Alphas on Top(42)

“My mom has custody of Cohen, Fia’s son, but that is only because with all the hours I work it isn’t possible for me to have him. I spend as much time as I can with him, but that still isn’t enough. Mom’s old but can still get around. She doesn’t work, because, well…she’s old. And even though she can get around, that doesn’t mean she does it without difficulties. My check pays for everything, which is why I live in a shit-hole apartment in the middle of the hood. Cohen and his wellbeing get it all. Do not think that is a complaint. I would give everything for that kid.” She pauses and looks into my eyes for a few seconds before looking back at my hand resting on her leg. I give her a light squeeze and she continues, “Simon, Fia’s ex, was a real douche. Already told you about him, but even though he is gone, I still feel like he is fucking with my family. His mom, Susan, has been coming around for the last year trying to get Cohen. She tried to go the legal route, but there was no judge in the world that would give her custody or even visiting rights. Bad, the worst kind of human being.”

I am well informed about Susan Wagner. But I’m not letting her know about that right now. She is just letting me in, starting to let her walls down and trust me. No way am I messing with that right now.

“So, anyway. She’s been causing some drama. Calling, sending letters, and coming around. She’s harmless but annoying, and it scares Cohen. That is what I’ve been dealing with since Sunday. Trying to keep my mom calm and Cohen clueless.”

“You think she will be trouble?” I question.

“No. I mean, yes for now, but I think she just misses her son, or I should say the idea of her son. She doesn’t want Cohen; she just doesn’t want us to have him.”

“Seems reasonable baby, but I don’t like you dealing with that alone.”

“I’m not alone,” she says with small smile tips up her lips.

“No, Beauty…you definitely are not.”

We have been sitting here for a while just silently taking each other in when her voice breaks the stillness. “Tell me about Grace.”

“Trying to change the subject?” I laugh but I really am just happy she wants to know more about me.

“I just want to know you, all of you, even that beast you only seem to throw around toward me.” She smiles and leans her head on my shoulder.

“Grace was amazing. We were best friends and each other’s shadow our whole lives. She didn’t take it well when I enlisted but she knew it was what I wanted. Our dad was a career Marine and I knew before I could walk that that’s what I would do. He was the bravest man we knew until we lost him. She knew what it meant to carry on his memory. We talked as often as we could but that still wasn’t enough. I met her boyfriend once when I was home on leave and didn’t like the bastard. Told her, but she was in love so there wasn’t anything I could say. That was the only time we disagreed about anything. She married him shortly after I left. Twenty years old and ready to follow him around the world if he asked.” I take a deep breath and think back to her beautiful smile and her violet eyes. “You would have loved her. She was a lot like Dee, always happy. You know how I got the call. Needless to say, I didn’t take that shit well. I went off the deep end. The second I could get out, I left the Marines and the only dream I’ve ever had behind and disappeared. Axel and the boys, hell my own mother, no one knew where I was for almost two years. Met a guy on the road who helped me sort my shit, came back home, and started my own company. The rest, as they say, is history.”

“It gets better? Losing the other part of you?” She asks. I know what she means. Grace was the other part of my soul and I’m guessing her sister was hers.

“Yeah baby, it gets better. Never easy, but it gets better.”

“That’s good. I don’t want to hurt anymore,” she whispers.

“With me around, I’ll do my best to make sure you never do.” She pulls her head off my shoulder, shifts lightly, and brings her hands up to cup my face before dropping her forehead against mine.

“You’re a good man, Greg Cage. You give me some time, and I might just fall in love with you.”

“That’s the plan, Beauty.” I whisper and take her lips, delivering the message that I hope shows her how much I want to be worthy that love.





When I pull Melissa off the couch and lead her upstairs to my room, I know this will be more than just burning up the sheets. This is about communicating without words what needs to be shown and not said, giving her what she needs from me, and making sure she feels ‘it’. I’m no blushing virgin but even I am feeling the pressure to make sure this is something for the record books.