Working On Love (The Griffin Brothers Book 6) (3 page)

I know they’ve
noticed my frosty attitude towards them. Especially Tegan. I don’t
want to be like this, but I can’t help it. I have to figure
something out. I mean, I’m not planning to quit, so I have to make
an effort to get over it. Tegan told me the girls here go out every
weekend when they’re home from missions, so I don’t think any of
them had anything serious with Miles. I need to get past this, and I
also need to ask them for help.

I went to movie night
with my aunts and their friends last night at Erika’s house. We
watched 10 Things I Hate About You, which was the perfect choice for
my relationship with Miles. Except for the guy and girl ending up
together at the end. That’ll never happen to Miles and me. He made
it perfectly clear how much he hated me the first day we saw each
other here. I saw Quinn watching me with a worried expression after
the movie, but I left before she could ask me anything.

I’ve managed to keep
Nick at bay by working late and then eating with someone from my
family every night. I also told him my grandma wanted me to spend the
last two weeks at their place so we could finalize details for my
party this weekend. He’s pissed, but said he’ll hold off on
releasing the video for now. I know I’m on borrowed time.

Right as I’m thinking
that, I get a text from the bastard. It’s got a picture attached
and when I click on it, I know I’m going to throw up. I grab my
little trash can just in time. All of my lunch contents go in there
as I hear someone run to my desk.

“Alex, are you okay?”

It’s Quinn. She’s
bending down in front of me and there are dresses strewn all around
her. I remember that she’s coming by with clothes for Stella. I
start to cry as I shake my head.

“No. I’m not. I
need help, Quinn. I need everyone’s help.”

“Okay. Let me lock
the door, and we’ll go into the Society room. It’ll be okay.
Whatever it is, between us all, we can help.”

“Not my family,
though. They can’t know.”

“Are you sure?”

“They
can’t
know.”

“Alright. Go into the
room, and I’ll gather everyone.”

I thank her and walk
down the hall. I sit at my seat, looking down at my hands as I hear
everyone enter. There’s no mission at the moment, so all the girls
are here. I know they have normal foundation appointments and don’t
want them to cancel those, because people need their help, so I
decide to just blurt it out.

“My boyfriend is
blackmailing me. He-he was so nice to me, and I was happy to sleep
with him. It was my first time, but he was still a little rough. Then
he pulled me out of bed and showed me this room. It was the scariest
thing I’d ever seen. I ran out, planning to never see him again.

“A few days later, he
texted me a video. Of us. He told me I had to come over and let him
tie me up, or he was releasing it on the internet. So, I-I did. The
next time he texted, he said I needed to be spanked.”

“Fucking bastard,”
Quinn says.

“Yeah. He is. I’ve
been managing to avoid him by saying I had to stay with my
grandparents to get ready for my birthday party. I knew he was
pissed, but he said he wouldn’t release the tape for now. I just
got this text and picture a few minutes ago.”

It’s Ainsley who
reaches for my phone. “Holy fuck,” she says as she drops it on
the table.

“Ignore her.
Ainsley’s almost as innocent as you, Alex. Let me have a look.”
Stella picks up the phone and her mouth drops open. “Oh hell no.
You are not doing that. Not with those people and those…things.”

“She’s not doing
anything with anyone that she doesn’t want to do,” Reina says.
“You’re one of us, Alex. We’ll take care of this.”

“I don’t want my
family to know.”

“I’ll do what I
can. I promise.”

“Thank you. All of
you. I’m sorry I’ve been a bitch the last week. I didn’t mean
to be.”

“Do you want to tell
us why you did it?” Ainsley asks me.

“Not really, but I
will. I owe it to you for helping me with this. There’s a long
story I could tell you, but I know you all have appointments. So
here’s the short version. I’m in love with Miles. I have been
since I was thirteen. We were friends. At least I thought we were.
But then he left for college and never spoke to me again. Until I saw
him last year at Luke and Olivia’s renewal ceremony.”

“Oh God. And I told
you how some of us slept with him. Alex, I’m so sorry. It was
nothing to any of us, and definitely nothing to him. I promise you
that.”

