Broken (Broken #1) (23 page)

His tongue peeks out and runs
over his lower lip, I almost copy his action but fortunately
refrain as he’s still looking at me. The muscles on his back tense
as he pads over to the door, opens it and grabs something from
outside after placing the bag of our discarded clothing in the
hall. He walks back towards the couch whilst pulling a pure white
robe on and tying it around the front. The towel drops to the
floor, I can’t see anything because of the robe but my heart
lurches again at the thought of his nudity.

To make my sleeping state more
believable I snuggle further into the bed and tighten my legs
around the pillow between them. He seems to freeze and look over at
me, I close my eyes completely as being a creeper is making me feel
like a… well a creep.

I finally begin to doze not
long after he turns the TV on low and pours himself a drink from
the mini fridge. Of course he did all of this after putting on his
gloves and rinsing the glass out about six times.

He should really see somebody
about his germ issue.

We arrive at his office at no
later than seven fifteen which annoys me because I was hoping to
sleep in until at least nine. Plus the way he woke me up wasn’t
exactly nice.

He stood over the bed and
shouted, “GWEN!” Louder than was necessary. I almost peed myself
during my incessant flailing that tangled me in the bedding. He
thought it was hilarious. It’s nice to see him laugh though. His
laugh is wonderful, it’s contagious and I found myself wanting to
laugh with him.

“
Why can’t
you do this at home?” I ask, my chin resting on my hands as I
sleepily watch him work on the computer in his dad’s
office.

“
Because I
can only access certain files from my home computer and these need
to be done today.”

“
Do you want
a drink?” I ask, eager to change the subject from files just in
case he decides to give me a lesson in exports, imports and
stocks.

“
I’ll ask
Sammy.”

“
It’s
Sophie,” I correct and shake my head. “She has a crush on
you.”

His cheeks seem to pink
slightly, “Huh. I didn’t notice.”

“
Yep,” I spin
in my seat, stopping as I face him. “She was devastated when you
forgot her name yesterday.”

“
Huh,” he
murmurs and places his leather clad hand on the phone.

“
I want to
make the drinks, I’m bored.”

“
I’d rather
you didn’t,” he frowns and glances down at my stomach.

Well that makes no sense, “I’m
pregnant not an invalid, besides, I cook for you at home all of the
time.”

“
Do as you
wish,” he waves his hand in the air. “I’ll take a coffee
bla…”

“
Black one
sugar, got it. I’ll even rinse the cup out six times just for you,”
I remark and waddle towards the door.

“
You have a
mean streak, joking about a real condition,” he teases and flexes
his hands seemingly without realising.

I place my hand on the door and
I’m just about to pull it open when it’s pushed wide open. My body
lurches backwards as it connects with my arm. Ouch. Before I lose
my balance entirely I manage to right myself and Nathan rushes to
my side.

“
Are you
alright?” He asks, scanning me from head to toe with worried eyes.
After I nod he turns to the intruder, I see his body visibly tense
and peek around him to see who it is. It’s his dad, and his
mum.

Both Nathan and Caleb share
their mother’s eyes but everything else belongs to their father.
It’s strange to look at. He’s one of those people that age well.
Like George Clooney or Richard Gere. Still handsome after they
passed their prime.

I gulp when his mother’s cold
eyes narrow on me. Nathan closes the door, his eyes still on his
father who’s staring at me with shock and disgust. “Explain.” He
barks at Nathan who just stands silently; his jaw tense, his eyes
slightly wide.

“
Why
is
she
here?” His
mother hisses, forcing me to wince at the bitterness to her
tone.

“
She’s my
guest,” Nathan responds, his tongue marking his lower
lip.

“
Your
guest
?” His mother
shrieks and looks back at me. “How can you even think of having
that… that… slut, as your guest?”

My mouth drops open and
Nathan’s body tenses further, I remain behind him, my heart racing
with fear. “She’s carrying Caleb’s child,” Nathan says and shifts
on the spot.

