“Why was that harsh? Was I wrong?”
“What’d you say?” Rocco asked, looking into the rearview mirror at me.
“Nothing that wasn’t true,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Florrie, you know I’m on your side, but it’s been weeks. You have to work shit out at some point.”
“Really?” I snapped at Craig. “And how do I do that?”
He turned around in his seat, his stare intense. “It’s not going to be easy, but that was fucking brutal. You practically tore the guy’s heart out right in front of me. The last time I saw him looking like that was when he walked away from you. Are you really gonna let it get that far?”
“Why don’t you mind your own business?”
“Yeah,” he snorted. “Because this is all about you. Like I didn’t go against half of my friends to side with you. He’s my friend too, and as much as I’m with you on this, I won’t stand by and watch you shit all over him instead of working things out with him.”
“Who says there’s anything to work out?”
“You know, you’re gonna push him too far one day and then he’s gonna be gone.”
“Maybe that’s my goal,” I snapped.
“I don’t believe that for a second. I think you’re hurting and you want him to hurt just as much as you, but if you keep pushing, you’re gonna find that he’s not the only one that you lose.”
He turned back around and stared out the window.
Rocco tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, taking us out of the compound as we headed out for our next job. “So, is it always this fun on your team?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREEAlec
I sighed as I stared into my beer at the local bar. Florrie had been gone for less than two hours and I felt like my whole world was falling apart. I couldn’t see how to work this out with her. I had known that she would hate me, I just didn’t realize how much it would kill me inside. Day in and day out, I felt like my heart was being put through the shredder. I couldn’t reach her. I tried every fucking day, but every time I thought I was making progress with her, something inside her snapped and she found a way to shove the knife between my ribs.
“Is this seat taken?”
I shook my head at the woman that stood beside me. She slipped onto the stool and ordered a beer. She was pretty enough. Dark brown hair that hung in waves over her shoulders. She was fit enough, but not like Florrie. And she had a kind face, nothing hard at all like Florrie. Yeah, she was probably great for someone else, but all I could see was what she was missing that I loved about Florrie. There was just no comparison.
“So, I’m not trying to bother you, but I’m new to town. Is there anything fun to do around here?”
I snorted, thinking about how I wouldn’t know her kind of fun if it slapped me in the face. “Do you like blowing shit up?”
“Um…I’m not really sure what that means.”
“Nevermind. So, what brought you to town?”
“Escaping a man,” she said, crinkling her nose. “He was kind of an asshole.”
“Abusive?”
“Cheater,” she grimaced. “Yeah, I made the mistake of marrying the bastard. Then two weeks later, after our really expensive honeymoon, that I paid for, I found him fucking his secretary.”
I huffed out a laugh. “So cliché.”
“I know,” she sighed. “I should have seen it coming. I mean, there were a lot of late nights, and I believed his lies. His job doesn’t require late nights.”
“What does he do?”
“Banker.”
I eyed her suspiciously. No woman could be that stupid. Why the fuck would a banker have to work late at night?
“I know. Don’t look at me like that. I guess I didn’t want to see it.”
I laughed to myself because it was fucking funny. “Don’t we all refuse to see what’s staring us right in the fucking face.”
“Cheater?”
“Nope. Let’s say a difference of opinion that turned into a huge clusterfuck.”
“It sounds like you’re really skimming over a lot of stuff.”
“You could say that.”
“So, how does it all end?”
“I wish I knew that.”
We sat in silence as I finished up my beer. When I stood and tossed down some money, I turned to her one last time. “Well, I hope you find something to do around here.”
“Me too. And I hope whatever it is works out.”
I nodded and headed for the door. I didn’t belong in a bar drinking away my sorrows. I wasn’t allowed back in the training center yet. Hell, I didn’t feel like there was a single fucking place that I belonged right now.
I walked out to my truck and drove back to Reed Security. When I got home, Derek and Hunter were waiting for me.
“It’s about fucking time you got back,” Hunter spat.
“Sorry, was I keeping you from something?” I asked sarcastically. “It’s not like I can actually do anything yet.”
I slammed the door of my truck and headed for my front door. Hunter and Derek followed me inside, not bothering to ask if I wanted the fucking company.
“Is there a reason you’re here?”
“Yeah, Craig called us. He said that you took quite the beating from Florrie when they were leaving.”
“So, you thought you’d check up on me. I’m touched. Really, I had no idea that you guys cared so much.”
“I don’t,” Hunter snapped. Derek shot him a glare and he shrugged. “What? I don’t. The asshole deserves it.”
“I’m well aware of the fact that you think what I did was wrong, but I stand by my decision. Like it or not, Reid is back with his family where he belongs. And even though my heart is fucking breaking, I’m so glad that he has the chance to be with family and doesn’t feel like he was never wanted. So, if you think I’m an asshole,
