Alec's Dream (Gemini Group Book 4) Read online

  Alec’s head snapped back to a still-prone Doug and a miracle of all miracles happened. Doug snapped his trap shut.

  “What’d I tell you about mouthing off to Macy?” That didn’t sound snarly—that sounded downright frightening.

  Piss-in-your-pants scary.

  “You can’t threaten me,” Doug stupidly spat.

  “I see you think since Jonny’s here, you’re safe. That means not only are you a pussy, you’re a stupid pussy. If you think for one second anything I’ve told you is a threat and not the promise it was meant to be, you’re the dumbest fucking pussy I’ve ever met.”

  Doug’s face blanched and his eyes cut to his brother. “You’re gonna stand there and—”

  “Sure am,” Jonny cut Doug off.

  “Seriously?”

  “Yup. You’re all sorts of stupid, Doug. I keep warning you but you never listen. I see this time you’ve pushed too far. And I can’t say I’m not happy seeing Alec standing over you. Maybe, just maybe, this will be the last time I get a callout about you causing trouble.” Then Jonny’s gaze sliced to me and he asked. “You pressing charges?”

  Same question Jonny asked every time he came to my rescue. Same pleading look. I opened my mouth to answer but Alec got there first.

  “She is.”

  My back snapped straight and irritation infused my body.

  “I’m—”

  “You are, Macy,” Alec told me and my irritation slid to annoyance.

  I appreciated Alec stepping in. I more than welcomed him getting Doug out of my face. But I was not pressing charges and I’d be damned if someone I barely knew was going to tell me what to do.

  “Jonny, if you’ll just—”

  “Give us a minute.” That was Alec once again interrupting me. And he wasn’t speaking to me, he was talking to Jonny.

  I don’t think so!

  Alec broke away and started to move toward me but he didn’t stop on my porch. No, not Alec Hall, he nabbed my hand and pulled me into my house closing the door behind him.

  All of this shocked me into silence and before I could find my voice, Alec did, further pissing me off.

  “You need to press charges.”

  “Why are you here?”

  “Macy, you need to be smart.”

  That seriously pissed me off. Partly because he was right, but mostly he was implying I was not being smart, therefore I was stupid. Which was the truth, I was, but I didn’t want perfect Alec Hall to know that.

  “Why are you here?” I repeated.

  “Babe—”

  “No, really, why?”

  “I was coming over to invite you to Jocelyn’s birthday party.”

  “At the exact time Doug happened to be here?”

  I knew, I damn well knew, that Alec had heard Doug telling me he was coming over at eleven.

  “Yes, at the exact time your ex dickhead told you he was coming over to pick up your boy after you told him it wasn’t his weekend.”

  See? I totally knew Alec’s timing was by design.

  How embarrassing.

  “And what, you thought you’d rush over here and save poor, stupid, pitiful Macy from getting—”

  Alec’s body jerked back, effectively cutting my words off because he no longer looked like fire was going to shoot from his eyes—he looked like he was going to breathe fire.

  “What the fuck?”

  “You heard—”

  “Oh, yeah, I heard a bunch of seriously fucked-up shit just come out of your mouth. I heard that.” Then weirdly, some of the fire started to burn out and he asked, “He teach you that?”

  “Huh?”

  “Poor, stupid, pitiful Macy? The stupid fuck, did he teach you to talk about yourself that way?”

  It was my turn to rear back.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You need to tell Jonny you’re pressing charges. Trespassing and harassment. Yesterday and today.”

  Oh, no, we were back to that.

  I decided I didn’t care why Alec was there, I just wanted this conversation to end so he could leave.

  “I appreciate your help. Seriously, thank you. It is never fun when Doug’s shouting in my face but when he does it in my front yard, I worry about my neighbors hearing. But I’m not pressing charges. I just want him to leave. Jonny knows the drill.”

  That made Alec’s mouth get tight, or I should say tighter, since he was already pinching his lips.

  “You don’t and you’ll make my job harder.”

  His job? What in the world was he talking about?

  “Your job?”

