I realized that I was on my own with this one. As the man in her life it was going to be up to me. I felt very strongly that I could do this, that I could replace the ugliness with beauty. I also knew in that moment that this was not something to be taken lightly, we had reached the point where I had to be very sure that this was a forever kind of love, that I would be the one by her side from here on out.
I know what I felt since the first time I saw her but was that enough? Could I trust that this was real and not just a rebound? Everything inside me said that it wasn’t, that this was the real deal and the fact that the thought of not having her made me physically sick to my stomach was farther proof of the strength of my feelings for her. A calmness overcame me then and I knew I had my answer, for whatever reason fate had brought her to me. Now she was mine to cherish and to treasure for as long as we lived. There were no doubts in my mind, no fear other than how to make her happy for the rest of her life. It was a tall order but I knew in m heart that if anyone could love Kadyn Daniels and protect her from her past it would be me, only me.
“I’m going to kiss you now Kitten.” I turned her face up to mine and searched her eyes for any sign of unease. There was nothing but the natural shyness of one so unaccustomed to being touched by a man. Her lips were soft and pliant under mine and I called on all my control not to go deeper. The bed was right there just a few short steps away, I could so easily lay her there and cover her but I won’t, no matter how much my dick protested. All the bullshit aside she was an exceptionally beautiful girl with all that wild black hair and those grey eyes that shone with an inner light that called to me. It would be so easy to get lost in her but always at the back of my mind was her care; what was best for her? There’ll be time for the other soon I had no doubt, I will make it so, but for now this was enough.
As with the first time she kissed like a dream after she got the hang of it. I sucked on her tongue until my body reacted strongly and I had to pull back but to my satisfaction she followed my mouth with hers taking my tongue into her mouth and doing what I’d done to hers. It was innocent and sweet and made me feel ten feet tall. How had I been so lucky to find her? she was my saving grace sent here just for me I’d never believe any different. My life had been going downhill, there was no silver lining that I could see and then there she was. Fate wasn’t something I gave too much thought to in the past but I would be hard pressed to call this anything else. She needed to be saved and I had the need to save, to make reparation for my blunder.
Chapter 16
After dinner with my family where she grew even more relaxed as the evening went on it was time to take her home. “Josh I need you to follow me to the diner.” He didn’t ask any questions just caught the keys to the truck on the way out, his wife in tow. I let her drive her new jeep to get the hang of it while Josh and Carrie followed behind us. Her million and one bags were in the back and it took us three trips to take her haul in.
Stan watched us going back and forth with a stupefied look on his face. “What’s all this?” Kadyn had just gone up the stairs with the last of her bags and Josh and Carrie had found a table, I guess we were having dessert. That was fine by me, it would give me more time with my girl. “I took Kadyn shopping.” I waited for him to say something negative, it wouldn’t matter to me one way or the other no one was going to stop me from taking care of her, but he smiled and clapped me on the shoulder.
“You Steeles are an odd bunch aren’t you?”
“How so?”
“Your father came to see me earlier.”
“He did? This was news to me, he hadn’t said anything to me, he probably came when I was upstairs in my room but what was he doing here?
“Yeah he came by to reassure me that he knew the situation and that since he was pretty sure that my kid would be spending a lot of time at his place he wanted me to know she was in good hands and that no harm would come to her. Stand up guy your old man.”
“About that, her job here, can you find someone to take her place? It’s just that I think she needs to get out more, I want her to spend the summer doing shit she never got a chance to do before and she can’t do that if she’s stuck here all day.” He could do with that what he will, but he didn’t seem to take offense.
“Actually there’s a young mother who’s been asking for work, she could really use the money but I couldn’t ask Kadyn to give up her job you know.” Better and better, it’s like everything was just lined up in our favor.
“How soon can she start?”
“I’ll call her up right now and tell her she’s got the job but are you sure about this? You’re not gonna grow tired of my kid in a few weeks after turning her life upside down are you?”
“I could see why you’d have to ask that but have no fear, when I say I’m going to do something it’s as good as done. I told you she’s mine, I take care of my own.”
“I believe you son, I don’t get this intensity in one so young but I believe you.” He shook his head as he walked off to head for his office and I joined Josh and Carrie at our favorite booth. Kadyn came down a few minutes later and joined us. We decided on pie a la mode which she started to go get herself until I stopped her. “No you’re not working you sit with us.”
Over dessert I told her about my talk with her father about her job. “Don’t you think you should’ve talked to me about that first?” She gave me attitude which I thought was good for her, so I just listened as she ran down all the reasons why I should’ve asked her before approaching her father behind her back. When she was through and her little face wasn’t so tight anymore I let her in on some truths or at lease gave her a glimpse of what her life with me was going to be like. I hope like fuck it doesn’t scare her but I only knew of one way to be with Kadyn. There was no give in me when it came to her and it wasn’t just because of what she’d been through. There was something in me that I’d never felt before, a need to completely possess and own her in every way. Not that I didn’t think she could think for herself or that she wasn’t capable of making decisions, but I needed to be in control. The beast was finally totally free it seemed.
“I hear everything you’re saying but let me ask you this. Had I asked you about it what would your answer have been?”
“I don’t know, and we’ll never know now because you didn’t give me the chance.”
“Okay fair enough but here’s the thing, this is what I want what I think is best for you. It wouldn’t have mattered if you agreed or not the end result would’ve been the same. So this way I just cut out the middleman.”
“Are you insane, you can’t just make those kinds of decisions who does that?” she looked at Josh and Carrie who were pretending to mind their own business but if she was seeking help from that quarter she was out of luck, Carrie had her own shit to deal with when it came to a Steele man so she could be of no help.
“Okay let’s look at this another way. Would you rather spend the rest of your summer working here or doing shit that you really want to do?”
“That’s not the point…’
“It’s exactly the point. See you want to argue because of the way I did things, when the end result is to your benefit, now does that make sense to you?” she huffed and glared at me because she knew what I was saying was true. I’d learned that shit from watching my parents, mom would argue dad to death just for the sake of arguing even though she knew he was right, Carrie the same thing. I wasn’t about to knock my head against the damn wall I had better things to do with my time. The way I see it the sooner she learns the way things are gonna be the better. It would eliminate a lot of unnecessary drama if you ask me.
It was hard as fuck to leave her and go home at the end of the night but I still had some shit to take care of and besides I planned on seeing her in the morning. I walked her up to her door and kissed her goodnight waiting to make sure she locked up before I left because her dad was still downstairs.
As soon as we got to the house I said my goodnights to the family and locked myself in my room. I knew Josh wanted to know what I was doing, he wanted to help but this was something I had to take care of myself. I called up James, one of the guys my family had on retainer. He’s a bodyguard slash jack of all trades and more importantly he doesn’t ask questions. He gets paid well enough that he doesn’t give a shit. Short of committing murder I’m not sure there isn’t much he won’t do.
“James, no this is Matt, yeah I have a situation, it might entail some travelling, you have anything on your plate right now? I don’t really want to talk over the phone so can we meet?”
“When do you need me?”
“As soon as possible.”
“Tonight, it’s a little late but I can swing by there in a half an hour.”
“That would be perfect I’ll meet you down by the gate I don’t want anyone knowing about this not yet anyway.” I gave him some time to get here while I formatted my plans in my head. What I was about to do would cross many lines but I didn’t really give a fuck. Criminals have no rights in my world and especially not assholes who terrorized women and children. Fuck him and fuck anyone who thought he deserved better than what I was about to do to his ass.