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Chapter Five
Caitlyn
“Do you think I’m some sort of freak?” I asked, surprising myself with the first question that came out of my mouth. “Sheila called me a freak when she watched me manhandle her boyfriend.”
“Sheila and Antonio are most definitely not a couple.” He paused in his task and turned to face me completely. “And you’re not a freak, Caitlyn. Something incredible happened the other night. You saved a woman’s life—or at least saved her from an unsavory arrangement with the Morelli family—and that means something. You have a gift. Don’t ever let someone make you feel odd for it. You are not a freak,” he repeated.
“A gift? More like a curse,” I sniffled, hating how hard his words hit, and the ball of hope that had ignited under the surface when he said something even remotely nice about me. As much as I wanted to believe him, I couldn’t. He didn’t know me. And he had no idea how badly this so-called gift had fucked up my already meager life. I dropped my chin. Kade lifted it up in his hand so I had to fix my eyes on him. “I have no car, and most likely no job. From the looks of your home, you wouldn’t understand my plight.”
His light blue eyes darkened as they took in the insult hidden beneath my words. He was some fancy-schmancy goody-two-shoes.
How could he possibly understand how I was feeling or what I was going through?
“You think my paycheck influences my personality?” he scoffed. “You really believe one glance at my kitchen and my guest room somehow tells you my whole story?”
“No, I guess not.” My cheeks heated at my own presumption, but I continued. “But like I said before, no one has ever cared about me. Not my mother. Not my father, even before he left my mom. Not my grandparents, aunts, uncles… I’m not even sure how many I have. You don’t have to pretend to be any different. “I’ll be out of your life soon, and you’ll go on like nothing’s ever changed.”
I don’t matter.
Shit. How the fuck did he pull all of that out of me?
I barely opened up to a trained professional, stuck on me from mandatory counseling a year ago after I got accused of punching out a woman in a retail store. The whole thing had been a setup, but of course, I had been labeled a violent offender even though I never actually touched her. She had cleverly tricked the cameras and brought stage makeup with her, serious cinematic products—so it appeared like I hit her. It didn’t matter how much evidence I presented in court. She got away scot-free, and I got saddled with mandatory counseling. The judge, like everyone else, hadn’t cared about me. Because I don’t matter.
“Antonio is a monstrous, wicked man with a sense of entitlement and a rich family backing him. You need to stay low on the radar or he will kill you. You do matter, Caitlyn,” Kade said, interrupting my spiraling thoughts and bringing me back to the matter at hand.
“Uh, well, I don’t.” I cocked my head to the side, a bit freaked out from his incredible insight. I hadn’t said anything out loud. “Besides, do you really believe Antonio is that much of a pussy that he needs to go after some chick for throwing him around? Really?”
“No, that part is secondary. Pay attention to what I’m about to say. If Antonio marries Sheila Delgado, he will no doubt have her father killed, and then he’ll own the entire city. He’s almost untouchable now, but with her power and affluence combined with her real estate, there will be no stopping Antonio. You threw a monkey wrench right in the middle of whatever he’s got going on. I guarantee you that Shelia’s under lock and key somewhere and you should follow suit.”
“I’ve got things to take care of and, unlike Sheila Delgado, I don’t have a rich parent who can pull me out of a bad situation.” I tugged out of his reach, jutted a hip out and placed a hand on it. “I can’t rely on Daddy’s money like some spoiled little brat and expect him to make it all better.”
“You are acting like quite the brat tonight. So, is that the heart of the matter, Caity-bug? Do you need a Daddy to take care of you?”
Oh! He went too far.
My insides turned to absolute mush, and my pussy clenched.
What the hell?
I wasn’t one who got aroused from the sexy male underwear models on the billboards or the handsome actors who filmed around the city, but my visceral reaction to this handsome stranger was undeniable.
What the ever-loving hell?
Why did the idea of calling him Daddy and being taken care of arouse me? Caity-bug. The pet name caused a fluttering in my chest.
My heart? No. I locked that shit down. “You need to stop.”
We stared at each other for what felt like a long time, but it couldn’t have been more than thirty seconds. The silence was pregnant and deafening, and there was so much tension in the air between us it felt like it was smothering the breath out of my lungs. Kade broke it first.
“It seems like you could use some help,” he stated cautiously. “I can provide some assistance. No strings.” He offered with sincerity, but I wasn’t sure I could trust him completely.
Also, were we talking about what I thought we were talking about?
He caught my eye and winked, and my stomach contorted.
“Don’t mock me, Kade. You’re not even old enough to be my Daddy.”
Oh shit. He hadn’t even said anything about being mine, and now I’ve placed some weird kinky spin on our already strange interaction.
