My eyes finally landed on the name tape: Vernon.
The sweet, seductive gleam in Alex’s eyes was long gone, now replaced by annoyance with traces or fury.
“What the fuck do you want, Vernon?”
“Just wanted to stop by and say good morning. I don’t think I’ve actually met Pfc. Bennett.” He reached out his hand for mine, his devious smile sending chills down my spine, and certainly not in a good way.
I looked over to Alex who had his eyes deadlocked on Vernon’s hand, watching to see if I would take it. I reached out and took his hand, shaking it firmly enough to crack a knuckle.
“Wow, that’s quite a grip you’ve got Pfc. Don’t want to make you mad.”
Alex’s expression shifted to menacing. He stood, placing one hand on Vernon’s upper back, and leaning over to whisper loudly in his ear. “I don’t know what the fuck you want from me or Cassie, but whatever it is, you won’t be getting a damn thing. You’ve done your part, now back the fuck up before I do it for you.”
“You already have one assault charge against you, Alex. Let’s not add another,” Vernon replied, smiling so disingenuously that a blind man could see it. “I hadn’t met the girl that was finally able to tame the fucking beast, so I thought I would come over and introduce myself. Lo and behold, she’s a fucking tiger. I expected no less.”
His words were flowing, but I had no clue what he was talking about. To anyone not seated with us, this scene probably looked like two guys casually exchanging information, but shrouded by the bulk of bodies were subliminal messages and threats of violence, leaving me as the third party and wondering what would happen next. Alex was volatile when pushed too far, and I could tell Vernon was getting to that point.
“I see you two need to finish your breakfast, so I’ll leave you to it,” Vernon nonchalantly said. “I should probably grab something to eat myself, although the meal I had this morning was more than filling. You’d know, Alex. You’ve had it a few times before.”
My eyes floated over to Alex, wondering what Vernon was referring to. Alex’s eyes darkened as he held his lips in a tight scowl. Whatever had happened between him and Vernon in the past was obviously a sore subject here, making the situation almost unbearable.
“Oh, look. There she is now.” Alex and I both followed Vernon’s eyes and sadly landed on Sgt. Castillo. “I’d be careful if I were you, Pfc. Bennett. Alex has a way of making women fall for him, then dropping them without a second thought. He’s made enough enemies to last him a lifetime, and if you don’t watch yourself, you’ll soon be able to count yourself on that friendly list.”
He turned to Alex. “You’d better be careful who you fuck over because they’ll turn around and fuck you right back.”
Alex lurched for him, but I moved quickly, and threw myself in the way. “You’re a fucking dead man, Vernon.”
“Homicide will look good on your list of charges, Cruz. Have a good day, you two.”
I watched Sgt. Vernon as he walked away. Sgt. Castillo had moved closer to the door, averting our stares as we looked in their direction. She wasn’t acting like herself, and as I was turning to face Alex again, it hit me, knocking me back into my seat with the realization of what was happening here.
“Alex, Castillo is fucking this guy isn’t she?”
“I don’t know, and I certainly don’t fucking care.” He was stewing, trying to channel the anger that Vernon had lifted out of him. “Why do you care?”
“Because he all of a sudden has an interest in us, and I’d never heard of all him until now. He said something about turning around and fucking you right back. I read between the lines and figured it out.”
Alex rubbed his hands over his face, seemingly frustrated and done with the bullshit that had become our morning. “What did you figure out?”
“Alex, wake up. Castillo didn’t want to implicate herself in this directly, so she has a hired hand. A proxy. She’s probably been feeding information to Vernon because she knows that you two don’t like each other. She can look like the good guy here because she knew of our dirty little secret and held it in, but meanwhile, she fed this guy things and let him be the one to run his mouth. It works perfectly for her.”
“Son of a bitch,” Alex muttered. “I don’t know why I didn’t fucking see that.”
“Because you’re a guy. That’s what I’m here for,” I answered, trying to lighten the mood. “Why is his grudge so strong? What is the problem between you two?”
Alex met my gaze but didn’t answer. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to get into it in this chow hall. “I’ll tell you about it later on. I can’t dig into that shit right now. Come on, let’s go.”
Thoughts swirled around my head. We all had a past, some more unpleasant than others, but whatever happened with Vernon required my full and undivided attention, in the privacy of our own home.
I knew it was heavy.
I knew it was ugly.
I knew I wanted to hear it.
I knew I didn’t want to hear it.
Whatever the case, I needed to empty the nauseating feeling settling within me, and walking out into the stifling morning heat was doing nothing to help that sentiment.
“If I can get out at lunch, I’ll swing by and pick you up,” Alex said before quickly kissing my cheek.
I placed my cover on my head and smiled, hoping he couldn’t see that my mind was on overdrive and that I was getting lost in all of the conundrum twisting and turning my insides, but it was too late. He’d seen it, and his eyes were pinned on me with grave curiosity. I pulled my cover even lower, then turned and headed off in the direction of First Sergeant O’Hara’s office knowing that the sickening feeling that I felt would only amplify once he was in my presence.
Chapter 7
Alex
Riley and I stayed up that night thinking of ways to deal with Vernon. Sadly, I couldn’t do much since the looming court date was fast approaching and Captain Hedlund didn’t want any undue attention focused on me. It was killing me not to tear into Vernon and rip him a new asshole. He was trying to get under my skin, and it was fucking working.
Vernon’s little stunt in the chow hall got Cassie’s attention, and she’d asked me numerous times that night what his deal was. I knew I needed to tell her, but the complexities of my unfortunate circumstances of knowing him were too much to deal with on the phone. Cassie was sure to have questions, and it would be better for the both of us if I could sit her down and give her the scoop on that dick.
When I walked into the chow hall the next morning and spotted her, she was sitting and chatting with Dalton and some other guy who I’d never seen before. I hadn’t seen that type of smile on her face in quite some time, and it stung just a little to see that she was back to her happy, carefree self, and I wasn’t the one making her feel that way. I walked over to their table, meeting Dalton’s eye before she noticed me, then placed my hand on her shoulder before taking a seat next to her. She looked up to me, smiled, then looked back to the prick sitting across from her. I wanted so badly to kiss her, to show this asshole that she was mine, but I quickly remembered that we were in uniform, sitting in a very crowded chow hall, so I’d have to send him the message another way.
“Good morning, babe,” I greeted, hoping this dude was taking notice. His eyes locked with mine, and he studied me, but didn’t have anything to say.
“Good morning,” Cassie greeted in return. “This is Lance Corporal Johnson. He’s Dalton’s new roommate.” The guy stuck his hand out, still studying me. “Johnson, this is—”