The Man I Met On Christmas

Chapter 3

Caleb Winters's Point Of View.

The clock on my nightstand crawled from 2:13 AM to 5:47 AM while I stared at the ceiling continuously. I could not sleep, not even for a single minute.

Every time I closed my eyes I saw her face, the woman who left me standing at the altar in front of four hundred people and now, in less than four hours, she was coming back into my life, as my new secretary. Serene Dawson.

By six, I was in the gym in my penthouse, with tape around my knuckles, in front of a heavy punching bag. I pictured her face and hit the bag, hard. Each hit landed heavier than the last.

Left jab, as I pictured her, smiling the moment she said yes to the forever, the curve of her neck when she laughed at something stupid I said. Right cross, as I pictured her in the white wedding dress, laughing and kissing me like I was the only man in the world, for her, on the morning of our wedding. Left hook as I pictured the note she left on the hotel pillow that said, “I am sorry. I love him more.” The more her face appeared in his head, the harder he punched.

Sweat poured down my face, and stung my eyes. My ribs burned, as I continued for another thirty minutes. The bag swung wild while my breath came in animal growls. In the meantime, my knuckles split and blood smeared the leather.

I hated her for still living in my head after seven damn years.

At 6:45 I finally stopped, while my chest was heaving, and my hands were shaking. I ripped the tape off with my teeth and headed for the bar cart in the living room. I poured three fingers of bourbon even though the sun was barely up. The first swallow burned at the exact right.

“Happy Christmas, little brother.” I turned as I heard the voice, I hated the most, while the glass was halfway to my mouth.

Noah Winters, my older stepbrother, stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. He was tall, with the same dark hair as me but longer. He was wearing a ridiculous red Christmas sweater with a reindeer that had a pom-pom nose and a s**t eating grin.

I narrowed my eyes, and blurted, “Get the f**k out of my house.”

He grinned wider, stepped inside, and shut the door behind him as he spoke, “Mom sent me to drag your sorry ass home to brunch, said if I did not bring you she would disown us both.”

“Not happening,” I said flatly, knocking back the rest of the bourbon.

Noah’s eyes flicked to the bloody tape on the floor, then to the half-empty glass in my hand. “Rough night?”

I poured another, as I mumbled, “Rough life.”

He walked over, snatched the bottle from my hand before I could stop him and said, “It’s six-fifty in the morning, Caleb. Even for you, this is pathetic.”

I lunged for the bottle. He held it higher. “Give it.” I yelled.

“Make me.” He replied, and we stared at each other for two seconds, and then we were on each other.

He was bigger, but I was faster. I drove my shoulder into his gut. He grunted, stumbled back, and we crashed into the coffee table. Glass shattered as the bottle hit the rug and glugged bourbon everywhere.

“Still a spoiled asshole!” Noah growled, while wrapping an arm around my neck.

I slammed an elbow into his ribs as I muttered, “Still a nosy bastard who ruined -!” He spun at me, tried to take me down. I hooked his leg, and we hit the floor hard, rolling.

"Now, I get it. You are still mad she picked the better brother?” Noah said, cutting me off in mid sentence and laughing at my face. Red exploded behind my eyes.

“Say her name,” I whispered as I swung at him. “I dare you.”

“You mean Serene.” He said, while his jaw flexed, in smirk. I tightened my grip on his sweater until the reindeer’s nose stretched. Hearing her name from his mouth made me see red more.

“You stole my fiancée the night before the wedding.” I snarled nose to nose, as I grabbed his stupid reindeer sweater and yanked him close. "You were my best man, stood next to me in that church and swore you would have my back forever. Later, you f****d my fiancée the night before the wedding.”

He shoved me back hard and muttered, “She was not yours anymore. She came to me crying because you were turning into Dad, cold, controlling, and obsessed. She wanted out and I just gave her the exit.”

“So you stole her to save her? Real noble, Noah. Real f*****g heroic.” I said, as I shoved him off me hard enough that he slid across the rug.

“I loved her,” He gritted out, his eyes were furious, “I still do, but then I was betrayed by her like you."

“Bullshit!” I roared, and head-butted him. Blood sprayed from his nose.

He laughed through it, one could see the blood on his teeth as he spoke, “Hit me all you want, but the truth is that she chose me, Caleb. In the bridal suite. In my car. In my bed. Deal with it.”

“Get out,” I hissed. He climbed to his feet, wiped his blood on the sleeve of his ruined sweater, and walked to the door, paused.

“Enjoy your misery, Caleb,” He said, his voice was rough. “Merry f*****g Christmas.” The door slammed and I stood in the wreckage, with blood on my knuckles, with bourbon soaking the rug, and with my heart hammering so hard, I thought it might actually explode.

I cursed under my breath, grabbed my towel, and walked straight to the shower. I showered until the water ran cold, shaved, put on a charcoal suit, black shirt, and no tie, looked in the mirror and saw the same cold bastard the city was afraid of. Perfect.

My firm and my penthouse were in the same building, separated only by glass, steel, and a private elevator. The lower floors belonged to Winters & Associates, while the top floors were mine. I liked being able to walk out of firm and be home in thirty seconds.

As the elevator moved down, my thoughts went straight to Serene. Today, everything would change, for the good, for me, for the closure I never got.

She was going to walk into the consequences of what she did, and I was going to drag her through every circle of the hell she left me in seven years ago, going to burn everything she had to the ground and walk away while she stood in the ashes, feeling exactly what I felt the day she ran off with my brother and left me at the altar.

The elevator opened with a soft chime on the 33rd floor, and I stepped out, It was still early, too early for anyone else to be here but I needed the silence. I walked into my cabin, dropped my briefcase on the table, and sank into my chair.

This time, Serene Dawson was going to learn what real betrayal felt like, and I was going to enjoy every second of teaching her.