Ruined: Loving An Alpha Male: BWWM Romance

by Lessly, S. K.

  The disappointment and hurt in his eyes made me almost call off the trip. I just couldn’t live with myself and the idea that someone could hurt Max again. I’m not sure if her father will take heed to what I told him, but I hope he makes it easy for himself. I’d hate to have to fucking kill him, but I would without thinking twice.

  When I got off the plane, I went straight to the office. I needed to make it right with my brother before I do anything else. He’s my brother, so me not being in his life, or vice versa, is not an option for one thing. For two, he’s my fucking better half f.

  I was still in fatigues, a black t-shirt, and boots as I walked through the office. When I walked into my brother’s office, he was on the phone. He gave me a hesitant stare.

  “Well, Mr. Bradford, my brother and I have made you an enormous amount of money. If you think my father and his company can do better, then, by all means please go ahead with your plans. But please do not take what I’m going to say next in the wrong way. If you lose what you worked hard for to make, don’t think we’ll be around to help.”

  He hung up.

  “Seems I’m rubbing off on you,” I said to him.

  He looked at me warily.

  “Did you get it done?”

  I kept his gaze and said simply, “I did.”

  He nodded but didn’t say anything else. I sat down in front of him waiting for the wrath that I knew was going to come. But surprisingly it didn’t. He went back to the papers on his desk.

  And he said without looking up, “There’s been a lot that’s happened since you’ve been gone getting your revenge. When can I expect you back in the office?”

  “After I get reacquainted with my woman.”

  I smiled. He looked up at me.

  “Well, I can tell you then you won’t be back any time soon.”

  My smile dropped.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “She’s gone.”

  I leaned into him.

  “What do you mean she’s gone? Where the fuck did she go?”

  He shrugged, and I saw the tension in his shoulders ease as I started to get wound up.

  “I don’t know, Mason, she said her goodbyes to Marie when I was at work, and she left you this.”

  He went inside his desk drawer and pulled out an envelope, and I suddenly had déjà vu. Marc pushed the envelope in my direction, but I didn’t touch it.

  I leaned back in my chair and put my hands over my face.

  “She left?”

  “Come on, Mason. What did you expect? You’ve been gone for three months. Did you think she was going to wait around for you without knowing if you would come back?”

  I closed my eyes. When I opened them, I looked at my brother. I was trying not to show the pain I was feeling, but I know I was failing miserably.

  “Did she tell her where she was going?”

  “Nope. But if she did, Marie probably wouldn’t tell me or you.”

  I grabbed the envelope and stared at it. I saw her handwriting on the front of the envelope, and I sighed. There was no way I was acknowledging this fucking letter. I ripped it up and tossed the pieces on my brother’s desk.

  I suddenly stood quickly and said, “I’ve got to find her.”

  I actually felt sick to my fucking stomach, thinking about not seeing her again. I turned from my brother, thinking about how I would find her. I didn’t think she would go back to Philly, but I had to try.

  “Mason, where are you going?”

  I turned to face him.

  “She’s my world, Marc, and I have to find her.”

  “Okay, hold on a second. What happens when you do find her?”

  “Oh, that’s simple. I’m going to beg and plead she take me back.”

  “Yeah, and then what? She takes you back and then the next time you go on another mission she’ll be going crazy, hoping and praying you come back in one piece.”

  “That won’t be a problem. I told Roland I was done. This was the last one I would do.”

  “Yeah, where have I heard that before?”

  He rolled his eyes.

  I gave him a hard stare.

  “Marcus, I needed to do this. You see, I want Maxine in my life permanently. I don’t want the woman I adore and would bleed for feeling scared to be here. I needed to make sure she was safe from the sins of her father.”

  “And how do you know her father won’t fuck up again by putting her life in danger? Hell, what about what you’ve just done. You don’t think there will be any fallout?”

  “As far as her father is concerned, we have an understanding, or I’ll put him in the ground with no hesitation. He knows Maxine and her safety comes first. And secondly, it seems as though you couldn’t care less.” I walked closer to my brother’s desk. “I needed to do this one thing, Marcus, and now I am done. It was important to me.”

  I watched his eyes and saw finally understanding.

  He stood.

  “She told Marie and me what happened to her, and what they did to her.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yup, she also told us why she didn’t tell you.”

  I grunted my reply, and he smiled for the first time in a long time. He looked me up and down, as if assessing me.

  “Did you make them pay for what they did to her?”

  I stared at him with the avoidance of emotion and said, “Without a doubt.”

  My brother nodded, and pulled me in for a hug.

  “I’m glad you’re safe, little bro. I don’t know what we would have done without you.”

  “So am I banned from the family?”

  My brother smiled.

  “Oh yeah, you’re still banned. Unless you bring back our girl. That’s a quote from Marie.”

  I left my brother’s office, and I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed a number from heart. When the phone was answered, I told them what I needed. Then I hung up. I had a plane to catch, so I needed to get home, shower, and change. I wasn’t sure where I was going, but it didn’t matter. Wherever she was, I would find her.

  This new chapter in my life wouldn’t be able to start without Maxine. I was a fucking idiot to let her go, and I refuse to do it a second time.

