Broken: Book One of the M Series Read online

  “Heal?” Lisa asks. “From what? Are you going to tell us what's going on, Vicky, because my sister doesn't tell me shit anymore?!”

  She didn't acknowledge the fallout; interesting.

  “I asked her not to,” Mandy says quietly.

  “Mandy! I'm your friend, too!”

  Mandy's eyes well. “I know you are, Twink. I just-- I...”

  “That's fine, Mandy,” I murmur. “Twink, you'll better understand in a moment. Mandy is not trying to slight you in any way. Please try to be patient.”

  “Fine,” Lisa mutters, crossing her arms and legs. Her husband rubs her thigh, but she ignores him. She is deeply hurt. She probably feels betrayed.

  “I'd like to ask you to separate, please; men on one side, women on the other, directly across from your spouse.”

  “Vicky...”

  “Please, Mandy.”

  She grunts but gets her chair and moves it in a row, with Madison and Mariah still flanking her, protectively.

  “Cookie, Mandy, Sugar, Monica, Rachel, Lissa, Evie, Twinkie and Katherine, correct?”

  They nod. I turn to my right.

  “Joshua, Tom, Thomas, Ethan, Russ, Nathan, and Stephen, and we are waiting for Marcus and Matthew, correct?”

  They nod again.

  “While we wait, would anyone like refreshments, or a bathroom break? Need a smoke or fresh air?”

  They shake their heads.

  “Good. Let's just take a moment and catch our breaths. There is a lot of tension in the room.”

  “It should be,” Madison mutters, shooting daggers at Joshua.

  Mariah snorts. “I agree, don't you, Twerp?”

  “Twerp?”

  “Yeah, it's what his brothers nicknamed him. Never thought it was fitting, until now,” Mariah snarls.

  “Okay, what the fuck is going on?” Lisa shouts. “You love Joshua, Cookie! And so does Sugar! What are you keeping from us?!”

  “Not yet, Twinkie,” I say softly.

  There is a knock at the door and as it opens, I stand. Two tall, handsome men walk in and approach me.

  “Sorry we're late. Game ran over at the gym,” the first one says, extending his hand. “We completely lost track of time. Hi, I’m Marcus Cannon.”

  I nod back with a smile. “You’re Mariah's husband, right?”

  Marcus smiles. “Yes, I am,” he says as he goes to his wife and kisses her.

  “Matthew Cannon. That's mine right there,” he grins as he points to Madison while shaking my hand.

  I chuckle. “Of course,” I say as I watch him kiss his wife and she turns her cheek to him.

  Huh.

  “I'm Vicky. Gentlemen, if you don't mind taking a seat across from your wives, we can get started.”

  They nod and go to their seats.

  “So,” Marcus slaps his brother's back. “What's the urgency, Josh?”

  “Yeah, Twerp, I have shit to do, you know. I can't sit around and listen to you whine about Crawford's for four hours,” Matthew laughs.

  A tear rolls down Joshua's cheek as he looks at his brothers. His arms tighten on his chest as sobs rack hisbody.This is guilt. He’s going to have to confess to his brothers, whom I’m suspecting he looks up to.

  “What the fuck? Did something happen to someone?” Matthew says looking around the room.

  Stephen looks at Mandy. “Is something wrong with one of the kids?”

  “What is this? Dammit, Twerp, stop crying and say something,” Marcus frowns.

  Joshua calms but says nothing as the room stares at him, waiting.

  Mariah speaks first. Or should I say snarls… “You need to take that bastard out back and beat the shit out of him.”

  “Baby,” Marcus frowns, looking extremely confused. “What the hell is going on?”

  “Matthew, are you just going to sit there or are you going to do what Cookie said?” Madison screeches on my left.

  Matthew frowns. “Smooch, why am I beating the shit out of my little brother?”

  “Because that fucking bastard cheated on me,” Mandy screams out in a cry and runs out of the room.

  Silence fills the room as everyone turns back to Joshua. Matthew smacks Joshua hard on the back of the head.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Marcus shouts.

