I’M SO SCREWED
THOMAS
W atching Brooklyn interact with my daughter did something to every single part of me. I’d seen other women with Clarabel before, but none of them had made me feel any kind of way about it, other than annoyed.
Brooklyn wasn’t trying to impress me or land me. Her behavior toward my daughter wasn’t fake in any way. And she wasn’t befriending my best girl in order to get my attention. Hell, if anything, Brooklyn had probably asked Clara to help her out in spite of me. I swore if I told that woman to stay away from my daughter, she’d probably start scheduling playdates with her.
I wanted to hate it. I wanted to hate everything about it, but I couldn’t. Clara had looked so damn happy when she reached for Brooklyn’s hand and held it in her own. Her excitement radiated off her little body as I watched them walk away like they’d done it a thousand times before.
My heart pinched. Clara didn’t have many women in her life, aside from Mrs. Green and that teacher of hers. I knew that she was lacking in female companionship, even if she wasn’t quite aware of it yet. She’d never once said anything to me about wishing she had a mom or two parents or anything like that.
There were the occasional times when she asked about Jenna, but those were few and far between, and she was rarely sad about it. Her line of questioning was always more inquisitive than anything else. It made sense to me since Clara had only known this life. Eight years filled with one dad, one Pops, and two knuckleheaded uncles that would do anything for her.
But I feared that at some point, we wouldn’t be enough for her. She’d eventually crave a woman’s touch, or perspective, or help with things that I knew absolutely nothing about. That scared me because when I thought about my daughter needing something I couldn’t give her, I had no idea who I’d turn to for help. Those were the things that kept me up at night.
And now, I’d let her go off with Brooklyn, a woman I barely even knew. Blowing out a long breath, I shook my head and forced myself to remember the call I’d made to her previous employer. I’d inquired about Brooklyn’s work ethic and if there was anything negative that I should know about. I’d even gone so far as to ask about her drinking habits and if they were a problem on the job.
Felicia Kleinfeld had laughed at that. And she’d had nothing but glowing remarks to say before reminding me how lucky I was to have Brooklyn working for the resort. Sierra had also been convinced that Brooklyn did not have unusual drinking habits, but honestly, who knew what went on behind closed doors? Unless that door was your own.
Spurred on by some crazy-overprotective dad bullshit, I headed into my office, pocketed my cell phone, and made my way toward the conference hall to do a little spying. I wasn’t above it. Not when my daughter was involved.
Heading down the long hallway, I heard the laughter echoing before I even neared the space. I’d recognize Clara’s laugh anywhere. When I got to the door, I leaned against the frame and tried not to make a sound. I didn’t want to alert anyone to my presence, so I stayed as still as possible as I took in the scene before me.
“Like this, Brooky Bear?” Clara asked as she placed a decorative box on top of what I assumed was a plate.
Brooklyn walked over to where Clara was and inspected the job. “Exactly like that. It’s perfect. Great job,” she praised.
“You know what?” Clara tilted her head to the side as if she was studying the table before her.
“What?” Brooklyn asked.
“I think it would look better like this,” Clara said with a tiny air of authority that made me bite back a laugh.
I watched as she rearranged a few things I couldn’t see on the table before stepping back to let Brooklyn appraise the situation.
Brooklyn started laughing before clapping her hands like my daughter was a magician. “You did make it better. That looks really, really, pretty.”
Brooklyn announced to the room, “Hey, everyone,” and the rest of the staff stopped what they were doing to pay attention to her. “We need to make a couple of adjustments to the settings. Clara tried this, and I actually think it looks nicer. Do you all agree?”
The small group walked over to where Brooklyn and Clara stood, and all nodded their heads furiously after looking at what I wished I could see clearer. Clara jumped up and down from all the praise, and instead of being bitter or jealous, everyone seemed genuinely happy to make her changes. It was nice to see. The last thing I wanted at the resort was a staff who didn’t get along.
Brooklyn gave Clara a high five before she fired off a few instructions. I liked watching her be the boss. She was authoritative while still accepting the opinions of her staff, thus making them feel important, like part of a team. It was sexy as hell. And exactly how I wanted my departments ran.
“Where is she?” A male voice I didn’t recognize hit my ears, and I turned to search for the source. “Where’s my wife?”
