“Man friend?”
“Yeah.”
“Of course Alec’s our friend.”
“No. I mean like your boyfriend. But he’s not a boy so is he your manfriend?”
My insides warmed when I heard Alec’s deep, smooth chuckle from behind me.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Alec rumbled, now much closer than he had been when he was laughing at Rory’s embarrassing question. “Just wanted to let you know we’re home and the girls are here.”
Home?
Sheesh, why did that make me feel all squishy inside? And when did I start having butterflies in my stomach?
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
“It’s all good, babe,” Alec assured. “We’ll talk tonight.”
I nodded my agreement and Alec turned me so I faced him. When I caught sight of his handsome face, all I could do was stare. He looked ten years younger, some of the worry lines he wore softened and the normal intensity in his eyes morphed from alertness to affection.
“You trust me?”
How could he not know?
“Yeah.”
Instead of Alec’s body relaxing at my confirmation, his hands still on my biceps flexed and I felt the vibration rolling off of him.
“Good, baby. I won’t let you down.”
I didn’t think he would.
Alec leaned forward. His lips glided across mine, feather-soft. I wanted more—a lot more. I wanted him to take my mouth in one of his claiming kisses. I wanted to taste him. I wanted him to own me. I wanted him to know that I was on board and no longer going to fight our attraction.
“More of that tonight, too, baby,” Alec whispered.
Something to look forward to.
With a hard closed-mouth kiss to my forehead, he walked away.
24
Alec felt the change—it was significant.
Macy was coming into herself, and goddamn, it was a thing of beauty. She stood her ground with Jonny and had made an incredibly hard decision to put a stop to her ex seeing her kids. It was the right thing, but Alec knew it wasn’t something she ever wanted to do. But she did it to protect her kids, and in doing so, stood up for herself.
She’d also trusted him with her son. That hadn’t felt good, it felt fucking great knowing she’d believed in him to guide Caleb through his anger. And holy shit, was the kid furious—for all the right reasons—but Caleb was just that, a kid.
It both pissed Alec off and made him proud how protective and loyal Caleb was to the women in his life. However, he was twelve and shouldn’t have ever been put in the position to protect his mother and sister. The boy was sharp, seriously smart and wise beyond what Alec thought someone his age should be. Caleb understood what was going on and knew his father’s troubles had leached into their lives and his mother was eating shit and they were all in danger.
Alec had mostly listened while Caleb had ranted about what a jerk his father was. Which was something Alec could relate to. His own father had been a bastard. Not to the extreme the dickwad was, but Alec’s own childhood had not been roses. His mother had cowed to his father, allowing the man to come in and out of Alec’s life at will, never staying too long, gone more than he was around.
It was not lost on Alec the damage a father could do to his son. He’d long ago recognized the cost of having an absentee father and understood that was why he’d never committed to anything other than the military. Alec was not stupid and was cognizant of his shortcomings. He only hoped that some of his own personal experiences would help him navigate Caleb so he, too, didn’t grow into a man with the same issues.
“Becky wants Macy and the kids to come stay with us,” Rob said, pulling Alec from his thoughts.
“No,” Alec protested. “They’re staying here.”
Alec glanced into the den where Macy, Becky, McKenna, Kennedy, Silver, and Rory gathered. Becky was fawning over Macy, and by the look of it, Macy wasn’t happy.
Jocelyn had gone down for her nap and Caleb had happily taken the tablet Alec had offered him and was currently playing some game he’d asked to download.
“I agree they’d be safer here. But my wife is still going to push. She wants Macy and those kids within touching distance.”
“Respect, Rob, to both you and your wife, but that’s not gonna happen. I get Macy’s her girl and she loves Aurora and Caleb, but you might wanna have a word because if she pushes and it upsets Macy more than she already is, I’m gonna be pissed. And by the look on my woman’s face, she’s edging towards upset as we speak.”
