Page 77 of Instant Bond

Bristling with anger, I could barely bite down on the urge to emerge from my hiding spot and give her a piece of my mind. Having my parenting skills and the safety of my child questioned and investigated wasn’tnothing.And booting us, along with all our neighbors, from our home wasn’t nothing either.

But from Lucas’ exasperated tone, and her frustrated one, I got the feeling that the nightmare was over. As much of a self-absorbed dick as he was, at least Lucas wasn’t relishing in my misery as I’d once thought.

“Well, you better hope he doesn’t,” he mused, in an annoying kind of sing-song voice. “Then again, it would probably begreat publicity for me. I just can’t believe my mother would do something so awful,” he added in a watery voice, full of crocodile tears. “I can’t imagine putting anyone through something so cruel. I just hope everyone respects my privacy right now, while I’m processing all this.”

“Consider yourself lucky that you look the way you do,” she told him flatly. “You could never make it as an actor.”

She suddenly sailed past me, thankfully not glancing in the direction where I was flattened against a wall, partially obscured by a leafy hedge.

“See you in there, Mommy Dearest,” he called after her.

My mother hadn’t been perfect, but she’d loved me and wanted the best for me. Even when I’d make mistakes, she hadn’t judged me or forced me to do anything I hadn’t wanted to do. She’d supported me no matter what. I couldn’t imagine growing up with a mom that could say anything like the things I’d just heard come from her mouth.

I’d gotten lucky with her not seeing me, but my luck ran out when a few moments later, Lucas made his way forward. Even though I held my breath and didn’t move, his face whipped toward me, locking onto me before he had fully passed by.

“Are you allowed out here without adult supervision?” He wondered mockingly.

“I’m 22, in case you didn’t know,” I said, frowning.

“You were seven when Karter and I graduated high school, in case you didn’t know.”

Part of me wanted to ask why he hated me so much, but the previous conversation had made it kind of clear he didn’t really care that much about me or even Karter, really. He was just a rude bully. And even if he didn’t really have feelings for Karter, I had to imagine it stung that someone like me had bagged a guy that had turned down someone like him.

“You realize I heard that whole conversation, right?”

He shrugged, raising his palms up to show he didn’t care. “I don’t have anything to hide. Do whatever you want. It’ll be her fault if she gets in trouble. But,” he continued. “She wasn’t kidding about the drawn out legal battle thing. She’ll fight you tooth and nail, even though she knows she was in the wrong.”

I exhaled deeply, my hands fisting into nervous knots at my sides. I didn’t want a long, drawn out legal battle. I didn’t want any kind of battle. I just wanted to nest with my alpha and my son, and block out all the awful people in the world like Marlena and Lucas Caldwell.

“Can you just be a decent human being and tell me one thing?” I asked. Maybe I was expecting too much of him. But I couldn’t let it go until I was sure I wouldn’t have to worry about my family being harassed. “Is she done screwing with me? Can we really let things go?”

He stared at me for so long that I wasn’t sure if he was really going to answer me. His features were so sharp and perfect. I wondered if my life would have been any easier if I’d had those kinds of genetics, and ultimately decided it wasn’t worth it.

“She’s obsessed with the idea of pimping me out to an alpha from a rich, successful family,” he said. His tone at the statement gave me a twinge of sympathy. Part of me hoped he would imprint on someone that could help tone down some of his bitterness. “But I told her I won’t cooperate with the Karter thing anymore, so she’ll move on to the next one. Particularly because keeping your hand on your stomach like that is pretty much a dead giveaway that you’re in adelicate condition,” he said condescendingly, making air quotes with his fingers for the last two words in his statements. I blushed, letting my hand drop. I hadn’t even realized I’d been doing it.

“Okay,” I said. It was incredibly annoying that this asshole knew about my pregnancy before Karter’s parents, but it looked like he didn’t enjoy having the knowledge as much as I didn’tenjoy him having it. “If you don’t think she’s going to do anything else, then I’ll let it go.”

“I already said I don’t care. Go blather to your boyfriend about it.”

His words were harsh, but I couldn’t forget the fact that he hadn’t been forced to answer me at all. Whether he admitted it or not, he’d deliberately appeased my concerns so I could move on. I wondered if maybe his cruel attitude was a way to protect himself from people who wanted to use him for his looks and wealth, kind of like how Karter was to anyone who wasn’t me or Ty.

“Well… Thanks.” I didn’t know what else to say.

“Cameron?” Karter’s voice rang out from behind me, and I turned to see him walking up behind us. “I was worried you’d fallen on the ice out here. What’s taking so long?” His eyes narrowed as he turned the corner to see Lucas face-to-face with me. “What’s going on?” He demanded, gaze darting between the two of us. “Did he do something to you?” His question was directed at me.

“No,” I said quickly, putting my hand on his arm. He was more protective and more reactive to perceived slights against me these days. “We were just talking. Everything’s fine,” I promised him.

“Yeah,” Lucas agreed, though his tone was irritatingly mocking. “We were just talking. Don’t have a cow, Daddy,” he added as he glided past us toward the entrance to the house, giving Karter a smug expression.

“You told him?” He asked me incredulously.

“No,” I said, frowning. “He guessed or something. It doesn’t matter,” I added quickly. “He’s not the one who made the report about Ty, or who bought my old apartment.”

Karter’s eyebrows furrowed together as he processed my words. “Are you sure? How do you know? If he didn’t do it, then who-”

I laid my hand on his chest, shaking my head. “It doesn’t matter right now. I’ll explain everything when we get home.” I didn’t want to ruin the party for him, or cause a scene to ruin it for everyone else. “But I think everything’s going to be okay now. We don’t need to worry about anything else happening.”

He tilted his head curiously at me, but I could tell he accepted my answer. My instincts told me we were safe, and that we could move on from this whole mess and start building our lives together.

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