“Prove it, huh?” His voice is rough, deeper. I know that he is just as affected as me.
“Yeah,” I say breathlessly, pretending to be unfazed.
“Okay.” That simple word lights me on fire, goosebumps crawl all the way up my body. He licks his luscious, thick lips.
He moves closer and closer, tearing me up inside. He runs his nose across mine right before I’m snatched out of my seat, Reaper lifting me higher and closer to him.
He says one single word that changes my life.
Mine.
I shiver, holding my breath the second his lips touch mine. His hand tightens on the back of my neck. God, this kiss is life-changing.
He pulls me, lifting until my legs are wrapped around his waist. He turns so I’m sitting in his lap, my legs on either side of him.
I smile against his lips, my fingers running through the short strands of hair, kissing him deeper. His lips are demanding, powerful, claiming.
His large hands are holding my back, making me feel so small. Needing to look at him, I pull back and stare into his eyes.
The first thing I see and notice is happiness. I place my hands on either side of his face. I lean forward again, his hands flex on my hips and kiss his cheek right over a wicked scar on his face that must have been so painful.
“What happened here?” I ask him.
I can see the darkness spreading across his face, his mind sinking into a memory. Not wanting him to disappear into it, I ask him, “So, where are you taking me on my date?”
I run my hands down his forearms, feeling the small little bumps along his arms. I peek down and see small little scars scattered along his arms.
I want to ask where every one of them has come from, but I don’t want to see the flash of pain in his eyes again.
I hope no one has hurt him.
He smiles slightly. “I will tell you if I want you to know,” he says in that sexy voice of his.
“Oh, is that how it is?” I laugh and shift in his lap, when I feel something pressed very close to somewhere that is begging for him.
My face reddens and I try to play it off that I missed his massive boner, but he winks and grips my hips, pulling me flush against him, right where I moved from.
I clench against him, turned on more than I should be from this small amount of contact.
His hand comes in front of my cheek, running his thumb across my cheekbone. I smile and lean into his hand. “You’re so goddamn beautiful, I shouldn’t even be touching you,” he growls, kissing my forehead sealing his words.
“You’re sweet,” I sigh and lean my forehead against his, just taking in his moment.
It’s silent for a moment when all of a sudden, he jolts like he has been shot. “What the fuck?” he hisses.
I jerk around to see what caused his reaction, and right on the fucking camera is my mother stepping out of a taxi. She walks to the back of the taxi and gets out her wheelchair. Walks to the back of the taxi.
It rings over and over in my head and the realization hits me like a ton of bricks. “She has been faking!’” I whisper-shout in astonishment. This hurts worse than anything else she has done to me.
“Reaper,” I sigh, not knowing what else to say about all of this.
He kisses my temple and stands up with me, setting me gently on my feet. We watch on the camera as she gets in the wheelchair, pulling a blanket over her legs.
She never allowed me to go into the doctor’s office with her when they were discussing her legs; she played me and used me.
Someone holds the door open for her and she rolls right into the bakery straight to the front desk. “Can you believe this shit?” I hiss to Reaper in complete shock.
He puts his hand on the small of my back. “Let’s go confront this bitch.” I start shaking from the horror of everything; what I had to do to take care of her and what she put me through on purpose.
She did this so I would take care of her.
I nod, scared.
I am terrified. What I have thought for so long, is not true. I can see her laughing and snickering behind closed doors as I fuss over her, helping her into bed many nights while she would be in my face being horrible to me at the same time.
Tears fill my eyes, my heart burning but anger is also growing in the pit of my stomach. I try to control myself, the anger and the rampant ideas of what I want to do to her in revenge.
She is talking to one of my bakers.
I sigh and accept my defeat. “Let’s get this shit over with,” I tell Reaper.
I try to slip past him, but he takes my hand, lacing our fingers together. He doesn’t say anything, but I know this is his way of showing that he is with me on this.
We walk to the front, pushing open the double doors. My mother’s eyes immediately go to me, her eyes filling with fake tears. She puts a hand on her chest, sobbing.
I am thankful that there are no customers at the moment. I walk to the door and lock it so no one can come in, because I have a feeling that this is not going to be pretty.
“I am so glad you’re alive!” she sobs, reaching her arms out for me like she is wanting to hug me. Puke crawls up my throat at the idea of ever touching her again.
I just stare at her like, is she serious?
“Why are you here?” I ask her.
Her arms drop. “What do you mean, why am I here? You’re my daughter.”
I’m disgusted by her even calling me her daughter, she sure as fuck isn’t my mother. She lost that right the second she decided to pretend to be hurt.
The second my employee is back in the kitchen, I reply to her. They all know she is insane. The number of times she calls a day pissed off that the nurse didn’t get things she needed as fast was crazy.
I move closer to her. “You don’t have a daughter and I sure as fuck don’t have a mother.” Her eyes widen at me talking back to her, not once have I ever.
Reaper moves closer to me, staring at my mother like he is daring her to try something. “What are you talking about? I raised you better than to talk to me in such ways,” she scolds me like I am a child.
I laugh at how ridiculous she is. “You mean how you’ve abused me for years? Treated me like absolute shit and I took it? Or the fact that I just saw you on the fucking camera walking? You faked it all. You have faked it for years, haven’t you?” My voice grows higher with every word.
I can see the slight panicked look on her face as she realizes that her façade is over. “I can walk a little bit every now and then,” she tries to argue.
I shake my head. “No, you were fine. You have been so mean to me and I did my best with you. You have used me.” My voice cracks at the end.
I’m hurt, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t.
She bursts out laughing. “Shit, I guess it’s over. I’m not your mother by the way, I just met your father when you were in fucking diapers.”
The floor falls out from under me at her words, but does it really matter? No. “Thank God,” I say out loud, glad that I am not related to this person, that I don’t have her blood running through my veins.
Her gloating look falls. “That means I am not liable for you anymore.” I step close to her. “You are cut off, no more financial help from me. You will get out of my house and the nurses are let go immediately. You have made your bed, you lie in it.”
With every word, I become freer, a small bit of my fractured heart heals. The glare she gives me would have terrified me but there is nothing worse that she can do to me than she already has.