Boss's Right-Hand Lover

Chapter Eight

"Why do you hate McKenzie so much?" Justin asked, waiting for me to reply.

That's right, Justin was on a mission when the incident happened. Only I, Ralph, and Rita knew what happened, and only I and Ralph knew about the incident with Xander. I hesitated for a while, not sure if I should tell him. Ralph and Xander said not to tell anyone, but Justin wasn't just anyone, he's Xander's only family, so telling him won't do any harm, I hope.

"Do you remember Rita's 21st birthday?" He turned his face away for a second trying to recall that day.

"Uh yeah, I remember. I couldn't make it 'cause I was still held up on a mission," Justin said. I took a deep breath.

"McKenzie and I used to be close friends. So close that one minute together with us, and you'd think we're sisters. That's just how close we were, until the night, Rita had her birthday party at a club. Everyone was invited, including Ralph's cousin, Edward," Justin's eyes widened.

"I'm guessing this also involves him as well?" He asked. I nodded.

"Edward was visiting at that period, so we didn't mind when he said he wanted to join the party. I don't know what happened after that. One minute, I, Ralph and McKenzie are on the dance floor partying our heads off. The next, we've completely separated. Before that happened, I left them alone to spend time with each other and left to check on Xander, who couldn't attend cause he was too busy with work,"

"The next day, I returned to the club and found Ralph sleeping on one of the couches surrounded by beer bottles. It was obvious he had too much fun that night, but there was no sign of McKenzie. At first, I thought she left him because he might have opened his big mouth and said some dumb things that might have offended her. You how he is when he's drunk he doesn't stop till he drops," Justin nodded with a snicker.

"Thinking she had left, we decided to go home, until we found her coat and bag still in there. We were confused. McKenzie's not the type of person to leave her stuff behind, especially if it contains a $2000 makeup set, her iPhone, and her credit cards," I gave Justin a look.

"You right she wouldn't have left those behind. So what'd you guys do next?" Justin asked.

"We searched for her of course. We'd figured she still had to be there. So we searched the entire place but found no sign of her. The last place we could think of was the VIP rooms, so we went there," I paused. Justin sat upright.

"What is it?" he asked me with a worrisome look. I gazed at him for a while, before I spoke.

"This is where it hurts," I took a deep breath and continued the story.

"We found her, but she wasn't alone. The minute we walked inside one of the rooms, we found Edward sleeping on the bed shirtless and McKenzie stepping out of the bathroom in nothing but a robe. If you saw the look on Ralphs's face, he was crushed, heartbroken. While I? I was stone-cold frozen. The both of us couldn't believe it. We asked her for an explanation, but she wouldn't give us one, she just kept silent. But the oddest thing was, that Edward was still asleep. He's not a deep sleeper. Sound an alarm and he's the first to be up and alert. That's when I saw the bottle of pills sitting on the nightstand next to a glass of water. The glass was half empty, and it clicked. Sleeping pills, she gave him sleeping pills and took advantage of him. Don't get me wrong, Edward's no lightweight. He can handle his liquor just fine, but everyone's got a limit and when he reaches his, he's out," I laughed when I thought about it but frowned again.

"I didn't think McKenzie would take advantage of him like that. God knows what else she would've done if we hadn't arrived, "Justin's brows furrowed down.

"So you believed she did it. Just like that?" I shook my head.

"At first I didn't, neither did Ralph. That's why we asked her for an explanation. But the most shocking thing is, is that she didn't even deny it. She didn't deny drugging Edward, neither did she deny taking advantage of him, " I said.

"Because of that, I grew angry with her. So angry, that I wanted to hate her, but I couldn't. Apart from you, Ralph, and Xander, she's the only girl that gets me. So I wanted to make up with her, but I couldn't. I was afraid I'd hurt Ralph, and that he'd push me away. I couldn't afford that. He's my other half, my best friend. He's like another me, except I'll never have the sense of humor he has, " I said feeling down. I was beginning to miss Ralph. I should ask Xander when he's gonna be back.

"So what happened next?" Justin asked.

"I hadn't spoken to McKenzie at all that day. I hadn't seen her that day either. It was as if she left and didn't come back. The next day, I and Ralph got called into Xander's office. Imagine the shock on our faces when Xander told us she had gone back home. Ralph didn't want to care about her anymore since she pulled that stunt. But for me? I was sad. Why did she leave without saying goodbye? It made me think that she didn't care about our friendship at all. Then Xander dropped the bombshell on us, " I said.

"She had snuck into his room the night before she left, and tried to murder him in his sleep. I couldn't even describe my emotions at that time. It's like it grew from hurt to hatred. Not only did she cheat on my best friend with his cousin, but she also tried to kill my boyfriend. She lost my trust and our friendship when she did that," I looked at Justin.

"Now you understand why it's pissing me off that Xander is treating her so warmly despite what she did?" Justin was about to say something when Elvis walked into the garden.

"Hey Elvis, what's up?" Justin asked as the both of us stood up. Elvis bowed his head slightly at us.

"No need to bow Elvis. We're all family here, so no need for formalities. What's the matter?" I said. Elvis nodded.

"I have a message to deliver to the boss, but he is busy at the moment. So I came looking for you instead, " I frowned.

"What is it?" I asked seriously.

"We closed the borders and had the security team check all the vehicles recorded on the traffic cameras, but no sign of Raphael leaving the city," I gazed at him in confusion but quickly masked it with a calm look. Justin had the same look as I had earlier and my heart quickened with worry, as I felt something bad had happened. Elvis continued to speak.

"We assumed that he was still in the city, so we searched around and found the car he rented badly damaged. The money still in the booth, but the weapons are nowhere to be found. No clue that could have led us to him. "

"And the body?" I asked in a hard tone.

"We searched a lake that was nearby, but no sigh of Raphael," I took a silent deep breath to compose myself.

"Thank you, Elvis," Elvis bowed slightly and walked away. The minute he walked away, I was filled with anger.

Xander. Justin held my hand.

"Eva," I ripped my hand out of Justin's hold and marched towards Xander's office. I barged in, seeing McKenzie immediately stand up and Xander stand up shortly after. Xander stared at me with a confused look on his face.

"You asshole," I whispered audibly.

"Eva," Justin yelled from behind me and ran inside.

"Eva. Calm. Down," he said in between breaths.

"Justin, escort McKenzie to her room," Xander said calmly as he stared at me.

He saw it. The anger and tears in my eyes. The fury, as I tried to hold back my tears from falling.

"Alright. Come on McKenzie, " Justin said before the both of them left the room. The door was shut, and I walked towards Xander.

"Eva, why don't you take a seat and we can talk about whatever is troubling you," He smiled at me. His smile looked forced, knowing full well why I was her. Hearing that pissed me off even more, instead of hearing that, I wanted an explanation or at least an apology. Not a consultation.

Without thinking, I swung my fist across his face and gave him a hard punch.