Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 140: Bringing Alec Up to Speed

"Now, tell me, for real this time. Why are you here?" I asked Alec.

"My cousin saw you at the restaurant and called me."

"Your cousin knows who I am?"

Alec showed me his social media account on his phone. His last post was a picture of me that I wasn’t aware Alec had taken. I was on the porch at the cabin, wrapped up to my chin in a blanket with a cup of steaming coffee in my hand. My gaze was lost somewhere over the horizon. I looked peaceful and satisfied.

"Stalker," I mumbled as I turned my attention back to the big issue.

My spine stiffened. I knew I trusted Alec implicitly, but I never questioned if he trusted me. I’d given him some reason not to trust me. I had run away from them and had not contacted him for months. I had put myself in harm’s way more than once. But I never cheated on him. Not once. Not even close.

"Are you saying you are here because you thought I was cheating on you with King?"

"No, honey. It’s not like that. I was afraid he would upset you. I wanted to be here in case you needed me."

I relaxed a little but not enough to enjoy his touch anymore. I stepped away.

"I’m fine. He said his piece. I said mine. The end, hopefully."

"Let’s go to The Red Dragon. We could both use a workout."

He was right there. Right now, throwing a few kicks and strikes might make me feel better. If those kicks landed against pads held by Alec, all the better. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I kind of did because I kind of didn’t believe he was here just to support me.

The feeling of betrayal was intuitive. I had no evidence. Not really, but I still felt misunderstood.

Alec opened the car door for me, but I froze as if accepting this kindness equated to condoning his jealous behavior and covering it up.

Alec looked at me with confusion. "What’s wrong?"

Telling him nothing or I don’t know was on the tip of my tongue, but I bit it back. I was planning to spend the rest of my life with this man. If I wanted our life together to be free of the toxicity I had with King, I had to remain honest and open with Alec.

"It feels like you are here because you don’t trust me."

Alec remained quiet for a long minute. "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. But look at it from my perspective. Teela, you chose him first. Every time you see him that goes through my head. You chose him first. I’m the second runner-up. At any moment, you could decide it wasn’t so bad with him.

"Teela, I don’t believe you would ever cheat on me, but I can’t say I have perfect faith that you won’t leave me for King. I’m sorry."

A happy family of four walked down the line of cars toward us. I waved and nodded, waiting until they were out of earshot.

"First, I chose King long before I ever met you. It wasn’t like I was dating both of you and chose to marry King instead of you. I didn’t even know you existed when I married him. I didn’t know that just looking at you is enough to feed my soul with hope and happiness. I thought the security and modicum of attention King lavished on me when we were dating was a good enough foundation for love and marriage. It wasn’t.

"What can I do to help you be more secure in our relationship? I can’t erase my past. I can’t, nor will I, avoid King in the future. In many ways, he has been a good friend since I left him. Well, as good of a friend as I think he is capable.

"But I swear, Alec, unless he was the last man on earth and we were responsible for replenishing the population, I wouldn’t ever consider being with him again. Even then, it is doubtful we would succeed. We diligently tracked my ovulation cycle for three years and never conceived."

"I understand, Teela, and I believe you. This is on me, not you. I’ll work on it. As long as you come home every night and hold me close, that’s all I need."

When Alec reached to pull me back into his arms, I complied. I was so relieved to clear the air instead of suppressing my doubts.

Alec kissed me, then steered me into the passenger seat before circling the car to the driver’s seat.

"Where’s your car?" I asked.

"It will be fine here until after our workout. I’ll need to return to work for a couple of hours."

Jake called.

"Teela, we’ve scoped out the Bright Future complex. The building where CK’s brother lives is located dead center of the complex. There is no ground cover for a covert operation.

"Security is tight as well. Parameter guards pass by once every few minutes. Two guards are on the door of the dormitory at all hours except when they take turns taking breaks."

"Okay," I said. "Then what is the plan?"

Jake said, "Alec is in the healthcare industry. Is there any chance he can help us infiltrate the organization for a legitimate reason?"

Why hadn’t I thought of that? Oh, right, because this was my business and not Alec’s, and I didn’t want him involved in any business that might get him hurt professionally or physically.

I glanced at Alec. It was a good idea, though. If Alec could arrange a tour of the facility, Jake and I could go with him. No. Alec would never agree to let me go, and Sampson and most of the other security detail looked too much like goons not to draw suspicion, but Min could pull it off. When he wanted to, Min could disappear into the shadows even when eyes were focused on him.

I dearly hated to ask, though.

"Let me talk to him. I’ll call you back."

"Talk to me about what?" Alec asked.

"How do you know I meant you?"

"I could tell by the way you looked at me."

"And how is that?"

"Like you have secrets that I should know about."

"It’s not a secret. I just haven’t told you about it yet. Big difference."

Alec chuckled. "That is a subtle difference."

"The devil is in the details."

"So, tell me. We have nothing but time while we commute."

I caught Alec up to speed on Colby’s situation and the dilemma of how to rescue him.

"That is a problem," Alec said. "Dad would gather the troops and storm the castle. He’d take down everyone in his way and pull Colby out by the scruff of his neck."

"Sounds like the recipe for a lot of casualties and a lot of risk to Colby’s safety."

Alec nodded. "Exactly. What Jake suggested makes a lot of sense. You’re sure you don’t want to take it to the cops? They can go in legally."

"That was our first thought, but the cops will have to verify all the information we give them before they move. One slip to the Bright Future people, and they may decide to get rid of evidence, including Colby and the other kids."

"What? Bright Future is the organization in question?"

"Yes, why?"

"A university buddy of mine works for Bright Future. This guy is as straight as an arrow. There is no way he’d work for a company profiting from the misappropriation of human organs."

"Or he doesn’t know. I doubt Bright Future advertises their illegal business practices in their recruitment pamphlets."

"Kahlil is the hospital administrator."

"So?"

"He would have to notice if something was awry with the transplants," Alec said.

"Alec, he works for a company that specializes in transplants. Assuming Kahlil is innocent, the corruption could happen before the transplant paperwork ever hits his desk. The criminals would know how to cover their tracks."

"Alright. Let me make a call. I’ll get us an invitation into the lion’s den."

"Alec, you don’t have to do this. I don’t want to put you in an awkward position with your friend."

"No, I want to help. If they are killing kids, it needs to stop."

"It could be dangerous."

"I’m an adult, and you are sending me in with some of the best back-ups anyone could hope for, right?"

"If you are sure? You are under no obligation to get involved in my projects."

"Teela, whatever is important to you is important to me, but even if that weren’t so, I’m always down for protecting those who can’t protect themselves."

I called Jake. By the time we arrived at The Red Dragon, we had a tentative plan of action, and my frustration from earlier had dissipated.

"I forgot my bag. I have nothing to wear to work out," I said.

"Angie will find you something. She always has extras."

"Will she be mad at me for leaving the way I did?"

"No. I talked to her. I talked to everyone who matters. I made sure they understood you were only doing what you needed to cope with your loss."