Working On Love (The Griffin Brothers Book 6) (11 page)

“Such big words from
someone who can’t even save himself, much less his little slut.”

Nick has the guys turn
me towards Alex as he puts on some brass knuckles and starts to punch
me. In between blows, he lifts my head and makes me watch his friend
grope and kiss her. I try to fight. I do. It’s no use, though. I
resign myself to the fact that I’ve failed yet another woman in my
life.

The blows keep coming,
and Alex keeps screaming, until suddenly my arms are free and I hear
bodies hitting the walls. As I fall to the floor, I see my brother
and Scott whaling on the four guys. I swear that I see Jade too, but
that makes no sense. It all fades to black before I can process
anything else.

* * *

Alex

I’m so scared. I’ve
been waiting at the hospital for hours. The paramedics insisted on
bringing me in, along with Miles, because they thought I might be in
shock. I’m not. I’m just scared for the man I love. Nick hurt
him. Really bad. If Uncle Scott, Matt, and Jade hadn’t gotten there
when they did, he might have ended up dead. And I would’ve been
raped.

It was bad enough that
the guy was groping and kissing me. Thinking about it makes me
shudder. I want to believe that I would’ve somehow fought him off.
But I don’t know how.

I was counting on
Ainsley overhearing what was happening and tracking us down. We all
have tracking devices. At first I thought it was weird having it
injected in my arm, but I’m so thankful for it now. It was lucky
that Scott, Jade, and Matt happened to be there with her. I owe them
all our lives.

I know Miles is alive,
but that’s all I know. They’ll only let family into the ICU, and
even though we’re living together, I’m not his wife. So, I don’t
count. That really sucks, but as long as Matt and Jane keep giving me
updates, I’ll survive. I won’t leave, though.

I’m thinking this as
they walk out into the waiting room. Matt is holding Jane up. She’s
not looking too good. “Jane, are you alright? Is Miles worse?”

“I’m fine, dear.
Miles is sleeping right now.”

“I’m taking her
home to sleep. You should go home, too.”

“No. I can’t leave,
Matt.”

“They won’t let you
in, Alex. I’ve tried everything I can to get them to bend the
rules.”

“I know. I appreciate
you trying. I won’t leave until he’s out of there. My aunts are
bringing me some clothes tomorrow.”

“Alright. I’ll see
you in the morning, then.”

I sit back down in my
seat and don’t realize I’ve fallen asleep until I feel a hand
caressing my cheek. I startle and look into eyes I haven’t seen in
years. Eyes that try to look charming, but I know are full of evil.
Martin Corrigan.

I jump back from his
touch. “You grew into a beautiful girl, Alexandra. No wonder my son
loves fucking you.”

“Stay away from him.”

“I just left him. We
had a lovely chat. Now it’s your turn.”

“What?”

“I’ve convinced the
nurse here to let you in to see Miles.”

I look past him and see
the nurse smiling at me. I jump out of my chair and walk quickly to
her.

“Aren’t you going
to thank me?”

“No,” I tell him as
he smirks at me.

I follow the nurse to
Miles’ cubicle. He’s looking away when I walk in. I gasp as I
take in all his bruises and cuts. He turns his head to glare at me.

“What the fuck are
you doing here?”

My heart almost stops.
That’s exactly what he said when he saw me in the foundation
office. His voice sounds even colder now. I don’t know how that’s
possible.

“Your dad got them to
let me in. I’ve been in the waiting room. I was so worried, Miles.”

“Of course he did.
I’m fine Alex. You should go.”

“You don’t want to
see me?”

“No. Not now. Not
ever. It’s over.”

“Wh-what? No, Miles.
We love each other.”

“You were just
another fuck.”

“That’s not true.
We bought a place together. We
live
together.”

“You’re really
good, so I wanted more time with you. That’s all. I could afford
that condo, so why not humor you. You can have it. I won’t be
setting foot in there again.”

“Why are you doing
this, Miles? Did your father say something to you?”

I see him flinch, but
he doesn’t back down.

“I’m doing this
because I’m done with you. Now get out.”

“I’m not leaving
until you explain this to me. I know what you’re saying isn’t
true.”

