Having Him: A New Adult International Romance Serial (Angelique's Greek Book 3) (4 page)

“Kinda like home,” Theo said and Angelique felt her heart sink.
 

“Oh yeah?” she asked because she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Yeah, the house in my neighborhood were all in need of repair, but those repairs never happened. We just let them go until they were inhabitable, but we never moved. We just couldn’t. If we moved, the addicts moved in anyway.”

“He lives in a yellow house,” she said changing the subject. “Look for it.”

She hoped he wouldn’t ask about her neighborhood. She didn’t want to tell him that they lived in a big house with a beautiful garden. She certainly didn’t want to tell him that she had her own room or that her parents paid for her to go to college. She felt uncomfortable admitting all she had been given in her life. What had she ever really worked for?
 

They bumped along the unpaved road for a while, bringing up dust around them, until Theo pointed out a canary yellow house at the end of the street. It had a small flower garden planted around it and had clearly been recently painted. It was about the only house on the street that looked like anyone gave a hoot about it, and a tiny pain twisted in Angelique’s chest again. Kalani cared so much when no one else around him did—he was just like Theo. Kalani seemed so composed, she wondered why he stayed in this neighborhood.
 

It was like Kalani could read minds, as the first thing he said when he squeezed his bulk into the car was, “Mama really don’t want us to leave. I’ve got my wife and my daughter all cramped up in there but she insists we stay and keep her company.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a Greek mother,” Theo laughed.
 

Kalani and Theo exchanged stories about their rough neighborhoods and their overbearing mothers, while Angelique sat silently in the driver’s seat.
 

*****

As soon as they set foot on the land Angelique hated it. Her eyes stung with tears that seemed to want to fall at every moment these days and every time she looked over at Theo it got worse.
 

A feeling grew in her, quite without her permission, but it was so strong she could not control it. All she wanted to do was run up to Theo, fling her arms around his neck and lay kiss after kiss after kiss all over his neck and his face and his body. She longed to feel his soft pale skin against her body. She wanted to touch him and make love to him as his pink mouth kissed her dark skin, his tongue flicking against her milk chocolate breasts. Despite her mind reminding her that he was better off without her, her heart squeezed and pounded and ached with the pressure of holding herself back.

He deserves someone who understands him.
 

*****

Chapter 4

Angelique didn’t want Kalani to think he’d wasted his time so she tried to smile and nod at all the right points, but it was quickly becoming unbearable.

Kalani chattered away as they tramped through the palm trees. “You’ll see it’s not so big as the last piece of land but—”

All of a sudden something flipped in her.
 

“I can’t do this anymore,” she yelled. Once that was out, it was like she’d opened the floodgates. Her voice cracked. “I just can’t do this. I’m sorry Kalani but this isn’t for me. I just want to go home.”

Theo tried to draw her into a hug but she batted him away and ran back to the Jeep ahead of them. It was so embarrassing to cry in front of them—to act so weak. She wanted to burst out into sobs and let all her feelings out when she got to the car, but nothing happened. All her pain was stuck inside her chest and no tears flushed out. A series of angry breaths shuddered in her chest.

Kalani and Theo talked casually as they made their way to the Jeep. She watched them and, again, felt left out. When they reached the Jeep she slid into the nearest seat, the passenger’s, and said nothing.

“Hey,” Kalani said with a sympathetic smile. “I know what might cheer you up some. Whenever I’m down, I always go there.”

“I’ll drive,” Theo offered.

Angelique couldn’t muster up the energy to oppose him. She felt trapped, frozen, stuck in this feeling of isolation, not able to work out if it was safe to come out or not.

Soon the Jeep was bumping over dirt tracks that spiraled up in hairpin bends, way up, ascending steep hills. The view improved as they went but when they finally reached the top it took on a breathtaking character.

Theo brought the Jeep to a stop and exhaled deeply. He reached over to touch Angelique’s hand, and she didn’t pull it away. She wanted his touch.

Kalani climbed out of the Jeep and sighed, wiping the sweat from his brow. “It’s really something, huh?”

“Sure is,” Theo said.

Angelique didn’t care. The sky was always blue in the Bahamas, the sea like an endless swathe of azure silk. There were palm trees, huge spaces of jungle.
So what? I lived this my whole life.

Finally, something exploded in her.
 

“I’m not good enough for you!” she screamed.
 

Kalani widened his eyes and slipped away.

“What?” Theo asked.

“I’m not good enough for you” she said. “I didn’t grow up in the slums. I lived in a big house; my father was a doctor.” She shook her head.
 

“Oh,” he said, his voice taking on a quietness. “That’s what this is about?”

“You’re damn right it is.”

He let out a long breath. “Well, I guess you read the whole book?”

“I read enough to know that we are different people. You worked for everything you have ever had. Someone raped your sister! I’ve never experienced anything like that. How could I ever understand you?”

“I don’t need you to understand; I need you to love me.”

“I’ve acted so silly—crying about missing home and being selfish about the spa not going my way. Why would you want to be with someone like that?”

“Angelique, we all have bad days. We all need to cry sometimes. We all miss home—even if that home is a shack. It is simply human nature. I’ve seen things…”
 

Coming from such a peaceful place as Cat Island, where people regularly left their doors unlocked and any kind of crime was a talking point for months and months, even referenced back to for years in conversation, it was hard to imagine what it would be like to live in a crime-ridden place, like Theo had. Rape was something she’d read about—it wasn’t real. But, Theo had lived it.
 

