Chapter 6 Adrianna
ADRIANNA
My butt stings. I imagine a pink handprint on my skin, but no matter how much I twist in front of the mirror, I can’t see my butt.
It was predawn when I snuck out of Bronn’s room. He had already left to patrol the grounds. I think it was the door shutting behind him that woke me.
I laid listening to the house for signs my mother was awake, but I couldn’t hear anything. If she saw me coming out of his room, she’d go ballistic.
Which is exactly what I wanted up until about the moment Bronn threw me over his lap and spanked me.
My cheeks flush just thinking about his hand hitting my flesh, and there’s a sharp tug in my core. I’ve never done anything like that before. I’ve never done much of anything sexual. It was so unexpected, so raw. And the way he looked after me afterward made me feel cared for and special.
He told me I’m his, and I’m starting to believe it.
I thought causing a scandal here would make my father come back, but now that’s the last thing that I want.
I spend the morning in my room, catching up on college work. I didn’t really get kicked out. It’s just another lie I told my dad, hoping to get through to him.
The dean gave me a leave of absence as long as I got work from my professors. Engineering is a difficult course, and I can’t afford to fall behind.
Even though I long to see Bronn, to feel his lips on me, to feel his hands on me, I make myself stay in my room and study.
I’ve been interested in engineering ever since I was a little girl playing in Dad’s office. I loved the technical drawings he had lying about the place, and I’d sneak in to hear him talk about oil pipes and trace my fingers on a map of where they were.
I never wanted to do anything else, despite my mother’s efforts to get me into something more ladylike—her words, not mine. She wanted me to study literature or art history, something appropriate for a trophy wife. Smart, but not too smart.
It’s unbelievable to her that I actually want a career of my own, a vocation.
It’s after midday when I leave my textbooks on the desk and stand up to stretch. My stomach rumbles, and I realize I haven’t had anything to eat since last night.
I go to the window, expecting to see Bronn at the gate. I’ll take him some lunch and we can eat together.
He’s not there, and a tremor of disappointment goes through me. But he’s probably just doing his rounds. I’ll make a lunch for him anyway.
Mom’s in the kitchen gripping the back of a chair and staring into the garden. I stop when I see her. She looks even more tense than usual, and it makes me feel uneasy.
“You want some lunch?” I ask.
“Not since your father left.”
I’m used to Mom’s odd remarks that don’t make sense, so I ignore it and grab the bread.
“I said I don’t want any,” she says as I lay four slices of bread on the counter.
“I know. I’ll take a sandwich to Bronn.”
She frowns at me, obviously not sure who Bronn is.
“The security guard,” I clarify.
A satisfied smile spreads across her face. “He won’t be needing lunch today.”
She’s looking at me in a funny way that starts warning bells ringing.
“Why not?”
“Because I let him go.”
I stare at her, not sure I heard correctly.
“You fired the security guard?”
Mom smiles smugly. “I didn’t like the way he was looking at you.”
My heart jumps in my throat, wondering if she saw us last night. But she hasn’t called me a whore yet, so she can’t have.
Also, I’m not sure I can believe her. Mom wouldn’t fire someone who’s here to protect us, would she? But then, she doesn’t know about the threats. She doesn’t understand why Bronn’s here.
“You can’t just fire the security guard. He’s here to protect us. Dad will go nuts.”
Which is what I wanted, isn’t it? To create a crisis so Dad will come home? Well, here’s the crisis.
“Your dad isn’t here, so I’m making the decisions.”
Which never goes well. The way Mom is looking at me, I’m starting to believe she really did this. She really did fire Bronn. Dread fills my stomach.
“When did he go?”
I start out of the kitchen, hoping to catch him. He must know not to believe anything Mom says. If he has any sense, he’ll be holed up in his room and would have already called my father.
“He’s gone. I marched him off the grounds this morning.”
This morning. While I was studying, Mom was taking both our lives in her hands.
“I chased him out of the grounds with a rolling pin.” She smiles smugly, and if it wasn’t so serious, I’d find it funny. A crazy woman running a big, burly ex-military man off the premises.
“I saw you leave his room this morning, Adrianna.”
Oh shit. My stomach drops. If she saw us, then she probably did chase him off with a rolling pin.
Her face goes hard, and I feel like a kid again, getting in trouble with Mom.
“I saw you sneaking out of his room in nothing but his t-shirt. You think I’d let him stay after he ravaged my daughter?”
This is what I wanted, isn’t it? To cause a scandal so Dad has to come back home? But I don’t feel triumphant. It’s all going wrong. I don’t want Bronn to leave anymore. I want him here where he can keep us safe.
“Does Dad know?”
Mom waves her hand dismissively. “You know what your father’s like. He overreacts. We don’t need someone watching over us like we’re prisoners.”
Except we do. My father might not be the best family man, but if he got a security guard to look over Mom, then the threat is serious.
I stand up from the table, my chair falling backward. The sound of it hitting the floor makes Mom wince.
“You need to tell Dad what’s happened.”
“And let him know his daughter’s a whore? I won’t do that to him.”
Oh, great. Back to me being a whore. This is the last thing I need right now. “I’m not a whore, Mom.”
But she’s not listening.
“Nothing but a little slut.”
Her face screws up in disgust, but I refuse to feel shame for what me and Bronn did. We’ve got a real connection. I know it. And it doesn’t make me a slut. But there’s no use arguing with Mom. I know she doesn’t mean it. I have to believe she doesn’t mean it.
I flee the room with her tirade behind me. I know it’s her mental state making her say those things, but it doesn’t mean they sting any less.
I need to find Bronn. I need to know where he’s gone. I don’t have a number for him, but there might be something in his room.
A few minutes later, I’m staring at a fleet of monitors. They show the property from all angles and even the outside. There’s a dark car parked up across the road. The window’s down, and the driver’s wearing distinctive sunglasses.
Bronn. He must have known I’d see him.
Racing to the front gate, I punch the combination into the keypad. As the gates swing open, I don’t notice the other car cruising slowly along the street.