Broken (Broken #1) (33 page)

His brother’s whore.

I was his brother’s fiancée,
Caleb loved me and this baby.

I’ve never been called a whore
in my life! I was a virgin until Caleb and even then I made him
wait for it. After wallowing for a while I have a shower and
freshen up. Powering on my laptop I flick mindlessly through
websites about babies. I should really research the whole baby
thing. There’s no use putting it off.

The doorbell rings, I hurry
back down the stairs as is habit. Nathan never usually answers the
door as he knows I’m closest when he’s upstairs, so I’m shocked to
see him pulling it open and greeting a very attractive Lorna.

She gives me a little wave and
a smile as Nathan takes her coat. Nathan looks up at me, his
expression emotionless and his eyes dull. The brown in them has
lost their usual sparkle. I don’t care.

“
Hey,” Lorna
grins and stops in front of me. “How are you and the
bump?”

“
Good,” lies,
all lies. “Yourself?”

“
I’m great,
we should totally go for coffee or something tomorrow. I have the
day off and there aren’t many people around here that are our
age.”

I’m about to say sure but
Nathan cuts me off, “She can’t, she’s leaving in the morning.”

“
Oh no,”
Lorna says looking as shocked as I feel. “Where are you
going?”

“
She’s
decided her mum’s is a better option for the duration of her
pregnancy,” And there is strike two, he’s just gutted me with a
blunt knife. “Come on,” Nathan grips Lorna’s arm and tugs her
towards the stairs. I see he’s found his next object to relieve his
arousal. Well at least he won’t be kissing me any time
soon.

“
That’s okay
Nathan, it won’t take me long to pack my things,” my fists clench
by my sides. How can he be so heartless and mean? What did I do
exactly, other than question him over his own actions? “I’ll leave
now.”

“
I’ll take
you in the morning,” he orders, his tone clearly stating I’m not
allowed to argue.

“
No thanks,
I’ll call my mum, I wouldn’t want you to have to suffer a three
hour journey in a car with your brother’s whore.” I stomp past him.
“Nice to see you again Lorna.”

She doesn’t respond to me but I
hear her whisper, “What just happened?”

“
Go up to the
room, I’ll be with you in a moment,” he orders and I hear his
footsteps close behind me.

I push open my bedroom door and
pad into the closet, my eyes tingling with the preparation of
releasing tears, “You know?” I begin and pull my suitcase out,
still not looking at his frame lingering in the doorway. “If you
wanted me to leave, you didn’t need to be such a dick about it. I
would have left if you’d asked.”

I get no response.

“
What do you
want?” Grabbing a few items, I fold them neatly and place them in
the open case.

He takes a step inside and
shuts the door, “Nothing.”

“
Then why are
you watching me?”

He sighs and pulls the door
back open, “When you’re ready to apologize, I’ll be waiting.”

Me? Apologize? I’m about to
shout at him when I notice that he’s left the room. Grrr. I want to
slap him again.

I fill my case with the
essentials and wheel it into the hall. Getting it downstairs proves
to be difficult but I manage it. My anger rises with every
step.

I notice his keys on the desk
near the door and snatch them without an ounce of guilt. Call me
immature but I’m taking his fucking car.

I feel naughty, my heart is
racing and my adrenaline is pumping. Spinning the car around I take
off, putting my phone on charge via the console in the middle
whilst putting as much distance between me and the house as
possible. This is so bad. What am I doing?

My phone rings, it’s Nathan. I
ignore it and head towards the village. I’m going to need a map if
I want to make it out of here, let alone all the way home. The baby
lies still which I’m grateful for, it’s irritating when he moves
while I’m trying to drive.

I know there’s a post office
around here somewhere, they’ll do maps surely.

I only make it twenty miles out
of town when I’m being pulled over by a god damn police car. No! He
wouldn’t.

He would.

I have to sit and listen to the
officer talk about taking other peoples cars without permission is
stealing, but fortunately Nathan isn’t pressing charges.

Fortunately… scoff.

