"Talk Mel Now" neither men, were impressed that she had kept this quiet, hadn't they told her to come to them if anything bothered her.
"No" she was in too much shock, Mark one of the men she loved, yes loved, had took the one thing out of her life that scared her, that had hurt her so bad last week, she couldn't even bring herself to tell them.
"Mel, last warning darlin tell us" shaking her head she ran into the bathroom, how disappointed they looked, she had fucked up not telling them and now a man was dead. Oh god Jen's dad was dead, where was Jen?, she had been in too much shock, to even think about her daughter, the pain she must be in, not understanding . Oh god hearing what had happened to him, Mark certainly hadn't pulled any punches when it came to his death. Pulling the door open she stormed to the lift, as Glenn and Mark tried to stop her.
"YOU TWO STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME, BOTH OF YOU. WHERE THE FUCK IS MY DAUGHTER?"
"Little one calm down, let's talk" Glenn attempted to pull her towards him, wanting to give her the comfort , she needed.
"GET OFF ME, BOTH OF YOU, LEAVE ME ALONE, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE HELL YOU ARE INTO, FUCK MY EX IS DEAD, DEAD AND I KNOW DAMN WELL CALAWAY YOU ARE BEHIND IT, STAY AWAY FROM ME AND JEN, I WILL BE HANDING MY NOTICE IN NEXT WEEK, I CAN'T OH GOD I CAN'T …." Collapsing to the floor, she let the pain come out, all the times of hiding, and protecting Jen, and now it was gone. The man who had beaten her up was gone, the relief poured through her, yet at the moment she couldn't forgive them, they were both guilty of murder and when the police found out, they would be gone, gone out of her life. The bastards would rip a hole so big in it, she would never be able to fill it.
"Darlin, come on you are going to make yourself ill" reaching for her, Mark pulled her into his arms.
She fought him hard "Get the fuck off me, NOW!" Mark dropped her, as she did her top went up, what the hell?, she ran for the lift.
"Glenn grab her" Glenn had her in his arms before she moved another step, again she struggled, she knew Mark had seen it.
"Please let me go" as Mark moved to her , he gently pulled her top up, seeing the marks, he wanted to throw up, Glenn was disgusted. Her whole body was covered in welts, burn marks, and bruises.
"Oh god darlin" his fingers prodded gently, as she flinched
"Please Mark don't" tears falling down her face, it hurt so much.
"baby girl, did Matthew do this to you?" putting her face in to Glenn's chest she nodded as she broke down, finally being able to let it all out, with the two men she loved so much. They had done something to protect both her and Jen, and she prayed to god they wouldn't go to jail for it. She couldn't lose them.
"Thank god that bastard is dead, otherwise I would have done it my damn self" Glenn looked at Mark, knowing nothing would come back to them, their hands were clean, and Brock was already back in the US, with an alibi so strong no one would pin it on him.
Sandwiched between the two of them, she took comfort in their strength, but for how long would she have them. She couldn't let her heart be ripped out, and it would when they were caught.
"Please, let me go, I need to think about all this, oh god you two will go to jail, I know you will, Why did you do it Mark? Why?" lifting his eyes to her, he let her see his anger, hurt, need, it was all there. She saw how much it had hurt him not having her close, for over a week she had pushed him away.
"What did I say that night you heard me Mel?"
"You said, you had order it to protect the people you loved, oh god, you meant Jen and I, you loved us enough to do this, even get caught. You idiot, you stupid, stupid idiot. Did you know about this Glenn?. Don't bother answering your face says it all." Glenn knew the minute Mark had called Brock, what was going down, he may have not given the go ahead, but he was heavily involved, When Brock was called the person's life was on countdown to death.
"I can't look at either of you at the moment" moving away, her whole body shaking, she walked as best as she could to the lift, reaching reception, Trish was waiting with open arms, Mark had already called her, he would protect Mel no matter what, she needed someone to look after her. It hurt so much that it wasn't him or Glenn that she turned to.
"Mark you ok man?" Glenn rubbed his head, trying to get his thoughts around all that had gone on, Matthew dead, Jen hearing it all and now without a father, and the state of Mel, broken emotionally and her body such a mess.
"Watching the woman I love, hate me, yeah I'm good. Did you see what that bastard had done to her, the mess, what hell she must have gone through" He went to pack, he couldn't stay now, no way, he had hurt her deeply, it had been good intentions, but he hadn't thought of the consequences, well he hadn't thought Jen would hear it all. He would give anything for her not to have heard it.
"Mark where you going?" surely he wasn't still going, walking away from it all. Mel was in shock, and hurt, a few days she would bounce back realise, he had done it for love, she would forgive him, both of them in time.
"I can't stay Glenn, seeing her everyday hating me. I'm taking that flight in a few hours, I will call you when I get home"
"Mark, this is your home"
"No brother it's not, look after her Glenn, she loves you"
"Mark, she loves us both"
"Maybe but I can't wait around, watching her, hoping that she would come back to me, It hurts Glenn it fucking hurts" with that he hugged his brother, kissed his lips, deepening the kiss, he reluctantly moved away, with a look Glenn prayed he would never see again on his brothers face, he watched him walk out of the penthouse, and out of their lives.
Mel was grateful for Trish being there when she came out of the lift. They talked for an hour, well Trish gave her tissues whilst she sniffed and cried her way through the last hour. Thank god Jen hadn't fully understood the hell that Matthew had suffered in his last dying hours, she was just happy that he was gone, out of their lives, so her mummy and her could be happy.
"I don't understand Trish, he did that for us, why?"
"Mel, he loves you, they both do and in order for you to stay safe he went for the best option, I mean look at you honey, Take a long hard look at what that bastard did to you. Is he best where he is? Or would you prefer him still alive torturing you, and it is torture sweetheart, no man would do that to the mother of his child no man"
"Trish how do you know all this, what Matthew had done?. Why were you waiting for me"
"Mark, honey he called me, that man is very protective of you, of both of you and Jen. Hell if a man did that for me, I wouldn't understand I mean I'm still getting my head around hiring, a person to kill someone, but he did it for you sweetheart"
"It was so wrong though so wrong" Mel couldn't accept that was the only way to work through it. She was exhausted, the day had taken its toll on her, crashing she fell asleep on Trish's bed. Trish, left her to rest, she would need it , there would be an enquiry, yet she knew both men were squeaky clean. No way would they ever get their hands dirty, it may be wrong, but it showed Trish how much they loved her. Shutting the door, she went to call John, finding out which park he and Jen were at, she went to join them. Happy that Mathew was no longer in her friends life, she was sure Mel hadn't told the whole truth, about the last week, she had a feeling she was protecting someone else. No way could Mathew have done all that damage, not without help, she was sure she had seen marks on her wrist, maybe from a cuff. The one thing about Trish, she would get the truth from Mel, she would just have to be patient.
