Rebound: Passion Book 2 (23 page)

I went
in search of Josh because I needed to calm down before I spoke to her again. I
found it ironic that I was going to the hothead to cool my jets. “What’s wrong
now?”

“I found Kadyn talking to that
asshole’s brother outside the diner.”

“Oh boy, he alive?”

“Yeah
smartass. I have a serious problem here bro; I don’t know how to let her out of
my sight. All this shit that’s going on is fucking with my head, it’s like
there’s no safe place unless she’s with me. I know that’s a fucked up way to
think but I can’t shake it. How the fuck do you let lil sis out of the house?”

“It’s
not easy, sometimes I trail her ass even though she’s tagged, especially in the
beginning when she first got better and would go places by herself. I
understand the fear. People say shit like don’t let fear rule you, it’s not so
much that it rules you, it’s more like you’ve learned to be more careful. You
learn that everything isn’t always what it seems. We have to let them live
their lives but we just can’t take any chances that’s all.”

“What
the fuck ever happened to being teenagers? I don’t remember mom and dad ever
telling us about this shit happening when they were growing up.”

“No, they
had Bundy, Son of Sam and the night stalker in their days. Nothing’s changed,
if anything these fuckers upped their game and got worst. I’m not going to live
in fear but I’m not going to walk blind either. You’ll figure it out, I did.”

“I
guess you’re right but right now all I can think of is never letting her out of
my sight again. I think I have to tell her about Bruno, I don’t want to but I
think I should. Maybe that will help her overcome some of her fear to know that
he’s been caught. If they ever get around to arresting his ass.”

“They’ll
take him, if they don’t we’ll do what we have to do. Where’s Kadyn you left her
at the diner?”

“Nah
she’s upstairs I better go up and take care of her. We’ll check on that thing
later I don’t know how fast they move on these things or if we’ll have to call
them again. I hope not, I hope that the men and women who’re taxed with looking
after the public would take those pictures seriously enough to at least check
the shit out. If they don’t I’ll send all that shit to the media and expose
their asses for inaction.” He gave me a thumbs up and went back to what he was
doing as I left the room.

 
Ms. Kadyn was lying back on
our bed reading when I walked in the room like she hadn’t just given me a damn
heart attack. “You calm now Mr. Crazy?” Huh she must’ve picked that up from
Carrie. I went and sat next to her before pulling her onto my lap. I took some
time to get my words together. Today had been a turning point for me, I think
my eyes were finally open and whatever innocence I might’ve had left was no
more. I didn’t want that for her, she’d lost too much of hers already, besides
she was a girl, she didn’t need to concern herself with that filth.

I needed to find a way to shield her without treating her like a
lesser being or making her feel like one. We were young and had our whole lives
ahead of us, but neither of us would ever be your normal teen. Life had taken
care of that and I was left now with the daunting task of how to move on from
our pasts. Where was the line between protecting her as her man and treating
her like she didn’t have a mind of her own? It was a tough question and one
that I didn’t really have an answer to. All I know is that I didn’t want
anything to touch her no matter what, so I went with that.

“Babe I want you to listen to me and listen to me very carefully.
I know what society says; they say that if your man tells you what to wear, who
to hang out with and where to go that he’s being an abusive asshole. That’s not
me, I’m never gonna be that guy but I am going to tell you not to do things
that I think will cause you harm. It has nothing to do with your past, that’s
just the way I am, I would’ve been this way with you no matter your background.

I don’t want anything to happen to you, try to understand this.
You’re my life and only a fool wouldn’t do everything possible to take care of
his life. If anything happens to you it would kill me plain and simple and I’m
not about to let that happen. One thing that I absolutely do not like is other
guys in your life. I don’t give a shit what anyone else says I don’t trust the
fucks. I’m not saying you have to run and hide if some guy says hello to you on
the street, but no going to their house, no meeting them anywhere for any
reason. Let’s put it this way, when I start going to other women, which by the
way will never happen, then you have a free pass; until then that door’s
closed, and if anyone tells you that that’s no good fuck ‘em.