“GET OUT!” he
yells, and the nurse rushes into the room.

“You’ll need to
leave now, miss.”

“I love you, Miles.”

He doesn’t answer as
I stumble from the room. I want to throw up. And then curl into a
little ball somewhere and never get up. I don’t know what that was.
All I can think is that he’s angry with me for getting him hurt.

I drop into a chair in
the waiting room, trying to collect myself enough to call a cab to
take me home.
Home
.
That’s a joke. Miles is my home. I don’t want to go back to the
condo without him. But I need to.

“Alex?”

I look up to see
Jessica, Miles’ mom, running towards me. She looks just like I
remember her. “Hi Jessica.”

“I flew in as soon as
I could. Have they let you in? I’ll make them let you in.”

“Mr. Corrigan had
them do that when he left.”

“Martin? He was
here?”

“Yeah.”

“Did they limit your
time with Miles?”

“He made me leave.”

“Miles? No. He’s
been telling me how happy he is now that you’re together.”

“He told me I was
just another fuck.”

“No, Alex. That’s
not true.”

“It’s what he told
me before he kicked me out. I need to leave, Jessica. It was nice to
see you.”

“Don’t give up on
my son, Alex. This feels like it has my ex-husband’s slimy hands
all over it. I’ll talk to Miles.”

I just shrug at her and
walk out. I’ve worked hard on building my self-respect back up. I
won’t let anyone tear it back down. Not even Miles.

Miles

I’m finally getting
released from the hospital today. I’m guessing that people who have
regular—or no—insurance aren’t kept in for two weeks very
often. That’s what they did to me, though. Two weeks of poking,
prodding, and some awesome pain meds. Along with two weeks of guilt,
longing, and hatred. Fun times.

My door opens, and Matt
strolls in. “Man, its good you’re getting out today. You can get
your head out of your ass and talk to Alex.”

“I have nothing to
talk to her about. We’re over.”

“So you don’t care
that the girls set her up with a blind date for tonight?”

No! She wouldn’t. Not
so soon. I know she hasn’t called or texted since I kicked her out
of the ICU, but I didn’t think she’d get over me so soon.
Apparently she has. I should be happy, because God knows I’ll never
get back together with her. Instead I feel like I’m dying. I can’t
let it show, though.

“It’s none of my
business.”

“What the fuck is
wrong with you? You had this amazing woman, who you’ve apparently
been in love with for years, and you’re just giving her up because
you got beat up?”

“What? I don’t care
about getting beat up.”

“That’s not what
she thinks. She puts on a brave front, but I caught her crying the
other day. She blames herself for you getting beat up. Nick’s going
to rot in jail, which is better than he deserves, but she thinks that
you hate her now because you got hurt.”

“It’s not her
fault. None of it’s her fault. It’s mine. Every fucking thing is
my fault.”

“It’s your fault
that some crazy bastard got fixated on her?”

“No. It’s my fault
that dad got so angry at me he did everything he could to destroy me.
And it worked.”

“What the fuck are
you talking about?”

“We’d like to know
that as well.”

I didn’t hear my mom
or gram walk in, but they’re here now. I don’t want to tell them.
I honestly don’t want anyone to know. I wish I didn’t know. Then
I could still be with Alex.

“No one needs to
know, Gram.”

“Yes we do, Miles.
Please tell us what your father said to you. I know you love Alex. I
know
it.”

I give in. I’m really
too tired to fight, and although it’s selfish of me, I want someone
to share the burden of what I know. Three of the four people who mean
the most to me are in this room. There’s no one else I could ever
tell.

“Okay. Take me to my
old place and I’ll tell you everything. It’s really ugly, but at
least you’ll understand why I can never be with Alex.

* * *

Alex

It’s been three weeks
since I walked out of the hospital. I’d be lying if I said I don’t
cry myself to sleep every night. I’ve stayed in the condo, but I
sleep in one of the guest rooms. I can’t sleep in our bed without
Miles. Although, I guess it’s just my bed now.

Jessica came over and
boxed up his stuff. She looked sad as the moving guys took it away,
but she did it. That was two weeks ago. While he was still in the
hospital. I know he got out last week, but he hasn’t tried to
contact me and I’ve forced myself to not look pathetic by calling
or texting someone who is so obviously over me.