  “Joshua!” Katherine cries. “I have never been more disappointed in my life!”

  “I hope that pussy was worth what you've done to your wife, Twerp,” Tom shouts. When the hell did this happen?”

  “Four months ago,” Joshua mumbles.

  “If you say she's pregnant, Joshua, I will kill you,” Evelyn mutters.

  They all stare at Joshua.

  “Is she pregnant, Josh?” Nathan glares.

  Joshua slowly nods.

  “I don't believethis shit!” Evelyn jumps up and is ready to tackle her brother, but her husband stops her. “How could you, idiot? How the hell could you forget you were married and fuck another woman? How could you hurt your wife like that? Now a child has to be robbed of its father and she won't be able to call you 'Daddy'! She won't ever be able to acknowledge you! Or you her, if your wife is brave enough to take you back! What about your boys, Daddy? Got-dammit! How the hell will those boys ever be able to understand this mess you've made? You should have thought of them... all of this before you stuck your dick in another woman instead of taking it home to your wife where it belongs!”

  The room freezes at her words.

  “Evie,” I say softly.

  She whirls at me, anger flashing in her eyes.

  “What?!”

  “This is Joshua,” I murmur, studying her face.

  She scowls. “I know.”

  “You just called him 'Daddy.'”

  Evie pales. Shaking her head, she says, “No, I didn't.”

  “You did,” Matthew says to her looking at the floor.

  “Fuck! You see?!” Evelyn shouts, leaving the room and slamming the door.

  “Dr. Cannon?” I say, looking at the Cannon family patriarch.

  He's pale as he looks at me, mouth gaped. “Stephen, please.”

  “Stephen, I think it's only fair to tell you Mandy blames you and your, uh, previous behavior on what she calls the 'destruction' of her marriage.”

  He nods.

  “Would you like to comment?”

  “Not really, love,” he says looking at his wife.

  “Speak, Stephen,” Katherine sighs. “Your daughters are in pain over what you and Evelyn's mother did and we never knew it. We never got Evelyn any therapy.”

  “We, Katherine?” I ask.

  She nods. “Evelyn's mother died when she was ten. She's been with me since she turned eleven; when Stephen got flustered and couldn't handle raising a girl alone. She's the daughter I've never had.”

  “That... wow, Katherine. You should be commended. Not a lot of women would take in the child that was the result of betrayal. Why would you?”

  She shrugs. “She needed me. It wasn’t her fault how she came to be and she shouldn't have been made to suffer because her father was ignorant.”

  I nod, “Ignorant in his actions or in raising her?”

  She looks at her husband. “Both.”

  “I take it you and your husband separated for a while.”

  “Three years.”

  “What made you take him back?”

  Katherine sighs. “I missed him. My boys missed him. My daughter needed him.”

  “There's another daughter?” I ask, confused.

  She smiles. “I meant Evelyn. She's my child as much as the three boys I birthed.”

  I nod; genuine love. What a remarkable woman.

  “Stephen? Have you ever explained why you participated in the affair?”

  “No.”

  “Was it love?”

  “No.”

  “Would you like me to move to another member of the family for their opinion?”

  “No, just...”

  “Ask better, more detai
led questions?”

  “Yes,” he croaks out.

  I look around the room.

  “Does everyone want to hear this? If not, you can wait in the waiting room until Stephen finishes.”

  No one moves.

  Chapter Two

  Patterns

  “I feel you need me to be aggressive with you, Stephen. Am I right?”

  “Yes,” everyone else replies.

  I move a chair in the center of the seats and ask Dr. Cannon to sit there as I pace the floor in front of my chair.

  “Dr. Cannon, were you aware your daughter was in pain because of your 'indiscretion'?”

  “Yes.”

  I look at him. “And you chose not to get her some help?”

  “I waited for her to ask for it.”

  “How old was she when you realized her pain?”

  “Seven.”

  “Why then? What happened?”

  “Her mother called and told me about her diagnosis; breast cancer.”

