Always Been Mine (The Moreno Brothers #2)
Description
Valerie Zuniga vows to never let Alex Moreno hurt her again. She’ll resist him even if that means using the one thing that’ll stop Alex: another man.
Chapter 1
Mar 10, 2022
Valerie still couldn’t believe she’d actually stooped to spying. Even with everything Alex Moreno had put her through, she was furious it had come to this. She switched the channel on the car radio and glanced at her watch: 9:45 pm. Her fingers tapped the steering wheel. With a deep breath, she stared at his empty driveway. Where the hell was he?
For as long as she’d known Alex, their relationship had been complicated. This past month and a half had been the exception. They’d been inseparable, and things finally began to feel serious. She’d practically lived at his place the past two weeks. A few times she thought he hinted that she should.
When she’d finally returned home Sunday, he stopped calling and returning her calls. Just like all the other times, he disappeared on her again. There was an entire month of calls just before bed, then first thing in the morning, then two weeks of, “Don’t go, stay with me.” Then nothing for four days? Was he kidding?
All the other times he’d done this, she’d let it go. He’d always reappear eventually with some lame excuse, and like a sick little puppy, she was so ready to jump back in his arms. Well, not anymore.
She should have done this a long time ago. Valerie fidgeted in her seat, rubbing her hands over her thighs. Her head told her she’d better be ready. The truth was coming out tonight one way or another. The truth she’d known all along, but she couldn’t bring herself to face it. Deep inside, she’d always known Alex Moreno was not a one-woman man. She’d lusted over him all through high school. Even then, she’d known he was way out of her league. As the gorgeous high school jock, he had girls all over him. He’d gone out with her just for fun, and she was okay with that. As the years passed, he stayed in her life off and on. But he never stuck around for too long.
She accepted it. All this time she told herself it was because she was too busy with her school and career to get too caught up in anything serious. The real reason was always in the back of her mind. Just the thought of pushing too hard and losing what little relationship she did have with him scared her more than she’d ever admit. She tried many times in the past to make a clean break from him, but she was never strong enough to stick with it.
Well, she had to be strong now. She couldn’t take it anymore. Not after the month and a half they’d just had. The pain of wondering where he was and who he was with finally outweighed the fear of learning the truth and ending things for good. She owed it to herself to find out once and for all if his heart was as invested in this as hers, or was this all just a game, a game he’d continue to play for as long as she’d allow it?
Even with her head telling her to expect the worst, that she would finally get the closure she needed to walk away for good, her heart was still holding out hope that there was a compelling explanation: that he felt for her what she’d always felt for him.
Valerie glanced around the dash of her roommate’s car. They’d swapped cars all week so that he wouldn’t recognize her sitting up the street. All week she chickened out in hopes that she’d hear from him and she wouldn’t have to go through with this. It was Thursday now, and all she’d gotten so far was a couple of pity texts saying he was crazy busy and he’d call her soon.
Headlights brightened the dark street. Valerie sunk in her seat. Alex’s truck drove by the car she hunched down in undetected. She sunk so low she wasn’t able to see if he was alone or not.
Scooting up just high enough so her eyes were over the dash, she saw him walking around his truck and toward his front door. Alone.
A glimmer of hope danced in her heart. Maybe he was just busy. She sat up once he’d gone inside and stared at her phone. He was home now, done for the day. So why wasn’t he calling her? Could these past six weeks really have been all in her head? Had she just imagined his increased affection? She couldn’t be that delusional. Could she?
He said he cared for her, that he couldn’t stop thinking about her. How could he go four whole days without so much as calling her? Didn’t he miss her, damn it?
The street lit up again as another car drove closer. It slowed as it passed her and then stopped in front of Alex’s house. Valerie held her breath. The door opened and out came pair of long legs. Attached to the legs, a girl in her early twenties in short shorts and a snug tank that read UCSD climbed out. Valerie watched as the girl open the trunk and pulled out what was too big to be a purse.
Her breath hitched. Every time she came over lately, Alex had been insistent that she’d bring an overnight bag. The bastard!
Valerie could feel her blood pressure spike, her chest constrict. This was it, proof of what she’d known all along and no two ways around it. She watched as the girl swung her long dark hair over her shoulder and made her way up Alex’s walkway. Valerie’s eyes stayed glued to her. Her pulse throbbed in her ears. She blinked away the tears that blurred her vision.
