AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But Brad took that from me. And until I can get my head above water and drop at least one of my jobs, I will continue to miss it.
Dad chuckles and the sound warms my heart. He’s been more upbeat this last week, and I think it’s because of Rayne. Every morning he’s here to help with the breakfast program, and there seems to be more food than usual. I haven’t seen him come in with the extra food, but I don’t believe in coincidences.
Some days he has to go right after the kids head off to school, but others he hangs around and helps me in the office. It’s a weird setup. He doesn’t strike me as someone that does their own admin work, but he’s surprisingly good at it.
“How about a quick game?” Rayne challenges.
I check the time on my watch, if I leave now I’ll have plenty of time for that nap I so desperately need, maybe even be able to cook a proper dinner with protein and vegetables. I look around at the hopeful faces and find myself nodding.
What’s the saying about sleeping when you’re dead?
An hour later, I’m walking out to the parking lot with a genuine smile on my face. It felt good to let my hair down and connect with the kids again, I even managed to forget about my troubles for a little while, and it was so fucking nice to think about something other than money, school, and the gala.
I’m so distracted by my good mood that I completely miss the body leaning against my car until it’s too late.
“Emmy.” Brad grins, pushing off the car and taking long strides until he’s close enough to touch me.
I take several steps backward, but he eats up the distance each time. “What the fuck are you doing here?” I hiss.
“I came to see you. I miss you.” He reaches for me but I dodge the movement.
I take a deep breath and steal a look around the parking lot, my fight or flight instincts on high alert as I take in the man who I thought I loved once upon a time. His dirty blonde hair is messy and unkempt, and the clothes he’s wearing are creased and mussed, but it’s his eyes that almost have me turning on my heel to hightail it out of here. His pupils are dilated and that tells me all I need to know. He’s on something, probably something heavy. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time.
I choose my words carefully, not wanting to set him off if he’s high, I’ve seen first-hand how that can end. Enough kids have called Dad or I in the middle of the night to pick them up because their guardian is in a blind rage from something they have taken. “I have to go,” is all I can think to say. Inwardly, I roll my eyes at my own stupidity. You’d think this was the first time I’d dealt with someone on crack, but for some reason, this feels different.
Brad reaches for me again and this time I don’t move quick enough to dodge it and I find myself wedged between him and the car, the steel frame colliding with my back in awhoosh. “I need your help, Emmy. Please.”
“I can’t help you, Brad,” I whisper.
“There’s someone following me. I’m late on a payment and I think they’re going to kill me if I don’t come up with the money,” he tells me, the same story from the other day on the phone, but this time I see how scared he is. The fear is evident in his eyes, even through his drug fucked daze.
“I-I…” I try to speak, but my own fear is creeping up the back of my neck. I know I can’t get out of his punishing hold, a wall of steel behind me, and body in front of me. There’s no escape, and that thought makes the air leave my lungs as I struggle to formulate a plan.
“Emmy, I need you to help me. Please.” Brad’s face buries in my neck and I clench my eyes closed as he inhales my scent.
When I pry my eyes open, I spot Rayne across the lot, an unreadable expression on his face as he stares at the scene unfolding in front of him. From the outside looking in, it probably looks like a couple sharing an intimate moment. If only.
Help,I mouth at him and pray he can see it from where he’s standing.
When he takes long strides toward us, his gaze fixed on Brad, I almost allow myself to relax, but I know I can’t allow myself to fall into a false sense of security until his body isn’t trapping me anymore.
“Are you okay, Emerson?” Rayne’s deep voice startles me despite the fact I’ve held eye contact with him from the moment he started toward us.
“Fuck off. Can’t you see we’re busy?” Brad growls and I wince as his fingers dig into my hips to the point I think he might leave bruises.
“I didn’t ask you.” Rayne’s almost black eyes hold mine, and they must see the fear in them.
I squeeze my eyes shut as Brad’s fingers dig harder into me, but I’m frozen in place, barely able to draw in a breath through the paralyzing terror raging through my veins.
A moment later, Brad’s body is torn from mine and my eyes pop open in time to see Rayne’s fist connect with his face in an impressive hit. “I suggest you get out of here while you can still breathe without the help of a machine.” Rayne’s voice is dark and unfamiliar. I’ve spent a lot of time with him over the last week, but the man standing over my ex’s body is a stranger. He’s cold and menacing, a direct contrast to the man playing ball with the kids twenty minutes ago.
It should scare me, Rayne should scare me, but he doesn’t. If anything, the power he exudes as he stands over Brad has my thighs clenching together with need. Which is all kinds of fucked up, but Jesus, watching someone fight for your honor is hot as hell.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Brad scrambles to his feet and moves into a defensive position.
Rayne stands between Brad and me, his body shielding mine, but now his face is out of view. “I’m the person that will break every bone in your body if you ever touch Emerson again. Get the fuck out of here before I lose my patience.” His voice is even, as if he’s talking about stocks or last night’s basketball scores.
Brad’s eyes dart toward me, and Rayne steps into his view, blocking me from him. “Did I stutter?” Rayne growls.
