Military Romance Navy SEAL: Dangerous Affliction (Alpha Male Bad Boy Urban Romance) Read Online Free Page A

night, I dreamed about the things I had worked so hard to push out of my head. It was exhausting, but I couldn't stop worrying about her. I didn't want that man to go back and hurt her again.
    In an effort to get rid of all my stress, I had been drinking a little heavier than usual. I'm probably lying to myself when I say it was just a little heavier. In fact, it was the most I had been drinking in my entire life. I was ashamed, but I still tossed my head back and let that liquid hatred go down my throat. I drank so much that I forgot how much I drank.
     
     
    I woke up to a kick in the shin. Groggily, I opened my eyes and tried to ignore my pounding headache. Christmas was towering over me. A crack addict I knew only as Pipe stood beside him and they both had equally concerned looks on their faces. There was a pool of vomit on my lap. I was a mess and I knew it. The only woman that ever could've changed me wanted nothing to do with me, and as far as I knew, she could've been in the hospital or dead.
    “Yo Rome,” Christmas said, adjusting his beanie. “You a'ight?”
    I rubbed my temples and nodded. Christmas looked around in a paranoid manner.
    “The cops are lookin' for ya, man,” he said in a low voice. “Apparently you beat the hell outta some guy?”
    I sighed. Of course they were pressing charges. The only way they knew my name was if Ella said something. I wanted to be mad at her, but I couldn't be. For all I knew, he could have beat it out of her. The very thought infuriated me.
    “Yeah, he was beating his girl. I just kinda couldn't stop,” I admitted.
    Christmas gulped and nodded. Then, I heard the sirens.
    He had sold me out.
     
     
    I was lucky that the judge just sent me to rehab. A few cops took my side, saying that they had taken him in for domestic abuse more than once and that he was a well-known heroin addict. I had hoped to see Ella in court, but she wasn't there. I wondered if she just didn't want to see me or if he controlled her even more than I thought.
    After court, they sent me straight to rehab. They had a car waiting for me and everything. I had the shakes and I wanted a snort and a cigarette, but I wasn't allowed. Instead, they gave me some melatonin and I fell asleep. When I woke up, I felt like I was about to have a seizure. That was what the first three days were like, really, but it got better.
    The therapists at the rehabilitation center talked to me a lot about some of the problems I had and I realized that alcohol wasn't going to fix those things. I was facing my demons, but I still couldn't get Ella out of my damn head. For whatever reason, I never brought her up to my therapist. I think it might have been because they were teaching me to cope with my issues and as I coped with them, they stopped mattering. I didn't want Ella to stop mattering. I wanted the memory of her at least. She gave me something to fight for, even if I never could have her.
    I finished rehab successfully, which was more than I thought I could ever do. Sobriety felt amazing and I was lucky enough to get a sponsor to put me in a halfway house back in the south side of Boston. They even got me a job at the factory. My therapist didn't think it was a good idea for me to return, but I had one chance to be happy. I went to rehab. I got better. There was one thing that would keep me sober and that thing was right back where I came from.
    Rocking back and forth on my heels, I stood in front of the mission, a cigarette hanging from the corner of my mouth. The nuns all greeted me, but none of them really seemed to remember me. I didn't bother to tell them who I was. In my eyes, I was a new person. I was reborn. Everything that I was forced to do during war wasn't my fault and I understood that.
    I didn't expect to see her, honestly. The last time that I waited, she never came. Hell, she might have finally gotten fired or quit since she was missing so many shifts. I was tempted to walk away, but I didn't. Something