  I walked into my empty house, taking my clothes off as I walked. It seems Diane has managed to rob me blind of all the furniture in my house, except the bed. I really didn’t give a shit. I was just glad she was gone. The day I left Max with her two friends, I settled everything with Diane.

  She met me in my office, probably unsure as to why I asked her to meet me.

  She came in my office, looking pristine and perfect. Each hair on her head was perfectly placed. Her dress was pressed and lying perfectly against her skin. Her makeup and jewelry were placed strategically on her body to show everyone she was a force to be reckoned with. I stood as she got close. I only sat after she did.

  “So Mason, what is it that you want?”

  I pulled out a contract and presented it to her.

  “This is a contract that you need to sign to extinguish our relationship, effective immediately.”

  Diane kind of stared at me for a long while, before she smiled.

  “You have got to be joking.”

  I shook my head, making a steeple out of my fingers and resting my chin on my thumbs.

  “I’m afraid not. I’m willing to give you some time to find you a place to live. You can take what you want from the house in terms of furniture and stuff like that. But I want you out of my house and out of my life as quickly as humanly possible.”

  I’ll give Diane credit. Sometimes, she has the best poker face. She can be hurt or angry or evil, and it never shows on her face. However, I must have struck a nerve, because she had a deep darkened frown coated on her face. That was something that I’d seen on her father, but never before on her.

  “How dare you! You fucking asshole. You think you can just cast me aside like I’m nothing. I will bury you, Mason. You and your whole fucking f
amily. You are nothing without me. My father will take every single client you have and bring your measly little company to its knees. You think you’re so fucking smart.”

  I let her go on and on about how I’m not shit, how I need to burn in hell. Blah, blah, blah. Shit, I have already heard before and actually delivered a lot better than she is dishing it out now. I waited patiently for her to finish.

  “So what do you think? You and that trashy colored girl…”

  “Watch your fucking mouth, Diane.”

  “…is going to run off in the sunset together? You think I’m going to just let that happen?”

  Yeah, I had enough. I stood and walked around my desk, removing my jacket and placing on the chair next to hers. I sat on my desk and looked down at her.

  “First, let me address a few things…You know…clear the air. I don’t give two fucks about you or your family. If you so much as try and take my company, I will bury you and your father. I’ll take every single cent he has. I will foreclose on all his houses and businesses, leaving him only with the shirt on his back. Hell, just for good measure, I can take that too. I’m not someone you want to play this game with, Diane. You must take me for an idiot. You think I don’t know what the fuck was going on between you, your father, and mine? You think I’m stupid?”

  I kept her gaze for a long time without moving or showing any expression. I wanted her to really think about what I was saying. I stood and walked to my bar area and made me a much needed drink.

  I said with my back turned, “I know everything. I know about the plot to try and take my clients from me, I know about the plot to have me investigated by the SEC for unlawful investments that were made by parties that will remain nameless.” I looked over my shoulder at her. “You know who they are though.”

  I turned and walked back to my seat with my drink in hand. I leaned back and took a sip. I haven’t really taken a drink since I came back from the beach, but this situation really required it.

  I leaned back in my chair.

  “I have proof that my father, yours, and a few others goof-offs were plotting my demise…and, quite honestly, I’m really not surprised. I mean, you don’t know shit about loyalty…”

  Diane scoffed.

  “Don’t talk to me about loyalty. You were never loyal to me. I’ve been living underneath a shadow of another woman for years. This whole arraignment was a big joke; a game for you that, hell, I didn’t want to play anymore. I needed to look out for myself.”

  I nodded.

  “And you did just that. So, you won’t have a problem with signing that contract and moving out then.”

  Diane, for all intents and purposes, is a good woman. She would make someone a good wife…you know…someone with no heart and no conscience or emotions. I wished her the best…really I did.

  That was until she smiled at me and said, “I’m not signing anything. You think I don’t have shit on you to protect myself? Do you think I’m stupid? I will leak so many things about you, it wouldn’t matter if it was true or not. Your career would be finished. You think your little girlfriend will stay with you after I tell her about the baby I’m pregnant with?”

  And there it is. I was wondering when the fangs would come out.

  I watched her revel in her own delusional victory. I, on the other hand, let the darkness show its ugly head just for her. The smile that was displayed on her face faded slowly, as I continued to stare at her.

  Finally, after I had her squirming in her seat, I leaned forward and said, “You aren’t the only one who is prepared to go down fighting. If you are pregnant, I know for a fact it isn’t by me. As a matter of fact, I have video of each and every encounter between you and my brother in law. So, go right ahead and say and do whatever you want. Please believe I will let what I have out in the open for all to see. I will play the victim in all this. With the proof that I have, who do you think will look like the money sucking whore?”

  I watched Diane’s face pale, and she slowly shook her head.

  “You’re bluffing.”

  I tilted my head to the side.

  “Call my bluff, then.”

  I sat back in my chair took and another sip of my Scotch.

  “Do you think I give a shit about outing my brother in law and making my sister look like a fucking fool? If you think that, you really don’t know me as well as you think. Hell, I’ve warned her multiple times about that son of a bitch, but she just doesn’t listen.”

