AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What?” I jerked my gaze to him, then back toward her.
Mom dropped her head, her voice filled with desperation. “Our bank accounts are frozen, we have nothing left.”
Nothing?But we'd just bought all new clothes…and a MacBook for school…I lifted my brand new iPhone. If we had no money, then…
I shifted my gaze to the man behind the wheel. A man who’d been a stranger less than a week ago. A man who’d just spent a small fortune on clothes and things for us.
“Then I’ll get a job,” I declared. “Whatever it takes.”
“No, Ry, you have school.”
“Fuck school, this is important.”
“Your mom’s right.”
I jerked my gaze toward Creed, biting my lips to keep from snapping back at him. It was none of his business. But the moment my anger rose, it left just as fast. This man had just spent a lot of money on us, and never once said a word about it.
Why?
Did he think I wouldn’t figure it out? Did he not want me to know about us not having any money? Shame filled me at the anger I felt. I stared at him as he drove us home…this man had gone out of his way for us…me specifically.
Taking me to see dad.
Getting me things I'd needed…and some I'd just wanted, if I was honest.There was no way my parents would’ve spent that much money on a damn laptop. But there wasn’t even a word spoken. Mom had said,“Pick out a laptop for school, whatever one you want.”
So I had…walking past the normal range and walked into the Apple section, where I'd found Creed staring at the brand new MacBooks. Fast, sleek…and so damn pretty.
He'd known.
Even then he knew we had no money, and still he'd wanted me to have something special, something that gave me a little excitement. I swallowed hard, hating myself for the anger I'd felt a second ago. “Okay, I’ll stay in school.”
“We’ll figure it out, okay, princess?” mom said, her voice strained.
By the time we got back to the house, it was growing dark. The parking spaces out front were empty and for some reason, a wave of relief hit me. It wasn’t that I didn’t like his sons, I didn’t really know them. They stayed mostly in their rooms. The sounds of gunfire and screams occasionally came out of one of their rooms on the same floor as mine.
Only one had really seen me.
My pulse sped as I remembered the encounter. His dark, brooding, sullen stare as he'd stepped out of his bedroom wearing nothing but cut-off gray sweats that hung low on his hips. Hate raged in his eyes the minute he saw me. I just looked at the floor and hurried past, praying to God he hadn’t seen me…
I reached up and touched the mark on my cheek, praying he hadn’t seen that.
He would…eventually.
I closed my eyes, knowing he’d snigger and laugh, and mentally prepared myself for the taunts that’d come.
They always did.
You look like you just got slapped, Castlemaine, obviously not hard enough.
They made fun of me. Everyone did. I swallowed hard and pressed my fingers to my cheek, wishing for the millionth time I’d been born normal.Why couldn’t I just be normal?
"Home," Creed murmured, drawing my gaze as we turned into the driveway.
I lifted my gaze to the gorgeous house as panic raced inside me. "For now," I muttered, and released my seatbelt as we pulled into the garage.
Creed braked, then switched off the engine. “I’m feeling like a pizza tonight.”
“Oh?” Mom glanced his way, a hint of a smile on her lips as she climbed out and glanced my way. “That’s Ry’s favorite food.”
