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“Alex, what are you doing here?”
His toothy smile quickly dissolved into an equally disturbing frown. “I’ve been trying to reach you for months. You haven’t responded to any of my messages.”
She stood taller, narrowing her gaze. “Then you should’ve taken the hint.”
The frown morphed into a scowl. “I understand why you’re treating me this way, Bree. But I just want to talk.”
“There is nothing for us to talk about. Not now. Not ever.” She stuffed her hands in her pockets, hoping he couldn’t see how badly they were shaking.
“I’ve come all this way to talk to you. The least you could do is let me take you out to dinner, so I can explain. I know I wasn’t the best person back then, but I’m different now. I just want to show you that I’m not that man anymore.”
“Maybe you are different now. If so, that’s great. But you put your hands on me, Alex. I can never trust you again.”
“It was one time, and I told you how sorry I was. That I didn’t mean to do it. I was so stressed out back then, you know?”
“That’s not an acceptable excuse for how you treated me. I should’ve left you long before I did.”
“I told you, I’m not that guy anymore.” A vein bulged in his forehead. “If you can’t go to dinner, we can talk now. I only need ten minutes. Let me come in. We can sit down and hash this out.”
“I don’t want to hash things out. I don’t miss you or us or the way things were. I don’t want any of it, and I don’t want you. Please, just go away.” She scanned the room for something she could use as a weapon if he tried to force his way inside the door. “I don’t want to get the police involved, but I will if I have to.”
Bree recognized the signs of rage building. The muscles of his neck corded, his pale skin was mottled and his nostrils flared.
“I’m simply asking for a chance to explain myself, and you’re threatening to call the cops on me?” he practically shouted as he dragged his fingernails through his dirty blond hair.
Bree didn’t flinch, determined not to show any fear. It was fear that fed the monster.
“I’d do it in an instant and happily watch them drag your ass to jail. That probably wouldn’t go over too well with that investment bank of yours.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.” She stood her ground. Her chest heaved and her breath came in noisy pants as her own anger overtook any fear she might have had facing him again.
“Everything all right, babe?” Wes was suddenly behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist possessively.
“Peachy.” She wasn’t sure when Wes had entered through her patio door, but she was grateful he was there.
“Who is this?” Alex’s gaze shifted from Bree to Wes and back again.
“The man who plans to marry her. And the owner of an aluminum bat with your name on it if you don’t turn around right now and walk your happy ass outta here. While you still can.” Wes’s voice was calm and his tone icy as he dropped his hand from her waist and stepped in front of her.
Alex huffed, his jaw clenched. “You’re as crazy as she is. Who needs this? You two deserve each other.”
He turned and stomped down the stairs to his Mercedes-Benz parked outside. Neither of them moved until he drove away.
When Alex’s car left the lot, Bree released a noisy breath, her hands to her mouth.
“Are you okay, baby?” He gripped her shoulders gently. When she nodded, he pulled her into his arms and held her. Wes closed and locked the front door. “Here, come sit down.”
He got her a bottle of water and sat on the sofa beside her.
She took a sip, her hands still shaking. “I can’t believe he showed up here.”
“Tell me everything you know about this guy.”
“The short answer? Biggest mistake of my life. That’s what happens when you don’t listen to your gut,” she added under her breath.
“Go on.” He leaned forward intently.
Bree brought Wes up to speed on her history with Alex Hunt, and his persistent attempts to contact her over the past few months.