Alec knew Rob was far from stupid, that he understood where Alec was with Macy. Rob also knew Alec was making headway with the kids and Alec would not let that be derailed by them going to stay with the Keenes, even if it was safe for them to do so. Which it was not. Rob and Becky lived across the street and two doors down from the dickhead and their house was not secure the way Alec’s was. On top of that, they had two young sons to think about.
“Shit,” Rob grumbled. But before he could make the decision to shut his wife’s attempts down, a commotion in the woman huddle caught their attention.
This being Rory screaming, “No!”
Then as fast as her little legs could carry her, Rory ran full-out toward Alec.
He didn’t wait for the girl to hit his legs, he simply swept her up into his arms, his eyes skidding to Macy’s. A myriad of emotions flitted over her features before she closed her eyes.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Alec whispered.
“I don’t want to leave.”
“You’re not going anywhere.”
Alec watched Macy make her way across the room, her movements stiff and tense. Her gaze went around the room and landed on Caleb for a moment before they settled on him and Aurora.
Oh yeah, the woman looked like a pissed-off lioness ready to annihilate anything threatening her cubs.
Macy stopped by Alec’s side. One of her hands went to his, the other gently brushed Rory’s cheek.
“Aunt Becky didn’t mean to upset you, sweetheart. You know how much she loves all of us and she’s a little scared about what happened. It is very nice of her and Uncle Rob to offer for us to go stay with them. But we’re staying here, with Alec.”
The worry that had been swirling in his stomach settled. They were staying—by her declaration. Not that Alec had planned on allowing anything different, but it felt damn good not to have to battle it out with her.
“I don’t ever want to go home again,” Rory declared.
“I know, baby girl. Wanna come back with me, or would you like to go and sit down with your brother?”
“I wanna stay with Alec.”
“No, Rory. He needs to talk to his friends about grown-up stuff.”
“But—”
“Gorgeous, go with your mom. When I’m done, I’ll come get you and we’ll see if McKenna bought some ice cream. Bet Caleb would like some, too.”
It took a moment for Rory to nod and reach for her mother, but when she did she was smiling.
So damn pretty just like her mother and that smile was no less potent. It didn’t matter if it was mother or daughter flashing it his way, it made him want to pull his heart from his chest and hand it to them. A wholly different experience—instead of keeping himself at a distance, he wanted to tether the five of them together.
Macy mouthed ‘thank you’ and moved to rejoin the woman. Alec turned his attention back to the men to find Nix, Jameson, Jonny, Rob, and Weston all staring at him. But it was Jonny openly assessing him that had him worried.
“You good?” Alec asked Jonny.
“No.”
“We got problems?”
“You and I? No. Me and Doug? Fuck, yeah. Beyond what he’s done to his family—”
“They are not his family,” Alec sneered. “They never were.”
Jonny gave Alec a jerk of his chin and continued. “Beyond Macy, Caleb, and Rory, he’s jacked over my parents. They informed me
this afternoon they loaned him five thousand dollars. Of course Doug had some bullshit story about wanting to fix up Aurora and Caleb’s bedrooms as a surprise. My parents love those kids. Doug knows that so he knows he can exploit it. And does frequently. But what you need to take away from that is my parents love their grandchildren and it would suck if they lose them.”
“Why would they lose them? They thinking about cutting—”
“Fuck no, brother, but I’m getting the sense what’s happening with Macy is more than I’d assumed. And I’d assumed you were serious. So what I’m saying is, I’m worried you making those kids part of your family means mine’s gonna lose out.”
Alec put a lid on his irritation. He didn’t appreciate Jonny straight up implying that he’d be a dick and try to hedge the Spencers out of their grandchildren’s lives.
“You love them.”
“Hell, yeah.”
“They love them.”
“Absolutely.”
“Then why you think I’d want that taken away from those kids is beyond me. The more good people they have in their lives loving them, showing them the way, making them feel that love, the better.”
