Chapter 46
ALEX
The party quickly became lackluster without Ruby pressed against his side. It wasn’t exactly his idea of a good time to stand and nod while people wished him happy birthday on behalf of dis wife while simultaneously congratulating him on a company he had owned for years.
Robert Smith walked over to him. “Have you seen Ruby, I can’t seem to find her anywhere.”
“She stepped out for a moment.” Alex answered, trying to be polite despite the conflicting feelings he was having
Robert smiled. “I wanted to talk to you actually.”
“Oh, what about?” He asked, feigning interest. When Robert didn’t say anything for a few seconds, he cocked an eyebrow and the older man chuckled, clearly uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry about Cole being a little obnoxious earlier. He’s just not comfortable with her being your wife. He doesn’t think it was a good choice.” he gestured to the ring on Alex’s finger.
“Are you saying her marrying
“No, but 1-
me was a mistake?” Alex asked, ready to throw hands.
“You pushed for this marriage, you and my father both did. You forced her to marry me.” he interrupted the older man in front of him, in more of a ‘matter of fact‘ tone rather than an accusatory one.
-W–well, yes, but mistakes happen, and this was one of them. I’m sure you didn’t mean to marry her either.” ruby’s father said, a snide look on his face.
Alex tried really hard not to scoff. “I don’t make commitments without knowing what I’m doing.” he retorted.
“Of course, of course, Robert nodded. “But you know she only agreed to marry you to have a sense of control. It was all an act of rebellion on her side.”
“Oh it wasn’t because you lied to her and promised you would help her save her mother’s life?” he asked, knowing he had Robert backed into a corner with that question. If he really thought that he could stand there and try to badmouth Ruby, then he had another thing coming.
Robert looked stumped for a second, before he scratched the back of his neck and stuck one hand in his pocket. “Is that the story she coined for you? You can’t really believe I would treat my own daughter like that.”
Alex had had enough of the old man’s lies, and he wanted to get out of the conversation as soon as he could. He would rather sit and count grains of rice from a whole bag than keep standing here while this man tried to push lie after lie out of his mouth. Plus it was taking everything in him not to shove his fist down Robert’s throat for everything he had done to Ruby. “What’s the point of this conversation, Robert?” he asked impatiently.
“I’m just saying that I could help you to be free of her, son,”
The audacity of this man! “Once again, I’m not your sou,” Alex said, feeling irritated. “And she’s my wife.”
“Yes, but you might not want her by your side for long
Alex didn’t like Robert’s sinile, it was way too sinister for a man who was talking about his daughter. “Why are you working against your daughter? What did she ever do to you?”
“It’s nothing like that. I just think Melanie is a much suitable option for you. Think of all the money we can make from such a merger, especially now that there’s still all that buzz around your company
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Oh so there it was. The real reason he was there. “What makes you think I would buy into your plans?”
“If not for any other reason, then the money will definitely sway you.” Robert answered, sounding so sure of himself.
“I’m sorry to burst your bubble=”
“There’s no need for fake humility. Everyone wants money,” he said, interrupting Alex and spreading his hands as he spoke.
“Not when you have the kind of money that I do.” Alex said with note of finality. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find
my wife.
He dismissed Robert with a nod, grateful that the man got the lint and moved on to chat with someone else. He felt a sudden sadness for Ruby, if this was how her father spoke about her to others, then he could only imagine just how much more torture Ruby endured that she hadn’t spoken about yet. Speaking of which Was Ruby okay? She hadn’t been gone. that long, but it shouldn’t take fifteen minutes to get some tylenol. The pantry wasn’t that far away. He remembered the pallor beneath her makeup. She had been anxious and stressed about the party for some reason. She behaved like she expected something to go wrong, which he really didn’t understand. It was easy to pull off a good event, especially when they had all three of the necessities needed- money, time and expertise. They had spared no expense, and money could buy expertise. Maybe she was feeling even sicker than he had thought. He started toward the pantry to check on her when he was intercepted by Natalie. What was she doing here?
“Alex, can we talk?” she asked, grabbing his arm.
“Not right now,” he said, shrugging her off. “Have you seen Ruby by any chance!” he asked, barely even expecting an answer, but much to his surprise, she gave him one. “I’m sure she’s fine. Alex-”
“Have you seen her?” he asked again, cutting her off.
Natalie sighed and a sad look crossed over her eyes. “Yeah, Cole was just going in to check on her, so you don’t have to.”
