Circle of Deception

by Skye, M.

  The moonlight was illuminating her beautiful face and he desperately needed to look into her eyes. He knew his eyes always gave him away when it came to her, and he was hoping that they would be his salvation this time. When he went to flip on the light switch, that’s when he saw all the tears staining her cheeks. They were coming down in a steady flow that was never ending. Looking at her cry that way made him feel like a first-class jerk.

  He knew he was to blame for the pain she was in and had no explanation for it. When he finally reached out to her, she shivered at his touch. She was in a state of delirium that she snapped out of when his hand met her shoulder. Without saying a word, she finally turned to face him, and the look she gave him cut him to the core. She was looking at him like he was a stranger.

  Alex looked like she had gut punched him. Every trace of the once composed woman he saw at the restaurant was long gone and he became fearful of what was to come next. “Meg, I know things look bad, but I…” Before he could finish his statement, she hauled off and slapped him, sending him flying backwards on the bed.

  “You don’t get to talk. This is all your damn fault! I just came here to get my car and clothes. I’m going to Gio’s tonight,” she said, and stood off the bed.

  “You can’t leave, this is our home. I’m not letting you walk out again,” he said, and reached out to grab her wrist.

  “Take your hands off me now! You made me look like the biggest fool at our engagement party. Not only did you fuck her, you got her pregnant too! I looked so damn stupid.”

  Alex shifted his head and looked at her while she rummaged through the dresser drawers, pulling out wads of clothing. “I promise you I don’t know how this happened. I don’t even remember that girl.”

  His words sent her into a tailspin and she tackled him to the bed, swinging wildly while screaming out her frustrations. “Is that supposed to make me feel better? You fucked some bitch and got her pregnant, and you don’t even remember it. That means you ruined us over a bitch that wasn’t even good in bed.”

  He wanted to restrain her, but he knew he deserved all of her rage, so he just sat there. He let it go on for a few minutes and then sat up and wrapped his arms around her. Surprisingly, she let him. Her body was so exhausted from the crying and fighting that she just let him carry her to the head of the bed and place her under the covers.

  She didn’t fight him when he started to remove her dress and shoes, she just sat back looking at the ceiling. He didn’t know which was worse, her violent release or her silence. Either way he hated being on her bad side. She was the most important person in the world to him and now they might not have a future. He couldn’t allow that. There was no way he was giving her up without a fight.

  “Talk to me… Yell at me… Slap me… at least that way I know there is a chance. Your silence is killing me.” For a short instance she just stared at him with tears in her eyes.

  “You don’t deserve anything more. Do you know how hard it was for me to play it cool in front of that slut knowing I wanted to rip you both apart?”

  Now he was confused. She had acted so cool in front of Bianca and now she was unraveling at the seams. “Why did you stop and talk to her on the way out?” he asked.

  “Like a typical man, you know nothing. There is no way in hell I was going to let her see me sweat. She already took my dream of having your first child, I wasn’t going to let her have the satisfaction of seeing me lose my cool. If I would have reacted any differently, she would have assumed she won.”

  “What does this mean? Are you saying that we still have a chance?” he asked hopefully.

  “Honestly, I don’t know if we can get past this. I tried to tell myself that I could accept this the whole drive home, but I feel as broken as I did when I first found out. There is no way to rebuild the trust we lost tonight which is why I have to give this back to you.” She slid off her engagement ring.

  “No! Hell no, I won’t take it back. Me taking that from you is me admitting there is no hope for us, and I REFUSE to believe that.” His eyes were red and tears were forming. “Megan Marie Cardoza you are mine, and I’m not giving you up. I don’t care what I have to do, but you're not leaving me.”

  As if considering what he said, she sat up on the bed and looked into his eyes, placing her hand on his cheek. “What you need to concentrate on now is building a relationship with your daughter. She is the innocent party in this and contrary to what you believe right now, she is the most important person in the world to you.”

  Her words hit Alex like a speeding bus. She was right. His child should be the most important person in his life now, but that didn’t mean he had to give up the love of his life to have her. “Meg what you’re saying is true, but I won’t give you up. I can be a father to Allison, but I love you. I won’t let you go. I messed up, please let me fix it.”

  She cocked her head to the side and gave him a sweet smile that made him believe his words had reached her somehow. “The only thing for me to do at this point is step aside for you to get to know Allison. I’m not saying it’s over forever, I’m just saying I can’t marry you,” she explained and pushed the covers aside.

  When she resumed her position in front of the dresser and began to put her belongings in a small duffel bag, he just watched sadly. A little voice in his head was screaming at him to march up to her and kiss her until she caved, but his body was numb. He couldn’t believe she was walking away for the second time.

  Ten minutes passed as Alex sat and watched Meg pack up her stuff. His eyes were drawn to her left hand. The imprint of where her ring once rested was still fresh. It was sheer torture looking at her without it, especially because when he placed it on her finger, he swore it would never come off.

