One Night - Forbidden Hearts Series Book 1

36. Ultimatums

"What the bloody hell do you mean Ryan knows about us?" I barked into my cell phone. I was standing on the balcony of my hotel room, trying desperately not to throw my phone over the railing. Harper called me five minutes ago to deliver some unfortunate news. 

"He saw us outside of the bar yesterday, Jackson." Harper's voice was calm and steady; like she knew I was close to losing it. I was at her place yesterday morning when she got the text that he was going to come over. I quickly left and stayed at my hotel ever since. Apparently, that's what he needed to talk about.

I ran my hand through my hair, "Well, what did he say? How pissed was he?" Knowing Ryan, he was furious. He hated being lied to. But then again, who didn't? I just wish we had told him what was going on from the beginning. We had gotten so lost in each other...

"He was more pissed that we didn't tell him. I'm surprised he wasn't angrier." She was quiet for a moment and I knew she was holding something back. 

"Princess..." I could always tell when she was lying. I have gotten to know her, inside and out, and I could pick up on such things. 

"He's on his way to talk to you." 

"Bloody brilliant. What should I tell him?" I had no idea what to say to him. I'm sure he felt betrayed, considering he was my brother. There was a time when we would tell each other everything. Even though we had been estranged for many years, we were still close. 

"He knows everything, Jackson. He just wants to talk to you." 

There was a knock at the door and I closed my eyes as I cursed under my breath. Well, that was fucking fast. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach and I wasn't sure why. According to Harper, he was pissed but not crazy angry. She said this should go well and I trusted her. 

"He's here, Princess. I'll call you after," I said in a low voice. I didn't want him to hear, just in case. 

"Okay," she said into the receiver before hanging up. 

I walked over to my hotel room door and hesitated. This wasn't going to go well. I knew it wasn't. Something told me that when I opened this door, everything was going to change. Letting out a deep breath, I opened the door. 

Ryan met my stare with an odd expression. His eyes were narrowed and his jaw was clenched. "Jackson," he said as he pushed passed me and walked into my hotel room. 

"Ryan, I'm glad your here," I stated as I shut the door and turned towards him. He had his arms crossed over his chest and was I could tell in his mind he was probably screaming at me. 

"I don't think you will be in a few minutes." 

I cleared my throat at his statement. "Yes, Harper told me that you know about us. I'm sorry, Ryan. This wasn't intentional." 

He arched a brow at me, calling my bullshit. He was always good at that, ever since we were kids. He was my big brother after all. "Perhaps the first time, but after? You knew exactly what you were doing, Jackson." 

Ashamed, I glanced away. He was right. I knew exactly what I was doing when I got Harper's phone number out of Ryan's phone, or when I took her to dinner and made her that offer, or when I continued to be selfish and take pleasure from her body more times than I could count. 

"You're right," I finally said and he gave me a half smile. 

"Well, at least you are finally starting to tell me the truth." He walked up to me until he was inches away. "Now, it's time for me to throw a little truth at you. I may not be in love with her, but I care about her."