“It can take a toll on a man having the reminder of the—”
“I am not that man. You think it’s lost on me? That every time I look at Aurora, I don’t see the eyes Doug gave her? And when I look at Caleb, I can’t see how much he looks like the guy? When I tell you I’m going to erase the assmunch from their lives, I mean the danger he brings. The neglect. The emotional havoc. Doug Spencer is a part of them; I will never allow them to be ashamed of that, Jonny. If I do, that means they’ll be ashamed of half of who they are. I’m gonna have to dig really fucking deep to find it, but there has to be some good in him. I know this because while Macy gets credit for most of it, Caleb is a damn good kid. Loyal and protective as all hell. I suppose your brother had to give him some of that.”
“They’d appreciate it if you allowed—”
“Now you’re just pissing me off. First, I have no say in that. I don’t get to allow anything when it comes to who Macy permits to see her kids. But I already told you, if it was up to me, I’d want them around. And Jonny, that includes you.”
The other man’s shoulders slumped slightly and there is was—Jonny was taking all of this shit on himself.
“No one blames you.”
“He’s—”
“You are not Doug,” Nix cut in. “You’ve been living under this weight since high school. Told you then, tell you again. Not a damn person in this county thinks any less of you or your family for the shit Doug pulls. Doug is Doug. He’s always been who he is, and there was nothing any of you could’ve done differently to make him change.”
Jonny looked contemplative. But now was not the time to heal old wounds. They had shit to talk about.
“I filled Jonny in, but you three need to hear this, too.”
Alec reiterated the conversation Caleb had with Macy to Nix, Jameson, and Weston. When he was done, it was Jameson who was vibrating with anger.
Therefore, it was not surprising when Jameson announced, “I’m heading to Florida.”
Jonny added what he knew about Keith Worthmore and Nixon interjected what he remembered of the man from high school. Which didn’t give them a whole lot of new intel—just confirmation this Keith guy was a total shitheel.
“He shouldn’t be hard to find,” Jameson declared.
And he wouldn’t be, not with Jameson going down to suss him out.
“You sure you have time?” Alec inquired, knowing how his friend felt about being away from his wife.
“I got plenty of time, but it won’t take much. I’ll head down, get a lock on the douchebag, we’ll have a chat, then it’ll be done.”
That was a decision Jonny had made. One that Alec saw the wisdom in, but knew it had to burn Jonny’s gut to give the green light to Jameson to make it so Doug understood he wasn’t to step foot back into Maryland. Alec also understood this was Jonny’s best play.
If Doug came back, Jonny’d be forced to have his brethren drag his brother in and question him about his involvement with Josh Malone. It would also put Macy and the kids in the position to have to deal with him. Lastly, it would put Doug within Alec’s reach, something that would be very bad for Doug’s health.
Doug disappearing and staying clear of Maryland was the best option.
“Weston and I are gonna hit a few places tonight,” Nixon informed the group. “We’re working on the assumption Malone is the shooter. I’d like confirmation. Seems extreme for twenty K. Not that we don’t know Malone is seriously fucked in the head, but I just want to make sure we’re not missing something. Josh Malone might not be the only person Doug’s pissed off or owes money to.”
Goddamn!
Alec hated to admit it but that was the truth, with Doug being a supreme dick, there could be a variety of assholes gunning for Macy to get to the dickless prick.
“’Preciate it. I need to have a talk with Macy about taking some time off work. And we’re gonna have to work out what’s gonna happen with the kids going to school. I don’t want any of them unprotected.”
“I’ll talk to the resource officer at the middle school,” Jonny told Alec. “Give him a heads up and he’ll keep an eye. Wayne’s a good guy. I’ll text you his information and give him a heads up you’ll be in touch. The elementary school doesn’t have an officer posted, but Macy knows just about everyone in that building, and with the security in place, Rory will be safe.”
