Rebound: Passion Book 2

by Silver, Jordan

  One evening when I came home mom gave me a note; it said that this policewoman that she’d befriended was going to help us. Although there wasn’t much the police could do because there wasn’t enough evidence against him she wanted to help. They came up with this scheme. Mom got in touch with dad while she was at work and the three of them worked it out before they let me in on it.

  The day of the prom while we were sure that he was watching the house we had a limo come to pick me up and everything. Mom had built a security fence around our yard years earlier to help keep him out and give me some freedom though I still never went out there alone. Anyway the officer dressed like me in a prom dress, did her hair like mine and kept her face hidden enough as she went out to the car. While she was doing that mom and I were sneaking out the back to this little road that ran behind our property where the cop had left her car hidden.

  Mom drove me to the bus station and I took a bus out of town, I was never so afraid in my life. I couldn’t fly because they would need ID and he could always trace that but the bus wasn’t so strict and I was able to get a ticket. It would’ve been better if I could’ve driven myself but I was too afraid, what if he caught up with me on the road alone? The bare thought made me sick for days. In the end it was decided that I would take two buses in zigzagging directions using two different names and then dad met me. I was never so happy to see anyone as I was when I saw dad that third day.” Her body trembled when she was through with her tale of horror and I wanted to hurt the son of a bitch in the worst way.

  I ran my hand gently over her hair and hugged her closer as I tried to think of ways to make her less fearful. I refuse to give him anymore of her. After today I wanted him to just be a bad memory but the only way I could do that was by eliminating the threat once and for all. Now that I had started my campaign to draw her out of her shell it was time to move on him. I knew now that we wouldn’t be able to move forward otherwise. My idea to focus on her now and deal with him after wasn’t going to work. I’ll have to do the two simultaneously.

  “So you go to doc for your anxiety?”

  “Yes, he says I’m getting better but I don’t see it. When I’m there with him doing the exercises he’s been teaching me I feel powerful and great but it doesn’t last, nothing ever does because I know better than anyone that he’s very persistent, that he’ll find a way, he always does.”

  “Can you do me a favor Kadyn, can you at least try from now on to not think like that? Just take it one moment at a time, but can you try to remember the day we had today? There was no danger, nothing bad happened. Can you focus on that and maybe try to have more days like it? did you think about him at all today?”

  She seemed to be giving it some thought before her face broke out in a smile and she turned wondering eyes to me. “No I didn’t. I was so caught up in what your mom or one of your sisters were saying there was no time to think about anything else. I can’t believe anyone actually spends that kind of money in one day on some clothes and your mom kept saying I needed to get this and that as if what I got wasn’t more than enough. You sure this is okay Matthew? I don’t want you to think you have to buy me things.” Half an hour alone with Carrie ought to cure her of that, that’s one female who knows her worth; she takes Josh’s gifts as her due, as she should and that boy sure knows how to spoil his wife, it’s almost embarrassing. I chose to ignore her question and focus on the other.

  “You see, that’s a start we’ll have lots more days like this and soon you won’t think of him at all.” that was my hope at least. “Speaking of which, your job at the diner is that because you need money or is it just something to do?”

  “Well it’s nice to have my own money but dad said he’d give me an allowance if I didn’t want to work. I guess it’s just something to pass the time since I’ve decided to take some time off before looking for a college, and since I’m not comfortable going elsewhere for a job the diner is it.” that settles that then.

  I mulled over everything she told me piecing things together in my head, gauging where she was really at. She’d had it rough no doubt about that and my only concern now was how to proceed with us without causing her more harm. There’s no guidebook that I know of that tells you how to deal with your woman’s past stalking, at least I didn’t find one and I looked. It seems to me everything dealt with the stalking itself and how to not be a victim but that sounded too much like living the rest of her life with a constant reminder. I wanted to move her away from that I don’t want him having that much power in our lives.

  I realized that I was on my own with this one. As the man in her life it was going to be up to me. I felt very strongly that I could do this, that I could replace the ugliness with beauty. I also knew in that moment that this was not something to be taken lightly, we had reached the point where I had to be very sure that this was a forever kind of love, that I would be the one by her side from here on out.

  I know what I felt since the first time I saw her but was that enough? Could I trust that this was real and not just a rebound? Everything inside me said that it wasn’t, that this was the real deal and the fact that the thought of not having her made me physically sick to my stomach was farther proof of the strength of my feelings for her. A calmness overcame me then and I knew I had my answer, for whatever reason fate had brought her to me. Now she was mine to cherish and to treasure for as long as we lived. There were no doubts in my mind, no fear other than how to make her happy for the rest of her life. It was a tall order but I knew in m heart that if anyone could love Kadyn Daniels and protect her from her past it would be me, only me.