  “Tell me why you don’t want to press charges?”

  The evasion game Alec was playing was testing my last thread of patience. I’d seriously had enough. My day had started at six AM after a night of tossing and turning so I wasn’t all that thrilled to roll out of bed. Then I had the super unpleasant experience of waking my preteen son up at nine AM on a Saturday morning to tell him the great news that his grandparents were taking him and his sister shopping, then to a movie. Since Caleb hated shopping and had no interest in seeing a movie that would entertain his sister, he wasn’t happy and didn’t mind telling me just how unhappy he was.

  But since my kid was twelve and smart and knew his father was playing some fucked-up game—even though I hid it the best I could—Caleb was pissed he was rolling out of bed early on a Saturday so I could send him and his sister away so they weren’t home when Doug came banging on the door.

  My son let this anger be known by telling me he wanted to see his father—never. Caleb had also expressed Rory wasn’t seeing him either because Doug was being sugar-sweet to Rory. Then my son shared something that blew my mind—Caleb figured his dad was playing Rory in an effort to turn her against me.

  Why Doug would do this I did not know. We had a custody arrangement I’d never, not once, gone back on. I had never, not even when we were married and he was running around on me fucking every female in a hundred-mile radius, said one bad thing about him to our children. And when he starting gambling, then lost everything we had, I still kept my thoughts to myself.

  Now it was eleven-thirty, I was physically exhausted, emotionally rung out and I didn’t want to explain myself to Alec—ever—but especially not right then. Not when Doug had fried the last of my sanity and Jonny was still outside waiting to hear what I wanted done with Doug.

  “I’m not doing this with you, Alec,” I told him.

  “Doing what?”

  “This. All of it. It is none of your business. I don’t want you involved.”

  “Too late, I’m involved.”

  I was simply too tired to argue.

  “Please leave.”

  “Not until Jonny clears your front yard of the trash.”

  Right. There was the reminder I needed. Trash. That was my life, and Perfect Alec had no business getting his hands dirty.

  I glanced to my left, looked through the large picture window and saw Doug was now standing arguing with Jonny and I couldn’t stop myself from wondering what I’d done that was so bad I deserved this?

  My only sin was falling in love with the devil and now it was not me paying the price, it was my children.

  6

  Alec watched as the beautiful woman in front of him stared out the window. He did this thinking she should never play poker. Every emotion played across her face. Hate was the frontrunner but there was also pain. And Alec didn’t think it was hurt born from losing the man she once loved enough to marry, the type of woman Macy was, he’d bet everything he owned that hurt was for her children.

  Alec had Macy in profile, her eyes glued on her ex. Then to his absolute horror, Macy’s lips started trembling.

  “I don’t know what I did to make him do this to our kids,” she said unmoving. “I gave him everything and walked away. Not that there was much left, but I didn’t fight it. I didn’t quibble over furniture, the house, nothing. He got it all. I walked with my clothes, my child
ren, and their stuff. That was it. And still he hates me so much he’s playing my kids to fuck me over. I just don’t get it.”

  He already knew all of that but he wisely kept that tidbit to himself. If she didn’t appreciate him pushing her to press charges, he very much doubted she’d like that he’d already started digging into her and Doug’s divorce.

  Instead, he asked a question that had been bothering him since he pulled up and found her out on her lawn nose-to-nose with the dickhead.

  “Where are the kids?”

  “With my parents.”

  “If you knew he was coming why’d you come back here?”

  Macy’s gaze slid to Alec’s and he fought to keep his anger in check.

  The woman was wrecked and he loathed the hurt he saw. It wasn’t in her eyes, she didn’t wear it on her face, the wound clung to her flesh and tore at her soul.

  The sure he was that morning, he wanted to wade in and fix this for Macy intensified tenfold.

  “Because I’ve learned when Doug is determined to get his way it’s better to face it head-on. If I wasn’t here, he’d wait. If he still didn’t get me, he’d show up again later. I took Caleb and Rory to my parents so they wouldn’t see what just happened. If I stayed gone, he’d come back and my kids would be here. To avoid that, I came back. He got his scene so now my babies won’t have to witness it later.”