A red car pulls up ahead of us
and Nathan climbs out, he strolls over to the officer but makes no
move to shake hands. It’s a conspiracy, they know each other
clearly. They talk quietly for a few minutes. The officer even
invites Nathan for dinner. I hate villages!

“
Move,”
Nathan demands when he makes it around to the driver’s
side.

I clamber out and pull open the
back door.

“
Get in the
front,” Nathan orders.

I ignore him and slide onto the
backseat.

A muscle jumps in his jaw but
he doesn’t say anything, he waits until I’m buckled in before
climbing into his seat directly in front of me. I chose this seat
so I wouldn’t have to see him.

I’ve never been so humiliated
in my life.

“
I’m sorry,”
Nathan says as we start to drive.

“
I’m not,” I
whisper and wipe my hand under my eyes. “I hate you.”

His breath catches. “You’ll get
over it.”

I laugh once, although I don’t
find anything funny. “You’ve completely humiliated me.”

“
You did that
yourself. I told you to wait until morning.”

He is so infuriating, “I’ll
wait until morning then.”

“
You aren’t
leaving,” he states firmly and now I’m just frustrated and
confused. Leave, don’t leave. What the hell is wrong with him? “And
don’t bother trying. I won’t let you.”

“
Are you
suddenly collecting whores?”

The car lurches to the side as
he pulls over, he waves at Lorna who was behind us to motion that
she keep going. She does. I’m not relieved. In fact, I’m the
opposite. Now I have no female support.

The car door opens and Nathan
is half dragging, half carrying my squealing form out. He lifts me,
much to my annoyance and carries me around the car. Placing me on
the bonnet, he stands in between my knees and wraps my long, black
hair around his hand. Tugging it slightly so my head tilts
back.

“
You’re not a
whore,” he says, his eyes dark and furious. “Nor will you ever be a
whore. I said a bad thing when I was angry. Nothing more and
nothing less. As for leaving, I don’t want you to go. I said yet
another moronic thing out of anger.”

“
Get off me,”
I beg, but he only moves closer, his face inches from
mine.

“
As for why I
kissed you, I couldn’t resist, I’m a man and you’re beautiful,” my
breath hitches at his words.

“
That’s a
crap excuse, now let me go.”

His eyes smoulder, their
intensity startling me. “I wasn’t lying when I said to you that I
enjoy your company. I enjoy it very much. Too much.” His body sags
a little. “More than I should.”

“
Nath…”

“
I promise I
won’t threaten to make you leave again,” his free hand rests on the
curve of my neck, his eyes now kind and full of… something I’m
clearly imagining. “You have my word. Please, accept my apology for
upsetting you.”

“
No,” I shake
my head and look at my parted knees pressed lightly against his
hips. “I don’t want to.”

“
I’ve earned
it, don’t you think? I deserve forgiveness.” His eyes now glitter
with regret, his hand tightening in my hair. “Please.”

My lips pinch together, I
swallow the lump in my throat and try to push him away with a hand
on his chest between us. He moves even closer, I feel his heat all
over. It makes me hum in places I shouldn’t be humming. “Stop.”

“
I don’t want
to. Not until you say you forgive me and startle me with that
beautiful smile,” he whispers, his breath fanning against my
lips.

“
Step back
Nathan,” I warn as his hands hook under my knees and pull me to the
edge, my body almost pressed against his.

It’s useless, I try pushing at
his chest but he won’t move. His hands grip my wrists and he clasps
them behind my back with one hand whilst grabbing my hair again
with the other. “Forgive me.” He presses his lips to my jaw, I gasp
and a shiver runs through me. “Forgive me,” he repeats and places
another gentle kiss further along my jaw.

“
Don’t,” I
beg, but it comes out breathy and not too convincing.

His lips hover over mine, his
eyes flicking back and forth, scanning my face to see my reaction.
“Forgive me.”

He’s going to kiss me, if I
don’t say yes, he’ll kiss me. Why am I not saying yes?

His face gets closer. My eyes
get wider.

“
Okay,” I
blurt, my body tensing. “I forgive you.”