  “I’m going to kiss you now Kitten.” I turned her face up to mine and searched her eyes for any sign of unease. There was nothing but the natural shyness of one so unaccustomed to being touched by a man. Her lips were soft and pliant under mine and I called on all my control not to go deeper. The bed was right there just a few short steps away, I could so easily lay her there and cover her but I won’t, no matter how much my dick protested. All the bullshit aside she was an exceptionally beautiful girl with all that wild black hair and those grey eyes that shone with an inner light that called to me. It would be so easy to get lost in her but always at the back of my mind was her care; what was best for her? There’ll be time for the other soon I had no doubt, I will make it so, but for now this was enough.

  As with the first time she kissed like a dream after she got the hang of it. I sucked on her tongue until my body reacted strongly and I had to pull back but to my satisfaction she followed my mouth with hers taking my tongue into her mouth and doing what I’d done to hers. It was innocent and sweet and made me feel ten feet tall. How had I been so lucky to find her? she was my saving grace sent here just for me I’d never believe any different. My life had been going downhill, there was no silver lining that I could see and then there she was. Fate wasn’t something I gave too much thought to in the past but I would be hard pressed to call this anything else. She needed to be saved and I had the need to save, to make reparation for my blunder.

  Chapter 16

  After dinner with my family where she grew even more relaxed as the evening went on it was time to take her home. “Josh I need you to follow me to the diner.” He didn’t ask any questions just caught the keys to the truck on the way out, his wife in tow. I let her drive her new jeep to get the hang of it while Josh and Carrie followed behind us. Her million and one bags were in the back and it took us three trips to take her haul in.

  Stan watched us going back and forth with a stupefied look on his face. “What’s all this?” Kadyn had just gone up the stairs with the last of her bags and Josh and Carrie had found a table, I guess we were having dessert. That was fine by me, it would give me more time with my girl. “I took Kadyn shopping.” I waited for him to say something negative, it wouldn’t matter to me one way or the other no one was going to stop me from taking care of her, but he smiled and clapped me on the shoulder.

  “You Steeles are an
odd bunch aren’t you?”

  “How so?”

  “Your father came to see me earlier.”

  “He did? This was news to me, he hadn’t said anything to me, he probably came when I was upstairs in my room but what was he doing here?

  “Yeah he came by to reassure me that he knew the situation and that since he was pretty sure that my kid would be spending a lot of time at his place he wanted me to know she was in good hands and that no harm would come to her. Stand up guy your old man.”

  “About that, her job here, can you find someone to take her place? It’s just that I think she needs to get out more, I want her to spend the summer doing shit she never got a chance to do before and she can’t do that if she’s stuck here all day.” He could do with that what he will, but he didn’t seem to take offense.

  “Actually there’s a young mother who’s been asking for work, she could really use the money but I couldn’t ask Kadyn to give up her job you know.” Better and better, it’s like everything was just lined up in our favor.

  “How soon can she start?”

  “I’ll call her up right now and tell her she’s got the job but are you sure about this? You’re not gonna grow tired of my kid in a few weeks after turning her life upside down are you?”

  “I could see why you’d have to ask that but have no fear, when I say I’m going to do something it’s as good as done. I told you she’s mine, I take care of my own.”

  “I believe you son, I don’t get this intensity in one so young but I believe you.” He shook his head as he walked off to head for his office and I joined Josh and Carrie at our favorite booth. Kadyn came down a few minutes later and joined us. We decided on pie a la mode which she started to go get herself until I stopped her. “No you’re not working you sit with us.”

  Over dessert I told her about my talk with her father about her job. “Don’t you think you should’ve talked to me about that first?” She gave me attitude which I thought was good for her, so I just listened as she ran down all the reasons why I should’ve asked her before approaching her father behind her back. When she was through and her little face wasn’t so tight anymore I let her in on some truths or at lease gave her a glimpse of what her life with me was going to be like. I hope like fuck it doesn’t scare her but I only knew of one way to be with Kadyn. There was no give in me when it came to her and it wasn’t just because of what she’d been through. There was something in me that I’d never felt before, a need to completely possess and own her in every way. Not that I didn’t think she could think for herself or that she wasn’t capable of making decisions, but I needed to be in control. The beast was finally totally free it seemed.

  “I hear everything you’re saying but let me ask you this. Had I asked you about it what would your answer have been?”

  “I don’t know, and we’ll never know now because you didn’t give me the chance.”

  “Okay fair enough but here’s the thing, this is what I want what I think is best for you. It wouldn’t have mattered if you agreed or not the end result would’ve been the same. So this way I just cut out the middleman.”

  “Are you insane, you can’t just make those kinds of decisions who does that?” she looked at Josh and Carrie who were pretending to mind their own business but if she was seeking help from that quarter she was out of luck, Carrie had her own shit to deal with when it came to a Steele man so she could be of no help.

  “Okay let’s look at this another way. Would you rather spend the rest of your summer working here or doing shit that you really want to do?”

