Break Me Slowly (Shattered 1)

“Why?”

“Because I want you.”

“And what exactly do you want with me?”

“I thought we’d been over this.”

“So it is just about sex?”

“I can’t say for certain. You intrigue me and I’d like to spend time with you and get to know you better. How much better would be up to you.”

I thought about all those women he had been photographed with. Some weird anger I had no right to feel flared. “I’m not what you want, Adam.”

“I haven’t heard the word no come out of your mouth. Have dinner with me tonight.”

I flipped my planner open and checked my schedule. Since my office hours ended early today, I’d promised my six-year-old cousin Simon that I’d take him to the zoo for the afternoon. I’d have enough time afterward to shower and change before going to work. Though I would have loved to play hooky and go out to dinner with Adam, I couldn’t cancel work on short notice. I needed all the hours I could get anyway.

“I’m sorry, I can’t do dinner tonight.”

He was silent for a long moment. “Good-bye, Katelyn.”

The line went dead. Had I just turned down something I wouldn’t get a chance at again? The thought made me sick.

~

“You’re going to be here this weekend to help me set up for the party, right?”

I had just walked through my aunt Grace’s front door. “Yes, I’ll be here to help.”

Simon race down the stars and run toward me. He threw himself into my arms and I swept him up in a hug. “You ready to see the zoo, buddy?”

“Yeah!” Both his little hands shot into the air.

“Go get your coat.”

He took off for his room again.

“Zoo today? That’ll be fun for you two,” Grace said as she looked over the mail on the counter. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a bun and her khaki slacks were perfectly pressed. She was two years younger than my mother and looked similar. Grace didn’t have to work due to her husband’s success in real estate. She had been pregnant with Simon the summer I’d moved in with them. Going from my mother’s house to my aunt’s should have been a step up. But, like everything, it came with complications.

“Your uncle is looking forward to seeing you at the party.”

Bile rose in my throat. Tim St. Roy was married to my aunt, but I would never call him Uncle. There was something evil lurking in that man. In high school, right after I had moved in, he came home drunk one night and “accidentally” wandered into my room. I could still smell the whiskey on his breath and feel his sweaty hand run down my back.

I stifled a disgusted tremor. Being snuck up on while sleeping was something I was used to and the moment I’d felt his hands on me, I awoke throwing fists. He ran out of my room and the next day, made it very clear that if I told Grace, he would deny it. “Who do you think she’ll believe? Her husband or her crazy sister’s f**ked-up kid?”

He had been right. Grace wouldn’t have believed me, but the punch I’d landed on Tim’s face seemed to keep him out of my room. It didn’t, however, stop the sideways looks or the prickle of unease every time he was near. Anxiety crept up my spine and hummed through my bones just thinking about it.

“Have you talked to your mother recently?” Grace asked, pulling me out of my dark thoughts.

“Not in the last few weeks. Something wrong?”

Grace sighed and shook her head. “She was babbling something about getting kicked out of her apartment.”

“What? Why?” She paid her rent, mostly because I helped her. I wasn’t about to tell Grace that, though. She looked at my mother like something she’d scrape off the bottom of her designer shoe.

“I don’t know, Katelyn. I don’t even know if it’s the truth or another one of her scams.”

“Ready!” Simon shouted, running into the room again, this time with his coat.

Grace waved us off and, taking Simon’s hand, I looked forward to the next few hours with my sweet little prince. Because after that, I’d have to stop by my mother’s apartment and find out what the hell was going on.

~

I dropped off Simon. Unfortunately, we had cut the zoo trip short when Simon complained about his tummy hurting. He didn’t have a fever but he’d eaten pizza before I picked him up. Simon was lactose intolerant. Nothing serious, but it made him uncomfortable.

Driving north and finally getting inside Chicago city limits, I pulled up at my mother’s apartment complex. Her car wasn’t there, but a big SOLD sign was plastered to the side of her building.

In fact, the entire block of low-income apartments wore the same banner: Purchased by Kinkade Enterprises.

“No. Frickin. Way.”

Stepping on the gas, I drove with such furious intent that my vision blurred. It was four o’clock on a Friday evening. With only an hour before I had to be at work, I sped toward the one person I wanted to see…and demand answers from.

Chapter Five

My idea had been to burst into Adam’s office and demand to know why he’d bought out an entire block of apartment complexes, one of which housed my mother. But the Kinkade building was massive and security was tight. The front desk had to call up to another desk, which had to call Mr. Kinkade’s executive assistant which eventually led me to be escorted up to the 40th floor and private office of Adam Kinkade.

Okay, so my dramatic entrance didn’t pan out the way I had originally planned. But I was still fueled with anger so I slammed through his door and stomped in. The breath momentarily left me. He was sitting, cool and calm, behind a large desk with the skyline of Chicago as a backdrop, seeping with soul-shaking power.

He didn’t appear shocked or even annoyed. Granted, the fourteen calls from security to warn him of my impending wrath might have tipped him off.

“You can’t just—”

“Enough.” He put his hand up and stood, pushing his chair backward. A painful gulp stuck to my esophagus. Now he was pissed and I hadn’t even said a whole sentence.

He rounded the desk and stalked toward me. He wasn’t wearing his jacket. His dark blue vest and pants looked like the ocean at midnight and did crazy things for the color of his eyes. A long-sleeved white shirt and black tie completed the look. He stood before me, smelling like amazing cologne and money. The force of his presence hit me hard.

He was gorgeous. His perfectly combed black hair made me want to plunge my fingers through it and mess it up like I had the night at the restaurant. His face was like chiseled stone, and though he looked irritated, he was still starkly beautiful. His light blue eyes were such a dramatic contrast to his dark features it was breathtaking.