by Beth Abbott
Megan watched in silence as the different members of the family chatted and bantered with one another. She’d never known a big family, and for the last decade it had just been her and Robbie.
This… noise… was something she was not familiar with at all.
“It’s a bit overwhelming, isn’t it?” A man knelt down in front of her, where Matt had been an hour before. “I didn’t want to approach you earlier, as you had that ‘deer in the headlights’ look on your face. I’m Jon Thornton, CEO of Alpha Company. Everyone calls me JT.”
“Hello.” She smiled. “You have an amazing family.”
“I have a noisy, dysfunctional family, every one of them hand-chosen by their life-partner.” JT smiled. “But every one of us has one thing in common. Love. Love of each other, love of what we hold dearest, our wives, husbands and kids. But also love of who we are as a collective. The Alpha-Stalwart-Guardian family is what we all cherish, because it’s the support system that we all rely on. Every family or team is only as strong as its most fragile member, and we work hard to support everyone, so that nobody falls through the cracks.”
“Evan’s told me a lot about you all.” Megan smiled. “What you’ve created is amazing.”
“I don’t know if ‘created’ is the right word.” JT chuckled. “That suggests that all this came about as a result of planning or forethought. Nothing could be further from the truth. Let’s just say we’ve evolved over the last couple of decades, and the bigger we get, the stronger we are as a unit.”
Megan nodded, envying the man the ease with which he accepted his place at the head of this amazing collective.
“Sorry, I didn’t come over to give you a lecture on the history of the family.” He grinned. “I came to welcome you as our newest member. I won’t overwhelm you with names or relationships, but I do want to invite you down to London next month for one of our family celebrations, so you can get to meet everyone properly. Robbie too, of course, if it fits in with his schedule.”
Megan glanced at Evan who was smiling at her.
“I’ll have to see how that fits in with my shifts at the hospital, but if I’m free, I’d be delighted to meet everyone.” She blushed. “Thank you so much for your kindness.”
Before JT could speak again the door opened, and a nurse popped her head in asking for Suzy’s husband.
As Matt followed her out of the door, JT and another guy followed him out, obviously anxious to find out what was going on.
“I’m sure she’s gonna be fine.” Evan squeezed her fingers.
Megan nodded, but kept her gaze on the door.
It only took two minutes for JT and the other guy to return to the waiting room.
“Ok, great news… Suzy’s operation on her ankle went well, no complications, and she’s in recovery already, puking into a cardboard bowl.” JT grinned.
“Oh, God! Poor Suzy!” Hannah groaned. “That’s probably the anaesthetic. It has the same effect on me.”
“Anyway, Matt has gone up to sit with her as soon as she’s out of recovery, and he asked me to tell you that while he loves you guys like crazy, would you please all fuck off out of here. You’re cluttering the place up, and making it look a mess.”
Megan looked around the room, but nobody seemed to have taken any offence at the words.
Instead they all started gathering their belongings and getting ready to leave.
“Does everyone have a place to sleep tonight?” JT looked around. “I have Matt’s keys, and he’s said there’s room for at least half a dozen.”
“Assuming Evan will be taking Megan home and staying at her flat, I have room for three at our place.” Logan offered.
“Abbey, Danny and I are going to stay with Claire.” Hannah confirmed. “Her grandson is away for a few nights, so she’s made up beds for us.”
“Ok, then can we all head home for some well-earned sleep and meet up at the office in the morning?” JT looked around, and Megan heard a lot of grumbling, but mostly there was agreement.
“So, are you gonna let me stay at your place?” Evan murmured as he helped her stand up.
“I was just thinking how cold I feel all of a sudden.” She smiled. “You may have to stay to warm me up a little.”
Evan’s smile was contagious.
“No funny business!” Megan growled playfully.
“No ma’am.” He nodded, but it hadn’t wiped the smile from his lips.
Megan followed everyone to the elevator and waited patiently for the doors to open.
“Any chance I can sleep on your couch?” Robbie’s voice made her jump. “I can’t face the thought of going home to an empty house. Or worse, a house with Cerys in it!”
Megan winced. She’d forgotten all about her half-sister.
“How about taking Evan’s bed at our place.” Logan clapped Robbie on the shoulder. “He’s not too much of a slob, so his room is usually fairly tidy, and I can let you have some fresh bedding if you need it.”
Robbie grinned.
“Yeah, man.” He nodded to Logan. “That sounds much better than getting in the middle of the lovebirds.”
Megan felt Evan’s arm wrap around her shoulders, and she leaned into him.
If this was what it would be like to be a part of this family all the time…?
Well, she rather thought she was going to like it.
Chapter 67 – Evan
As he pulled Megan’s sweater up over her head, her arms fell limply back down by her sides. He undid her trousers and pushed them down over her hips, letting them drop to the floor.
“Do you have a laundry basket I can dump these in?” He looked around hopefully.
“It’s in the bathroom, but I don’t want to wash these clothes.” Megan shook her head. “I’d burn them if I could, but I think the landlord might complain. I’ll bag them later, because I have a feeling the police may want them as evidence.”
“Do you want me to run you a bath?” Evan offered.