  “And?”

  He sighs. “Evelyn was misbehaving. She thought her mother was dying, so she got scared because she didn't have any relatives she could acknowledge.”

  “So that's what she meant by 'being robbed of calling her own father Daddy'?”

  “Yes. She called me Stephen for the first nine years of her life.”

  “Why couldn't she call you 'Daddy' until then?”

  “I couldn't... I didn't want my wife to find out about her, what I had done.”

  The door opens behind me. Mandy walks in, red-eyed and puffy with an equally red Evelyn, holding hands. They look at no one as they sit in their seats. I continue with Stephen.

  “What exactly had you done, Stephen?” I ask looking at Evelyn, who has frozen at my question. Stephen says nothing and I look at him. “Is something wrong?”

  “Evelyn doesn't need to be here for this.”

  “Yes, she does. She's obviously in a lot of pain over this and she just took it out on her brother, who has repeated your cycle. They all need to hear this, because, although they haven't said so, Mariah and Madison's wheels have to be spinning in their heads that this may happen to them next.”

  Matthew stares wide-eyed at his wife. “Smooch! Is she right?”

  She glares at her husband. “Like father, like sons,” she says icily.

  “Baby, I love you,” Marcus pleads. “I would never do that to you; to us.”

  “Stephen loves Katherine, Marcus, even then; didn't stop him.”

  Marcus glares at his brother, “Fucking... dammit, Joshua! Why couldn't you keep it in your pants?!”

  “All right, that’s enough, family. Let's do one at a time, all right? Stephen, what exactly had you done?”

  He blows out a deep breath. “I had sex with a woman other than my wife.”

  “Do you know why you would do something like that?”

  “Frustration.”

  “Elaborate, sir.”

  “My wife was pregnant with Matthew and she wasn't handling it well. She rejected me. I am a highly sexual being and she had no problem keeping up with me until then. I missed her. Joan made a pass and I caught it.”

  “Joan was Evelyn's mother?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why Joan? Why not anyone else?”

  He looks at his daughter again, then at the floor. “She was there,” he says quietly.

  “What does that mean, Daddy?” Evelyn asks him.

  He stays silent.

  “What does that mean, Stephen?” I ask him.

  He brings his gaze up. “She was a woman. She was there, in the moment. I needed... a female and she was right there offering me... her. I selfishly gave in.”

  I sigh and look at Evelyn.

  “So anyone who offered would have been your receptacle?”

  “Probably.”

  “And what about Joan's feelings; she had to have some in order to offer herself to you.”

  “She never said.”

  “She loved you. She had to. That's why I really threw you out,” Katherine shouts. “You took advantage of her then me. You only had to give me time to get over the morning sickness and fatigue. We were right back at it a month after she conceived Evelyn; right back to our normal routine with sex.”

  “Which was?”

  “Is; two times a day, at least,” Katherine murmurs.

  “Mother,” Marcus groans.

  “Grow up, Marcus. You should understand, as much as you and Mariah are at one another. How do you think your kids are going to feel about your sexual habits?”

  Marcus shakes his head and looks at the floor.

  “Twice a day... wow. How, um... why don't you have a room full of children?”

  “Are you kidding?” Katherine points at Joshua then Matthew. “That one's very lucky he's here after what that one put me through!”

  “I knew you didn't love me!” Matthew shouts, grinning from ear-to-ear.

  The room explodes in laughter, myself included. After a few minutes, I sober, then turn back to Stephen.

  “Stephen, why couldn't you wait for your wife to feel better?”

  “I waited two months. That morning sickness consumed her; exhausted her and no amount of, uh… self-maintenance helped me. I needed her and she wasn't willing to try.”

  “It wasn't that I wasn't willing. I wasn't able, Stephen! Shit! What was that I had? Hyper something or other...” Katherine says, tapping her forehead.

  “Hyperemesis Gravidarum?”

  “Yes! Thank you, Vicky. I was so very sick all damn day long. It wasn't only him that suffered then. I neglected my business, my family... my child, for Heaven’s sake.”

