Page 103 of Alec’s Dream

“A tizzy?”

“Yep. A tizzy, and it’s over nothing.”

“Nothing?” I parroted chiefly because I could feel the vein in my neck pounding and I couldn’t think of new words to say.

“Yeah, Macy, nothing. Got word your ex-dickwad will no longer be an issue for you, what’s more, no longer be an issue for Aurora and Caleb. Malone screwed up, called you, which means he saved us a boatload of time searching for him. So instead of it taking hours or days, we only had to sit there for thirty minutes while the jackass wasted a shit ton of ammo taking shots at us. Now he’s been arrested, you and the kids are safe, and we can settle in.

“All in all, it was a good day that got even better when I picked up the kids brought them home to you and Joss. Got to spend time with Caleb. Rory ran around with Tank. You and Joss got some time with Kennedy. And the first really great day I’ve had in a long time, is ending with Rory and Caleb upstairs sleeping in the room next to Jocelyn, this after we all sat at the table and had a family dinner. So yeah, Macy, you’re in a tizzy about nothing.”

Okay, so I decided to shelve my serious pissed-offness in order to shift through some of what Alec said. The first super-scary, heart-pounding revelation was that he’d been shot at.

“Josh tried to shoot you?”

“Not me specifically. He’s not very smart and was spraying bullets, not taking aim at any of us.”

“You were shot at!” I repeated, this time not a question.

“Babe—”

My hands went to my hips and I leaned forward. “You were shot at!”

Alec relaxing on the couch was a thing of the past. His ankles uncrossed, his feet were on the floor, elbows to his knees, and he was sitting up, eyes assessing.

“Baby,” he cooed. “As you can see I’m fine. Nothing happened.”

Nothing happened? Josh fucking Malone happened. He beat me up, perforated my couch with bullets, narrowly missing Jocelyn, Aurora, Caleb, Alec, and myself, then he threatened to kill Caleb if I didn’t pay Doug’s debt. And if all of that wasn’t enough—he shot at Alec.

That was not nothing. That was a whole lot of somethings. All of it fucked-up and totally insane. I’d gone thirty-five years without being shot at and I’d never had a black eye either. The vast majority of the population was never shot at because it was fucking crazy.

Not until Doug Spencer gambled away all of his money, went into debt, then Josh Malone decided I was the one that was going to pay.

30

Alec stayed seated and watched with rapt attention as Macy processed.

There was a lot to work through, and by the look on her face, the thoughts were racing pretty damn fast.

“Baby,” he called.

“If you say the word ‘nothing’ one more time, I swear my head’s gonna pop off.”

“Noted.”

“This isn’t amusing,” Macy brusquely scolded.

She was wrong, it was mildly amusing how worked up she was getting, not understanding in doing so she was unwittingly helping his argument. The one they were undoubtedly going to have when he told her—Aurora was correct and they were living with him now.

If Macy thought her head was going to pop off at the news dumbass Josh had shot in his direction, he was worried what might happen when he explained to her now that he had her and the kids under his roof, he wasn’t going to allow them to leave.

“Come sit down. You’re right—we have stuff to talk about.”

“No, we don’t.”

“It was your idea, Macy. You in here all rarin’ to talk. Let's get everything settled now so we can enjoy the rest of the night.”

Hopefully, that meant he’d be enjoying her in ways that made her alternately moaning and begging.

“We don’t need to talk as such. I just need you to listen.”