BOUGHT: A Standalone Romance (15 page)

Connor leads me to a little cupcake shop called Batter Up. It’s sandwiched between a small art gallery and a yoga studio. I can’t imagine how those women stay fit; I’m just smelling the aroma of the cupcakes for the first time and want them. I smile to myself as we enter the bakery.

I stick to a single cupcake, strawberry cream with chocolate inside and decorated with thinly cut strawberries. Connor orders three. I shake my head at him as we carry steaming cups of coffee to one of the pink and white striped tables and bite into our treats.

“Oh my god,” Connor moans.

“Oh my god,” I echo.

The baker seems to have gotten the perfect blend of flavors, and the cakes aren’t overly sweet. I find myself eating the cake quickly, already wanting another one. It’s official: if the yoga studio is smart they’ll stay next to this bakery forever, because it’s heaven.

“My mouth has never been so happy,” Connor mumbles.

“Rude.”

“My mouth is the second happiest it’s ever been,” he says with a grin.

“Better.”

We finish up our desserts before we head back outside. I shiver a little. Connor takes one look at me and ushers me into the nearest store.

“I’m telling you, I’m fine,” I say with my hands on my hips. “Don’t be so overprotective.”

“Shhh,” he says as he browses through the jackets. “Here we go.”

Connor pulls out a big, baby blue hoodie. There’s something amazingly comforting about hoodies. They relax me. I want to object more, but I also really want to wear it.

“I’m going to call home and make sure everything’s okay.”

Connor nods. “See you in a minute,” he calls as he heads up to the register.

I step outside into the chilly air and reach inside my bag for my phone. Pulling it out, I start to call Mary, when I pause. I haven’t seen him in weeks, but there he is, standing in front of me with a stern look in his eyes.

“New boyfriend?” he asks.

“Go away, Nathan.” My steely eyes are betrayed by the wavering in my voice.

“I told you before, I want to see my son. You can either play along or I can make life a lot harder for you,” he says with a straight face.

I scoff. “Gave up on playing pretend, huh? Time to let your real psychotic colors show?”

“That boy is mine. He belongs to me, and you belong to me. Do you understand?”

“I don’t belong to anyone, and I definitely don’t belong to you. You’re a lowlife, abusive piece of shit, and I’ll never let you have either of us.”

That does it. He reaches out and grabs my arm, his fingernails digging into my skin even through my shirt. I glare back at him. I won’t let him see me flinch, I won’t let him see me flinch, I won’t—

“Take your fucking hands off of her if you want to keep them.”

I look up. Connor’s standing beside me, the bag on the ground. His fists are balled up, and I’ve never realized how big his hands are until this moment. Connor’s eyes are blazing. I don’t doubt for a single second that he would beat Nathan into the ground and go about his day.

Nathan must have seen the danger flashing there, because he releases my arm. I snatch it back and rub my skin. It hurts, more than I care to admit. Nathan looks as though he is considering saying something, but then thinking twice of it.

He shoves a finger in my face. “I will see my son.”

Connor reaches forward with such swiftness Nathan and I are equally shocked when he grabs Nathan’s finger. He pulls the digit back. Nathan lets out a strangled cry as he drops down to his knees, in too much pain to react with anything other than yelling. Connor lets go of him, takes a step back, and straightens his sleeve.

“Connor!”

“What? He was too close.” He slips his hands into his pockets as he peers down at Nathan. “If I see you around her again, I will make your life a living hell.”

Nathan picks himself up, cradling his finger like it’s an injured bird. “You can’t do this,” he growls. “I’m calling my lawyer.”

Connor shrugs. “Call hm. I have more attorneys under my thumb than you could possibly imagine. Get out of here. I’m feeling very possessive today.”

Nathan takes off, glancing over his shoulder only once before he disappears around the corner. My heart doesn’t stop beating out of control until he’s gone. I turn to Connor.

“You had no right to do that.”

His eyes widen before he presses a finger into his chest. “I just helped you, and you’re pissed at me? What the fuck?”

“He could really hurt my chances of trying to keep Kyle away from him. What if he uses what you did against me? You have to think with your brain instead of being so violent!”

Connor doesn’t say a word. His mouth goes into a straight line, he picks up the bag, and he starts walking. I contemplate letting him storm off in his need for drama, but I’m still vaguely afraid that Nathan will come back.

“Where are you going?” I demand.

“I’m taking you home.”

I scoff. “You’re such a jerk!”

Connor spins around. “I’m the jerk? Rethink what the hell just happened and then try again.”

I cross my arms in front of my chest. “I didn’t ask you to play the white knight and ‘save me.’ I don’t want to be saved!”

“Neither did I,” he says angrily. He stops, takes a deep breath, and massages his forehead. “Just get in the car.”

When I get in the car, I slam the door. Connor silently starts up the engine and glides into traffic. I give him the address, and he finds it easily. I don’t bother saying anything to him as I walk to the door, and apparently the feeling is mutual.

When I get inside of the house, I slam the door. How had something so perfect dissolved into something so terrible? Mary walks out. She’s not using her oxygen tank, so I guess she’s feeling a bit better today.

“What happened?” she asks as soon as she sees my face.

“Where’s Kyle?”

Mary rolls her eyes. “I can’t get him to leave his room. Did you have to buy him such a big TV?”

I shrug. “I just can’t say no to him.”

“Please try, or he’ll be spoiled worse than he already is.” She sits on a barstool and pats the one next to her. “Now, tell me what happened.”

Sighing in exasperation, I sit down. “I ran into Nathan today.”

Concern twists Mary’s face. “And?”

I roll up the sleeve of my shirt. There are half-moon bruises on my skin, and they still sting painfully. Mary takes my arm gingerly, her expression a mix of worry and anger.