  “Marcus didn’t suffer. Our parents were there for him and he enjoyed his time with them.”

  “Yes, Stephen, he enjoyed his time away from me; just like you did.”

  A silence fills the room again.

  “Why are we just now hearing this? I cannot believe you fucked another woman because your wife was sick from carrying your child. You're a fucking doctor, for crying out loud. You knew better. Maybe I started talking to you too soon because right now, I could shut you out again and for the rest of my life.”

  “Marcus!”

  “No, Mother. He's hurting you all over again. I won't sit here and listen to him do it and keep my mouth shut! I am not fourteen anymore!”

  “Not to mention that Twerp over here has followed in his footsteps.”

  “Stay out of it, Matthew.”

  “Can't, Smooch. As long as it took me to get you, I cannot and will not let you sit around for the rest of our lives thinking that one day I will walk into our home with our kids a floor away and announce that I've had another child with some random woman who I only fucked because she had a pussy.”

  “You don't know that.”

  “Do you think I want to see you in the same pain that my mother endured? What my sister-in-law is enduring? I would never intentionally hurt you, but you don't seem to know that because you're blaming me for something you think may happen. I am not my father or my brother; the good one or the bad one.”

  “I'm not bad. Just stupid,” Joshua groans.

  “You are beyond stupid,” Mariah shouts. “You were Marcus' main champion when I left him while carrying Alex and Donnie. Now look at you. 'Marcus and I are the wiser' you said. Where was that wisdom four months ago?” She turns to Marcus. “If he could, you could.”

  “Okay, family. Is that true, what Matthew said, Stephen? Did you confess the affair with your kids in the house? Close by?”

  All heads turn to Stephen, silently waiting for him to talk.

  “I had gotten a call from Joan's friend and nurse. The doctors weren't expecting Joan to live much longer and I had to make arrangements for Evelyn. The friend could not keep her and Joan had no one appointed for her care. I had to tell my wife.”

  “So the only reason you told your wife was because your daughter had nowhere else to go?”

  He nods.
/>   “So what happened? When you told her?”

  “I told my wife about the affair and she threw me out.”

  I tilt my head and stare at him. He's leaving something out, I think; some things. I shake my head.

  “No, you're holding back. If you want my help, then you need to be honest. If you want to help Mandy, and your daughter, I need you… everyone… to be forthright so we can get to the bottom of the issues. You have to tell what happened the day you told her.”

  “I'll tell you,” Marcus says to a groan around the room.

  “Why the groans,” I ask.

  “Marcus has an eidetic memory. He'll have us here all night with his total recall,” Ethan says.

  “I've got nothing better to do and I want to help Mandy attempt to fix her marriage. Whenever you're ready Marcus, please begin.”

  “Okay. I will close my eyes and start from the first voice I heard. Ethan's right. I may talk for a while.”

  “I will stay longer than the four hours if I need to. My time is yours and your family’s. I have no other appointments today. Is there anything you need me or someone else to do, Marcus?”

  “Just try to remain quiet and don't interrupt me when I start.”

  “Vicky?” Mariah calls and I turn to her. “He's going to speak fast, so you might want to take notes.”

  I nod and go to my desk. I pick up my recorder and show it to Marcus. “Do you mind?”

  He shakes his head and I grab a notepad and pen. I go to Marcus and set the recorder on the table in front of him, hit record then take my seat.

  “If you're ready, Marcus,” I say, pen poised and ready for him to begin.

  Chapter Three

  Total Recall

  “It was just the four of us for dinner that night: Mother, me and these two,” Marcus says pointing to his brothers. “It was about an hour after dinner when I heard the screaming as I was going to the kitchen.

  “Mother sent us to our TV room for movies. It was a hot night, a few days after my birthday. Joshua said he'd rather play with his new action figures and went into his room. I picked a movie Matthew didn't want to see and he hit me in the stomach. I hit him back, made him cry.”

  “You never made me cry from your limp-wristed hits, Cramp.”