“I know. I read about it,” she said sadly.

“Then you understand my need to be with someone like you—someone carefree, vibrant, and happy.” he said.

“I’m just a silly girl,” she said. “I can’t empathize with you like Kalani can.”

“I like Kalani, sure. We have a lot in common and I enjoy his company … but I
love
you.”
 

She leaned back in her seat and stared at the sky.
 

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Even if I act spoiled or overreact?” she asked.
 

“Especially then. I lived a life of heartache and need. I have seen enough sadness for the both of us. I want you to live a life of luxury. I want the worst thing you experience to be missing your flight to our private island, or your biggest decisions to be which shoes to wear to the theater. You deserve that—we deserve that. And I can provide it.”

She shook her head and stared in her lap. “I’m sorry.”

“The only thing you need to apologize for is not telling me this sooner. You can talk to me about anything. Always.”

“About anything?”

They paused for a moment.

“Anything,” Theo said.
 

“Okay,” she said. “My parents paid for me to go to college.”
 

“You are amazing,” he said laughing. “Don’t ever be ashamed of who you are. You’re perfect.” He touched her hand. “I love you.”

“I want to leave,” she said, surprising even herself. “This spa hotel thing isn’t working for me right now. I need to do something different. I just don’t know what.”

He squeezed her hand chuckling at her abruptness. “No problem. We could go back to Greece, if you want. Or the Bahamas. Or back to Dubai. Or go and see Atreus and Carla. Or anywhere in the world. It doesn’t matter.”

She stared out over the distant ocean and knew immediately what she wanted. “I want to go home,” she said. “I want Carla and Atreus to stop paying my expenses. I want you to meet my family. I mean that; I really do.”

She suddenly realized that all of this—the crying, the outbursts, the introspection—had all been because of that. She’d been afraid to introduce him to her family. But she didn’t care anymore. She loved this man and wanted the world to know it—she wanted her family to know it.
 

“Please,” he said. “Don’t think about money. I have plenty of it. Let’s do something
real
, Angelique, something to change our lives, something we’ll never forget.”

She looked at him, at his hazel eyes alight with the promise of the future. Fear fluttered in her stomach but she wanted what he had, the energy, the zest for life.

“All right.”

“You’re the best,” Theo said, taking her arms and drawing her into a kiss. She felt like her whole body was on fire as he pushed his strong, vulnerable, and intense lips up against hers again and again. His soft fingers grazed her supple skin and she felt a shiver run down her spine.
 

“When do you wanna go?” he finally said as he pulled up for air.
 

“Right away,” she said. “Tonight.”

“Where are we going first, Miss World Traveler?”

“Still home to the Bahamas,” she said. “I want to see my family. I need a bit of grounding before I go anywhere, my boy.”

He grinned from ear to ear and she knew it was because she called him
my boy
. It was her Caribbean way of friendly affection but when she was miserable it all but disappeared. She was even glad to hear herself say it.

“Sounds great to me,” he said. “I’d love to see where you grew up.” He turned and looked at Kalani. “But, first, there’s just one thing I want to do before we leave.”

*****

Chapter 5

Before long they were descending back down the dirt roads with Kalani in the back.
 

“This little Jeep has good ground clearance,” Theo said to Kalani.

“Sure,” Kalani said, his voice straining toward enthusiasm with much difficulty.

Theo tapped on the steering wheel and kept glancing at Kalani through the wing mirror. “I think the Jeep Wrangler’s a lot better, though.”

“It is,” Kalani said. “I’m just thinking about my Jeep. I don’t know what the heck’s going on with it. Or how much it’s gonna cost.”

“Why don’t you let us pay for the repairs?” Theo offered.
 

“I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t ask,” Theo said. “C’mon. As a thank you for driving our butts around everywhere to show us all this land we don’t want.”

“Well…”

“Please,” Angelique said.

“Well, you could pay for my mechanic to come and take a look? That’s all I could ask for.”

“Done,” Theo said.

The arrangements were made over the phone and by the time they got back to Kalani’s canary yellow, clapboard house, a young man with cornrows was leaning against the wall waiting for him.

“Hey, Moses,” Kalani called out, getting out of the car.

Theo looked in his wallet and Angelique saw a wad of cash inside. “Hey, Kalani, we’ll go find an ATM just now, right?”

“Sure,” Kalani said. “Thanks so much. Thank you, guys, really.”

“It’s nothing,” Theo said.

Theo spun the car around and headed back out of the dirt road onto a main street.

“I don’t get it,” Angelique said. “You already have cash there. Why do we need to go to an ATM?”

A wicked grin spread over Theo’s face. “Because it’s not cash we need.”

He pulled up on a side road and punched something into his phone. It began to talk in a computerized voice, giving him directions.

“Where are we going?” Angelique asked.

“Wait and see.”

After a ten-minute drive, during which Angelique didn’t know whether to be excited or scared, they pulled up outside a Jeep dealership.

“What are we doing here?” Angelique asked.
 

Theo leaned in to whisper in her ear. “We’re gonna
buy
him a new one.”

Angelique’s mouth dropped open. “What? Get outta here!”

“Why not? I lived his life, Angelique. He works so hard but struggles nonetheless. What can it hurt to give him a little joy? A little help?” Theo said, getting out of the car, still beaming. He came around to open her door.

“Wow, that’s awesome,” she said, stepping out.

“Want a car?” he asked gesturing at the shining cars displayed behind the vast glass wall.