Page 26 of Claiming His Bunny
Aaron is still clutching the toy to his chest like his most prized possession, but he gives me a jerky nod.
Good, it seems like I’m still on his good side. “Well, let me see if I can guess it. Hmm…” Rubbing my chin, I pretend to think about it. “Whitee?” I tease, seeing the horse is pitch black. Aaron shakes his head. “Snowball? Snowflake? Snowman?” I continue. Aaron’s mouth twitches as if he’s fighting off a smile. “Come on, man,” I faux-groan. “This is hard. You need to help me out here. Polar? Iceberg?”
Still shaking his head, Aaron gives me a fleeting grin. It’s gone before I can savor it, but just the fact that it was there brings me immense joy. Communicating with Aaron might not be as hopeless as I thought it would be. Soon—
“What is the meaning of this?!” a voice bellows from the door. Aaron blanches and retreats to the farthest corner of the room, squeezing his eyes shut.
A man in a white coat marches into the room, slamming the door shut behind him, positively furious. I don’t need to read his nametag to know this would be Doctor Benjamin Adams.
At the moment, he doesn’t resemble an upstanding citizen. He looks like a bully ready to punch someone. Determined not to be kneeling in front of the bastard, I scramble onto my feet and grab my bag.
“Doctor Adams,” Michelle says, “we’re with the local CPS department, and we came here to talk to your son. I called you several times to arrange a meeting, but—”
“There will be no meetings,” Adams cuts her off, his deathly glare making me shudder. “I already told you, Aaron doesn’t like strangers. They stress him out.”
“The only person stressing your son out is you, Doctor Adams,” I point out. “We were doing just fine before you barged in here and started shouting.”
I force myself to calmly endure Adams’ furious look as he redirects his attention to me. “Who the hell do you think you are?” he says eventually, lowering his voice into a menacing snarl.
I don’t balk. In my personal life, I’m not the most assertive person. Nick loved sushi, and half of our dates were to sushi places. I never dared to tell him the thought of eating something raw made me nauseous. I just pushed through and kept smiling and nodding when he raved about the delicious rolls.
However, when it comes to children in danger, I’m the baddest bitch around. New York City lawyer sharks have nothing on me.
“I’m Kayla Reynolds from the Bluebell Springs CPS department,” I say, my voice pure steel. “As you’re well aware, there’s a suspicion that your son is being abused. We’re mandated to investigate every allegation.”
I don’t move an inch, even when Adams marches right in front of me, invading my personal space. I know he won’t lay a finger on me. He’s the damned chief of surgery here. He won’t assault someone in front of two witnesses and his own son. If he thinks his Neanderthal behavior will intimidate me, he’s got another thing coming.
The smell of urine reaches us. Adams glares over my shoulder at where his son is still cowering in the corner, then back at me. “See what you’ve done now? You’ve upset him! I’m taking my son home,” he says as he walks over to Aaron.
Heedless of Aaron’s mute protests and the wet stain on his pants, Adams grabs the boy’s arm and pulls him up to his feet. “This will have consequences, Kayla Reynolds,” he mutters, spitting my name out like a bite from a rotten apple.
I clench my fists to stop myself from reaching after Aaron and saving him from this arrogant bastard. I can’t do that, not like this.
“You’re off the case,” Adams says with a smirk. “Both of you,” he adds in Michelle’s direction. “You’ll be lucky to keep your jobs after traumatizing my son like this.”
Poor Aaron flails from side to side as Adams shakes his arm.
“You’re hurting your son, Doctor Adams,” I push through my gritting teeth.
“Am I?” His sneer is pure evil. “I don’t think so. I’m taking my beloved son home, where he’s safe. If I ever see you again, I’ll make sure that you not only get fired, but you’ll get fired in such a way you won’t ever get a job near children again.”
I cock my eyebrow. “Is that a threat?”
“No. That’s a fact.” Adams pushes his son out into the hallway, not caring in the slightest that everyone will see the wet stain on Aaron’s pants. Before he leaves, he glances at me again. “Like I said, Ms. Reynolds, this will have consequences.”
Chapter 16
Kayla
“… off the case,”Director Smith finishes with a sigh.
“Seriously?!” I don’t want to yell at my boss, but what the actual fuck? “How can you take us off the case?”
Smith heaves another sigh. “I don’t have a choice, Kayla. Doctor Adams filed an official complaint, and he spun it so well that my phone hasn’t stopped ringing since yesterday with people demanding I not just take you off the case but terminate your employment on the spot. I’m not going to do that,” she adds at my gasp of horror, “but you cannot keep working on Aaron’s case. I’m sorry, but my hands are tied on this.”
“Yeah, I figured something like this would happen,” Michelle says solemnly. “But Victoria, that boy literally wet himself the second his father barged into the room. There’s something terribly wrong in that relationship.”
“I know. Do you think I like this, Michelle? I don’t. But I have superiors, and Adams happens to be friends with them. The way he put it, it was all Kayla’s fault for terrorizing the boy. And yes,” she continues before I can voice my outrage, “I know that’s not what happened. But there’s literally nothing I can do now. Not officially, at least. Laurel will take over the intake.”