  When he watched her take the diamond earrings he had bought for her earlier that evening off and lay them down on the nightstand, that was the breaking point. “Stop this madness. I bought those for you as a gift, you’re not leaving them. I want you to put them back on now!” The tone of his voice startled her, and she turned to face him. When she saw the look of defeat on his face, it almost made her want to wrap her arms around him, but she had to stay strong.

  She was confused, and being around Alex right now would only cloud her judgment. All the years they had been in love, she had never known him to lie to her. He was begging and pleading that he knew nothing about that night and she wanted to believe him, but the proof would always be with them in the form of a child. She wasn’t sure if she was capable of being fair to little Allison, considering her conception.

  She did agree with Alex on one thing though. She did feel like Bianca had some agenda where he was concerned. Why else would she have waited until their engagement party to show up with Ben of all people?

  Ben had made it clear that he hated her from the beginning, and she wasn’t sure why. She had never done anything knowingly to upset him. Her mind was going in several different directions, when she looked up and saw Alex watching her intently.

  When he noticed that her expression had softened, he thought maybe she had changed her mind about leaving, and graced her with a nervous smile. When he watched her pick her bag up, he almost crumbled to the floor. He wanted to prove to her that he could be trusted and convince her to stay, but he felt that if he kept pushing, she would just withdraw even further. As unwilling as he was to accept that she was moving out, he knew she needed this time with her friends and family to sort things out.

  “Will you at least let me help you with your bags sweetheart?” he asked, sadly. With astonishment in her eyes, she just nodded her head and handed him the bags, making her way towards the stairs. As she descended the stairs, she looked around their beautiful house, remembering how happy she was when they moved in. Everything in the house had a special meaning to her, from the couches down to the stainless steel knobs on the kitchen cabinets.

  Alex just walked behind her quietly hoping she would change her mind and run back upstairs to their bed, but s
he never turned back. She walked out the door, hit the unlock button on her car, and jumped inside. He watched her sit quietly in the driver’s seat as he loaded her bags into the trunk. When he finished, he walked around to the car to her window and looked at her pleadingly. She had never seen him look so pitiful. It was killing her to leave him in such distress, but she had to if she was going to respect herself.

  The fact was, this current mess they found themselves in was something she couldn’t just wish away. As she started her car up, she displayed a faint smile for him. She knew she had to get away from there and get a good night’s rest, although it was going to be a difficult task. She had spent every single night for the past two months cradled in Alex’s arms. Now she had to adjust to sleeping alone, at least until they got to the bottom of what happened that fateful night.

  After watching her drive away, Alex picked up his cell phone hurriedly and rushed inside to place a few calls. His first call was to Gio. Gio picked the phone up after two rings, as if he had been waiting for the phone call. “What happened Alex? Where is my sister? Is she okay?”

  “Gio slow down, she is on her way to you right now. I just wanted to be sure you were going to take care of her.” Alex heard Gio’s frustration when he sighed deeply and knew the next statement was going to be less that pleasant.

  “Me take care of her? You’re her fiancée, that’s supposed to be your job. You promised to love her and always protect her, what happened to that?” he huffed loudly.

  “She won’t let me. Do you think it was easy watching her pack up and leave me? I begged, I pleaded, I even let her take out her frustrations physically, and she still left me. I want her back, I can’t live without her.”

  Gio wanted to remain furious at Alex for breaking Meg’s heart again, but the emotion in his voice made pity him. He had known Alex over half his life, and he had never known him to cry about anything, but he could tell he had been crying just before he called. While listening to Alex’s pleading request, he thought back on the conversation he had just ended with Aiden minutes before.

  Aiden told him the story of how he found Alex in bed with Bianca fully dressed and how he had gotten her out of the room before Alex woke up. Something just didn’t add up. For one, he had never known Alex to get sloppy drunk to the point that he wouldn’t remember anything, and how did he get dressed if he had slept with Bianca? He had been around plenty of drunk men who were so belligerent they could barely remember their names let alone get dressed in that state of intoxication.

  Alex was still talking, but Gio had moved on to a different subject in his own mind. He was replaying the events of the night in his mind and trying to point out what seemed off. Nothing came to mind immediately, but only time would tell.

  When Gio finally snapped back into the conversation, he could hear Alex rambling on the other end, and he had heard enough. “Alex I’m going to take care of my sister, you need to get yourself together. I suggest you handle your business before you speak to Meg again, she is going to need a little space,” he warned, before hanging up.

  After speaking to Alex, Gio was convinced all was not as it seemed, but he didn’t want to let his suspicions be known until he had solid proof. The question was where would he get proof? He and Ben were hardly friends, and he would have the answers they all needed. “How could that man be so vengeful to his own son?” Gio asked into the air.

  “You know I was thinking the same thing,” Maria said, startling Gio. He turned around to see a look of disappointment on her face.

  “Mom, when did you get here?”

  “Dad and I just pulled up with Maddie, we figured with everything going on that Meg may be stopping by here tonight,” she replied.

  “You guessed right, she is on her way here, I just hung up with Alex.”

  “How is he? This must be overwhelming for him.”