  “That’s not the point…’

  “It’s exactly the point. See you want to argue because of the way I did things, when the end result is to your benefit, now does that make sense to you?” she huffed and glared at me because she knew what I was saying was true. I’d learned that shit from watching my parents, mom would argue dad to death just for the sake of arguing even though she knew he was right, Carrie the same thing. I wasn’t about to knock my head against the damn wall I had better things to do with my time. The way I see it the sooner she learns the way things are gonna be the better. It would eliminate a lot of unnecessary drama if you ask me.

  It was hard as fuck to leave her and go home at the end of the night but I still had some shit to take care of and besides I planned on seeing her in the morning. I walked her up to her door and kissed her goodnight waiting to make sure she locked up before I left because her dad was still downstairs.

  As soon as we got to the house I said my goodnights to the family and locked myself in my room. I knew Josh wanted to know what I was doing, he wanted to help but this was something I had to take care of myself. I called up James, one of the guys my family had on retainer. He’s a bodyguard slash jack of all trades and more importantly he doesn’t ask questions. He gets paid well enough that he doesn’t give a shit. Short of committing murder I’m not sure there isn’t much he won’t do.

  “James, no this is Matt, yeah I have a situation, it might entail some travelling, you have anything on your plate right now? I don’t really want to talk over the phone so can we meet?”

  “When do you need me?”

  “As soon as possible.”

  “Tonight, it’s a little late but I can swing by there in a half an hour.”

  “That would be perfect I’ll meet you down by the gate I don’t want anyone knowing about this not yet anyway.” I gave him some time to get here while I formatted my plans in my head. What I was about to do would cross many lines but I didn’t really give a fuck. Criminals have no rights in my world and especially not assholes who terrorized women and children. Fuck him and fuck anyone who thought he deserved better than what I was about to do to his ass.

  I got all the information off the computer that we’d collected so far. Thanks to Google I knew exactly where that fucker lived even knew the dollar value of his house. Through the shit Josh had done I knew where he worked, his hours, what model car he drove everything, and by the time I was through I would know a hell of a lot more.

  James was already there waiting when I jogged down the driveway and opened the gate. I climbed in the passenger seat and passed him the envelope. “That’s Tommy Bruno he’s a pedophile stalker living in Sheldon Nebraska. You don’t need to know any more than that for now. This is what I want you to do: I want you to get into his house you’ll figure out the ins and outs of that I’m sure. I want eyes and ears inside his house. But here’s the tricky part, I want you to go back while he’s there and take a picture of him asleep in his bed. Do you think you can do that?”

  “Piece a cake. Tell me do you and your brother ever do normal teenage shit? not even your old man ever had this kinda shit on his plate and I’ve been working for your family for years.”

  “Times changed, what can I tell you.”

  “Damn, anything else you want me to do while I’m in bum fuck USA?”

  “No that’s it for now there might be more later I’ll let you know. Prepare to be on call for the next little while though just in case.”

  “No problem I wasn’t doing anything of import now anyway, I guess you want this taken care of ASAP.”

  “If you don’t mind.”

  “Fine I’ll get there tomorrow and call you sometime later and let you know how things went.”

  “All the info is in there, his work hours his daily movements shit like that. If you run into any trouble just lay low for a while but don’t come back until it’s done.”

  “The fuck this guy do to you anyway?”

  “He fucked with what’s mine.” I figured I could give him that much without giving anything away.

  “I think I might give you a discount on this one I hate fucking pedophiles, you sure you don’t want me to break his legs or some shit? I can throw that in for free.”

  “No that’s my job.” I hopped out the car and jogged back down the drive.

  Chapter 17

  I slept like a baby that night knowing that I’
d set shit off, and first thing in the morning I called her up to see what time she was coming over. After making sure she had passed the night well without incident I went in search of dad. I found him on his way out the door heading for work. “Dad I need a favor.” He stopped with his hand on the door and gave me his full attention.

  “What do you need son?”

  “It’s about school…”

  “Don’t tell me you’re taking time off from school Matt that I won’t tolerate…”

  “Take it easy old man it’s for Kadyn, I need you to get her into the university with us. I know it’s a bit late but her scores are amazing she…”

  “Say no more son I was expecting something like this after my talk with her father yesterday; I’ll take care of it don’t give it another thought.”

  “Thanks dad and thanks for going to see Stan that was way cool.”

  “Hey that’s just what I do.”

  “Get outta here.”

  After breakfast I put on my thinking cap, I was mapping out our dating agenda like some sort of chart but it’s what was needed for now. I had to keep coming up with ways to bring her new life. A life where the most important thing on her mind was what she was going to do for fun. With anyone else I would find this shallow and weak but for someone who’d been robbed of even the barest semblance of joy it was just what she needed. Today was going to be pool day, just a quiet day hanging by the pool and relaxing. That way we’d get to spend time together and she’d get used to being around kids her age. I would also use the time to break the news to her about school. I had no doubt dad would work his magic and get her in, if not I’ll just have to change my plans as to where I was going because there was no way she was putting her life on hold any longer and no way in hell we were going to be apart.