Beyond Broken(94)

He wrote out a check for $10,000 and slapped it down on the coffee table. When Peter's father saw the amount, his eyes bulged out of his head and his grubby hands snatched it up, pocketing it quickly. It made Caleb sick.

"That will keep you drunk off your ass until Peter is eighteen. Do whatever the fuck you want with it, but don't you dare bother him again."

Caleb didn't care that his name and old address was listed on the check. Peter's father could find him again if he wanted to, a thought that he almost welcomed. But Caleb knew he wouldn't ever see this man again. Peter wouldn't either, not unless he wanted to. This 'father' would choose money over his own child and it sickened him.

With one last look at a pitiful excuse for a man, Caleb turned and slammed the door on his way out.

Now, he had an infuriating woman to deal with.





THIRTY-FOUR





Maddie felt like she was walking to her own grave as the three of them entered their home. When Caleb had stormed out of Peter's father's house following their confrontation, all he'd done was gesture for Maddie to follow his car back home. Maddie and Peter had both been silent the entire way as they followed his black SUV and as Maddie gingerly stepped into the house, strangely enough, she felt like tucking her tail between her legs.

Caleb locked the door behind them, turned, and eyed them both. The car ride home obviously hadn't dulled his rage. If anything, it seemed he'd worked himself up more. After a silence so thick that Maddie thought she could cut it with a dull knife, Caleb reached around and pulled a folded piece of paper out of his back pocket. He handed it to Peter and Maddie looked down at it the same time that he did.

A prick of joy went through her when she saw it was his birth certificate.

"You found it!" Maddie exclaimed.

Peter stared down at the document before meeting Caleb's eyes. "Thank you," he said, tone grave.

Pointing down the hall to Peter's bedroom, he grunted, "Go do homework." Translation: get lost so I can rip Maddie a new one.

Peter glanced at her and said, "She was only trying to help me. It's my fault."

Caleb only stared and waited until Peter slowly turned and shuffled to his bedroom. Maddie squeezed his hand as he passed. He looked worried, but Maddie knew that he had no reason to be. Caleb would never hurt her. He just needed to let off some steam and he'd be fine. 

The moment his bedroom door shut quietly, Caleb grated, "Upstairs."

Caleb followed her up and she was all too aware of how closely he followed her. Maddie didn't know where he wanted to have this argument, so she picked her own bedroom, which was the farthest away from Peter's room. At least he wouldn't hear Maddie get taken down a notch.

The moment Caleb shut the door behind them, she sighed and said, "Look, I'm sorry. I already know that I shouldn't have gone there and that you wouldn't like it, but it was really important to Peter. I figured that it wouldn't take more than a few minutes."

"So you decided to break into a drunk, abusive man's house, who probably has about a hundred pounds on you, while you're pregnant?" Caleb hissed, looming over her. "And on top of that, you thought that you could hide it from me?"

Whenever he took that tone with her, she felt defensive. "I know that what I did was stupid, but I wanted to do it for Peter. It wasn't like we were going to confront the man or anything. Peter knew where his father kept his birth certificate and he knew that he passed out on the couch around a certain time. It was going to be fine."

"Where you ever going to tell me?"

"I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep it from you. I knew you'd be upset, but yes, I was going to tell you once we got back."

"And you expect me to believe that?" Caleb asked, eyes narrowed.

Maddie bristled. "I'm not a liar. I left a note. And you're just saying these things right now because you're itching for a fight."

"Looks like you're itching for one just as much as I am, princess," he sneered, backing her against the wall. His gaze swept over her body and damn her hormones, but they reacted like he lit them on fire. "Tell me everything."

So, as Maddie looked up at him, all too aware that her sensitive breasts were pushed against his chest, she started from the beginning. Caleb's jaw clenched when she recounted her conversation with Peter, that he'd gone home after school, that his father had hit him, about the driver's license, about how they waited outside until the all clear.

During her story, his hands came up to grip her arms a little too tightly, but she didn't complain. Maddie wondered if she'd worried Caleb more than he was letting on. The thought softened her, at least until she saw that his knuckles were scraped raw on his right hand.