  Motherfucking asshole.

  “Babe, you need to get this on record—”

  “No, Alec. Just leave it.”

  “You just told me that when Doug wants something he’s determined. That means you gotta do everything you can do to push back. You don’t think he’ll keep doing it?”

  “Thank you, Captain Obvious, for your insight,” she spat. “What you don’t understand is, me filing trespassing and harassment charges will not stop him. It will only piss him off more. And when he’s pissed he has no issues spewing that shit far and wide, including telling the kids. And the one thing—the only thing—I want is for Caleb and Rory to be kept out of our bullshit. He’s already playing some fucked-up head game with Rory. I do not need him going to the kids telling them what a bitch their mother is for getting their father arrested.”

  “Come again?”

  Alec had stopped listening after Macy told him Doug was playing games with Rory. No man, no father, no decent human, would fuck with a kid’s head.

  “Just drop it,” Macy demanded.

  “What kind of game is he playing with Rory?” Alec pushed.

  “No clue. I knew something was off the way Doug was acting, then this morning Caleb confirmed he felt it, too.”

  “You think he’s…” Fuck how did he even begin to ask if she thought Doug was touching Rory? “…hurting her? Physically?”

  Macy jerked and her face turned to stone. “Do you think I’d allow him around my daughter if I thought he was fucking touching her?” she shrieked.

  No, he didn’t. Not in a million years, but he still needed to ask.

  Alec glanced out the window remembering Jonny was still outside with Doug and made a decision not push Macy any further. It was obvious she wasn’t going to budge and he needed to get the ex-scumbag off her property and let Jonny get back to his Saturday.

  “Be right back,” he told her.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Stay in the house. No matter what you see, what you hear, you stay in here.”

  “No way—”

  “Macy. Trust me. Just stay in the house.”

  “Trust you? Why on earth would I trust you? I don’t know you.”

  She had a point, she didn’t know him, something he was going to rectify starting immediately.

  “Straight up, I’m going outside to tell Jonny you don’t want to press charges. Then I’m going to explain one more time since I have a feeling your ex is a dumbfuck, therefore he’s already forgotten my first warning so I’m going to reiterate: the next time I catch him in your space he won’t find himself on his ass—he’ll be swallowing some teeth.”

  “What?” Macy’s eyes got big and her head whipped from Alec to the window then back to him. “You can’t threaten him, it will make it worse.”

  “Macy, I get you don’t know me, so you can’t know that I do not make threats. When I say if I ever hear about him shouting in your face again I’m going to knock his teeth down his throat, I mean just that.”

  “That’s a threat, Alec.”

  “No, babe, that’s a motherfucking vow.”

  Macy’s eyes bugged out and her mouth opened. While she was already in a state of shock he figured it was best he hit her with more honesty. It was best to get it all out in one go rather than her finding out later.

  “Before I came here, I pulled your divorce records and Doug’s rap sheet. I also asked Nixon about you. I know your ex cheated on you. I know that shit dates back to high school. I know he didn’t mind you knowing about it. I’m only telling you that so you know, I know. I don’t want any secrets that have the potential to hurt you or make you not trust me. I came here today to ask you to Jocelyn’s birthday party, but I planned my arrival when I knew Doug would be here. Had I known he was a bigger asshole than I thought he was, I would’ve been here sooner, so that shit that happened today would’ve never happened. Now that I know, it won’t happen again.”

  “You…” Macy trailed off, her mouth opening and closing before she decided she had nothing to say and bite her bottom lip.

  “Please trust me and stay in here while I go talk to Jonny.”

  Macy nodded and Alec wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Him going outside meant he was leaving her to her thoughts and Alec had given her plenty to chew on. Some of it made him sound a little like a stalker. However, he had no choice but to go outside and deal with Supreme Cocksucker.

  Not to mention Alec had a few questions for his friend, Jonny.

  “What she’d decide?” Jonny cut straight to it when Alec approached.

