Mr. Ruin

by Maya Hughes

  “I know that now, but back then ….” The kettle went off, Alex fixed their tea, and both women sat down at the kitchen table to continue their talk.

  “I was so incredibly insecure back then; hell, I’m still insecure now. But then, I was in a not-great place when it came to guys. I had never even really had a boyfriend before Gabe. I’d dated a couple of guys, slept with one other guy just to see what it was all about, but he was the first guy I let into my heart and it scared the shit out of me. Still does.”

  Alex went on recounting her relationship with her mom and how that had changed the way relationships worked in her mind. They were a major weakness and could lead you down an unhealthy path if you weren’t careful. Perhaps that had made her too careful and caused her to make mistakes on the other end. Instead of never wanting to be alone and always trying to find a guy to be with no matter how screwed up he was, she did her best to make sure she never got hurt by never letting anyone in.

  That no longer seemed like a way to go about living.

  *

  Gabe cautiously entered the house, not knowing quite what to expect. The sound of laughter filtered in from the kitchen and he could finally release the breath he had been holding. Laughter was a good sign. Emma came bounding in behind him and ran into the kitchen. When he turned the corner, Alex and Lesley were giggling over a couple of glasses of wine.

  He’d made a whole day of keeping Emma out of the house so that Alex and Lesley could talk. Lesley said she would text him when it was safe to come back, and the fact that she hadn’t sent him a message in over six hours since he’d left the house had sent his anxiety levels sky-high. Turns out she hadn’t sent a text because she was having so much fun with Alex.

  “Hey, baby!” She gave Emma a big hug and a wet kiss on the cheek.

  “Eww, Mommy, wet lips,” Emma giggled as she wiped the kiss off her face.

  “You’re back,” she said to Gabe with a smile. It was a good sign.

  “Yes, I’m back. And I see that you two are having some fun this afternoon.” He smiled picking up the nearly finished bottle.

  “We were catching up, and how better to catch up than over a glass of wine,” Lesley said, taking a sip.

  “That’s always the best way, I say,” Alex chuckled, taking a sip from her glass.

  “Well, I will leave you ladies to it. Emma, do you want to watch a movie with me in the living room?”

  “Yes! Can we have popcorn?!”

  “Sure,” he said, patting her on the head.

  “I’ll make it, you two get settled.” Alex grabbed the popcorn from the cabinet and popped it into the microwave.

  “I’d better get going.” Lesley stood up and drained the last of her wine. “It was really great seeing you again, Alex, and I hope to see much more of you.”

  “Me too, and please bring the little one next time,” she said, giving Lesley a hug.

  “I will.”

  Alex grabbed the popcorn from the microwave and poured it into a bowl. She walked Lesley out into the living room, where her friend was gathering her things, then put the bowl down on the table and walked Lesley to the front door.

  “See you later, Gabe,” Lesley called out.

  “You’re leaving already?” He picked up Emma off his lap, placed her on the couch, and walked over to the front door.

  “I’ve got to get back before dinner, but don’t worry. I’ll see you next week and I’ll bring Olly with me.” Lesley gave him a hug and then Alex.

  “Don’t be afraid of the possibility of letting yourself be loved, Alex,” she whispered in her ear. Her throat tightened and she nodded as Lesley glided down the walkway and into her waiting car. Closing the door, Alex rested her head against it and glanced up to see Gabe still standing there.

  “How are you doing?”

  “I’m doing great, Gabe, really,” she said, walking over to him, and planting a kiss on him. His eyes widened before he closed them and leaned into the kiss.

  “Ewwww. Mommy, Daddy, no kissing in front of little kids.”

  She broke the kiss and rested her forehead on his, laughed and walked over to the couch.

  “Get used to it kiddo,” she said, tapping Emma on the nose before she grabbed the bowl of popcorn and settled on the other side of her. Gabe reached his hand out along the back of the couch and laced his fingers through hers as they sat and watched the movie together as a family.