Shit! He rushed to the pantry. Her brother had called her a bitch right in front of him. If he treated her like that in front of her husband, what kind of abuse was he capable of doing when he was alone with her? His heart raced. He needed to see with his own eyes that she was okay. Rapid footsteps followed behind him and he turned to see that it was Scott. He must have seen that something was wrong.
Alex could hear raised voices. He rounded the corner and spotted Cole standing in the doorway, trapping Ruby inside the
pantry.
“You fucking bitch!” Cole shouted. He backhanded her, his knuckles striking her face. She staggered backwards and crashed against the shelves and fell down. Blood trickled from her nose, dripping down her mouth and chin and falling on her pristine white dress.
A scarlet bomb went off in Alex’s head,
“I’m gonna teach you a lesson!” Cole shouted again and raised his hand.
Alex was behind him in the flash of a second. He grabbed Cole’s wrist and twisted it painfully backwards, kicking him in the side at the same time. Cole stumbled and went down, rolling a couple times to get away from Alex. he tried to regain his footing, but Alex got between him and Ruby and punted his ass, propelling him three or four feet forward. He dropped to his hands and knees, gasping. “What the hell.”
Alex circled him and kicked him in the side again. He wheezed, going down on his back in a feeble attempt to escape. Alex repeated the action, and Cole grabbed his side and folded up. A rib or two must’ve cracked. Maybe even broken. Alex stomped the hand holding the ribcage, then again until he could feel the bones going. Cole’s screams only pissed him off. Ruby was so traumatized, she couldn’t even whimper.
Fucking asshole. He was going to murder him.
He smashed a heel into Cole’s crotch, and his screams went
octave. Scott inhaled sharply, but didn’t try to intervene.
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Chapter 46
He kicked Cole’s kidneys a couple of times, then stomped on him until he was a bloody mess. Scott finally came over and put a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t want to kill him. He isn’t worth going to jail for.”
“I don’t give a fuck about that, he protested, still kicking Cole.
“Alex, that’s enough, Scott said. “That piece of shit’s taken enough of your time. Your wife needs you right now.”
His wife. He turned around. “Where is she?”
“Mom took her upstairs,” Scott said. “She probably doesn’t need to see this.”
“No, she doesn’t, Alex managed, purposely slowing his breathing to settle his temper. He didn’t want to look like a raging lunatic when he faced his wife, especially when she must be traumatized. But fuck. It was almost impossible to calm down..
He exhaled hard.
He flicked Cole a look full of contempt. But some of the contempt was directed at himself. He should’ve checked up on her sooner, instead of letting Robert take up his time with his bullshit. Did her father keep him occupied on purpose? If so, he would make sure he put him in the hospital too. “Stay away from my wife, if you value your life.”
Cole moaned, struggling to get to his knees, “What the… She’s my sister!” He tried to shout, but it came out as a half whine, half wheeze.
“She’s my wife. Nobody touches what’s mine,”
“I’ll fuckin‘ sue yer ass,” he slurred.
For fuck’s sake. The negative publicity was going to stress Ruby out. Maybe he should keep kicking Cole until he could no longer talk.
“Good luck finding a witness,” Scott said, scratching his ear.
“You saw what this bastard did to me,” Cole said.
“Saw what? I was checking the news. Scott waved his phone. “And the only thing I saw was somebody trying to exterminate a pest. Not exactly a crime,” he added, then sighed like the unthinkable had happened. “It’s too bad the cockroach lived. But then, they can live through nuclear explosions.”
Alex was struggling not to burst into laughter despite the situation, but Scott wasn’t done.
“And you just happened to be in the kitchen. You know, when people fall in a kitchen, they often suffer catastrophic damage,” Scott continued. “There are studies.”
Alex smiled at his brother. He should’ve known better than to worry about publicity.
“You can’t do this to me!” Cole wheezed.
“We just did.” Finally having his temper under control, Alex started toward the bedroom, then stopped and turned back. “Listen, you piece of shit. I don’t care what happened in the past Actually, that’s not true. I do care–a lot–about how you all treated Ruby.”
Cole tried to look defiant, but it was hard to do when he was lying bloodied on the floor.
Alex exhaled harshly. “Next time you see my wife, you won’t even meet her eye. You’re going to keep your head down and you’re going to apologize.”
“Wh–why?”
“Because if you don’t, you’re going to spend the rest of your life being fed through a straw.”
