
He ties his shoes angrily. “You shouldn’t be worried about who I sleep with, anyway. Your dipshit boyfriend is downstairs.” He sneers.
I frown. Oh, yeah. I had forgotten about him.
I wring my hands. “What’s going to happen at the police station?”
“Nothing. I give a statement and then I come home.”
“Will you ring me and tell me what happened?” I ask.
“Why don’t you ask your boyfriend what happens?” he snaps as he stands.
“I’m not talking to him. He pisses me off,” I whisper.
“Not as much as he pisses me off, I can assure you,” he snaps. He disappears out of the room and I begin to pace, my head in my hands. This is a real fucking disaster.
I wait for fifteen minutes and hide behind the drapes, watching from the window as Ben walks down the driveway with Joshua, Eric, and another policeman, and then I can’t see what happens out on the street. What car did they go in? Is Ben under arrest? Oh, my God, my poor heart can’t handle this.
Did Eric see my car?
The door opens and Natasha bursts in. “Oh, my fucking God! Joshua and Eric got into a fight downstairs.”
“What?” I shriek.
“Eric was being a dick and giving attitude about Joshua having money and Ben being his lacky, and then it got out of control. I thought Joshua was going to knock him out.”
I drop my head into my hands. “What was Ben doing?”
“Ben was being Ben. Not saying anything, clenching his jaw in anger.”
“For fuck’s sake. What if he charges him with her murder? Did Ben do this?” I ask, terrified of the answer.
“No, he didn’t.”
“Would Joshua tell you if he did?” I ask.
“Probably not.”
“What are we going to do?” I stammer.
Tash puts her arm around me and we sit on the bed. “I don’t know.” She sighs. “But I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Eric at this point.”
I close my eyes and blow out a breath. This is a complete nightmare.
It’s 4:00 p.m. and I haven’t heard from Ben all day. So much for calling me, and I can’t even ring him to see what happened in case he’s still at the police station. Natasha is at some stupid charity lunch, so I don’t even know if the boys are back at Natasha’s or not yet.
I think this is the most stressed out I have been in years, and I may have worn the carpet out with all my pacing.
The door buzzer goes off and I run to the screen to see who it is.
Eric. Fuck.
I push the button. “Come up.” I sigh.
I don’t want to see him. In fact, he’s the last person I want to see. He comes through the door and smiles when he sees me. “Hi, babe.”
“Hi.” I fold my arms. “Where have you been?”
“Working,” he replies as he throws his jacket over the back of the lounge.
“You worked last night, so why did you work today as well?”
“I had an important case.”
“Bullshit. You were chasing Ben out of spite for last night, weren’t you?”
His eyes hold mine. “He called you up telling tales, did he?”
I narrow my eyes. “No, he hasn’t, actually. I spoke to Natasha and she told me how rude you were to Joshua this morning.”
He lifts his chin defiantly. “Yeah, well, I don’t like him.”
“You don’t even know him,” I snap.
“I don’t want to, either. Rich boys don’t excite me.”
“Get out.”
“What?” He frowns.
“You heard me. Get out. I don’t want anything to do with you and your prejudice.”
“You’re sticking up for him?”
“Of course, I’m sticking up for him. He’s my family.”
“He’s covering up for a murderer, Bridget.”
“Bullshit. You have your nose out of joint because Ben made it known that he wants me back and, rather than deal with the threat like a normal person, you’re dealing with it like a fucking cop, searching for something that isn’t even there.”
“So, you think Ben is innocent?”
“I know he’s innocent,” I yell.
“I know he’s guilty, and I know that Joshua fucking Stanton is lying through his teeth.”
“That’s it. Get out!” I scream.
He looks at me for a moment with calculating eyes. “Did you have something to do with this? What do you know, Bridget?” he asks way too calmly.
I frown as fear slithers over me. “What? Don’t be absurd. You’ve gone fucking crazy.”