Page 275 of Oracle Returns: Time will Stop

“No, she doesn’t. In fact, she wants to work through this with both of us, so we can figure this out. We’re in new territory, Ridge. It’s going to take time.”

He could feel Lucian’s heartbeat since his forehead was against the man’s jugular.

Ridge focused on that, counting the beats to match his own heart rate to it.

So he’d survive.

Finally, he went there.

“When?” he asked. “Was it recent?”

And here went the questions.

As he held the man, Lucian moved him to sit between his legs as he leaned against the arm of his couch. It was very familiar and something that he did for Bishop all the time. It allowed him to wrap his arms around him and give him the most body-to-body contact.

And he’d be able to lock his legs around him to keep him in place if something went south. Hopefully, it didn’t come to that.

“The affairs started around four months ago.”

That was confirmation for Ridge. They both knew what happened four months ago.

“So as soon as we had sex in the static?”

He didn’t hesitate.

“Yes.”

The pain hit again, and Ridge shook with the sobs.

“I did this.”

The whole time, Lucian said nothing. It didn’t matter what he said or thought. This was all about Ridge coming to grips with it. What he did know was that he was pissed that Wynter had cheated. They’d gone to their wives to keep this from happening, and someone got hurt anyway.

“She hated me that much! I knew something was off. I feel so stupid. When Jo told me she was sneaking around, I couldn’t believe it. I refused to.”

He kept that rage to himself. The only reason he wasn’t saying anything was because Wynter had paid the ultimate price.

So, he’d just let that sit in his soul, and not dump it all over Ridge.

“I’m sorry, Ridge.”

And he was.

Because he loved the man, he would have done anything to spare him from this.

ANYTHING.

Only, this was out of his hands.

“Was she going to leave me?”

OOF.

Oh, he wished he didn’t have to tell him any of this. Deep down, Lucian wished he could go into his mind and remove all of this.

But he couldn’t.

Lucian’s sigh said it all.