Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (49 page)

Gabe sighed.  “For someone who wants so badly to be taken care of, you’re not very good at sitting back and letting someone else take the reins are you?”

Brandy pulled back out on the road.  “Fuck you.  I never said I wanted to be taken care of.  You assumed that and Chad assumed that.  Just because I was dumb enough to come here with him and let him take shitty care of me for almost a year, it doesn’t mean that I need a man or anyone else to take care of me.”

“You’ve only been here a few months darling.”

“Duh.  I’ve been with him for a little over a year.  We left my hometown almost a year ago together.  We came here because he was supposed to have some wonderful job that paid well.  And dealing probably would have if he wouldn’t have been so bad at it.”

“You were okay with being the girlfriend of a drug dealer?  Did you plan on marrying Chad, on bearing his children?”

“Eventually.”

“And you would have been okay with him continuing to deal drugs out of your home?  That could have cost you your children permanently if someone would have reported you to child protective services.”

“Screw CPS.  Half those bitches don’t have kids.  So what right do they have to tell everyone else how to raise theirs?  I wouldn’t have been okay with him dealing after I got pregnant.  But if he figured out how to make good money at it like some guys do, we would have been okay until he found a different job.  I read this romance novel once where this guy was dealing drugs because he had to pay the bills for his mom since she was in the loony bin.  He was hot.  He screwed around a lot until he met this girl and fell in love and went legit.  I always kinda wished that Chad was more like that guy after he started dealing.”

“Sounds rather farfetched to me.  How can you be such a closet romantic, yet not want a man to take care of you?”

Brandy shook her head at him as she stopped beside Stella’s car at the real estate office.  “I’m not a closet romantic.  I just want to fall in love with a guy that really loves me back.  Maybe I want a guy to take care of me a little.   But I never want to depend on a man so much again that when he walks out on me, I’m scared that I might have to sell myself on the street corner so I can eat and pay the rent.”

“I would have picked you up long before another man had a chance to.”

Brandy lit a cigarette.  “Uh huh.  How long ago did you give Trina that money to tell me that she’d worked at Gabe’s Place?  ‘Cause she told me she didn’t even have the money to loan me yesterday to buy a meal.  Neither her nor her man do drugs as far as I know.”

“About a month ago.  I’ve had my eye on you since you arrived in Brunton.  I wouldn’t have let you sell yourself on the street corner Brandy, believe me.”

“Sure.  Are you gonna go fill out that paperwork?  Do you need me to come with you since I’m gonna be the one that actually lives there?”

“No.  It’s fine darling.  I’ll take care of everything.”  Gabe leaned over and kissed her.  “Once I’m done, we can check your apartment and see if you have any suitable furniture left.  Then we can shop for what you need.  If we have time, we’ll look for a car so that we’ll have a better idea of what to buy when you get out of rehab.  And we’ll eat lunch and dinner whenever you’re hungry of course.  You’re wish is my command today Brandy.”

“Sure it is.  Go, do what you need to do.  I want a really nice car.”

Gabe chuckled.  “I had a feeling you would.  It’s wonderful to have a first car that’s not a complete piece of crap.  I’ll be back.”

Gabe exited the truck.  Brandy almost sighed as she watched him walk away.  He annoyed the hell out of her sometimes, but damn he had a spectacular ass she thought.  He took forever in the real estate office.  She knew that Stella grabbed Gabe’s ass when they hugged goodbye because it was very blatant.  But her husband was on the phone in the office and Brandy could no longer blame the woman for wanting to grab Gabe’s ass.  She wouldn’t blame any woman for wanting to grab Gabe’s ass really, because it was a damned fine ass.

When Gabe was back in the truck she said “It gets you off when she grabs your ass like that doesn’t it?”

Gabe chuckled.  “Yes it does.  Stella is spectacular in bed.  I was so disappointed when she told me that we couldn’t see each other again after our first coupling.”

“You’re a silly romantic too aren’t you?  If Stella was willing to leave her man for you, you’d be all over it wouldn’t you?”