I don’t expect you to live like a nun, you don’t have to hide away
behind walls for the rest of your life but whatever I need to do to protect you
I will. The next four years away at school I’m probably going to be a nutcase,
that’s only because I love you and I can’t bear the thought of anything
happening to you.”

“Nothing’s going to happen Matthew. You’re the one who told me to
stop living under a shadow remember? Now you’re acting as though you want me to
go back to being afraid. I like not having that fear all the time, like waking
up with happiness instead of dread.”

“And I’m happier than you’ll ever know that you feel that way. I’m
not trying to get you to go back to fear, quite the opposite, I want you to
enjoy your freedom. I just need you to understand that while you’re doing that
that I’ll always be in the shadows watching over you. At times that may seem
intrusive I’m just letting you know from now that it’s going to be a part of
your life. I think that every man has that right, to look out for his woman and
his family when that day comes. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, I
know it’s my job as the man to take care of you and that’s what I’m going to
do. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”

“Yes I think so; you’re saying that you want me to run free while
you do all the worrying, that doesn’t sound very fair to me Matthew. How can
you be happy if you spend every minute watching out for me? What kind of life
will you have? I can’t do that Matthew, that’s exactly what I didn’t want for
you.”

“No babe that’s not it, I have no intention of living in a bubble
or giving up my peace of mind to worry. I guess what I’m trying to say is that
there might be times when I do things to ensure your safety that might not be
the most conventional. I’m just letting you know in advance so you won’t be
surprised when it does happen and to let you know basically that there’s
nothing that you or anyone else can say to stop me from doing those things.
When it comes to your safety I won’t take any chances. So that means no meeting
the brother of the guy who tried to rape you even if you think it’s safe. I
don’t think it is, and if I’m trying to protect you and you keep putting
yourself in danger that’s going to cause problems. To eliminate those problems
before they start I’m laying it out for you now. You need to write this down
somewhere or some shit Kitten?
because
I’m dead
serious about this.” Dammit, she rolled her eyes at me and then shook her head;
way too much time with the Steele women.

“Do you understand or not?” I shook her slightly on my lap and she
wrapped her arms around my neck.

“I understand that you’re a worry wart; seriously Matthew you
don’t have to worry, I won’t put myself in any danger. Even though I wake up
smiling these days I never forget what my life was like. I’m grateful to you
though for helping me get over some if not all of my fear. I don’t think I
could’ve done it without you. I never in a million years thought this could be
me and now it is and I love it. Anyway Carrie and Nessa and your mom already
warned me what I had to look forward to. And watching Josh with Carrie I think
I can handle your brand of nutty. Just don’t expect to always get your way
okay?”

“Babe I don’t get my way now, you’ve become a royal pain in the
ass in case you haven’t noticed, ever since you started hanging with the
girls.”

“I have not.” She
smacked me one in the chest and next thing I know we were kissing. “Wait a
minute baby.”

I reached into my pocket for the forgotten ring and opened the
box. “I was going to give you this this weekend but I don’t want to wait any
longer.” Her eyes widened and she looked at me before reaching out her finger
to touch the stone.

“Matt.” Her voice was a soft whisper as her eyes filled with
tears.

“Give me your hand
baby.” She was shaking like a leaf as she lifted her hand for me to place my
ring on her finger.

“I take you Kadyn Daniels to be mine now and forever.” I slid the
ring onto her finger; it was a perfect fit. I wonder if she noticed that it
wasn’t so much a proposal as it was a claiming.

I didn’t make love to her then even though I wanted to, I had too
much on my mind. So after a heavy make out session we headed downstairs so she
could show off her ring. I had the fleeting thought that I should’ve kept a
journal of my life in the last few months because this shit was stranger than
fiction. Most days I didn’t even remember Patricia or the time we had together.
It was as if my heart was too full of us, Kadyn and I, and there was no room
for anything else. Now with my ring on her finger I was hoping for only the
best for the future. “I promise to never let you down Kitten.” I hope like fuck
I can keep that promise.

