Page 80 of Soul Bound

Class acts all around, it would seem.

My stomach rolls. Not only is Sterling auctioning off infants, but he also has women with him.God.

“I get a cut of the proceeds. I’ve helped them find venues for the auctions for the past twenty years. I don’t ask questions; I just get a large suitcase of money at the end of the night—it works out well for both of us.”

“And how well do you think it works out for the babies? Or the women?” I snap. “Have you ever wondered where the babies come from? Where I came from?”

Cyrus shrugs.He shrugs. “No. I never put much thought into it.”

“You’re disgusting.” I just stare at him, completely at a loss. “How do I get into the penthouse?” I ask after I collect my thoughts.

“You need a special key card,” he explains. “The elevator won’t go up there without one.”

“Doyouhave a key card?”

“I do.” He nods but does not move to get it for me.

I wave my hand at him. “Hello? I’m not asking you for shits and giggles, I need it. Hand it over.”

Cyrus stuffs his hands in the pockets of his slacks and glowers at me, “If I give it to you and they find out, they’re going to kill me.” He sounds a lot like Adam when I demanded he show us Sterling’s database.

I purse my lips and pretend I’m really thinking it over. “You know what, I’ve weighed the pros and cons, and I’ve decided I don’t care.”

He looks taken aback by my confession, even staggering back a step. “When did you turn so heartless?” he asks.

“I’m not heartless. I care about a lot of people and things—that’s what got me into this whole predicament. You just aren’t worthy of my time or love. Just like I wasn’t worthy of yours.” I put my hand out flat in front of me. “The key card, give it to me.Now.”

He pulls a shiny gold card out of his pocket, he starts to place it into my palm but pauses. “You might get both of us killed.”

I meet his gaze. “Then we’ll get what we both want, right?”

He places the card into my hand with a sigh. I take it and step away from him. He scrubs his hands over his face before looking me over once more. “Goodbye Winslow.”

He starts to walk to the door, but I can’t let him leave yet. I need to ask first.

“Why go through the trouble of purchasing me when you clearly didn’t want children?” I question. It doesn’t make sense to me. The hatred and disgust he feels for me, why would he ever bring a child into his home when he had no interest in being a father.

He looks over his shoulder at me. “I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but there was a time I loved Emily so much I would have done anything for her. She couldn’t carry a child to term, she kept losing the pregnancies. It was breaking her, and she wanted a baby so bad. She turned cold and started drinking and popping those damn pills. I thought if I got her a baby, she would get better. But having you in the house only made it worse. I don’t know if it’s because you weren’t biologically ours or what, but she just never bonded with you. I even went through all the trouble of finding a baby with similar features as us, so no one would question whether you were ours or not. It didn’t help.” He lets out a breath. “As for me, having a baby was never something I wanted. I was just trying to make my wife happy.”

I have to stay strong because I refuse to allow my mother and him to destroy another part of me. I refuse to allow myself to succumb and wallow in the pain that is filling my chest right now. I refuse to let them keep making me feel like I’m incapable of loving orbeingloved. It’s because of them that I felt broken, but I’m slowly learning that it wasn’t my fault. It wasn’t anythingIdid. They were just incapable of loving me.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not worthy of someone’s love. Because I am.

I steady myself and meet his gaze. “I hope you and Emily are happy now that I’m gone. You guys won’t ever have to see me again,” I promise. And more importantly, I won’t have to see them. “Goodbye.”

He nods his head and leaves the bathroom. When the door opens, I see Ranger snarl at him, his gaze full of hate as my dad slips past him. My dad jerks back when he sees Ranger and makes the wise choice to give the pissed off wolf shifter a wide berth.

I quickly follow him out of the bathroom and walk toward Ranger, who is still glowering at Cyrus’s back. “Hey,” I say softly, trying to regain his attention. “He’s not worth it.” I reach up and grip his chin, forcing him to turn his head to me.

“I heard everything he said to you.” His eyes are like angry whirlpools when they finally look down at me. “They may have been unable or unwilling to love you, but that doesn’t mean everyone else can’t.”

“I know.” I smile. “I’m starting to understand that now.”

“I mean it, Arizona.” He presses his forehead to mine. “You’re worth loving. You’re sofuckingworth it.”

I place my hand on his cheek and lean up to kiss him softly. I don’t have the words yet, but I can show him. His hand tangles in my long hair, but he doesn’t deepen the kiss. He just kisses me back, just as softly as I’d kissed him. I can physically feel the emotion pouring out of both of us.

I pull away from him and beam at him. “Let’s go get our girl?” I wave the key card at him.

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