Alex was at the door before the girl even got there. He was waiting for her! Valerie felt her heart shatter. She’d known it all along, and yet she was in no way prepared for the acute sting of it. She squeezed her eyes shut just as Alex placed his hand on the girl’s shoulder. She couldn’t bear to watch.
Valerie opened her eyes in time to see the door close behind the girl. She let out a shuddering breath. Her mind raced, considering the best way to handle this. The hot tears streamed down her cheeks. Even though she’d thought of the possibilities, she’d never actually planned what she’d do if she caught him so red-handed.
She picked up the phone and called him. Of course, the call went to voicemail. Hearing his voice in his greeting only enraged her further. Without giving it another thought, she shot out of the car, slamming the door behind her.
Brushing the tears away, she sucked in deep breaths to try to calm herself. She stalked toward his front door as she tried desperately to compose herself. So many choice words came to mind that she wanted to scream at him. The two most blaring were, “It’s over!” It really was, for good this time. Never, in all the horrible scenarios she’d played out in her head over the years, did she realize how unbearable the pain would be. The thought of him with someone else didn’t even compare to actually seeing it.
She rang the doorbell then immediately knocked. After only seconds, she knocked again. The door opened, and even though it had only been days since she’d last seen him, she still had to take a moment to take him all in. The man was unreal. He stood there all six-foot-three of him. His dark heavy lashed eyes stared at her, startled.
“Valerie, sweetheart. I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Of course not.” Her voice broke, but she kept it together. “New houseguest this week?”
He shifted in the doorway, and she caught a glimpse of the bitch sitting at his dining room table—the table they’d eaten the breakfast they’d prepared together just that Sunday. The very table he’d reached across over and over, claiming he couldn’t keep his hands off her.
Valerie felt her insides tearing apart. Something had ignited in her: something terrible she’d never felt in her life. Alex stepped outside, closing the door behind him. “No, babe. I know what you’re thinking, but I can explain.”
He tried to grab her hand, and she jerked it away. “Go to hell, Alex! I’ve had enough of your lies.”
She stormed away, feeling ready to go into hysterics. The image of the girl sitting at his table, of him kissing and doing things to her …
“Valerie, wait!”
Her high heels clicked loudly on the pavement as she picked up her speed. He caught up, stumbling as his bare feet stepped on something that apparently hurt. The fact that he’d been so comfortably barefoot with the bitch only incensed her more. He took her hand but this time held on tight enough that she couldn’t pull it away.
“Baby, listen to me.” He spoke right in her face. “She’s a tutor.”
Valerie let out a sardonic laugh. “Wow, Alex, the lies wearing a little thin finally?”
“No, she really is.”
“Is that supposed to make it better, Alex? That you’re fucking a tutor?” Valerie screamed.
She’d lost it. She was moments from having a royal meltdown, and she had to get out of there because it wouldn’t be pretty. She yanked her hand away and rushed to her car. Alex followed her.
“I mean she’s my tutor, Val. I didn’t want you to know.”
Of course he didn’t. He caught her again just as she got to the door of the car, but her arms flung around like a crazy person. She didn’t want to feel any part of him on her ever again. “Get away from me!” Her high-pitched scream froze Alex momentarily. She must’ve looked as crazy as she felt, because he stared at her without saying a word.
“Do you care about me at all, Alex?” The taste of salty tears and bitter mascara seeped in the side of her mouth. She could only imagine what a mess her face was. He still stared at her wide-eyed. “Do you at all?”
He took a step forward, his face as genuinely pained as all the other times he’d given her excuse after excuse. He began to reach for her again. “Baby, of course I do. I—”
She flung her hand up, slapping his hand away from her. “Then stay away from me! Don’t ever call me again.”
“Valerie, don’t—”
“Please, Alex!” She opened the door to the car, got in, and locked the door. The window was open, and he stood in front of it. “Promise me, Alex. I don’t want you to call me ever again.”
His eyes darkened, and his eyebrows pinched. “No.”
“I need you out of my life!” She cried. What she needed was her sanity, and at the moment, she felt robbed of it. Never in her life had she felt so incapable of controlling her emotions.
She struggled with the ignition as Alex began to try to explain his ridiculous tutor story again. Valerie pressed the button to close the window.
“Valerie, listen to me—”
He was still talking when she began to pull away from the curb, nearly taking out his legs.
How she’d ever get over Alex was beyond her, but nothing was worth feeling this kind of pain again. Nothing. She drove away, sobbing. Alex Moreno had shredded her heart for the last time.
Always Been Mine (The Moreno Brothers #2)
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