Punished - A Dark Billionaire Romance

Her shoulders slump a little and she looks down. “My mom’s boyfriend. His name’s Ronnie. He’s been drinking more lately. I shouldn’t have even gone back after last week, but I went there today.”

I feel a guilty surge of relief to hear it wasn’t her boyfriend. Maybe she isn’t seeing anyone after all, but now isn’t the time to press the issue. I stay quiet while she explains how her mom has been trying to get money for a vacation out of her for weeks now. And how she tried to give them as much as she could afford last week, but it ended with Ronnie knocking her to the ground. Apparently, when she went back to try to talk her mom into leaving Ronnie this morning, he came home, overheard, and hit her.

I listen to her whole story with my hands clenched, jaw tight, and my eyes hard. “Where is he now?” I ask. My voice is quiet, controlled, and deadly.

She looks at me warily. “He’s with my mom still, but please, don’t hurt him. He may deserve it, but it’s not going to solve anything. Whatever you do to him is just going to trickle down to my mom. If you kick his ass, he’ll kick hers.”

She’s right, of course, but it doesn’t mean I can’t make him pay.

“Fine. You’ll come with me. You can supervise.”

“What?”

“Come on. We’re going now.”14EmmalineLogan parks his ridiculously out of place Aston Martin in front of my mom and Ronnie’s trailer. I follow him to the front door. As much as it feels good to finally have someone in my corner who wants to protect me, I’m just as scared about how fast this could all get out of control. Ronnie isn’t used to being stood up to. In fact, he has made a point of building a life where he only has to deal with people who are too afraid to talk back to him.

And Logan… well, Logan definitely doesn’t tolerate being talked back to. My still sore ass can attest to that. I haven’t seen him interact with others much, but I have a feeling he doesn’t just get what he wants when it comes to me.

I steal a look at him. He looks gorgeous in the navy blue suit he wears. He’s wearing a white dress shirt unbuttoned to show a bit of his tanned chest beneath. His dark hair is pushed to the side and his features are sharp and beautiful.

Ronnie opens the door and takes us both in with a sweep of his bloodshot eyes. “Who the fuck is this?”

Logan doesn’t wait for an invitation. He steps inside, having to slam his shoulder into Ronnie’s as he passes, but not seeming to mind. Ronnie reaches to grab Logan’s shoulder, but Logan turns, knocking Ronnie’s hand away with his forearm. I think things are about to escalate, however after a quick staring match, Ronnie spits on the ground and brushes some imaginary dust from where Logan touched him. “Carla, Emmaline is here.”

My mom emerges from the tiny bedroom of the trailer, eyes tired and sleepy, even though it’s almost six in the afternoon. She looks sad to see me. Ronnie has been crossing new lines, and I think even my mom is starting to realize it’s too much. She may want to milk me for every penny she can get, but she still loves me and tries to protect me in her own way. I don’t forgive her selfishness, but I recognize there is a sort of love between us, and I don’t have enough of that in my life to throw it away so easily.

“This is Logan Steel,” I say a little awkwardly, looking between my sleepy mom and the clearly pissed-off face of Ronnie.

Logan stands almost an inch above Ronnie, and it looks painfully clear that he would wipe the floor with Ronnie in a fist fight. I’m still wishing with all I have that it doesn’t come to that. I know for a fact Ronnie will just take it out on my mom when we’re gone. I already see the hint of a bruise on her arm and the way her upper lip is a little swollen at one corner. I’ve tried calling the cops on him before, but my mom always claims the injuries were from accidents, so nothing ever happens. Ronnie just gives it to her that much harder the next time.

“You did this?” asks Logan as he points to my swollen cheek.

Ronnie sniffs dismissively. “No. Emmaline did that when she ran her fucking mouth.”

I’m still a little shocked to see Ronnie so openly hostile toward me. For the two years my mom has known him, he has always at least made an effort to ingratiate himself with me. Even though I knew it was always just in preparation for when I was allowed to collect my trust fund, it masked the real man beneath. The petty, angry, and abusive man standing before me.