Page 84 of Brooks

“I didn’t know you moved back.”

“I haven’t. Listen, Monroe, great of you to come over and say hello but we’re a little busy if you wouldn’t mind.”

“I see you’re the same bitch you’ve always been.”

“The fuck you just say?” I growled.

The rest of the team closed ranks. Tatiana put her hand up and shook her head.

“Baby, he’s so not worth it. For years, I stupidly put up with him taking his insecurities and failures out on me. It took him a long time and a good amount of verbal abuse and cheating to convince me I was the person he’d said I was. A stupid, good-for-nothing bitch who didn’t know how to please her husband. But it took you only minutes to remind me I am none of those things.”

I took in her words and let them soak deep. Minutes. That was all it had taken.

“Verbal abuse? Sorry if your sensitive panties bunched when I told you the truth about yourself.”

“Right. Well, I’d love to say it was nice seeing you, but that’d be a lie. You should probably take your woman and be on your way. There’s only so much I’m going to be able to do for you before Brooks decides he’s had enough of breathin’ your filth. I’d advise you to go now before you’re embarrassed.”

I’d already decided I’d had enough of her breathing the same air as her ex. She was putting on a good game, but I knew it still hurt seeing him.

“Brooks? Is that your new victim? Sweet as apple pie until you nail her down. But once she’s in your bed, you’ll learn you better look elsewhere, you wanna get off.”

Before I could beat the holy fuck out of this douchebag for disrespecting my woman, a new voice boomed.

“Monroe!”

It was comical the way James dropped the girl’s hand and snapped to attention. The icing on the cake was watching all the blood drain from his face as Commander North stepped in front of him.

“Sir. I was—”

“I heard what you were doing. And believe me, nothing would make me happier than turning my back and allowing these five men to teach you some respect. The only reason why I’m not is because I don’t believe the lesson would stick. You’re a pompous prick and a disgrace not only to the uniform but the Budweiser. I’m going to rectify both of those immediately.”

“I haven’t—”

“Listen up, boy. There are a lot of things that can be overlooked. A man disrespecting a woman, no. A man cheating on his wife, never. A man belittling his wife, absolutely not. You’ve done all three. I proudly command the finest group of men the United States Navy has to offer. You are not a man, you are a cowardly pissant. I don’t command those. I will not allow you in my ranks. Consider yourself court martialed. I’ll have your article 15 drawn up this evening. The only choice I’m giving you is to turn and leave. You don’t, you’ll spend the night in the brig.”

Unfortunately, Monroe decided to leave without the lesson I was hoping to dole out.

“I’m sorry, Tatiana,” Commander North said. “I wish you would’ve gone to the chain of command so we could’ve taken care of this.”

“I don’t believe in meddling in a man’s career, sir. I just wanted out, so I left.”

“Believe me when I tell you, you would’ve been doing the Training Command a favor. They’ve been looking for a way to chapter him out for a long time. It is men, and I use that word loosely as I am in polite company, like him, that can ruin a platoon. Real men don’t like liars and cheats. And if he can stab his family in the back, he can sink one into a teammate. You’re a lovely woman, you’ve found yourself a real man.”

It was a little funny listening to Commander Storm North trying to check his vocabulary in front of Tatiana. I knew what he really wanted to call James Monroe. But he was old school. A gentleman. A great commander. He would never use coarse words in front of a lady.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

The commander left, and before I could speak, Tatiana did. “That felt great.” She beamed. “Nothing like taking out the trash. Thanks for letting me handle it. Though I admit, I was hoping he was going to disobey Commander North. I really wanted to watch you beat him up, baby. I was gonna cheer you on from the sidelines and everything.”

Well, I had been wrong. Just when I thought there was nothing Tatiana could say that would surprise me, she went and did it. I’d thought there would be some residual hurt, but there was nothing. Not my woman. She was strong, and tough, and courageous, and so damn beautiful I couldn’t wait to get her home. But that would have to wait. There was a party going on and I wanted to show off my future wife.

“How long you gonna make me wait before I get to slip my wedding band over that engagement ring?” I asked as we walked back to the party.

“A few years, at least,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Years?” I pulled us to a stop.