“
You have my
word,” he whispers and I feel his top lip brush against my own. “I
won’t touch you again, not unless you want me to.”

His hands release mine and I’m
being tugged into his body. My belly gets in the way but I still
feel his groin against mine briefly as he lowers me to the ground.
My entire body spasms with it, heats with it, aches for it. I pull
away abruptly and keep my head down.

What the fuck just happened?

Chapter
Seventeen

Life has been settled for a
while now. Which is a relief, I got tired of constantly walking on
eggshells. Nathan has cheered up a lot it seems, although I’m quick
to touch wood whenever I think this, because I’m scared my words
will jinx it.

The nursery looks amazing, I
spent an entire day: washing, drying and ironing baby clothes
before putting them away. Everything has a place. It looks like
something out of a catalogue. Perfect.

My mum has been calling me
every couple of days for updates. I still have yet to tell her who
I’m staying with and I’m not sure why I’m postponing the
inevitable. It’s not like I’m doing anything wrong. Am I?

Nathan is spending more and
more time downstairs, which I’m enjoying. He’s even helped me cook
a few times. I’m not sure why there’s a sudden change in him but I
can’t say I don’t like it.

Sasha and Tommy are due any
minute now, I’m nervous. I’m scared they’ll see how much I’ve
changed. But as promised, I have made Tommy a meal fit for a king.
Sasha too but it was Tommy’s idea.

The dining table is full, the
wine is poured. For them, not for me, I’m having juice. I hope they
don’t have trouble finding the house. That would suck.

“
Something
smells good,” Nathan comments as he walks into the dining room. He
reaches for a muffin but I slap at his wrist. The smile he gives me
is cheeky, it’s one I haven’t seen. He starts backing out of the
room, his hand that I didn’t slap behind his back.

“
Nathan,” I
warn my brow quirked. “Care to tell me what you’re
hiding?”

“
Nothing,” he
shakes his head, his lips still twitching.

“
Food thief,”
I joke.

His mouth drops open, “I paid
for it.”

“
Details,” I
try to grab it again but he swiftly twists out of my way. I relent,
my energy gone after cooking for so long, “Just let me know how
they are.”

He brings his gloved hand
around and takes a large bite out of the blueberry and white
chocolate muffin. The groan that comes from him does things to me,
I instantly feel guilt and look away, hoping he didn’t see that
sudden flash in my eyes that would have surely told him of my
brief, impure thoughts. “Amazing.”

“
Really?” I
was a bit worried about the new recipe that I fooled around
with.

“
Better than
those chocolate ones you made two weeks ago.”

“
You mean the
ones that were there when I went to bed but gone when I woke up the
next morning, like all of the others before them?”

He shrugs, “Far too
moreish.”

There’s a knock at the door, I
smile and race towards it, almost bowling Nathan over on my way
past.

I pull it open, still bouncing
on the spot, see Sasha and we both cling to each other like monkeys
to their mother.

“
Oh my god,
you are huge,” Sasha pulls away and looks at the boulder between
us. “How long now?”

“
Ten weeks,”
I reply and move her out of the way of the door so Tommy can step
through. He sees me and smiles, it reaches his eyes. “Hey
you.”

Strong arms wrap around me and
squeeze me tight, “You look great, Gwen.”

“
So do you,”
I step away and look at them both. They both look so different yet
the same, older and more attractive. Tommy’s hair is longer than it
was and Sasha’s is a few inches shorter. They look great, they look
happy. I wonder what they see when they look at me. “Come on,
dinner is served.”

“
Where’s
Nathan?” Sasha whispers as she glances around nosily.

“
Here,”
Nathan announces his presence from the doorway and both Sasha and
Tommy turn statue as their eyes scan him. I’m guessing they’re
shocked to see how much he looks like Caleb. They’ll get used to
it.

“
It’s great
to meet you,” Sasha breaks the silence and gives him a little wave.
I warned them about his condition before they came so they know not
to touch his hands. I’m grateful that they’ve remembered and
haven’t taken offence by it like some people do. “Thanks for having
us.”