“
So she
says,” his father adds and my temper rises. How dare he?

“
Why are you
still standing there?” His mother shouts at me, my hands instantly
go to my stomach. How do I react to this? “Leave!”

Nathan steps to the right,
blocking them from view, “She’ll stay as long as she desires. She’s
my guest.”

“
She’s
nothing but a whore,” his mother adds, trying to lean around Nathan
so she can see me and spit her venomous words at my
face.

“
Mother,”
Mother? Why not mum? “Watch your language.”

“
You’ll get
rid of her,” his father snaps and walks towards us. “Send her back.
That’s an order.” Well I see where Nathan gets his controlling
tendencies from. Now I’m really freaking out. Get rid of me? Where
will I go?

“
She’s
carrying your grandchild,” Nathan bites out, his body turning so
his hand can wrap around my bicep and bring me closer. I’m grateful
for the support.

“
That’s no
grandchild of mine,” his mother sneers, her eyes now on me. Damn it
if I wasn’t pregnant I’d be cussing at her right now. How dare she?
“Don’t you care that she ripped our Caleb from us?”

“
He’s doing
this to spite us,” his father laughs but there’s no humour to it.
“Forever the disappointment.”

“
What?” I
gasp and look up at Nathan. He glances at me out of the corner of
his eyes, warning me to be quiet. I won’t. “How can you say
that?”

“
Listen to
her, she sounds so… common,” his mother spits, her mouth curling in
disgust. “You make me want to spit.” Oooh, big words…

“
What did I
do to you?” I try to take a step forward but Nathan holds me in
place.

“
You took him
from me!” His mother shouts, her distress evident in the tears
pooling in her eyes. For some reason my heart goes out to her, a
mother has lost her child and she needs someone to blame. That
doesn’t make this right though. “His last moments were with you.
Not with us.”

“
See what
this is doing to your mother?” His father shouts at Nathan whose
entire body is rigid. “Look at her!”

“
Come on,”
Nathan says to me and begins to lead me to the door. “Those files
still need printing and faxing. I’ve done the majority.”

“
You can
return once she’s gone,” his father snarls, and swings open the
door. “If she’s not gone by the end of the week, you won’t have a
job here boy. Make the right choice, your family or your brother’s
whore.”

Nathan pulls me out as I give a
long and lingering look of hatred towards his father. As soon as we
enter the elevator after avoiding Sophie’s eyes, my heart breaks.
I’m going to lose Nathan and his home. It shouldn’t be so
devastating, but it is. I don’t want to be alone, I don’t want to
do this alone.

“
Nathan,” I
say softly, my legs barely keeping up with his long strides towards
his car. We climb in and buckle up before hightailing it out of
there. Just like the elevator ride, the car journey back towards
the hotel is silent.

“
Stay here,”
he snaps, his tone angry and clipped. I do as I’m told and wait in
the car as he rushes into the hotel. He doesn’t take long, only
fifteen minutes before he’s climbing back into the driver’s
seat.

We race along the streets,
breaking more traffic laws than I’d care to admit. He pulls up
outside of a bank and orders me to wait here again.

This time I’m waiting for an
hour, my mind working overtime, my hands still trembling from the
adrenaline that was released during the heated argument. What am I
going to do?

Nathan storms out of the bank
and stands beside the car for a moment. I watch him pace a few
times, his gloved fingers ripping through his hair before he
finally climbs into the driver’s seat.

“
What’s
wrong?” I ask, concerned for my friend.

He chews on his lower lip for a
moment before swearing a few times and hitting the steering wheel
with the side of his fist. This brings back memories of Caleb, the
time he gave me an orgasm in his car after we lost a tire.

“
Hey,” I coo
and place my hand on his wrist, careful to not touch his skin.
“What is it?”

“
He’s cut me
off.” He snarls and I blink in shock.

“
How can he
cut you off? You work there, surely you get your own
paycheque.”

“
I do but
it’s all in stocks and shares,” I shudder at the thought. “I’ve
been living off my trust, hoping to gain enough revenue to… Damn
it!”