Gabe shrugged.  “Maybe.  I’ll never know.  Let’s stop by your apartment unless you’re hungry enough to eat again now.”

“No.  My stomach still kinda hurts from eating so much this morning.  I hope Chad’s not there with his stupid new girlfriend.  He thinks he’s going to save her from her dumbass self and help her get her kid back.”

“Maybe he will.  Men are more likely to remain faithful when they truly believe they’ve found the right woman.”

“You don’t make any damned sense Gabe, and that’s a lie.  Chad told me that when I left home with him he was planning on marrying me someday.”

“You deserve better.  It doesn’t matter if he’s there or not.  You can’t pretend he doesn’t exist.  Just leave the past in the past where it belongs and get on with your life.  You can do anything you want now Brandy.  I’ll help you.  Never forget that.”

“Why do I have the feeling that you’ll give me what I want just as long as I give you what you want?  You’re a romantic, but you’re a pretty damned big pervert too.  I can’t believe the first thing you wanted to do to me last night.  You’ve done that with girls before haven’t you?”

Gabe chuckled.  “I have.  It gives some a very powerful orgasm.”

“Yuck.  You’re good enough in bed that it shouldn’t take doing nasty stuff to make a girl get off.”

“Thank you darling.”  They’d pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex.  “It doesn’t appear that your ex is here.  Let’s try to make this quick though.  This place has never been one of my favorites.”

“You’re lucky you never had to live here.”

Gabe followed Brandy to her apartment, where she unlocked the door. She forgot that the lights were probably still off and tried to flip the switch in the living room.  It didn’t come on so she sighed and opened the blinds.

The couch was gone, and so was the kitchen table and chairs.  She went into the bedroom and saw that the TV was gone, along with the DVD player and all of the movies, hers included.  The bed was still there, but the sheets were gone and it had developed a nasty looking stain while she’d been gone. 

She glanced at the bed and then at Gabe and said “I don’t wanna know what they did to make that stain.   I guess it’s a good thing it was free.”  She turned to the dresser and opened the drawers.  They were all empty and she cursed.  “Damn it.  I can’t believe that asshole let her take my clothes.  She seriously won’t fit in them.”

Gabe put his arms around her.  “It’s fine darling.  We’ll buy you more.  Is the power bill in your name or Chad’s?”

Brandy sighed.  “Mine.  I have a big bill to pay before I can get it transferred to the house.”

“No worries.  Is there anything else you need darling?”

“Um, let me make sure they didn’t take my birth certificate and my photo album too.  I really wouldn’t put it past those two assholes right now.”  She moved out of Gabe’s arms and to the night stand.  Her album and her birth certificate were still inside.  She pulled them out and put them in her purse, breathing a sigh of relief.  “Thank goodness.  These are the only pictures I have of Joey.  I would have hunted that bitch down if she’d taken my pictures of my baby.”

“You miss him terribly don’t you?  Have you ever talked to the Perrys about taking custody of him?”

“I can’t do that.  They didn’t take temporary custody of him.  I relinquished my rights to him and they adopted him.”

“There are always ways darling.”

“I wouldn’t feel right doing that anyway.  Yeah, I miss him, but if I was gonna raise him, I should have stood up to my parents and did it from the beginning.”

“We all make mistakes.  Most of us don’t have to pay for them for the rest of our lives.  Let’s go shopping.  Shopping always seems to make women feel better. You can pick out all new furniture.  Anything you want.  That bed certainly isn’t worth saving.”

Brandy wrinkled her nose.  “No kidding.  It looks like someone peed on it.”

Gabe chuckled.  “I would have said it looked like something else, but we won’t discuss that.  Let’s go.  Say goodbye to this chapter of your life Brandy.  Once you walk out that door, you never have to come back here.”

Brandy looked around.  “Goodbye crappy apartment.  Goodbye Chad.  I hope you have a wonderful life with your new girlfriend.  I’m sure she won’t mind giving blow jobs so that you can keep your customers.”

