Page 44 of Just a Little in Love

His dad leaned back in the chair and pushed his own half-eaten food away. “For fuck’s sake, Janice,” he muttered.

Rowan hissed in a surprised breath, and not just because that was the first time he’d ever heard his dad drop an F-bomb. “Mother,” he whispered. He looked at the checks, and then at a debit notation. It was for a first-class plane ticket and a luxury car hire in Phoenix for the weekend she told him she was going to see her boyfriend. The one with the little girl. And yet she scolded Rowan all the time when he needed so much as a new pair of shoes. He bought cheap clothes because she said he needed the money for his future, when all the time she’d been spending it. And all she’d had to do was ask. He’d have given her anything.

He sat back, stunned, almost as if someone had slapped him. She’d spent most of his life making Rowan feel guilty for supposedly ruining hers, and this whole time she was doing this. Tears burned his eyes, and he desperately wished Daddy was with him. He felt so stupid that he’d never ever asked.

“I’m sorry, son. It never occurred to me these expenses weren’t yours. I never see the credit cards themselves, so she must have opened them and just used your money to pay them off.”

“I suppose we need to go to the bank and stop her,” Rowan said, dreading the thought of it.

“She must have used the wrong card for the plane ticket by mistake. It’s the only reason we can see it, but it’s actually worse than that, Rowan,” his dad said, regretfully. “I don’t look at the account much, even though I can, because it’s your money and your business. I just checked the balance online this morning to make sure you had enough.”

Rowan smiled at that; in the midst of everything, his dad cared. “It would take some spending.” He gestured to the debit slip. “I’ve never been on a plane in my life.” His mother had never allowed him to go anywhere.

His dad hesitated, and that got Rowan’s attention. He looked sickened. “At least we know,” Rowan offered.

“Rowan, I went into the bank an hour ago when I saw the balance online, because I assumed there was a mistake. Late yesterday afternoon, you apparently initiated an online wire transfer from your account for the daily limit of a hundred thousand dollars. Because I do all my banking there, the daily limit is high. The account had one hundred and three thousand dollars in it, and the transfer and one of the checks you also supposedly wrote has pushed it three thousand dollars into the red.”

Completely stunned, Rowan couldn’t dredge up any reply.

“I apologize for thinking Gabriel might have had something to do with this, but this seems sudden and reckless even for her, unless she believed she would lose control over your accounts with the restraining order.”

“Yesterday?” Rowan asked. “After she violated the order?”

His dad muttered more curse words. “Of course.”

“But can’t you stop the transfer?” He wasn’t sure how it worked. His dad looked at his phone. “I could have then, but I needed to check it wasn’t you.”

“Or Gabe,” Rowan said in understanding, and swallowed down his tight throat. She’d stolen all that money when he’d have given it to her, anyway. At least at one point, he would have. All these years he’d thought she loved him. Was doing the best she could. It had been a harsh two weeks and didn’t seem to be getting any better.

“Let me make a quick call,” his dad said. Rowan listened while he called the bank, then as they couldn’t do anything, he called the detectives that had been involved in the case with the little girl.

“They want me to go in.” he said, ending the call, and glanced at his watch again. “Look, I’ll drop you back at your apartment. I need to go see what the hell’s going on.”

All the way back, Rowan tried to convince himself his dad wasn’t angry, or at least not with him, but he remembered all the times his dad had checked with him on weekends to ask if he was alright for cash, and Rowan—too ashamed to admit he couldn’t access any—had always said yes. If he’d had the guts to stick up for himself, this would never have happened. Rowan felt like he’d stolen the money himself. He wanted to tell his dad he was sorry, but it just sounded so pathetic. Rowan wasn’t a child, but he behaved like one. “Sorry,” he whispered after a long silence.

“There is no way in hell this is your fault,” his dad snapped out. But it was. If he’d taken control, been a damn grown-up, this would never have happened.

Rowan barely heard his dad as he got out of the car, but his dad was distracted as well, and promised to call him later. Then he came to a stop because Daddy’s car was in the driveway. He was home early.

Daddy. For a moment, he was so relieved he nearly raced up the steps. Daddy would take care of everything. He…and Rowan’s feet seemed to get stuck of their own accord on the first step as something cold seemed to settle in his belly. Was that why he wanted a Daddy? Because he was simply incapable of being a functioning adult? Was this whole thing with Mother his fault? He’d let her run his life, and he was an adult. Did that mean he just wanted someone else to do it because he was too pathetic to manage things on his own? Too lazy? And the worst thought. What if he didn’t really love Daddy? What if he just wanted someone to replace his mother?

Nausea flooded Rowan, and he slapped a hand over his mouth, turned, and rushed away. He didn’t have his car keys, just his new door key, but he wasn’t going inside for them. Because when Daddy found out how stupid and pathetic he’d been, he wouldn’t have to worry about not really loving Daddy, because Daddy wouldn’t want him, anyway.

Chapter twenty-three

Gabriel had just been about to call Rowan and say he had gotten out of work early when he got the text from Rowan saying he was meeting his dad. He was simultaneously disappointed and relieved. Happy he seemed to be repairing his relationship with Philip, but wished he was going to see his boy sooner. Gabriel rolled his eyes. He had it so bad. He was completely besotted with Rowan and couldn’t wait to spend the rest of their lives together.

And yes, that was instalove right there. He’d done a little bit of research for his second writing project and, with his own experience of BDSM and the stark vulnerability you often found in the scene, he knew deep connections were made quickly. He chuckled as he parked the car and ran up the steps. He really wanted to get their own place and although finances might be tight since he’d just quit his job, just because he couldn’t afford to build a house didn’t mean he couldn’t look for another rental better suited for them. That way, they could get a dog earlier. And the first stop for that would be the pound, or the shelter, whatever they called it. He had a feeling Rowan wanted to stay at home, and he wanted Rowan to have protection, and knew Rowan would love the hell out of a dog.

He would still have to look for something else though. He didn’t have the funds to last longer than around four months, and he supposed quitting had been irresponsible. Not that he could find it in him to regret it. They’d figure something out.

He opened the door and was immediately beset by how fucking empty it was. Rowan had only been there two weeks, and he missed him already. He had at least an hour before Rowan got home, and wondered if he’d read his books, eager and yet dreading his opinion. Maybe he could get some writing done now while he was waiting on him to get back?

Gabriel made himself a coffee, then he started looking for his e-reader. He wanted to read the books to get a feel for the story first, before he even thought about new words, and it took some hunting, but he finally found it in the desk he’d shoved under the window. There was only one drawer, and he pulled it out along with what must have been thirty pages of handwritten something. He started reading and his eyes widened. He didn’t recognize Rowan’s writing, but this had to be his, and from the look of it…he thumbed through the pages. Wow, it was almost like Rowan had done a developmental edit. Fuck, could Rowan be any more talented if he tried?

Gabriel sank down into his favorite chair and started reading his story along with the notes. After an hour, he stopped and simply rested his head back and stared at the ceiling. Rowan had nailed it. He’d known how Gabriel’s character should react to being betrayed by his best-friend and questioned Gabriel’s choice. He hadn’t liked that part and never knew why. Now he did. He’d gone for edgy over character development and that’s why it had seemed wrong.

Excited, he carried on reading both the story and the notes, and while there were some things he didn’t understand and would have to ask Rowan about, everything else Rowan had written was spot-on, and he envisioned cold winter nights with Rowan sprawled naked over his lap and well-fucked while they debated plot points. He chuckled. Maybe not.

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