Free FREED (The Mind Of Her Billionaire, #3) by Iris Deorre Page A

asked.
    ‘Nothing.’
    ‘Nothing at all?’
    He shook his head.
    ‘Why honey?’
    ‘I just don’t like it.’
    ‘I’m sorry to hear about that. What do you think will make it better?’
    ‘Not going.’
    ‘That’s not an option I’m afraid. What about your friends, you like them, don’t you?’
    He nodded.
    ‘So there, you do like something about school.’ She encouraged. ‘You’ll find that you like a lot of things at school.’
    He was silent, and that’s how it remained the rest of the journey. It was like talking to a miniature adult who had a mind of his own. What Amelia felt, her mind didn’t want to accept it, but she also knew that denial wouldn’t solve anything.
    The car pulled outside the house and Rebecca met them at the door.
    ‘I’ll be in my office if you need me,’ she told her. ‘I think he might need a good play outside in the sun and fresh air.’
    ‘Yes Miss Woods.’
    ‘Can I have something to drink first?’ he asked.
    ‘Course you can,’ said Amelia. ‘Rebecca will help you with that. If you need mummy, I’ll be in the office.’
    He didn’t say a thing, instead he walked in the direction of the kitchen and Rebecca followed him. Amelia felt a lump in her throat, she wished she could connect to him more, but she didn’t know how.
    The minute she stepped into the office she rang Justin, but the phone went straight into voicemail. She checked the time and realised that he was in the meeting she was supposed to be in. She would give it an hour and a half and then try him again.
    While she worked, she couldn’t shake the events of the day. There was so much to do, but her concern for Gabriel took precedence in her mind.  As she was about to answer an email, she heard an almighty scream. There was sudden commotion and the sense of panic. Amelia sat dead still a moment, her stomach in a knot. There was the rush of footsteps and this brought Amelia to her feet. She rushed out and headed towards the kitchen where she found Gabriel standing with bloody hands and a cat’s tail in his right hand.
    Rebecca was beside herself, frantic and holding a grey cat in her arms. At first Amelia didn’t know what to do. She stood dead still and blocked out all the noise around her, and then suddenly as if waking from a dream she said, ‘What the hell happened! How the hell did this happen?!’
    ‘I only left him for a moment, I didn’t know he had the pair of scissors.’
    ‘Whose cat is this?! How did he get a hold of it?!’
    ‘I gave it some of my drink. It was thirsty.’
    Amelia turned to the little boy a moment and then back at Rebecca.
    ‘Mandy!’ She shouted. ‘Mandy!’ She was certain Mandy was in her office and would hear her.
    Mandy rushed into the kitchen and stood frozen as soon as she saw the sight of blood, and tail in Gabriel’s hand.
    ‘Take this cat to the vet,’ said Amelia. ‘I don’t know whose it is, but we need to make sure it’s treated.’
    ‘Yes, Miss Woods,’ she said without questioning.
    ‘See if you can’t get a towel and wrap it around the poor thing. My driver shall take you, and use the company credit card to pay the bill.’ Amelia spoke so fast she didn’t even know if she were saying the right thing.
    After Mandy had rushed out with the cat, Amelia knelt down and looked at her son.
    ‘Can you tell me why you cut the cat’s tail?’
    ‘I don’t know.’
    She felt her blood boil. There was a part of her that wanted to shake him, make him see what he’d done was wrong, but she knew that this wasn’t the way to go about it... 
    Amelia stood up and paced with her hand to her forehead. She took one look at the little boy in the sky blue top and grey shorts. As she looked at him, she didn’t know what to feel. He was as calm as a warm summer’s day. He pushed up on his toes and down again, put his hands in his pockets with the tail sticking out, and flashed a slight smile at her.
    ‘Honey,’ she said in the calmest manner possible.