“No, thanks.” She murmured. “I need a shower to wash the filth away. I don’t want to lie in it.”
Evan turned towards the bathroom, but Megan’s hand on his arm stopped him.
“I can do this by myself.” She smiled sadly. “I need to do it by myself.”
Evan nodded in understanding, but hated watching her walk away from him, even if it was only to walk into the next room.
“I’ll make us a cup of tea, shall I?” He offered. “You still need to make sure your core temperature is back to normal.”
“Tea would be lovely.” Megan smiled before opening a drawer and retrieving some nightwear.
Evan reluctantly headed towards the kitchen, and in a few minutes, carried two mugs of tea and a packet of biscuits back into the bedroom.
He placed them on the bedside table and started to strip down to his boxer briefs.
When there was still no sign of Megan after five minutes, he moved to the bathroom door and listened for any sound.
Nothing! Had she fallen asleep in there? Or fallen over?
Evan pushed the door open, and immediately noticed Megan’s body through the glass of the shower wall.
He was just about to leave, when he realised she wasn’t moving.
“Megan?” He called quietly. “Are you Ok?”
When there was still no movement, he stepped up to the shower door and opened it slightly.
Megan was standing facing the wall, her forehead on the tiles, and her shoulders were heaving with her quiet sobs.
“Come on, honey.” He took her shoulders and pulled her back from the wall. “Out you come.”
As Megan stepped towards him, Evan leaned over to shut the water off, and as he turned, she walked straight into his arms.
“It’s Ok, baby.” He held her tightly. “Everything is gonna be Ok, now. It’s all over.”
He rubbed her back soothingly as she sobbed away the fear and the stress. When she was all cried out, he stepped back to grab a towel off the rack.
&n
bsp; He was just about to wrap her in it when he noticed dark bruises across the top of her breasts.
“Baby, how did you get those marks?” He asked quietly, making sure not to show any inflection in his voice.
Megan looked down as though she didn’t know what he was talking about.
When she saw the marks across her skin, she turned to wipe the condensation from the mirror to get a better look.
“How did that happen, Meg?” He asked again.
Her head lifted, and she met his eyes in the mirror.
“They were being threatening towards me, and one of them grabbed my breast and squeezed hard.” She murmured. “His friend must have thought it was open season, because he grabbed the other one and did the same.”
“They didn’t…” Shit! How did he even ask the question?
“I was fully clothed at all times.” Megan lifted her chin. “They did this through my sweater.”
Evan wanted to break something, preferably the heads of the men who’d hurt her.
“Do you have some cream for the bruising, to make it come out?” He said calmly.
Megan took the towel from him and covered herself up.
“I think the bruising has done all it intends to do.” She shrugged. “Go on into bed, and I’ll be there in a minute.”
Against his better judgement, Evan did as she asked, and by the time he had climbed into bed she was already in her nightdress and turning the bathroom light off.
As Megan climbed into bed, he handed her the tea, and she smiled at him.
“It might not be so hot now.” He shrugged. “But then, the hospital did say warm drinks, not hot ones.”
Megan took a few small sips and then turned to place the mug on the bedside table.
When she snuggled down under the covers, he gave up on his drink, instead turning off the bedside lamp to plunge them into almost darkness, save for her bedside clock.
“I’m just gonna put it out there that I think at least one of us needs a cwtch right now.” He murmured.
Megan snorted a laugh.
“Oh, alright then, yer big wuss!” She lifted her arm, so he could snuggle closer.
“That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but I’ll take it.” He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer. “Are you warm enough?”
“I’m absolutely fine.” She nodded, snuggling closer still.
Evan lay quietly listening to their combined breathing for a while.
“I think I heard Luke saying that the police will meet you at our offices tomorrow morning, to take a statement from you.” He broke the silence.
“That’s fine.” Megan nodded. “I expected it at some point. I’m just glad it wasn’t tonight. I don’t think I could have faced it.”
“Will you tell them how you got the bruises?” He asked. “They’re gonna want to take photos.”
“I’ll tell them absolutely everything I can remember.” Megan said adamantly. “The men who did this may not have been the masterminds, but they were sure as hell willing to snatch us and hurt us. They need locking away for a very long time.”
“Agreed.” Evan adjusted their positions, so Megan was lying with her head against his chest. “Did you think about what the doc said about counselling?”
Megan nodded.
“I think it’s something I’d like to explore.” She admitted.
“If you like, I could set you up with Drew Dixon.” Evan offered. “You met him tonight. Vicky’s husband.”
“He’s the counsellor?” Megan looked up at him, remembering Suzy telling her about him. “That makes sense. I thought he gave off a really caring, positive vibe.”
“He’s a good guy.” Evan nodded. “Vicky, Drew and Tony, their other third if you will, are moving up to work with Matt in the Birmingham office. You’ll get plenty of opportunities to meet up with him over the next few months. Just say the word and I’ll hook you up.”
They lay quietly for a few seconds before Megan looked up at him.
“I think you should talk to Drew as well.” She murmured. “You’re so full of rage right now, that I can almost see the steam coming out of your ears. I don’t want that to fester.”