  “You’re a heartless bastard.”

  “No, I’m sick and tired of this shit. I’m asking you to bow out gracefully, but you’re the one that wants to play games. Well, I don’t have time for the fucking games. So sign the god damn papers, so we can be done with this shit!”

  I didn’t mean to raise my voice and show how she’s affected me, but I’m sick of this shit. I’m sick of playing games, and most of all, I’m tired of being away from Maxine.

  We sat there for a minute before she finally said to me, in a voice I could barely make out, “You have to give me some time to at least get everything together. I need to find a place to live.”

  I took a few deep breaths and said calmly, “As I said, that’s all in there.”

  Diane absently picked at her dress to remove an imaginary lint ball.

  She said not looking at me, “You have to allow me to leave with at least some dignity. While I’m looking for a place, we will slowly reveal our break up. It doesn’t have to be messy.”

  “That’s fine with me. I would prefer we part on amicable terms.”

  We talked a little more, setting up her exit strategy, which she completed while I was away thankfully.

  As I pulled on my shirt and grabbed my wallet and keys, my focus shifted to my next challenge. I thought about how I was going to get my woman back.

  Please don’t let me fuck this up!

  ****

  It was cold as shit in Philly, and I didn’t miss this shit for nothing. I opened the door to the gym and strolled inside. I saw a few faces that I remembered from the last time I was here, but there were a lot of new faces too. As I walked further inside, I saw Lou standing on the side of the boxing ring in the middle of the gym.

  “Still at it, old man?” I smiled, as he turned to face me.

  He smiled too and walked down the side of the ring. We embraced quickly with manly pats on the back.

  “What brings you here? Coming back for the shot at the title?” He grinned.

  I laughed, “I think your memory is lacking there, old man. If I was coming back, it would be to defend my title. No one has taken it from me yet.”

  Lou looked me up and down.

  “Yeah, from the looks of it, they probably could.”

  I frowned.

  “Is that a challenge?”

  Lou gave me a rare laugh.

  “What can I do you for, Reaper?”

  I heard a few whispers around me when my name was used.

  I ignored them and said, “Have you seen Maxine?”

  Lou studied me before he answered. I was hoping he would talk to me. But the look on his face told me if he did say something, I would have to work for it.

  “Yeah, I’ve seen her.”

  My eyes lit up.

  “Really? When? Where? Did she come and see you here? At The Bar? Where?”

  Lou raised his arms.

  “Whoa there, cowboy. I won’t talk about that here. We can meet at The Bar later for a drink in a few hours.”

  “Yeah, of course. No problem.”

  “In the meantime, you wanna go a few rounds? Show me if you still got it?”

  I knew this was a set up. I looked around at the guys. Some were still boxing around and working out, but there were a few that stood and watched our exchange. I took my jacket off.

  “I don’t see why not. Do you have someone worthy of being in the ring with me?”

  Lou laughed again.

  “You have something to change into?”

  I s
mirked…Yup, I’m not above smirking.

  “Of course I do. What do you think I am? An amateur?”

  Three hours later, I was nursing a bruise on the side of my cheek with a Scotch in my hand at Lou’s bar. Lou was sitting there telling me about the different men he had trained over the years.

  I was on my third drink when he finally said, “So why are you looking for Max?”

  “I’ve come to bring her home with me, express my undying love for her, and beg for her to give me a second chance.”

  Lou scoffed.

  “Yeah, good luck. That woman is hard to crack.”

  I nodded.

  “Yeah well, I plan to try for the rest of my life to get her back.”

  Lou sighed, and then he then spoke more than I have ever heard him say since I met him.

  “Maxine’s grandfather and I were great friends. When Max moved in with him, I took her under my wing. I looked out for her through all of her life since then. I’m not sure what happened to you two, but I will say she went through a lot when you broke up the first time. What makes you think you deserve a second chance?”

  “Lou, I know I screwed up big time. But I will do anything and everything I can to make this up to her. Maxine is the complete reason for my existence. I love her. I want to protect her and keep her safe. I want to make sure that no one ever lays a hand on her and is able to live and tell about it. She’s my world, my earth, the love of my life. I’m just not whole without her. One thing I know, Lou, is that she was made for me, and I was made for her.”

  Lou took the last of his Scotch.

  “Well, I hope you can remember to say all that babble you just said to me to convince her. You’re right, though. I think you two belong together. But…If you hurt her again…I will kill you.”

  I nodded my head solemnly. “I have no doubt you will.”

  Chapter 25

  Mason

  It’s been a week and a half now, and I still haven’t found her. I have Sammy, Roland’s guy, looking all over for her, but he hasn’t found her yet. She hasn’t used any credit cards on hotel rooms. There are no apartments in her name and no bank accounts with her name showing up. Lou told me she came to see him a few times, but he wouldn’t give up where she was staying. I haven’t lost hope that I would find her. I’m glad it’s taking a while, so I can plan everything I need to say to her. I have to put on my best salesman game face to win her over. If not, I wasn’t above fucking begging.