Page 7 of Alec’s Dream

Resignation.

Defeat.

Anger was fast bubbling up and it was becoming increasingly harder for Alec to keep his peace. The very act of remaining silent went against everything in him. But Macy was not his business. And he was barely keeping his own shit straight. Alec wasn’t in the right frame of mind or place in his life where he could step in.

Without another word, Doug stalked out the door. Macy sucked in a deep breath before she turned and jolted to a stop.

The pain and fear in her eyes were so fresh when her gaze hit Alec’s it nearly took him to his knees—and suddenly Alec didn’t give two fucks he was drowning in his own personal hell. He didn’t care Macy wasn’t his business. He didn’t care he shouldn’t get involved.

No woman should ever look like she was so scared she wanted to run and hide. And that was exactly what Macy looked like—whatever Doug had done to her he’d put the fear of God in her.

So with all of that, Macy Spencer just hit his radar and became a priority.

3

Holy crap.

Crap, crap, crap.

That just happened, and I’d forgotten Alec was there to witness it.

Which was kind of a good thing—now I’d had a witness. But on the flip side, it was a bad, bad, thing because I couldn’t lose my job.

Forget the fact that I was supremely embarrassed. Something I was used to being. I was used to being the laughingstock of Cliff City. I was used to people staring at me while thinking I was the biggest fool on the planet because mostly I was. Or I had been for many years. Then I’d wised up and divorced Doug’s lying, cheating ass but I’d waited too long.

I’d held on to my marriage while Doug had drug me through hell. I held on while he got laid—did it regular, and did it in a way that everyone knew. Someone had to be living under a rock to miss Doug out every weekend fucking women that were not his wife—meaning he wasn’t fucking me but he was nailing every short skirt in the county.

But in the three years since the ink had dried on my divorce decree, Doug had made it his mission to make my life misery. It was a new, different kind of hell than what I’d lived in while I was married to his dirty ass.

Now he fucked with me through my children and he never missed an opportunity to stick it to me.

“Macy?” Alec called and I did my best not to flinch.

“I’m so sorry, Alec. I swear that doesn’t ever happen here. He’s never come here, not once. I’d never ever allow him around any of the kids,” I rushed out, hoping he’d believe me.

“How’d he get in?”

Shit. I was so stupid. So, so dumb.

“Right before you came, the women from Nearly New came in to pick up a donation. Since Jocelyn was still here, I unlocked the door so they could haul the donations out. I must’ve forgotten to lock it again. I’ve never done that either, Alec, promise. I was playing with Joss and—”

“You got problems with him?” Alec interrupted me.

Problems? That was laughable. Problems didn’t begin to cover what I had with my ex-douchebag.

“No,” I lied.

“You know what I do for a living, right?” he weirdly asked.

“Um…yeah,” I confirmed because I had his work information on Jocelyn’s enrollment forms.

I knew Alec worked with Nixon Swagger. Which made Alec some sort of PI or bounty hunter or some other kind of badass. I wasn’t completely in the know about what Gemini Group did but I’d heard rumors. I’d read the paper, therefore I knew Nixon had taken down the old sheriff after Dillinger almost killed McKenna Swagger. I’d also heard about Gemini Group finally putting a stop to Reggie Coleman’s criminal behavior. And just last year Gemini Group was back in the paper when they helped take down a drug ring. So even though I didn’t really know what Alec did, I knew.

“Then you know, if you got problems I can help you.”

Damn, that was nice of Alec to offer. But there was no way I was asking for help. Not with Doug. Not after I’d put myself in the position I now found myself in. It was bad enough I had to call on Doug’s brother Jonny. But I figured Jonny didn’t care, mainly because he loved his niece and nephew and knew Doug had been a shit husband and was still a shit father.

That meant asking Jonny to step in when Doug was in my face was one thing. Asking anyone else for help was another.