  Chapter 28

  Alex put Emma to sleep in her bedroom and turned off the lights. With all the excitement of the day, Emma hadn’t even asked for a story. Gabe had arranged for all her favorite books to be placed in the temporary bedroom, and it had made the time in Scotland that much easier. It seemed that the trick to a sleepy Emma was a trip to the zoo and Lego play time. She would have to file that away for later.

  When she made her way downstairs, there were candles lit in the living room. Gabe was dressed up in a suit, looking as delicious as ever. From behind his back, he produced a bouquet of flowers and presented them to her as she stood a couple of stairs up from the bottom of the staircase.

  “What are these for?”

  “I wanted to do something special for you. You’ve done something special for me by giving me Emma and agreeing to come to Scotland, and I wanted to do something for you.”

  “Gabe, you know it’s not necessary. It was a good idea to have Emma come and see what it is that you do. She’s having a great time.”

  “And you? What about you, Alex?” he said, walking to the bottom of the stairs. She walked down the last two and placed her arms around his neck.

  “I’m having a great time too. I’m glad that you convinced me to come over,” she said, ducking her head. “And I’m glad to be able to spend time with you.”

  “I’m glad, too. I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you all this time. I’m going to do everything in my power to make it up to you.”

  She began shaking her head. “Gabe, we both made a lot of mistakes.” He attempted to interrupt, but she placed a finger over his lips. “We did, but we’re here now and we can choose to be happy now, so that’s what I would like to do.” She placed a tentative kiss on his lips.

  “I would really like that, too,” he said, smiling from ear to ear.

  “So why are you so dressed up?” she asked, checking out his suit again.

  “I thought we might have a nice dinner.”

  “But we can’t go out. Emma’s upstairs,” she started.

  “I know, so I thought that maybe we could bring the nice dinner to us,” he said, leading her to the backyard patio, which had been done up in twinkling lights. There was a white linen table cloth on a small, round table that had a bottle of wine chilling beside it in an ice bucket. She could hear pots and pans being moved around in the kitchen off the patio.

  “You brought someone here to cook?”

  “I thought that it would be easier than going out, especially without a sitter for Emma,” he said, pulling a chair out for her. She glanced down at herself as she sat in the chair he pulled out for her.

  “I’m feeling a little underdressed. My clothes still smell like a zoo and there’s paint all over me,” she said, attempting to peel some of the paint off her arms. He sat and took ahold of her hands from across the table.

  “I think you look absolutely stunning,” he said, sincerity shining in his eyes. She gave him a dopey grin as a waitress appeared behind him from the kitchen. She placed a plate of appetizers in front of them and they looked stunning. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until the aroma of the garlic and onion reached her nose and she dove in. Looking up, she saw that he was staring at her, and she gave him a questioning look.

  “I love how much you enjoy good food. It’s refreshing to know that we can enjoy it together,” he said, taking a bite of his own food.

  “Of course, I love food. One of life’s great pleasures,” she said, moaning as she took another bite.

  He picked up a small remote from t
he table and pressed play. Music started playing from hidden speakers all over the backyard and the pair enjoyed their meal, conversation, and music. After the main course, he stood and held out his hand. Alex stared at him warily.

  “May I have this dance?” he asked. She grinned, placed her napkin on the table, and took his hand. He pulled her to him and they began a slow dance around the patio.

  She listened to the sound of his heartbeat as she leaned against his chest, at ease and at peace. All the terrible things that had happened melted away in that moment as they stood there dancing. Their little girl was upstairs happy and healthy after a busy day, he’d arranged for a delicious meal, and she finally felt like she knew where she stood with him.

  Things were finally coming together in a way that Alex wouldn’t have even let herself dream of in her wildest imagination. She was in love with Gabe. Always had been, but she was finally able to admit it to herself. The waitress brought over the chocolate desert, which they decided to eat on the couch inside. She thought snuggling up with him and some chocolate was the perfect end to the perfect evening.