Things got hectic after that; after the family had given us their
blessings and the women went off with their wedding planning it was time to get
back to the other matter. By now it was evening and Bruno should be home if he
hadn’t already been taken into custody. I called James after all to send him
there on a separate matter, sort of killing two birds with one stone. I decided
to wait and see how things unfolded before giving her the new phone to call her
mom. I know she was a little sad that she couldn’t share the news of our
engagement with her as we had with her dad but I wanted everything to be
perfect for her.

 
She kept saying she
couldn’t wait for her mom to meet me; I had a few reservations. I’m sure any
woman who’d been through what she had with her daughter wouldn’t be too
trusting of any man that came into her life, but I was hoping to win her over
with my charm. I’d have to keep her away from Josh and dad though until after
the wedding at least. One look at those two Neanderthals and the jig was up.

While she was occupied Josh and I locked ourselves away in one of
the rooms on the top floor and set up shop so to speak. We had the monitor up
and running and I‘d decided to tape it just in case I wanted to show her at
some point. I still wasn’t sure how much I wanted her to know but I do know it
would be good for her to see his demise; it may bring her some sort of peace.

“Sit down bro you’re making me nervous.” I paced back and forth as
I waited for something, anything to happen on the screen. Now that things were
moving I wanted it all over and done with so we could get on with our lives. It
was very important to me to give her a fresh start free of all this and I
wanted it to begin this weekend. Starting college was a new phase in our lives,
one that I wanted to mark a new beginning in more ways than one; the dream
without the taint of the nightmare.

“I hate this waiting bullshit, how long does it take them to get
their shit together anyway? Those kids could be in danger right now and they
haven’t made a move yet.”

“That’s the way it works bro, I guess they have to verify shit
first before they do anything, I don’t know. I think they have to process
everything from beginning to end, they have to think about the court case and
shit like that if it comes to that so they have to gather evidence the right
way so it doesn’t come back to bite them in the ass later. From the looks of
him he doesn’t suspect anything, which is good just chill.”

“That’s bullshit, they should’ve been at his house in ten fucking
minutes flat. Who’s to say those kids aren’t in danger at this very minute?
What the fuck kinda system we have here anyway? Those are babies for crying out
loud. Maybe I should just let James off the fuck while he’s there.”

“Nah, thought of that but that’s too easy and besides we don’t
know the whole story. If we off him and he has kids tied up somewhere we may
never find them. Let the feds do their thing, if they don’t move by tonight
we’ll go with your next plan and send them to the networks. You’ve already made
up a little press kit to send them right?”

“Yeah, I’m thinking of sending it out anyway whether he’s arrested
or not, I don’t want there to be anyway that he can slip through this noose
this time. With the public on their ass they might be forced to actually do
something this time. I thought of a way to let him know that this was for
Kadyn, that it’s because of her that’s he’s going down.”

“Yeah, what’s that?”

I told him of my plan and Joshua being the vengeful fuck that he
is added some twists of his own.

Around dinner time there was still nothing doing so we went down
with the others where all the talk was about the wedding. Stan and Carrie’s dad
were here tonight as well so we had a full house, which meant mom was in her
glory. Kadyn kept looking at her ring and playing with it with a secret smile
on her face. “You happy baby?” I kissed her temple as she sat next to me on one
of the love seats in the drawing room where everyone was sitting around
shooting the breeze.

“I’m very happy Matthew, and you?”

“You have to ask?” I gave her a tight squeeze and tuned back into
the conversation, which had switched to school and what we had planned for our
future. It was after ten by the time everyone was leaving and I was antsy as
fuck. We’d left the recorder running but I didn’t want to miss anything. I was
being pulled in two different directions, I wanted to make love to her to seal
the deal and I wanted to watch him get taken into custody. Only then will I
feel like he was finally out of her life for good because the shit he had on
his computer was more than enough to send him away for a very long time.

In the end I walked her up to our room and got her settled in bed.
“I’ll be back soon baby I have to go do something with Josh.” She pouted and
lifted her lips for a kiss but she didn’t complain. “Don’t be long okay.”

“I won’t I promise.” I couldn’t resist pulling her in close for a
hug and saying a silent prayer that nothing happened to screw this up.