Page 53 of Alec’s Dream

“I think—” Macy stopped her rebuttal and looked out the window. Alec’s gaze followed to find Rob Keene’s Expedition parked at the curb.

“Be right back.”

“No!” Rory shouted and Alec froze.

The raw panic on the little girl’s face tore at his insides and the devastation in Macy’s eyes threatened to take him to his knees.

“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart. I’m going to go talk to Rob and let your brother in,” Alec assured her.

“You promise?”

“Yeah, Rory, I promise. I’m going to go outside but I’ll be right back in.”

Aurora wordlessly went back to slurping her soup but Macy’s frightened eyes stayed glued to his. There was so much emotion communicated in the silence—he didn’t need the words to know the depth of Macy’s pain and fear.

“It’s gonna be all right. Swear it, Macy, everything is gonna be okay.”

Her eyes drifted closed and she nodded though he knew she didn’t believe him. How could she? Rory was scared, Macy was battered and bruised, and her son was outside moments away from learning his mother had been attacked. And if all of that wasn’t bad enough, Macy had been brutalized on her own property. A place where she should’ve been safe, where they all should be safe.

There was so much he wanted to say to Macy but he needed to intercept Caleb before he came into the house.

Alec made it outside just as Rob, Becky, and Caleb were halfway up the lawn. All three jerked to a halt, surprised to see him, but it was Caleb who’s eyes narrowed. The boy’s confusion turned to something else and Alec was impressed as the kid prepared to battle.

“Rob. Becky,” Alec greeted, then turned to Macy’s son. “Caleb. I’m Alec. I don’t know if you remember seeing me at the Freeze. I’m a friend of your mom’s. My daughter Jocelyn goes to your mom’s daycare.”

“Why are you here? Where’s Mom?”

Alec smiled at the kid, liking the way he asked about his mom.

“I need a minute with Rob, then I’ll explain. But while I’m doing that, I need you and Becky to wait out here, yeah?”

“Is mom inside?” Caleb inquired, not giving in to Alec’s request.

“She is. Rory’s home, too.”

“I’m going in.” Caleb took a step and Alec remained in place, trying his best to look threatening.

“Listen, Caleb, I know you wanna check on your mom. But right now, what your mom needs is for you to hang out here with Becky while I talk to Rob. I know it’s asking a lot seeing as you don’t know me, but I need you to trust me just for a few minutes.”

“Come on, bud.” Becky put her arm around Caleb’s shoulder and steered him back to the Expedition. “Let’s give them a minute.”

Thankfully, Caleb didn’t argue, leaving him alone with Rob.

“What happened?” The other man wasted no time getting down to it. Which was good because Alec didn’t have the time nor the disposition for small talk.

Alec liked and respected Rob—he was a no-bullshit kind of man—so Alec gave it to him straight holding nothing back, knowing he was free to be honest.

“Motherfucker. I’m gonna ring his goddamn neck,” Rob growled.

“Back of the line, brother,” Alec muttered, then got to the point of why he’d wanted a word with Rob before they went in. “I need your help. I’m stuck in this fucked-up place where I need to talk to Caleb, warn him what he’s gonna see so he doesn’t get blindsided. But also, and I don’t think I need to tell you, Rory’s a mess. She saw it, she’ll be looking to her brother for cues. Macy’s holding on by a thread. If Caleb goes off, Rory will, too, and Macy will crumble. But the kid doesn’t know me, doesn’t trust me, and already has a man in his life who’s a fucked-up prick. I need this to go smooth so I’m asking you to take my back on this. I need you with me when I talk to Caleb.”

“There a reason why you’re so worried how smooth this goes between you and Caleb? And while I’m asking that, I’ll also ask this—why are you in her business to begin with? Before you answer, you should know, I heard my woman on the phone squealing like a teenager, talking about Alec Hall this, Alec Hall that with Macy. Then nothing for days. Did you get what you wanted from sweet Macy on Saturday night, then throw her back?”

Alec leashed his temper and remembered Rob was doing what he was supposed to do and that was protecting Macy. But it pissed him the fuck off that Rob was questioning him.

“Respect that you’re looking out for Macy. You have my promise I’m not going to hurt her or the kids. But I’m telling you now, I will not explain our relationship or private life with you or anyone else. If Macy wants to share, she will. Straight up, I need this to go smooth for Caleb because he’s twelve and his dad has already fucked him over and I will not be another man to let him down. You can either help clear the way for me, or you can walk into the house and I’ll handle Caleb on my own. Your choice. But I’m not letting that boy walk into the house and suffer the kind of blow that would be delivered seeing his mother with bruises on her face.”

“You’re serious then? About her? About them?”