  The waitress and chef departed shortly and then Alex and Gabe were alone. She tucked her feet under herself as she fed him some of her dessert and they listened to music, relaxing in each other’s arms.

  “I love you, Alex,” he breathed against her neck as he kissed his way from her ear down to her collar bone. She turned to him, the vulnerability shining in his eyes. She’d been very free with the physical part of their newly rekindled relationship, but wanted him to know that she was just as invested as he was.

  She sat up and placed her plate on the coffee table. Turning to him, whose eyes were wide with fear, she gave him a small smile. She took his hands in hers and placed them on her heart.

  “I love you too, Gabe. I don’t know that I ever stopped loving you. I don’t think I could, not once I had Emma. She was a part of both of us and sometimes seeing her was hard because she reminded me so much of you and of how much I loved you, even if we weren’t together.”

  After her proclamation, he took her hands from her heart and kissed both of her palms. “I think it’s time to go to bed,” he said as he stood and scooped her up, despite her protests to let her walk, and carried her upstairs.

  He gently placed her on the bed and began to slowly undress, first working on his tie, then unbuttoning his shirt. Alex, not wanting to wait a moment longer, started working on his shirt from the bottom up until their hands met in the middle. Then she moved back down and undid the buckle on his belt and unzipped his pants. She reached her hand into his boxers and took his shaft in her hands. He sucked in his breath as she began to stroke him.

  “You always know how to get me going, woman,” he said playfully, as he pushed her back onto the bed and climbed on top of her. “But now it’s my turn.” He pulled back, undid her jeans, and pulled them off completely in one motion. He got down on his knees and held her open. Looking up at her with a devious gleam in his eye, he buried his face in her pussy like a man starved. She had to grab one of the pillows and hold it over her face, so that she wouldn’t wake Emma. He brought her to her peak twice before she had to finally beg him to take her.

  “How did you know that’s what I wanted as a reward for our dinner?” he asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes as he climbed up the bed and placed himself at her entrance, which was more than wet enough after his ministrations. With Alex being as super-sensitive as she was after his previous attentions, it was less than a couple of minutes before they were bucking against one another and reached their peak together. They were both panting as they basked in the afterglow of another amazing night together.

  She rolled over and sighed as she brought the sheet up over her chest and stared over at him. He was a beautiful man; she was lucky to be with him. She loved him and he loved her. She just hoped that it would be enough for them to weather whatever storm was to come.

  Chapter 29

  Her phone was buzzing non-stop, and she hoped it wasn’t her alarm already. Usually, she didn’t even get to hear it because Emma woke her up at the crack of dawn, but it seemed Emma was knocked out from their adventures yesterday. Gabe snuggled in behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

  The vibrating began again, and he grumbled to make it stop. She felt around the nightstand until she found it and went to hit the snooze button. But she didn’t find the alarm. Instead, she found about ten missed calls from Jen and more incoming texts than she could count—texts from Jen, texts from people she hadn’t spoken to in years, and texts from numbers she didn’t even recognize.

  Alex unlocked her phone and read through the texts from Jen.

  J: Have you seen the news?

  J: Have you checked the gossip sites?

  J: Ugh, never mind, don’t check. Forget I said anything.

  J: Actually, you probably need to check this out.

  J: Call me if you want to talk.

  She opened a browser on her phone, typed her name into Google and opened the first link she saw. The headline caught her attention immediately: “Super Stud Gabe Stevens Caught in Paternity Struggle.” It wasn’t the only story, either. “Secret Child Kept Away by Gold-Digging Ex.”

  “Oh crap,” she gasped as she sat up in bed. Startled, he jumped up. “What happened?” he said as he looked around the room.

  “This happened,” she said, shoving the phone in his face. His sleepy expression slowly turned to horror as he began to scroll through the stories.

