Truth Untold (Eligible Bachelors #1)

Chapter Five

"I hate him! No...I hate all of them," Vanessa slurred, stumbling as they left the club.

Her anger was unlike anything Royce had ever seen. He had seen her upset and that combined with alcohol in her system was not a good thing, but tonight was different.

While he figured that she needed it, he hadn't expected those events to unfold that would lead her here. He knew she needed to get the incident out of her system, and instead of counting her drinks and cutting her off, he resorted to ensuring she didn't harm herself. She went on a rant, vented, and raged, spewing her venomous hatred for her family, and husband. The only person spared her condemnation was her brother.

It was now after two in the morning as Burks and Royce ushered an extraordinarily drunken Vanessa Stein into the backseat of Royce's car and buckled her in. She was a little less volatile than she was earlier, the incident suppressed in her mind. Now, she was restless and flopping here and there with the alcohol buzzing in her system.

"Does he ever think?" she slurred. Her bouts of anger came on and off throughout most of the night. She hardly spoke to either man on the way to the club, but she couldn't wait to feel the burning sensation of the alcohol rushing down her throat. Once she'd had quite a few shots, and drinks, she vented about the incident without much care.

"I must be a special kind of stupid...or psycho to sabotage my own career!" Vanessa broke off into a drunken fit of giggles.

"Is she going to be okay?" Burks asked, looking at her in the rear-view mirror.

"That's the question! Yes! Yes, sir...I will," Vanessa replied, drunkenly, saluting Burks and breaking off into another fit of giggles. "It's so funny!" She continued laughing for quite some time, her marriage becoming the main focus of her hysterical laughter until she ended up laughing over nothing but her own hysteria.

"It's funny. How did I end up marrying a dumb fool like Alexander Roche? I don't care how handsome he is! He's stupid! Blind old bat, he is! Well...not that old but still...you know what I mean."

Royce glanced to his best friend through the rear-view mirror, watching her moan in distress and restlessness and flop left to right. "Van, are you sure you want to go back to the mansion? You can always bunk at my place."

"Oh no, it's fine," Vanessa slurred, groaning, and grunting impatiently as she complained about being hot and struggling with taking off her jacket. She flung it around, the material accidentally swatting Burks in the face. "Oops...sorry." She laughed again. "Don't worry about me, mister! I'll be fine. I can take him!"

"If you say so-"

Vanessa suddenly gasped excitedly, preventing Royce from saying anything further. She had a bright smile on her face and clapped her hands with childlike excitement. "I know! Royce, you can stay over! Sleepover! Mr. Burks, you can stay too!"

"That's alright. I promised my wife coffee in the morning while the girls are still asleep."

Again, Vanessa gasped, and then she cooed. "You're married? Wow! And you have kids! How many? How old are they? I love kids!"

Both men chuckled.

"Well," Burks started, "the older one is five. My daughter, Aileen. And my younger daughter, Molly, just turned three."

"That's so nice," Vanessa whimpered. "I want children of my own one day."

Burks chuckled. "Well, Ms. Stein. If things work in your favour, you might finally meet the right man and have your own family."