Page 87 of My Forbidden Boss

I don’t want a shade of Adeline. I want the full-blast, sun-bright, power-of-the-universe, shade-your-eyes, dazzling totality.

“It’s my pleasure. While we’re gone, please move about the apartment as you choose,” I say. I show her how the television works and how to access the streaming apps Steph insists on having while Adeline excuses herself to change.

Lira folds her hands in her lap. “Can I be frank with you, David?”

I nod. Take my seat and give her my full attention. She would have questions. Any mother would, and I’m glad Adeline has one caring parent.

She pins me with a stare that’s as intense as Adeline’s. Despite her frail form, she’s strong. “If you use my daughter and toss her side, I’ll have your balls.”

I bark an inappropriate laugh and immediately apologize. “That’s not the first time someone has threatened my anatomy when it comes to your daughter.” I collect myself and give the seriousness Lira deserves. “I assure you, Lira. I’ll cut off my own balls and hand them to you if I so much as cause a tear to fall from her eye.”

Her gaze cuts through me and I hold still, letting her. She nods, her shoulders dropping. “She hasn’t had an easy life, as you can see.” She holds up her hand when I go to speak. “Please. Let me get this out while I can. I made her grow up too fast. She never had a normal childhood.”

She indicates her twisted legs, her lips pressing together. “When the accident happened, she was only twelve. I planned to leave Moss Creek because of the bullying she endured. I’d saved up some money, but the medical bills were just too much…My daughter has had to work, study and keep us both going for most of her life. The people at Moss Creek never made it easy for her. Instead of helping, the bullying only became worse. She became my protector. My provider. Everything I should have been doing for her, she had to do for me. She put herself between the world and everyone else. Because of that, she doesn’t let people in easily. No one has given her reason to.”

Lira draws a deep breath into her lungs, her gaze raking my face. “I see what you feel for her. What you’re willing to do for her. You’re fighting for her and I wouldn’t be here if you weren’t. I might be crippled, but I’m not stupid. I see what you’re doing, but what I’m trying to say is, if you feel as much for her as she does for you, keep fighting for her, David, because if she really didn’t love you, she wouldn’t have allowed me to come here at all.”

The air is sucked from my lungs. Relief crashes through me. I didn’t realize I was holding out on hope until it was stated. I sit next to her on the sofa and take her hands in mine. “I’ll do anything for your daughter, no matter what it takes. No matter how long it takes.”

She pats the back of my hand, as though we weren’t nearly the same age. “Adeline deserves nothing less.”

I hesitate, but we’re being honest with each other. “I thought you might have mentioned our age difference.”

Lira tilts her head, regarding me. “You and I both know Adeline is years beyond her age. A younger person wouldn’t suit her. Besides, it isn’t my choice. It’s my daughter’s.”

Lira isn’t against our relationship. Quite the opposite. She cares for her daughter enough to want whatever Adeline deems best for herself. A welcome burden that falls on me.

I rise when Adeline returns to the living room, dressed in faded jeans and a large light blue pullover, her gaze tracking between Lira and myself, uncertainty on her face.

“Go, sweetheart. Get what you need. I’ll be fine while you’re gone. It will be good to discover what all the fuss about Netflix is,” Lira says, and I know I’ve won an ally.

“If you’re sure,” Adeline says to her mother.

“One hundred percent,” Lira says.

“I’ll send Margaret in to see if you’d like anything for morning tea,” I say as I usher Adeline towards the door.

The drive to Adeline’s old apartment is quiet. Adeline is withdrawn, tangled in her thoughts as am I. I guard her as we walk up the stairs to her apartment, seeking the men who’d assaulted her days ago. People mill about reeking of lost hope and looking for an angle. I usher her past them, hating we’re here. Hating she lived here. This is no place for a woman like her.

This is no place for anyone. She swapped one hovel for another.

We reach a door that’s only a slab of flimsy wood and we enter a hole in the wall. Only it’s not a hole. It’s one room, little bigger than my wardrobe where she’s lived for weeks. I spot the narrow cot. A pile of neatly folded clothing on a stool. The crack in the one and only window that does nothing to keep out the frigid wind. The narrow shower installed in the goddamned kitchen.

I loosen the top button of my shirt, as though that will make it easier to breathe. It doesn’t. My chest is tight. There is no air. Hot rage becomes my blood because this is where Adeline lived.

“No one lives like this as a choice,” she says, startling me out of my simmering stupor. She holds the small pile of clothing to her chest, using fabric as armor, arms folded, knuckles tight. I hate to think that’s all she owns in here, but I don’t think I’m wrong.

I plow my fingers through my hair, my gaze bouncing from one travesty to the next. They’re easy to find. The room is filled with them. Everywhere I look, I see something that bottoms out my gut. “It’s freezing in here. And the door’s so thin anyone could have pushed it open with half a shove. What were you thinking living here?”

Color floods her face. “My father gave me no choice.”

“Max made you live here?” My hands drop to my sides, fingers twitching to circle his throat.

“He rented it for me while I…so I could…”

He’s wealthy enough to rent an apartment in a good neighborhood where his daughter wouldn’t fear for her life on a daily basis. I stalk the two paces from one side of the room to the other. The space isn’t big enough for both of us and my anger. “Fuck!”

After I’ve finished with him, Max won’t own a cent to his name.

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