Ruined: Loving An Alpha Male(141)

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.