CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

TAMARA

"How are you here? Didn't the wedding happen today? Tommy cocked his head to the side and inquired, his face etched with worry as he looked at me and pulled to a corner so he could speak without being interrupted.
"The guys brought me and as for the wedding, it's over I'm officially married to the devil" I stated as I raised my hand to show him the diamond encrusted ring on my ring finger.
"The guys?" Alex questioned, shifting his gaze to the guys before resting on Alex, and his eyes turned cold, "What is he doing here Tamara?"
"He and his friends helped me leave the reception" I answered briefly
"Tamara I'm trying to understand this situation but I really can't, what do you mean this selfish asshole helped you, don't you hate him?" he stated rather perplexed at my answer.
"The reason i needed to leave the reception was because i had a panic attack,Tommy, and Alex and his friends helped calm me down" I answered, "And for you last question, hate is a strong word, I don't hate anyone least of all Alex,"
"Wow, after what he and his family have done to you, you don't hate him?" Tommy asked, glaring at Alex, who was so preoccupied with Emily that he didn't notice Tommy's angry glares.
Tommy's anger is understandable, but Alex is trying to change; he has already and will continue to do so in order to correct the mistakes he made in the past, and if I don't give him a second chance, I'm just as bad as my family.
"Yes, Tommy, I don't hate Alex; he may have been an asshole to me in the past, but he is different now." I said with a small smile as I turned to look at my boys, Huston was covered in stickers with Emma giggling beside him, she must have been responsible for the stickers but how did that happen in just a matter of seconds I was gone? But he appeared to be having a good time, so who am I to ruin it? Shane Snr. was showing his little assistant the magic trick he had shown them earlier, Joe was watching something on his phone with Tyler, probably cartoons based on the sounds that filled the room, and Alex was playing tea time with Emily, he had a little princess tiara on his head making him look quite cute.
I then turned to face Tommy, who was giving me the look that indicated I had lost my mind, but I didn't care about his opinion at this point because I was still angry with him. "If you had been by my side supporting me through this whole mess, you would have found out that I decided to give Alex another chance to be a good brother to me and for the past few months he had been doing quite well in paying for the mistakes he made in the past" I said, which caused Tommy to run his hands through his hair and stare at me guilt evident in his eyes.
"I've been very busy with the foundation, Tamara." He said his eyes were downcast, while he fiddled with his fingers; does he really think I'd believe that stupid excuse? I knew him better than he knew himself; when he wants to lie, he avoids people's gaze and fiddles with his fingers, just like he's doing right now.
"You expect me to believe that Tommy, seriously, if you're going to lie, give me a better excuse," I snapped, having had enough of him.
"What did you expect me to do Tamara, attend the wedding of a man who ruined my life and act happy for you, he is a fucking monster Tamara and i couldn't stand to watch you marry a man who would only ruin your life," he said, clenching his fist by his side, pain and anger visible in his eyes.
"I know firsthand how cruel he is, but I didn't ask you to come for him, but for me, because I needed a familiar face around me to help me make sense of this whole mess." I said throwing my hands in the air in frustration.
"I'm sorry Tamara, but I couldn't do it," Alex said.
"Oh, I see, then you've said your piece; if you're finished talking, I'll be leaving; the guys need my help with the kids." I mentioned not being able to look him in the eye, so our friendship didn't mean much to him if he couldn't just tolerate Mr Kingston for a few hours for me; I was there when he was at his lowest, but he couldn't be there when I was at mine because it was inconvenient.
So I turned to walk away, unsure of what I would do if I continued to talk to him because my hands were itching to punch him in the face. He reached out and grabbed my hand, preventing me from leaving.
"Don't be like this, Tamara, try to understand my point of view, if you were in my shoes you would do the same thing," he said, his eyes pleading with me to understand, but I yanked my hand away from his grasp before looking up at him, my anger suppressed.
"I would never do that Tommy" I snapped, "You think I want to be in this mess, Tommy, I never wanted to marry him, but this was the only way to save the company, I had no choice," I said, my voice slightly raised
"You always have a choice, Tamara. You could have simply declined the offer and left, as I have always advised you to".
"Reject the proposal? Leave? I'd rather die than see the company my mother worked her butt off to build be destroyed by that despicable man."
"Even if you only did this to save your mother's company, it's still not right for you to suffer, after all, it's his family's fault that the company is bankrupt in the first place, and here you are acting like he actually cares about you Tamara, he is just fooling you and you are falling for his lie like a naive little girl."
"Wow, Tommy, just wow, Alex might have been an asshole but he had his reasons, and you don't get to judge him when he was there and you weren't, even if he was faking it, he was there for me when I needed someone," "Tamara, it's just an act; he's doing this to mess with you," Tommy insisted.
"Let's say he is doing this to mess with me, what did he have to gain Tommy? I have nothing he wants" I questioned and Tommy just stared down at me unable to answer
"Do you have to always look for the good in people? Even if there aren't any, Tamara, life doesn't work that way; not every bad person can change."
"You don't know that Tommy, so please drop this issue because you're not going to change my mind," I said as I turned to walk away, but Tommy stopped me by grabbing my upper arm again, this time tighter.
"We're not done talking about this, I'll show you that he's truly faking it," Tommy said before letting go of my hand and walking up to Alex. What he did next made me gasp, he punched Alex square in the jaw, causing him to stumble backwards, his friends rushed to his side before their gaze moved to Tommy.
"Who the hell are you?" Joe raised his voice as he approached Tommy, hoping to return the favor, but Alex stopped him by holding him back.
"I'm fine, Joe; let it go; I kind of deserved it." Alex stated as he wiped the blood from his mouth, there was no malice in his eyes, only understanding.
"Seriously, he just punched you for no reason and you're going to let him go" Huston cast an angry glance at Tommy, but he ignored Alex's friends because his beef was with only Alex.
"Guys, meet Tamara's closest friend, and I'm sure he has a very good reason for punching me since I'm quite sure it had something to do with what they were talking about, not long ago," Alex remarked, and once I got over my initial shock, I rushed over to him to search for injuries.
"Are you okay, Alex?" I asked, my eyes clouded as I stared at his bloody mouth.
"I'm all right Little bee, it's nothing, but your friend throws a mean punch," Alex grinned, gently probing his jaw to check for further damage, but as he pressed the side of his jaw, he winced in pain.
"Seriously, Tommy, that was not cool," I reprimanded as I watched Emily approach Tommy and slap him across the leg.
"Don't hurt my friend," she chastised as she looked up at Tommy, who expressed surprise at the little girl's actions.
"Miss Tamara, why did Uncle Tommy hit Uncle Alex?" Emma inquired, pulling on the hem of my gown to draw my attention to her.
"I'm sorry you had to witness that; they just had a minor disagreement, but they're fine now, right?" I said, my gaze shifting to the guys, emphasizing my last word.
"Yes," they both mumbled, averting their gaze from mine.
"Remember, guys, violence is never the solution," I said.
"Yes, Miss Tamara," the kids agreed before returning to their previous activities, oblivious to the tension in the room.
"What is going here Tamara?" We all turned around when I heard a person say this to see Tatiana carrying a brown bag and looking up at us with uncertainty written all over her face.
"Hello, Tatiana, it's a long story," I said, unable to explain what had just happened to her.
"It's fine, I've got all day; now start talking."