My eyes spotted a male walking quickly in my direction, and I stood at attention, my chest puffed out, muscles flexing.
“Oh, of course you’re here,” the strange male spat at me.
“Excuse me? Is there something I can help you with?” They were friendly questions, but my voice was anything but. My daughter was nearby and this man was clearly agitated.
“You ruined my marriage,” he shouted, and I reared my head back.
“I beg to differ. I have no idea who you are,” I said, sounding uninterested at the accusation.
“You’re a home-wrecker. Feel good about it, O’Grady? Feel like a real man?”
I’d been called a lot of things in my life, but a home-wrecker was a new one.
Brooklyn ran up next to me at the same time as my daughter latched on to my leg.
“I’m so sorry,” Brooklyn said between labored breaths.
“Hi, Daddy,” Clara breathed out, and I patted her head without looking down.
“Go stand over there with Maribel,” I directed, and Maribel reached for her shoulders, pulling her out of this guy’s line of sight.
I scanned his body, looking for any signs of a weapon, but didn’t see anything bulging from anywhere. I might have been overreacting, but you never knew what people were capable of.
“Eli. What are you doing here?” Brooklyn asked, her voice shaking.
Eli. This must be her ex-husband.
I looked him up and down once more, this time judging his appearance. Not what I had expected at all. The guy was in jeans and an old school Pac-Man T-shirt. It didn’t work on him like it could on some other guys. This dude just looked like a slob.
“I knew there was someone else.” He sounded pissed. “I came to see for myself.”
“See what?” Brooklyn asked, clearly as confused as I was.
“If what everyone in town was saying was true.”
Brooklyn shook her head, her red ponytail bouncing with the movement. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Eli. Can we go to my office and figure this out?”
She made a move to walk away, and I instantly reached for her shoulder, stopping her. When her green eyes met mine, I gave her a subtle shake of the head, letting her know I didn’t think it was a good idea if she was alone with him right now.
Her ex made a disgusted sound. “Why would I? So you can lie to me some more?”
“I never lied to you,” she countered.
“Right,” he huffed. “You just happened to get a job working at the fanciest resort in town the second after we signed our divorce papers. And working under this guy, who I didn’t even know you knew. How convenient.”
“She did actually,” I interjected even though I had no business butting in.
“I’m not talking to you, pal.”
The motherfucker actually tried to step to me. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I warned, and he backed down.
“You know, I didn’t want to believe it, but it makes sense. I knew there had to be a reason why you left me. Not this bullshit about”—he used his fingers to make air quotes—“‘not being happy.’ No one leaves a marriage because they aren’t happy. They leave because there’s someone else.”
Brooklyn looked downright mortified. “That’s not true.”
Her ex grumbled, “Everything was fine one day, and the next, you tell me you want a divorce and leave. Everyone in Sugar Mountain knows it’s because of this guy.” He thumbed in my direction.
“You’re joking, right?” Brooklyn asked, her voice breaking. “This is a joke?” She glanced behind him, as if looking for hidden cameras somewhere.
“You never even told me you weren’t happy,” he complained, and Brooklyn blew out a breath that told me otherwise.
“I bet she did, and you were too stupid to listen,” I said before I could stop myself.
The fact that we were in a place of business seemed to completely escape my brain at the moment. I’d forgotten there was an audience watching and that I was acting in a completely unprofessional manner. All I wanted to do was make sure Brooklyn was okay, and if I verbally demolished this guy in the process, I’d consider it a double fucking win for me.
“You know, I’ve had to stop playing Wars with the guys. I couldn’t afford to buy all the upgrade packs anymore, and I got left behind. They progressed four levels already since you left me. Do you know how embarrassing that is?” he said, and I wondered what the fuck he was even talking about before it hit me.
“Are you talking about a video game?” I asked, doing my damnedest to make fun of the guy.
“It’s none of your business. Brooklyn knows how much that time with my boys means to me. And she took it away.”
He sounded like a fucking baby.
“You spent her money on video game upgrades?” I asked because I genuinely couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Before he could respond, Brooklyn interjected, sounding legitimately hurt by his accusation, “Eli, I’m sorry you can’t play your games anymore, but I promise that I never cheated on you. Not with Thomas. Not with anyone.”
Her ex-husband made a choking sound. “Right. Because that’s what all cheating whores say.”