That made Alec feel marginally better, but he wished there was a way to pull the kids out and keep them home. And on top of that, he knew he was going to have a battle on his hands getting Macy to agree to take time off of work. Just thinking about it pissed him off, the reasons why, the financial hit she was going to take. Which was going to put a serious dent in her already tight bank account. And it annoyed him to no end knowing there was no way in hell Macy would take money from him even though he could more than afford to cover her.
So once again, his woman was going to struggle on a variety of fronts, making him feel totally useless.
Unless he could get her to agree to an extended stay—one that would lead to a permanent stay. Rory had already expressed her desire never to go back to their old house, so maybe it was doable.
With the wheels in his mind spinning double-time, he glanced around the room finding Macy smiling at Silver holding her son, Dylan. Rory standing between her mom and Aunt Becky. Kennedy close to Becky saying something he couldn’t hear.
McKenna had disengaged herself from the girl posse and was now sitting with Caleb, Alec’s tablet in her hands, showing the boy something. Likely talking tech shit that kids these days understood more than the adults around them. Given enough time, McKenna could teach him to hack Homeland Security servers.
The men still huddled close, quietly making plans to take down Malone.
His house was full.
The reason his friends were there was fucked, even if it proved they were the best kinds of friends to have.
His daughter was upstairs tucked safely in bed.
And all of a sudden, his big house that was way too much for him, felt like a home.
Alec knew it wasn’t his friends that made it feel that way.
It was Macy, Caleb, and Aurora.
The three of them completing what he and his daughter shared.
No, they weren’t leaving. And he’d work his ass to the bone to make sure of it.
25
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered to Kennedy.
“Don’t be silly. This is what Jameson does. It’s part of his job. Not the first time he’s hit the road and it won’t be the last.”
I still felt like shit Jameson was heading down to Florida. And to make matters worse, he was leaving right then with no notice, which meant Kennedy hadn’t had any time to prepare.
“But—”
Kennedy’s hand on my arm halted my rebuttal.
“Macy, stop. One day I’ll explain to you why Jameson’s all fired up to head south and handle this. I’m telling you he wouldn’t have it any other way. This is who he is, part of why I love him so much. Which means I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
It wasn’t her soft words that made me believe she wasn’t upset. It was the way her face had relaxed and her eyes shone with kindness.
“Thank you for being so understanding. It has to be hard for him to leave on such short notice.”
“You get used to it. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, you learn to deal with it. Besides, that’s when we all rally.”
“Rally?”
“Yeah. Sure, it sucks when one of the guys has to take off, but we all have each other’s backs. Last time Nix, Jameson, Weston, and Holden took off, we had a girl’s night slumber party. Facials, junk food, booze, and bad eighties movies. It totally rocked.”
A twinge of jealousy rang through me. It had been a long time since Becky and I had taken a night to just relax and have some fun. It felt like years, actually.
“Hey. If you’re up to it tomorrow night, either you’re at my house or if you don’t want to leave the kids with Alec, I’ll come here and we’ll hang in the den. We can chat, eat junk food, I’ll bring the booze and we’ll binge on Netflix.”
That sounded awesome and I really wished I could take Kennedy up on her offer, but I couldn’t.
“I can’t ask Alec to watch my kids and we’ve already taken up too much of his house. And as much as I’d love some girl time, I couldn’t put him out more than I have.”
Kennedy’s green eyes narrowed and I belatedly noticed how cool they were—with a dark brown ring around the green making them pop, especially when they were squinty and sparking irritation.
“You’re not putting Alec out. And if you think he’d mind Rory and Caleb chillin’ here with him while you were at mine, or us hanging over here, then girl, you need to open your eyes. That man is gone for you.”
“We’re not—”
“Yeah, Jameson and I weren’t either. He was just helping me out of the trouble I’d found myself in. Another story I suspect you need to hear. As a matter of fact, McKenna and Silver should come over, too.”
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