“I just hate that they touched you.” He admitted. “I could literally rip their hands off and boil them for laying a finger on you.”
“They didn’t.” Megan stared at him. “They didn’t touch me, they touched my clothes. You’re the only man I’ve ever allowed to touch me. My skin, I mean.”
Evan felt a flash of satisfaction at the thought, but it was quickly quashed by the flood of guilt that washed over him.
“I never wanted you to be alone all this time.” He whispered. “As much as the selfish fucker in me is glad that you’ve never been with anyone else, I never expected you to stay single all these years. I thought you’d have moved on and been married with kids by now.”
“So did I.” Megan snorted a laugh. “It wasn’t an intentional thing, y’know. It took me a long time to be able to even think of dating anyone else. I came up to Birmingham for a new start, and for the first couple of years I kept my head down, worked hard, and went home every night to my little flat and watched TV. Then one day in work someone threw out a random invitation to go out in a group to a pub quiz, and I thought I’d give it a go. I’d been blowing everyone off for so long they were shocked, but they were nice about it, so I was happy going.”
Evan watched Megan chewing on her lip.
“Not a good night?” He guessed.
“I thought it was going well, everyone was being so nice, and a few of the guys were showing an interest in me.” She shrugged. “Anyway, I ended up in the ladies’ toilets, doing what you do, when I heard a couple of my colleagues come in, giggling about who was likely to win the pool. Turns out there was a pool amongst all the men and a few of the women about who could get me into bed first.”
Evan couldn’t stop the growl in his chest.
“Fucking wankers.” He breathed. “What did you do?”
“I went back out to the bar where they were all sitting and slapped ten pounds on the table.” Megan smiled. “I asked who was holding the pot, because I wanted to put a tenner on none of them getting me into bed.”
“Oh, shit!” Evan laughed. “How did that go down?”
“A few of them laughed it off, some of them got extremely embarrassed, and a couple of them were pissed at me for spoiling their fun.” She shrugged. “Apparently, the ‘Welsh bitch’ didn’t have a sense of humour. I thought I was very funny.”
“What happened after that?” Evan asked.
“Well, we didn’t win the quiz, if that was what you were asking.” Megan sighed. “About a month after that happened, a vacancy came up on the children’s ward. I transferred over and gave up on the whole pub quiz/dating scene once and for all. I have a few friends I socialize with occasionally, but mostly I stay away from work colleagues. Robbie and I get together a couple of times a week to watch a movie or do something silly, so I don’t need anyone else.”
“Do you think you could find room for someone else, if you happened to find someone you wanted to spend time with?” Evan asked, trying to keep the smile from his lips.
Megan looked at him thoughtfully for a few seconds.
“I don’t know.” She mulled the question over. “I guess you’ll have to come back and ask me when that happens.”
Evan grabbed his chest.
“Woman, you know how to break a man’s heart.”
At Megan’s pointed look, Evan couldn’t help but blush.
“Yeah, poor joke.” He acknowledged, realising that he’d been the cause of so much of Megan’s heartbreak. “I’m sorry.”
Megan lifted her head and shoulders, resting her hand on his chest as she looked down at him.
“I meant what I said earlier, Evan.” She frowned. “I had a lot of time to think today, and I was reminded that I’ve spent a third of my life miserable, because of something I had no say over. Now I have
a chance to be happy again, I don’t want to throw away the opportunity just to make you feel the misery I went through. It’s pointless and cruel, and that’s not who I am. I choose to be happy, and I choose to trust you not to fuck it up again. That might come back to bite me on the ass, but I’ve got to take a chance, or I’ll spend the rest of my life wondering what might have been.”
Evan stared into Megan’s eyes and saw the trust she was placing in him. Trust he hadn’t earned, and sure as hell didn’t deserve.
“Meg, I’d marry you tomorrow, if…” He began, wanting to offer her some reassurance.
“NO!” She shut him down instantly. “No, don’t say it. We married too fast last time and look at how that turned out.”
“Last time had nothing to do with our eloping to Las Vegas.” Evan shook his head. “It was entirely my fault, and down to circumstances that will never arise again.”
“Evan, I’m not saying never, I’m just saying not yet.” Megan reassured him. “I don’t want to rush into something we might not be ready for. We’ve known each other for days in reality, because you can’t count what we had ten years ago. We could just be assuming that the things we loved about each other last time haven’t changed, but that’s probably just wishful thinking. We were kids back then. It was a different life.”
Evan wanted to argue she was wrong, until dawn if necessary, but deep down he knew she was right. Mostly.
“Megan, I know two things for certain.” He gazed into her beautiful hazel eyes. “Firstly, I know that the love I felt for you has never gone away. If anything, it’s just deepened since we’ve reconnected this past week, as though it finally has somewhere to go. Somewhere to be channelled. It’s real and it’s lasting, and I’ve never felt anything remotely like it for anyone else.”
Megan waited patiently, but when he didn’t continue, she frowned.
“You said two things.” She pointed out. “That was only one.”
“Oh yeah.” Evan smirked. “I know that you like sex.”
Megan’s jaw dropped.
“What?” She gasped. “Seriously? That’s the second thing you know for certain?”