“It’s okay, Teeg. I
know he sleeps around. It was just hard to hear that he was with you
guys, because I like you a lot. I was jealous.”

“Wait, isn’t Miles
a few years older than you?” Quinn asks.

“About five years.”

“So when he left for
college, he was eighteen and you were thirteen. And he left and
didn’t talk to you again. It’s all falling into place.”

“What’s falling
into place?”

“I can’t tell you
yet. But I will soon. I promise. I’ve got to go, though.” She
jumps up and kisses me on the top of the head before bolting from the
room.

We all look after her
in shock for a few seconds, but then get back to the matter at hand.
They come up with a plan and it sounds perfect to me. Ainsley takes
my phone, but promises to bring it back soon. I go back to my desk
and finish up my work for the day feeling like a giant weight has
been lifted off of me.

* * *

Miles

I’m sitting in my
office, trying to decide what to do tonight. I don’t feel like
going out to a club, but I also don’t want to just hang out at
home. Alone. Again. I’ve been doing that a lot these last two
weeks. Every night in fact.

I hear a commotion
outside, and then Quinn bursts in, quickly followed by my secretary.
She’s a middle aged woman who doesn’t put up with any crap.
Especially from me. “You cannot go in there.”

“It’s alright.
She’s a friend.”

Quinn waves her ring
finger at her to emphasize that she’s
just
a friend. Then she turns to me, hands on her hips, until she hears
the door close behind her. “You’re in love with Alex.”

“Excuse me?”

“You told me that you
fell in love with a ‘girl’ when the time wasn’t right, and the
woman she’s become hates you. I found out today that you and Alex
were friends when she was thirteen and you were eighteen. She said
you left for college and never spoke to her again.” I start to say
something, but she stops me. “I
know
it’s her, so don’t even bother trying to deny it.”

I drop my head into my
hands. “Yes. I’m in love with Alex.”

“So instead of
telling her how you felt, you’ve just been whoring it up for almost
six years?”

“Pretty much.”

“What is wrong with
you? Even if you couldn’t date her then, you could’ve stayed
friends until she was old enough.”

“There’s a lot
wrong with me, which is part of the reason that I broke off contact
with her. And I
couldn’t
be just friends with her. I was
interested
every time I was near her. Which is totally gross and inappropriate.
She was
thirteen
.”

“You were a teenager,
too, and probably the same age mentally, if not in years. You didn’t
act on what you were feeling, which was commendable then. It isn’t
now. You need to tell her how you feel. And stop putting your dick in
anything that moves.”

“I can’t tell her.
She has a boyfriend. She’s been with him for months, so it’s
obviously serious, even though he seems like an ass. And for the
record, my dick hasn’t been anywhere but my hand since I walked
into the foundation offices and saw here there.”

“Wow. Two weeks?
That’s like two years for a normal person.”

“No shit, Sherlock.
Now if you’re done with the attack and inquisition, I have work to
do.”

“There’s something
I should tell you. Or maybe I shouldn’t.”

“What is it? Is it
about Alex?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me, Quinn.”

“I-I can’t break
her confidence. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Fucking tell me,
Quinn. Or I’ll go find someone who will.”

“No one else would
tell you. I’m the weak link.” She drops into a chair and sighs
before speaking again. “Apparently her boyfriend thought he was a
getting a virgin who would like some kink. When Alex said no, he
showed her a videotape he made of their first time together. He said
he’d release it if she didn’t play along. She did a couple
things, but wouldn’t go further. Today he sent her a text and a
picture of what he has planned for her birthday this weekend. I
walked into the office as she was throwing up in her trash can.”

I’m already going to
kill the prick, but I need to hear the rest. “What did he send
her?”

“It was a picture of
him and two other guys. They were holding whips, handcuffs, and other
things I can’t even say. The text said that they couldn’t wait to
show her a good time in his “special room” after her party.”

“Thanks for the info,
Quinn,” I tell her as I round my desk.

“Where are you going,
Miles.”

“To fuck up the
bastard who thinks he can mess with the woman I love.”

