29. Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Eight
Kayleigh
“E rik it isn’t necessary,” I tell him as he drives me to school. My parents went home last week. I was surprised when I went to find my security guards this morning and Erik was waiting for me with the keys in his hand. When he told me he was taking me, I tried to tell him my security could bring me instead. He said I was his woman and he could bring me to school whenever he wanted to.
So much for trying to not stand out. Granted, coming with my army of guards doesn’t help, but having Erik drop me off will put me in the spotlight.
“Yes, it is. I have to let these horny fuckers know that you are mine.”
“And you think showing up with me with your army of guards will do that?”
“They better hope so or I’ll be disposing of the bodies.”
“You can’t kill people if they show an interest in me.”
He raises an eyebrow. “You want to bet?”
I shake my head; he just squeezes my hand that he has resting on his thigh. He keeps rubbing his thumb against my ring finger. Weird.
I get so lost in thoughts of today’s classes and upcoming assignments, I jolt when my door is opened. “Ready, seamrag bhea ?”
“Yes,” I say accepting his hand as he helps me down from the SUV. He hands me my bag and takes my hand again.
“What are you doing?”
“Walking you to class.”
“How do you…? I should have guessed you knew where all my classes are.”
“Of course I do. How else do you expect me to keep you safe?” he says lifting our entwined hands and kissing the back of mine.
“Laying it on thick, aren’t you?”
“This is nothing. I’m allowed to care for you, so hush, woman. Less sass.”
“Now why would I do that?”
“Because you decided not to give me hell today?” he asks hopefully.
“Nope. You wanted the real me, and this is it. So either you deal with the sass or I can go somewhere else.”
“Do I need to give you another punishment like last night?” he asks, raising his eyebrow at me. I immediately squeeze my thighs together. No thinking dirty thoughts when I have classes for the next few hours.
“Nope. I’m good.”
“Thought so, but I promise when you get home, I will help you release any stress you have with your ankles up by your head.”
“Erik! You can’t say shit like that out in public.”
“You think I can’t? Too bad. I can and I will. I have no shame over enjoying fucking you and will keep fucking you until the day I die.”
“I swear to god, if you don’t shut up, I’m putting duct tape over your mouth,” I tell him angrily; he just chuckles as we continue walking to class. I look behind me and see we have six armed men following us.
“Six men? Tell me some are here for you,” I say but his silence speaks volumes.
“Seriously? Six men. You’re taking your overprotective Viking bullshit a bit far, don’t you think?”
“Absolutely not,” he says. When we get to my classroom, I try to wave and walk inside, but he spins me until we are face-to-face.
“Erik…” I try to warn him not to, but the smirk on his face tells me this fucker is going to do what he wants. With his hands cupping my face, he lifts my head as he lowers his. At first his lips gently brush against mine; I can’t help but moan as I feel every inch of him. What I wouldn’t give to say fuck it to my classes and let him fuck me. Erik doesn’t waste a moment when my lips open and dives his tongue into my mouth. He pulls away and a whimper leaves my lips.
He pecks them before taking a step back. “I would love nothing more than to keep kissing those sinful lips, but I have a meeting to get to and you have class.”
“I know,” I say, giving him a smile.
“Your guards are staying here; I will be back after your classes to pick you up before we go out to eat. I need to spoil both of you,” he tells me while he lays his hand on my stomach.
“Why don’t you yell it?”
“I can.”
“I was joking, please don’t. You know how I hate being the center of attention.”
“I know, seamrag bhea. I will see you in a few hours. If you need me, call me.”
“I promise.”
“Good.” He gives me one final peck before whispering, “I love you—both of you,” in my ear. I turn and walk into my class, taking a seat toward the front of the room. I hear a chair scrape nearby as I get my books out of my bag.
“Who are you?” I hear from the seat next to me.
“Kayleigh, and you are?”
“Sarah. What are you doing with Erik Duncan?”
“He is the father of my baby.”
“Oh, so you are just a whore he knocked up?”
“What I am or am not to Erik isn’t any of your business. You don’t know me, and I don’t know you, but by the way you are talking to me, I don’t want to know you.”
“You don’t get to come in here and talk to me like that because you opened your legs to Erik Duncan. You don’t know who I am.”