  “Cut him loose.”

  Doug’s mouth curved up into a smug, satisfied smile and Alec wanted nothing more than to wipe the arrogance off his face.

  “Told you that—”

  “I’d be real careful, what comes out of your mouth next,” Jonny warned.

  “You’ve got to be joking. This asshole butts into my business with my wife and you tell me to be careful? What the fuck?” Doug complained.

  “She is not your wife,” Alec rebuffed. “Hasn’t been for three years. Though the way you fucked your way through the female population of Kent County while her ring was on your finger and you were legally bound to her, I don’t suppose you ever took the whole wife thing seriously. Not in the years you had her, and most certainly not since she divorced your ass.”

  “You don’t know—”

  “As far as me butting into your business,” Alec continued as though Doug hadn’t tried to interrupt, “what you need to understand is from here on out, Macy’s my business. And what that means to you is, I’m not butting into anything, I’m gonna crawl up your ass so deep you’re gonna feel me in your throat. You fuck with her, I’ll fuck back. You fuck with your kids, you answer to me. Told you once what will happen to you if I ever catch you in her face again. Now, I’m gonna explain what’s gonna happen if you fuck with her kids—”

  “My kids.” Doug’s wannabe growl sounded more like a puppy yapping so Alec just shook his head.

  “Macy’s kids.” Alec leaned in close and Doug flinched. “I see you don’t have the first fucking clue what it means to be a father. You fucking with their mother was the first indication. You not bothering to pay child support, was another. You dragging Caleb and Rory into whatever fucked-up game you’re playing is a flashing neon sign. So I’ll warn you, you keep this shit up with her kids, using them as pawns, you won’t be choking on your bicuspids because I’ll knock your head clean off your shoulders.”

  Being the stupid fuck he was, Doug decided to square off instead of taking Alec’s warnings as the gospel
they were.

  Dumbfuck.

  “You have no idea who you’re fucking with. You think because you’re fucking the bitch you can get in my face, you are wrong. She’s mine. She’s always been mine. And she’ll always be mine. If I wanted her stupid ass back in my bed, all it would take is a smile and few promises and she’d happily spread her legs. Always did. And now that she’s finally dropped the twenty extra pounds her fat ass was carrying, I just might have a mind for another go.”

  Before Alec could plant his fist is the fucker’s face, he caught a flash of brown hair flying past him, right before Doug was tackled to the ground.

  Macy wasn’t fucking around. She wasn’t bitch-slapping her ex-douchebag—though that would’ve been funny— the woman had balled up her fists and was whaling on his face.

  Alec stood by a few beats, allowing her to get her due before he wrapped his arms around her middle and hauled her off Doug. Once he had her settled on her feet behind him, he turned to check the damage.

  Blood dripping from both the fucktard’s nose and lip and a nice cut near his left eye.

  “Well, I think that about settles things.” Alec chuckled. “Jonny, you good?”

  Jonny looked beyond Alec to his ex-sister-in-law, a small smile in place when he said, “Yeah, I’m good.”

  “What the fuck?” Doug sat up and spat blood before he licked his bottom lip. “I want her arrested.”

  Alec braced and tried to keep Macy from going another round with her ex.

  “For what?” Jonny asked.

  “She fucking assaulted me,” Doug shouted.

  “She did? The way I see it, that was delayed self-defense.”

  “You’re fucking joking?” Doug whined. “I’m your brother. This bitch means nothing to you.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. Macy means something to me. Fucking kills me, brother, but I tried. Tried to get your shit straight, tried to help you mend your family, tried to get you help, tried a hundred things a hundred different times and you cannot stop being a dick. This shit…no…just no, Doug. You’ve gone too far. We’re done.”

  “Done? What the fuck?”

  “I can’t even look at you.” The words sounded painful for Jonny to say and I knew just how much when he looked at Macy and didn’t hide the hurt. “Word of advice, press charges. He comes near you, harasses you, steps foot on your property when it’s not his weekend, you call nine-one-one. This has to end for you, Macy.”