I rub his wrist with my thumb,
wanting to stroke his hair or hug him to make him feel better,
“You’ll be okay. You’ll figure it out.”

“
I know, I
have money, it’s just the principal,” he snaps like I should know
this. “I’m sick to death of… of…”

“
Being
controlled?”

He glares at me, “Mind your own
business.”

I shrink back at the tone of
his voice, I’ve never heard it so venomous. For a moment there I
could see his mum in him and it’s not an attractive thing to
behold.

“
I should
have just set you up in an apartment, but no. I had to take you
home,” He rants, mostly to himself. “I had to get involved. Stupid.
Stupid. Stupid.”

“
I’m sorry,”
I whimper, wishing he’d just shut up now. “I didn’t ask
you…”

“
Honestly?
You didn’t ask? Didn’t you call my parents begging for
help?”

“
I
was…”

“
Desperate, I
know,” he shouts, pulling the car out into the road. My eyes burn,
I don’t deserve this. “I was there when you called.”

Then he’s a bloody good liar
because I specifically remember his shock when I told him about
that call.

“
I never
should have gone to you. You’ve ruined everything,” he hits the
steering wheel again, causing the horn to go off.

I don’t say anything, I want to
get out of the car but I doubt he’ll stop and even if he does…
where will I go? I don’t have any money, I don’t even have my phone
with me.

“
This isn’t
my problem, that kid isn’t my problem,” he continues. I try to
mentally shut him out but the sadist in me keeps listening,
absorbing and storing his words so I can use them against myself at
a later date. “Why’d he pick you? Out of every single female that
was available to him, he chose you. Why? He could have picked a
female who had her own money, someone who could provide for herself
in this situation.” It’s not like Caleb knew he’d be abandoning me.
“Why did it have to be you?”

I asked myself the same thing
on a daily basis. Trust me. I don’t get it either.

“
Sure you’re
good company but you’re nothing special.” He grits out and my heart
breaks further. “Nothing special.”

“
You can stop
now,” I sniff and wipe my eyes with the inside of my sleeve.
“You’ve said enough.”

His breath seems to catch in
his throat but he says nothing else. I don’t want him to say
anything. I just want to leave.

I’ve had enough now.

I don’t deserve this.

We drive home in silence, the
tension as thick as syrup lingers in the air leaving a bad taste in
my mouth and the urge to vomit is prominent. As soon as we pull
over outside of the house I climb from the car and walk towards the
door. Nathan swiftly follows and unlocks it.

“
Gwen,” he
says, his tone a lot softer than it was. I ignore him and
immediately ascend the stairs, he follows, hot on my heels. “Gwen.”
His tone is more urgent this time.

Stomping into my bedroom I slam
the door behind me, but it doesn’t slam as he catches it with one
hand.

“
Gwen,” his
voice is quiet, softer than I’ve ever heard it.

Grabbing my suitcase, I throw
it on the bed and begin throwing clothes out of my closet.

“
Gwen,” he
repeats, ducking as a shoe flies by his head.

When he sees I have no more
shoes to throw out of the closet he steps towards me, his hand
grabbing my wrist. I don’t look up at him, I stare straight ahead
at the row of clothes, ironed and hung up on the single rail.

“
I shouldn’t
have taken my anger out on you,” he steps even closer, his chest
now only two inches from my arm. “I’m sorry. Forgive
me.”

“
Forgive
you?” I laugh once and angrily wipe the tears from my eyes. “What’s
to forgive?”

“
Gwen,” he
turns me to face him.

“
I envy you,”
I whisper, staring at his tie as my lip trembles and my body is
overcome with grief. “I envy your inability to feel a thing. I envy
how cold you are. I envy how mean and unfeeling you
are.”

“
I didn’t
mean it, I was angry,” his free hand reaches up to cup my cheek, I
look him dead in the eyes and see the remorse there. “I’m not a
nice person when I’m angry. You were close by and… I took it out on
you.”