“He did this to you?”

I nod. “I feel like it’s starting all over again.” I choke down the tears I feel coming to the surface. “He’s going to ruin everything again. There’s no stopping him. In the end, Nathan always gets what he wants.”

“What does he want?”

“To be a part of Kyle’s life.” I gaze at anything but Mary. “And he wants to have me again. I can’t even stomach the thought of it,” I say as I press a hand against my stomach to quell the churning.

“Don’t worry. We’re not going to let him get anywhere near you or Kyle. Were you with Connor? What did he say?”

I shrug, feeling guilty. “He stopped Nathan from hurting me and inflicted some pain of his own.”

“Good. I hope he broke something on the bastard.”

I wince as if the words physically sting. “I got mad at him. I yelled at him.”

“For helping you?” Mary asks with a raised brow.

“In my defense,” I say quickly, “I was still shaken up, and I have a history of men helping me only to want something in return. Besides, what if what he does is used against me to get Kyle?”

“If he put his hands on you first, I doubt you have to worry about that.” Mary pauses. “Angela, you need to talk to him.”

“I’m still pissed off.”

“I understand that. And you’re scared. And you’re at your most vulnerable having to face all of these memories, all of that power that Nathan had over you. Still, you can’t take it out on Connor. He hasn’t done anything wrong, and he’s not your whipping post. Do you really want to be like Nathan? Doling out pain because something is broken inside of
you?”

Her words hit me with such force that I’m knocked speechless. I stumble over my words. How dare she compare me to that monster! Outrage, pain, disbelief flood through me. Instead of replying, I move off of the stool and disappear into my bedroom.

What does she know? What does anyone know about me? They don’t understand how Nathan could curl his fingers into my brain and paralyze me with icy fear. No one could understand the things he’s done to me, the things he said to me until, for a very long time, I thought I was nothing more than a beating post, nothing more than the dirt beneath him.

When I was with Connor, I sank to my knees for him and I became nothing for him, but it was my choice. That’s what made it special. That’s what made it okay. For Nathan, it had never been a choice. I was his property, and he used me however and whenever he felt like it.

I crawl beneath my blankets, wearing them like a shield. Curling my fingers into the blanket, I shiver. The house isn’t cold, but I can feel a distinct iciness tripping and stumbling down my spine. I think about Connor. He tried to help me, and I crushed him. How would he ever forgive me? How could I forgive myself?

There’s a soft knock on the door. I’m not in the mood to talk to Mary. In my logical mind, I know that Mary hadn’t meant to hurt me. That doesn’t stop my feelings from being hurt.

“Angela?”

The tiny voice behind the door doesn’t belong to Mary. I sit up in bed, running my hand over my wet eyes before I call him in. Kyle pads in on bare feet, the look on his face distinctly sad.

“What’s the matter?”

Kyle shrugs.

“Do you want me to get Mary?”

He shakes his head. “She doesn’t feel good, and I don’t want to make her sad.”

I pat the bed beside me. “Come here and sit next to me.”

Kyle closes the door before he walks around my large bed. He crawls up beside me and lays his head on a fluffy pillow. He’s biting his lip, and I can tell that something big is weighing on his young mind.

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I miss my friends. I miss home.”

I hesitate, then gently run my fingers through his hair. It’s the same thing my mom used to do for me when I was feeling down.

“I know you do. Maybe we can all take some trips back there sometimes. I don’t want you to feel left out. You’ll start school here soon. Won’t that be exciting?”

Kyle shrugs again. “I don’t know. Yes. No. I’m scared,” he says, mumbling the last bit with a look of embarrassment.

Looking at him, I see so much of myself. He could practically be my twin, if not for the blond hair. Then there’s the personality. It’s chilling to see a copy of yourself, one that you haven’t watched grow into it, but simply appear.

“It’ll be okay. And if you don’t like it, we’ll find you somewhere that you do like.”

Kyle nods. “Can I ask you another question?” He looks away from me. “I know you said when I got older, but I decided that I really want to know.”

“What is it?” I ask, an audible lump in my throat.

“Why did you give me up? Why didn’t you want me?”

There it is. I knew that it would be coming sooner or later, and yet nothing has prepared me for it. I have no rehearsed speech, although I’ve thought of several since the first time he asked me. I swallow thickly.

“Well,” I start slowly, weighing each word in my mouth before I speak. “It’s kind of complicated.”

“Please, don’t tell me a lie,” he says with eyes so serious I would swear that he was grown.

Kyle is still sore from learning the truth that his parents aren’t his. The only reason he ever found out is because Mary got sick and her husband had previously passed. With no other options, she turned to me. I feel as though I owe him the truth. He isn’t so young or so naïve that he wouldn’t understand.

“Okay,” I say with a nod.

I tell him the story from start to finish. About falling in love young with a nice boy, and how, at sixteen, I ran away to give Kyle a better life. I leave out details, but I tell him how his father, his birth father, is a bad man that we can’t trust. I end it by telling him that if he ever sees the man, to not go with him, to not even talk to him.

“Is he that bad?” Kyle asks with wide eyes.

“Worse,” I say seriously. I sigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Kyle pushes himself up, shaking his head. “You didn’t. I’m glad I know. If anyone ever hurt you or Mom, I wouldn’t know what to do. I’ll protect both of you.”

I smile. Before I can help myself, I’m pulling him into my arms, into a tight hug. I can feel the love radiating between the two of us. Once more, my strength seems to come flowing back to me. If this boy, this child, could be so brave, then so could I. Leaning forward, I plant a kiss on the top of his head.

“You’re a good kid,” I say, messing up his hair to the sound of him giggling. “If you ever need to talk about anything, don’t hesitate for a moment. I’ll always be here for you.”