I took a step toward him, my anger rapidly growing. “I’m going to need you to leave before I do something that I don’t want my daughter seeing.” My right hand instinctively fisted, as if begging him to push me just one iota too far.
“What, Daddy? What can’t I see?” Clara’s little voice echoed from somewhere behind me.
I turned around to give her a wink before facing the enemy once more. I wanted nothing more than to defend this woman with a ferocity I almost didn’t recognize. My protective streak was a living and breathing thing, and apparently, it didn’t only exist for my daughter.
Brooklyn put her hand on my shoulder briefly and squeezed. “It’s okay, Thomas. I got this,” she said before squaring her shoulders and standing tall to face her ex. “Maribel, please cover Clarabel’s ears.”
I glanced behind to see Maribel attempting to give my daughter earmuffs with her hands, but Clara refused the gesture. She wiggled out of Maribel’s grasp and ran away to the other side of the conference room before ducking under a table and peeking out from under the tablecloth.
“Eli.” Brooklyn said his name with venom in her tone. It was a completely different sound than when she was pissed off and verbally battling with me. There was no real hatred during those times. This was something else entirely. “I did not cheat on you. There’s nothing going on between me and Thomas.”
Her words were true, but something inside me didn’t like hearing her say them out loud or to this asshole. If she’d wanted to pretend like we were one big happy family, fucking like rabbits every time we were alone, I’d have gone along with it.
“I left you because I wasn’t happy, no air quotes necessary. I know you can’t seem to comprehend that fact in that fucking pea-sized brain of yours, but if you never hear anything else, please hear this. I. Wasn’t. Happy. You ignored me every single night to play games with your friends. Do you know how many times I tried to get you spend time with me? But you always blew me off. One more game , you’d say. It was always one more game.”
He tried to speak, but she put up her hand to stop him. “No. I’m not finished. You complained about all the overtime I worked, but you loved to spend my paycheck. I wasn’t sure why you complained anyway; it wasn’t like you wanted to do anything with me. I think you just wanted me around to make you food or do your laundry. I started hating you for it. The resentment ate me up inside until I felt like I was dying, and you didn’t even notice. What’s worse was that when I did tell you, you didn’t even care. So, you can sit here and lie to yourself and act like I never let you know I wasn’t happy, but the truth is, I’d been telling you for over a year. You had the chance to change—or at the very least try. But you ignored it, like you’d been ignoring me. And I couldn’t take it anymore.”
“You walked away like we were nothing,” he spat defensively like he was the victim of some massive wrongdoing.
“I didn’t walk away like we were nothing. By the time I walked away, I’d had enough.”
She sounded so exasperated, and my instincts to protect her flared back to life. I stepped in front of her body, blocking her from Eli’s view completely. Their conversation was over, and if he even tried to continue it, he’d have to get through me first.
Which wouldn’t be happening.
The guy had said enough. And Brooklyn had said all that she needed to with an audience watching. If for some reason they felt the desire to continue this discussion, they could do it at another time and place. Today’s charade was over.
“It’s time for you to go,” I said forcefully, leaving no room for argument even though I silently willed the guy to fuck with me.
I’d already fired off a text to my head of security, and I could see him making his way over to escort Eli off the property.
“Tali here will see you out,” I said right as my six-foot-three guard sauntered over, his face looking downright mean. If I didn’t know what a teddy bear he was on the inside, I might have cowered my damn self.
“Please make sure Eli...” I paused as I looked at Brooklyn, and she read my mind like it was easy for her to do.
“Allister,” she responded, giving me exactly what I hadn’t asked for, but wanted.
“Please make sure Eli Allister is on the no entry list going forward. He’s no longer welcome on resort property. Not even as an invited guest.”
“Hey, that’s not fair!” Eli whined.
“Life’s not fair,” I said, thrilled that I could use that stupid old line from my dad on someone other than my brothers.
I turned to check on Brooklyn, but the expression on her face told me everything I needed to know. She was embarrassed. And hurt. I wanted to comfort her, tell her it would all be okay, and then erase the very memory of that ex from her mind and body. Touch every single inch of skin until she forgot he’d ever been there.
This was a new feeling for me. If it existed before, it had been dormant for the last eight years, slumbering peacefully.
So, what was I going to do about it?