Gabe gave her a half smile and took her hand.  She followed him out of the apartment and locked the door behind her.  Gabe went back to the truck while she went to the office to drop off her key.  The manager asked if Chad was coming back.  She told him she had no idea.  The manager sighed and said he’d figured as much.  He bid her good day and thanked her for returning the key and she went back out to the truck. 

Gabe was on his knees talking to the dirty little kid that had been running around in the parking lot the other day.  Brandy approached them.  The child gave her a shy smile.

“Where’s your Mommy?” Gabe said.

The child shrugged.

Gabe frowned.  “Is Mommy in your apartment? Or your Daddy?”

The little boy shook his head.

“Gabe, I think I know where he lives.  His mom is an addict.  I don’t know his name because he’s never said a word to me, but let me take him home.”

“This is ridiculous Brandy.  This child is filthy and running around by himself.  He looks about my son’s age.  Someone should notify the authorities.”

“Why?  So he can go to foster care and lose the only security he’s ever known?  He eats.  I know he takes a bath because I’ve seen him running around in the living room in a towel when they have their door open.  Some very tough people live in this building.  They watch out for each other.  No one would ever let anything really bad happen to this kid.”

Gabe shook his head.  “It takes thirty seconds to abduct a child Brandy.  Even good parents can turn their backs and some pervert comes along and there goes their lives.  This poor child isn’t safe.  The street is right there.  He could run out and get hit by a car before someone could make it out their door to stop him.”

“You don’t get it Gabe. But you should.  You grew up poor.  Don’t tell me that people in your trailer park didn’t look out for each other, especially when someone was really down on their luck.”

“They did, but you seem to be missing my point.  This child needs help.  Child protective services are there for a reason.  To help children like this one that so desperately need it.”

“Gabe, he doesn’t talk to strangers as it is.  How in the hell do you think he’s going to feel when he gets shoved in some foster home?  No.  I’m not going to let you do that.  If you don’t let me take him home, our deal’s off.  I’ll get my life together myself and I will sell my ass on the street corner for a week or two if I have to.”

Gabe sighed.  “You are stubborn to the bone aren’t you?”

Brandy grinned.  “Yep.”  She reached her hand out to the little boy.  “C’mere sweetie.  Let’s go find your mommy.  You can make sure we have the right apartment okay?”

The boy nodded and gave her a shy smile before he put his hand in hers.  Brandy felt a little pang since he looked about Joey’s age.  She went towards the apartment in the corner of the ground floor where she thought he lived and started to knock on the door, but he shook his head and pointed to the one next to it.

Brandy nodded and went to the apartment and knocked loudly on the door.  When there was no answer, she called out “Hello?  Is there anyone home?  Your son is by himself in the parking lot again.”

The door of the apartment next door opened.  A pretty Hispanic woman stuck her head out.  “I don’t think she’s home doll.  If I would have known she left Seen by himself, I would have offered to babysit.  That woman.  She needs to take a look at what’s she doing to that poor baby.”  She smiled at the little boy.  “C’mere Seen.  Banny will make you lunch and find a cartoon for you okay?  And if Mommy’s not home by the time my Trujo gets home from school you can play together okay?”

The little boy nodded.  Banny opened the door wider and he went inside.  “Does he talk?”  Brandy said.

“Sometimes. I don’t think his mama bothers to talk to him much.  Some women don’t deserve children.  Thank you for bringing him here and not calling the cops sweetie. I’ve been so tempted to call child protective services so many times myself, but I know if your average kid has a hard time in foster care, this poor darling wouldn’t make it.  He’d be broken beyond repair within a month or two.  I don’t think Nina would bother to try to get him back.  One of these days after my husband gets a better job and we can afford to feed and clothe another baby, I’ll convince her to sign over custody, no questions asked.”

“That’s really great of you.  I’m glad he has someone that cares so much about him.”

Banny gave Brandy a sad smile.  “Every child deserves someone that cares honey, whether it’s their blood or not.  Thank you again.  Have a nice day.”