I’ve let the girls
set me up on a few blind dates. I didn’t click with any of them.
They were all hot, and successful, but they’re not him. Miles has
ruined me for every other man on Earth.

I try to clear my head
as I walk into the Society room for the emergency meeting Jane
called. No one has any idea what’s going on, but they’re all
excited at the prospect of a new mission. It’s rare that everyone’s
called in at once, so the excitement level is even higher.

I take my seat.
Everyone’s here except for Jane and Matt. I hear the door close
behind me and turn to see them, along with Jessica.

“Thank you all for
coming. I know you’re expecting a mission. There will be more than
one. My family needs help from all of you, especially Alex.”

“Me? I don’t know
how to go on a mission. I’m just supposed to work the front desk.”

“You’re the only
one who can save my son from destroying himself.”

“She’s not going
anywhere near Miles,” Tegan tells her.

“That’s not for you
to decide. Now let Jessica speak. What she has to tell you may change
your mind about what you think happened to Miles. And Alex.” Jane
glares, and no one dares to challenge her.

I see her take a deep
breath, and then Matt squeezes her hand and kisses the side of her
head. “My ex-husband beat me. Often. I let it go on because I was
scared that if I said anything, the consequences would be too much to
deal with. I thought no one would believe me and then Martin would
get custody of Miles. I knew if that happened, he would beat my
little boy. I had to protect him.

“When he became
older, he tried to intervene on a couple of occasions. Once was
during the summer, and I think he told Alex.”

“He did. He said his
dad hit him because he did something wrong. He wouldn’t tell me
what it was.”

“He was trying to
defend me. He wasn’t strong enough yet, and his father hurt him.
Not just physically. Martin told Miles that he’d never be able to
protect me or anyone one else he loved from him. I begged Miles to
never interfere for me again. He begged me to tell Jane, or even
Matt. He said his older brother would help, even if he wasn’t my
biological son. I was still scared, so I refused.

“Martin started
spending more and more time away from home over the next year. Miles
was away at military school and asked for permission to take martial
arts classes off campus. Martin knew that if he became too strong,
he’d fight back. Fight for me. So he had a doctor friend say that
Miles had severe asthma and couldn’t participate in sports or use
the weight room. I gave my son the permission to take the class,
which almost cost us all everything.

“The next summer,
when Miles turned eighteen, I saw the change in how he looked at
Alex. I knew he was in love with her. It made me so happy. Their age
difference was an issue then, but it wouldn’t matter in a few
years, and they were such good friends. I knew they’d stay in
touch. Until I ruined it all.”

“How did you ruin it?
He was the one who left and didn’t speak to me for six years.”

She turns to me as she
explains. “I was talking to him about it, about you, when his
father walked in for a surprise visit. He was furious, thinking Miles
would disgrace us by pursuing you and that he would lose the deal for
Gary to build the latest Corrigan building. Miles told him he
wouldn’t touch you until you were old enough.” She pauses and
closes her eyes for a minute. “Then Martin started saying things
about you, Alex. Disgusting, vile things. Miles, well, Miles went
crazy. I’ve never seen him look the way he did that night. He was
full of rage, and although I wouldn’t let him protect me, there was
nothing I could say or do to stop him from protecting you. He used
all the skills he’d learned and almost killed Martin.”

“Oh my God.”

“It was then that
Jessica finally had to call me and tell me what was going on. Miles
was in police custody, and my son was in the ICU, almost dead.”

“Jane believed what I
told her and got Miles out of jail. While Martin was still in the
hospital, Reina and Audrey dug up everything they could find so we
could blackmail him into leaving us alone after I divorced him.”

I see Matt look to
Reina and mouth “thank you” before he speaks to all of us. “I
still can’t believe this was all happening. I would’ve protected
you both.”

“You were protecting
our country, Matt. I was always so proud to be your step-mom. I
thought we’d be okay. I was just trying to wait for Miles to leave
the house before divorcing Martin. I knew I’d be okay on my own and
he’d be at college, where his father couldn’t hurt him. At least
not physically.