  The look Gio gave her caused her to sink on the couch. “He is a mess, she moved out,” Gio replied, and threw his hands in the air. “This is going to sound crazy, but I’m not sure he slept with Bianca, something is just not adding up.”

  “I didn’t want to believe it either, but you know Melissa wouldn’t intentionally hurt Alex.

  For her to confirm it, it has to be true,” Maria said quietly.

  “What are we going to do? You know we can’t just let them break up, Meg was miserable without him,” Gio said and placed his hand on top of Maria’s. Maria then wrapped her arm around his shoulder and gently pulled him to her chest. Gio relaxed a little in her soothing embrace and exhaled deeply.

  “You know it’s up to Meg to decide if she can forgive him, we just have to be there to support her,” Maria said, and stroked his cheek gently. When they heard Maddie and Emilio enter the room, they sat up to greet them. The pair quickly found seats on the empty love seat, with somber looks on their faces. Maddie looked like she had lost her best friend, but Emilio looked downright angry.

  When Emilio shifted himself to where he could lean on the arm of the couch, Gio swore he saw a glimmer of hate in his eyes. “Is anyone going to say anything, or are we going to act like that didn’t just happen?” Emilio asked with contempt in his voice.

  “We don’t know the whole story,” Maddie said, trying to cut him off before he got out of hand.

  “What is there to know? That bastard broke my little girl’s heart for the second time, and he is not going to get a third!” Emilio yelled and jumped to his feet. His ranting must have hit a nerve with Maria, because before they knew, it she was also on her feet and in his face.

  “This isn’t your decision; our daughter needs to decide what to do from here. She is an adult.”

  “He screwed up Maria!” he yelled, while wagging his finger in her face.

  “It was a mistake! Haven’t you ever made a mistake?” Maria yelled loudly.

  “I’m sure you know all about mistakes don’t you,” Emilio yelled back at her.

  His last comment made her sink back down to her seat next to Gio. He had been so caught up in the heat of the moment he didn’t think before he said it. Immediately after it slipped out of his mouth, he wanted to take it back, but it was too late. It was in the air like a bad odor, and all he could do was look at her with apologetic eyes.

  Maddie and Gio watched the exchange in silence, wondering what it was about. They had never seen Maria and Emilio go at it that way. They both gave each other knowing looks, recognizing the argument was about more than what happened between Meg and Alex. Something deeper was lingering between their parents.

  The room was deafly silent after both Emilio and Maria reclaimed their seats. Gio and Maddie were afraid to make a peep in fear of starting up another argument between their parents. When they heard to front door open, Gio almost jumped out of his skin. He had never been happier to see Meg. He was glad she was there to possibly take some tension out of the room.

  When she called out to him, he almost broke his neck trying to rush over to the door to help her. “Could you help me out with a few bags?” she asked without looking into his eyes. Gio could tell she was in no mood to be bombarded by Emilio and his temper, so he suggested that she just head upstairs and he would gather all of her things. She reluctantly agreed and took to the stairs.

  Maddie was sitting in the still silent room with her parents feeling uncomfortable and decided she had played the waiting game long enough. When she stood to find Meg, she gave her parents an encouraging look and left the room quietly. She knew they had something to discuss, and that they wouldn’t want an audience. They were behaving strangely and she was becoming increasingly worried about what secrets they were hiding, especially after the way Maria reacted to meeting Sean.

  When Maddie finally reached the foyer, she noticed that neither Meg nor Gio were there and she continued to the stairs hoping she would find Meg in her old room. The room was still and dark, but she could spot Meg sitting on the edge of the bed, with her hands clasped together. Without saying a word, Maddie slipped onto the
bed next to her and intertwined their hands.

  Gio was next to follow suit, walking in with Emily close on his heels. While unloading the car, Emily pulled up and told him that she would stay with them for the night and Aiden would go over to stay with Alex to keep him from doing anything reckless. Neither of them knew what to say to make the situation seem less severe, so they just joined Meg and Maddie on the California king bed.

  With Gio and Maddie at her sides and Emily at her back, Meg finally collapsed and let her tears flow freely. For what seemed like hours, they all just sat quietly, letting her get everything out. Having them there meant everything to her, they didn’t have to say a word. Just their presence was enough to put her conflicted heart at ease, at least for the moment.

  Downstairs, Emilio and Maria had made their way into the library and locked the doors behind them. They were in an intense conversation, but they were sure to keep their voices down to keep their children from hearing. The conversation had taken a less than positive tone.

  “How could you say such a thing in front of them? You were out of line,” Maria snarled, and placed her hands on the desk in front of her.

  “I didn’t mean to let that slip, but how could you even think of letting our daughter go back to that womanizer?”

  “You have to understand at some point that Meg is not your little girl anymore. She has to have her own space to decide what she wants to do about Alex.”

  “How can you be so caviler while our daughter is upstairs in pain because of him?” he asked hastily.

  “I didn’t want to tell the kids, but you know as well as I do that this is all Ben’s attempt to tear Alex away from Meg. That man is purely evil, he would do anything to split them up,” Maria said and walked over and unlocked the door.