  She pushed out of bed and walked over to her suitcase. She grabbed the first pair of jeans lying on top of the bag.

  “Alex, it’s not so bad; we can fix this.”

  “We can fix this?” she growled, keeping her voice down. “How are we going to fix this? I’m the money-hungry bitch who kept your kid from you. I should have known better.”

  “We can fix this,” he repeated. “We’ve been happy, all of us together; don’t let some tabloids scare you away.”

  “You’re not the thieving whore the papers are writing about. You’re the victim here, according to them.” She angrily pulled a tank top over her head. “I knew we shouldn’t have come. If we had just stayed at home, none of this would have happened.”

  He walked over to her and pulled her into his arms. “We couldn’t hide forever. I wasn’t going to hide you both away. I’m proud to be Emma’s father, and I’m proud to be with you. This isn’t how I wanted anyone to find out, but we will fix this.”

  “How, Gabe? How are you going to fix this? One day Emma will be able to read these things.”

  “But she’ll know the truth from us. She’ll know that we love her and we love each other and none of the stuff written there is true,” he said, with such conviction that it stole her breath away.

  I’m scared,” she said as tears filled her eyes. She started to grab her bags and pack. As she pulled her suitcase out, the large manila envelope containing the custody agreement fell out. He picked it up and held it in his hand.

  Her breath stopped at what he held in his hand. She’d brought the papers, just in case, not really, she’d mainly forgotten they were in the bag, but they were her security blanket when it came to Emma. She hadn’t intended to use them, and he hadn’t seen them, and she didn’t want him to. She attempted to get the envelope from him, but he held onto it as he spoke.

  “I know. I know you’re scared. I’m scared too. Not about the stupid tabloids, I couldn’t care less about them. I’m scared that all this is going to pull us apart. We have got to be stronger than all of this. I love you,” Alex jerked in his embrace. “I’ve been afraid to say it up until today, but I do. I love you, I’ve always loved you, and I love you even more, seeing how you raised such an amazing daughter,” he professed.

  She nodded and once again attempted to take the papers from his hand. Not realizing what it was, he finally looked down at the envelope with a nice and neat label with his name printed on it.

  “What is this?” h
e asked, opening the envelope, and she watched as her whole world descended into a fiery crash.

  *

  Gabe paused and looked down at the envelope that Alex seemed desperate to get back from him. His name was printed on the front and he slowly turned it over to open it.

  “Gabe, please,” she pleaded. He ignored her and opened the envelope. Inside was a thick packet of papers with the big ugly words ‘Custody Agreement’ printed on the front. He glanced up from the packet to Alex and her eyes were wide, her face frozen in fear.

  He skimmed the agreement. He was much better at reading these things over after years of contract sessions and not getting caught in a clause he didn’t want to agree to. He’d learned that lesson after Stargazer. However, the various terms in this agreement were some of the ugliest he had ever seen.

  She wanted to maintain full physical custody of Emma, limited supervised visitation for him, no overnights, no visits to LA, nothing.

  “What the hell is this?” he nearly shouted, pointing the papers at her. She moved from her bags to stand in front of him.

  “They are nothing, Gabe. Those don’t mean anything.”

  “Then why did you have them drawn up in the first place? Why did you bring them with you?” He made the accusation while crumpling the papers in his hands.

  “I’ve had these for a long time. I had the papers drawn up when Emma was only a year old.”

  “Why did you bring them here?”

  “I don’t know Gabe. I was looking at them before we left and I forgot they were even in my bag,” she pleaded.

  “So, this was your solution? Your ugly solution. No visitation? Full physical custody? You wanted to keep her from me?”

  “Gabe, that wasn’t what I intended. I had these drawn up a long time ago when I was still hurt and angry. I thought you didn’t want us. That you didn’t want Emma. I didn’t want her to get hurt.”

  “No, you did this to try to hurt me. Keeping me away from Emma would never be a good thing for her. This was about you and getting revenge when you thought I cheated.”