“You’re right. I don’t and don’t care.”
“My daddy is the dean of the school.”
“Okay, and…?”
“I could have you kicked out. If you’re smart, you will learn to do as I say.”
“I’d like to see you try. Go ahead and ask Daddy-dearest to kick me out. But if he does, I can promise you the big donation my father made will be no longer be available.”
“Quit lying.”
“Does the name Peter O’Sullivan ring any bells?” I watch and she doesn’t give a reaction. “Go ahead and call your daddy; see what he says.”
I watch as she pulls her phone out, dials, and waits for an answer. “Daddy, I have a new girl who needs to be kicked out. She is so mean and nasty.” She pauses to listen. “She says her father is Peter O’Sullivan.”
I hear her father get louder on the phone before she says, “I didn’t do anything, she was just being a whore and kissing an older man in the hallway. It’s trashy and we have class at this school. I was just protecting our school’s image.” I cringe when her father starts screaming at her over the phone.
“No, I will not. It’s not my fault she is a rich whore.” More yelling. She is going to have one killer headache after this.
“I said no, Daddy. Try to make me, and I tell Mom about your little secret.” She smiles in triumph when he quiets down.
“Glad we can come to an agreement,” she says, hanging up the phone before turning back to me.
“This is your only warning: get in line or suffer the consequences.”
I give her a sugary sweet smile. “Oh, sweetheart. You think your little consequences are a threat? You have no idea the reputation my family has back in Ireland. If you did, you wouldn’t be threatening me, you would be kissing my ass, afraid of what my family would do to you. And if you think they don’t have any reach here in Scottland, you are mistaken.”
“You will do what I want,” she sneers at me. knocking my books off my desk before walking back to her seat.
“Real fucking mature,” I mumble. I pick my books up and ignore the whispers and slut-shaming comments during the rest of the lesson. It’s obvious Sarah gets away with whatever she wants because of her father being the dean and the blackmail she has over him.
After class, I go to the cafeteria to grab something to eat, only to have one of the guards walk up to me. “Mr. Duncan had the chef make you something to eat and bring it here.”
“Thank you. Will you be sure to thank them both as well?”
“Of course, Miss O’Sullivan.” I sit down and enjoy the beef soup with barley, root vegetables, and herbs. The chef knows me so well he also packed warm bread with butter. I swear, I would marry the chef for his cooking skills alone.
Not sure if Erik would be okay with that. Granted, he has been great. When I have random cravings, he is more than willing to make sure I get whatever I want. I’m not demanding; I usually try to get up and make things myself, but the man has a damn sixth sense, and if I step one foot out of bed, he is up asking what I’m doing and what I need.
I take another bite of the soup and close my eyes, enjoying it as the different flavors dance around on my tongue. My mind thinks backs to what Sarah said about how I am just a rich whore. Erik says he wants me, but does he really? What if it is because of the baby?
My mood sours when I think about the past couple months. He hasn’t pushed again for moving our relationship further. Maybe I was right all along, and all I am is his baby mama. He seems to have distanced himself from me at home, but then what was that kiss? Him being possessive for what reason? Because he knocked me up? What is going to happen after the baby is born? Will he kick me out?
He needs to tell me these things because I need to find a place and get other things in line. No way will I go back to Ireland when my baby lives here in Scottland, and I could never be cruel to Erik or my baby and take them away from each other.
After my next class, Erik is waiting outside my classroom door. I force a smile when I see him. He looks at me with his brows furrowed together. “Are you okay?”
“Of course. How was your day?”
He doesn’t answer for a moment but then says, “I got what I needed to get done. I thought it would take longer, so I sent food for you. Are you alright with going straight home?”
“Yes,” I say. He intertwines our fingers together and leads me toward the SUV. The ride home is filled with tension. I can see Erik staring at me from the corner of my eye, but I refuse to look at him. If he pushes right now, I am likely to explode. I need to get into the shower and scream it out before talking to him.
Swallow it down. You may be hurt, but if he doesn’t want you, there is nothing you can do about it. I will never beg a man to want me. They either want me for who I am or they don’t. And I won’t change who I am for a man.
