Free Broken Pasts by C. M. Stunich Page A

to laugh off Rhea's words.
    “ Mommy's
never walking down the aisle again,” I said and I was surprised
when she kicked the back of the passenger seat in anger. “What's
wrong?” I asked as Nathaniel took the paper and folded it
gently in half, tucking it into the dash.
    “ I
want a new dad,” she told me and I blinked in surprise. Her
face was locked into such a deep frown that there were two lines
running down the sides of her chin like a marionette. I sat there in
silence for a moment while I waited for her to continue. She didn't.
    “ How
come?” Nathaniel asked for me, still smiling softly. It looked
good on that strong face, like he could crush a car but also like he
could pick up a butterfly without harming it.
    “ Because
I don't like mine,” she said as if that was obvious. “He
gives Angie, Carrie, and Mina anything they want. He doesn't let me
go see Grandpa B. and Grandma G., and he told me that I didn't come
from his penis.” A rush of anger struck through me, fighting
with my reaction to Nathaniel for supremacy. We were back to penises
again which was good, in a way, but the fact that Glen had told Rhea
she was adopted without my consent or knowledge, even in a roundabout
way, was infuriating. I clenched my purse in my fist and tried not
to scream. That could come later, when I got Glen on the phone.
“Mom,” she asked tentatively, as if this was the most
important thing in the world. “Am I a part of you?” I
thought for a long moment about how to answer, what would constitute
a lie, how important the truth was in that moment. I looked her
straight in the face when I said.
    “ The
most important part of all.”
    ***
    “ I
want to apologize again,” Nathaniel said later, after we'd come
home and Rhea had taken a bath and gone to bed. I'd hardly gotten
any work done, too occupied was I with wanting to kill Glen and Gary.
A husband is supposed to be a partner, someone to take on life with
you, not throw the worst parts of it in your face. Not stand outside
your house and stare like a fucking lunatic which is what Gary had
done for over an hour after we'd come home to find him outside.
Nathaniel had recorded the entire thing out the window while Rhea and
I had hidden in her room, playing video games. Now he was finally
gone and I was exhausted, emotionally and physically. “I was
completely inappropriate and in front of your daughter, too. I'd
like to refund some of your money.” I stared at him for a long
moment, trying to process his words. True to size, too. Okay,
so maybe it was a little inappropriate, but it had also been wildly
sexy. Rhea hadn't understood, so where was the harm?
    “ No,”
I said as I shook my head and opened the freezer, eyes locked on the
last remaining drops of my Jägermeister. If there was ever an
appropriate time to have some, it was now. I poured the rest into a
glass. “You're more than doing your job. I won't accept a
refund.” Nathaniel paused with his hands resting on the blue
tiles of the island.
    “ Then
let me at least give you an extra couple days of protection, no
charge.” I sipped the Jäger quietly for a moment and then
once again, shook my head. Nathaniel was beautiful and interesting
and different. Dangerous. He was dangerous. In solving this
mystery, I was going to get involved. Two days of knowing him and
already, I was enraptured. I couldn't do this.
    “ No,”
I said and nearly dropped my glass when there was a knock on the
door. Nathaniel smiled at me, but it was kind of … sad. I
stared into his eyes for a moment that stretched into forever. He
was searching me for something though I couldn't say what.
    “ Cedric,”
he explained and I couldn't control the slump of disappointment that
surged through me. I'd just told myself that I wanted the man to
leave and now that he was, I wanted him to stay. Okay, this is
good. I needed to untangle myself from Nathaniel Sutherland
before I ensnared myself. “He'll be here for awhile while