“No. Miles. What if
his friends are there?”

“I hope to God they
are.”

I hear her calling
after me as I run to the elevator, but I don’t stop. I take of my
jacket and tie and roll up my sleeves before I hit the ground floor.
I’ve never been so angry and out of control in my life, not even
when I was finally fighting back with my dad. This fucker’s going
to pay for messing with Alex, and I don’t care what happens to me
in the process.

Alex

It’s the night of my
birthday party, and I’m really excited. Reina told me that
everything is under control with Nick. Darcy snagged his phone the
other day and cloned it, while Ainsley got into his apartment for his
laptop and video equipment. She cleared everything, including his
phone—remotely for that, since they couldn’t keep it away from
him for very long without him noticing. She also disabled the camera.
I can breathe easier now. There’s still the chance he’ll show up
here because I didn’t want to have to explain to my family why he
wasn’t invited. I don’t think he’s stupid enough to try
something at their house, though. At least I hope not.

I found a totally hot
dress to wear. It’s black and white with all these straps over it.
It has a deep V-neck and a really short skirt. I also have on black
heels with cool beading on the front. My uncles will freak, but I
don’t care. I wanted to look sexy. Not that anyone will notice. And
by anyone, yes, I do mean Miles. I didn’t see him at all the last
couple of days. I heard someone saying he took a couple of days off.
So he may not even be here, anyway.

When I go outside, I
see that people have started arriving already. It’s only my family
and a few friends from school. I don’t need anything fancy. I’m
hanging out with my aunts when the foundation girls arrive. The whole
backyard goes quiet. It’s a pretty intimidating sight—ten runway
worthy women all together at once—but they ignore the stares and
head straight to me. I hug them all, thanking them for coming. We
push some tables around so we can all sit together. My uncles try to
sit with us, too, but their wives shoo them away.

I’m having a lot of
fun hanging out with everyone when I see Reina stiffen. She puts a
smile on her face as I hear Jane say my name. I turn to see her
standing behind me, flanked by Matt and Miles. I’m startled to see
that Miles has a black eye and a cut that’s healing on his cheek.
He’s smiling at me, which is even weirder.

“Hey, Alex. Happy
Birthday,” Matt tells me as he gives me a hug.

“Thanks, Matt.”

Miles leans close to me
as my eyes go wide. “You look beautiful, Xandy,” he says as he
kisses my cheek.

“Th-thanks.” He
just called my Xandy. That was his name for me when I was thirteen. I
feel like I can’t breathe. How can I breathe?

“C’mon boys, let’s
leave Alex to her girl talk. We’ll see you in a little while.”

Jane hugs me and then
walks away. Her grandsons follow along, but Miles turns at the last
second and comes back over to where I’m still standing.

“Can we talk later? I
really want to talk to you. And give you your presents.”

“You want to talk to
me?”

“Yeah. Please.”

“Okay. But I said no
presents.”

“I know. I donated to
charity like you asked, but I couldn’t resist getting you some
things, too.”

“Oh. Umm, thanks.”

“You’re very
welcome. I better go, before Gram comes for me. Later though, right?”

“Yes. Later.”

He smiles at me and
turns to go. I feel like I’m in some alternate universe, or back to
the summer when I was thirteen. Miles is being nice to me and called
me by his special name for me. Could this night get any weirder? I
shake my head and then turn to sit with the girls again.

“Was Miles actually
being nice?” Stella asks me.

“Umm, yeah.”

“Whoa.”

“Don’t be like
that, please. Miles is one of my best friends.” Quinn looks really
angry.

“He’s always nice
to me, too,” Ainsley says.

“Well, that’s
because you two didn’t sleep with him.”

“That’s enough,
Tegan,” Reina tells her, looking at me with concern.

I know I’ve gone
pale. I could feel the blood rush from my face. I really need to deal
with this better. He’s not going to stop sleeping around, and I’m
not going to stop hearing about it. I’m trying to think of a way to
respond, when all of a sudden Miles is kneeling next to my chair,
looking really worried.

“Are you okay? You
got so pale all of a sudden.”