Thankfully when we get inside, Erik is stopped by Grant. I use the distraction to quickly make my way into the bedroom. I drop my bag on the desk chair. I close and lock the bathroom door behind me. Turning the hot water on, I strip out of my clothes, not even waiting for the temperature to warm up before I step in. I shiver and rub my hands up and down my arms. It doesn’t take long for it to become warm.
I lean my head against the wall, my thoughts running wild.
“WHY? WHY CAN I NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH?” I scream and bang my fists on the wall. “ALL I WANT IS TO BE LOVED. AAAHHHHHHH! WHY AM I SO UNLOVABLE? I WISH THAT MOTHERFUCKER NEVER TRIED TO RAPE ME AND HAILEY NEVER TRIED TO STAB ME IN THE BACK. I WOULDN’T BE AS FUCKING brOKEN. I ACTUALLY MIGHT BE HAPPY. FUCKING HAPPY. IT’S ALL I FUCKING WANT!” I scream everything out until my voice gets hoarse, and then I sink to my ass, bringing my legs as close to my chest as possible and letting out a wail. From the deep pain of realizing no one will ever love me. Who would love a damaged single mom?
“KAYLEIGH! OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR!”
“Just leave me alone.”
“This is your only warning, open the door or I’m coming in.”
“I’ll be out soon. Just leave me be,” I say, crying and laying my head on my knees. I shiver as the water turns off, but a warm towel is wrapped around me. I gasp as Erik lifts me into his arms.
“No,” I say and try to push him away.
“You are not pushing me away. Stop,” he says as he sets me on the bed and holds my hands in one of his hands.
“What happened? You were happy when I dropped you off at class, and when I picked you up, I knew something was wrong.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I say, looking away from him.
“No. Don’t you dare look away from me. Something happened. You are going to tell me, otherwise me and my men will be storming into that school tomorrow morning and demanding answers. The Mafia way,” he tells me, pinching my chin between his thumb and forefinger.
“No, you can’t do that.”
“I can and I will. So unless you want innocent people to witness the bloody massacre that I will create at your school, I’d advise you to tell me what happened.”
“Please just drop it.”
“You know I’m not going to.”
“Fine. Someone said something, and it made me think.”
“What they say?”
“That I’m just the whore you knocked up.”
“THEY SAID FUCKING WHAT?” he yells. He steps away and starts pacing for a moment but then stares hard at me.
“Please tell me you don’t believe that bullshit.”
“What am I supposed to believe? I’m here because of the baby.”
“Fuck! No, Kayleigh. You were coming home before that, regardless of whether you wanted to or not. When I found out you were on that date, I decided to push my plans up a few weeks.”
“But…”
“No. You wanted to talk crazy and believe some stupid, jealous bitch. Now you are going to sit there and be quiet while I talk, and if you don’t, I will gag you,” he says, pointing to the closet where he keeps all our toys. Nope. I don’t need to be turned on while we discuss this.
“We will get to that later,” he says with a knowing look. Damn him and damn my pregnancy hormones making me always want Erik’s cock.
“The moment you looked up at me from that cage, I knew you were special. Hell, even before that. I wanted you as soon as I saw your picture. And as time went on, I fell for you faster and faster. I love you so fucking much. I know you have a hard time believing that because of how you have been used in the past.” He pauses, walks into his closet, and a minute later comes out with nothing.
Weird.
He kneels in front of me. “The only things I ever wanted from you are your loyalty and love. I don’t care about your family and their connections.”
I open my mouth, but he puts his finger over my lips. “No. I wouldn’t give a damn if tomorrow I lost all my money and power. As long as I had you and our baby by my side, I would still feel like the richest man in the world. With you by my side now, I am already the richest man in the world.”
“How can you love me? You know what they have done to me.”
“Exactly, what they did to you. You never asked them to abuse you. And look at you. Each day you get up and push yourself to get better. You are so fucking strong and brave. I’m so fucking proud of you,” he says.
I can’t help the tears that start to fall from my cheeks.
“I wanted to do this tonight over a romantic dinner, but you need to know where I see us going.” He pauses and adjusts himself so he is on one knee.
“Kayleigh Louise O’Sullivan, will you make me the luckiest man in this world and marry me?”