Corruption - Leigh Lennon Page 0,67
but a strong connection is growing fast between us.
Rain barrels into me when I open the door, and like her mother, she has darker features, though she has an olive complexion like her birth father, Dennis, who, according to Maddox, is the biggest loser he’s ever known.
She squeezes me, her little arms attempting to encircle me. I stroke her dark ebony hair. “Hey, baby. I’m so glad you’re here. I made you your favorite. Cinnamon rolls.”
She jumps up and down, and I love the innocence of kids. “Hell, girl, you’re spoiling the S-H-I-T out of my brother!”
She brings me in for a hug, and I reply, “That’s the point.”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it. Just a little jealous I don’t have it.” She laughs with her retort, but I don’t doubt her words. Of the little I know from Maddox, her ex is still a holy living terror. “Come on, I need some sweetness and coffee to get over the nauseating love you two have.”
She makes her way in the kitchen, helping herself to the coffee, when I scoop up a large gooey cinnamon roll for Rain. “Thanks, Jewel,” she replies and sits down at the table. I watch her with so much interest because I’ve always loved kids with a passion. I spent most of my Sundays in the nursery at church or teaching Bible stories to the younger kids.
“I adore her, Calla. You’ve done a good job.” She slides into a chair at the island, doctoring her coffee and taking a sizable bite of her breakfast.
She looks behind her to gaze at her child, then brings her focus back to me. “Yeah, she’s a great child. She’s funny, sweet, and very caring. I’m lucky.”
“I’m sure a lot of that has to do with her mother.” Calla shrugs her shoulders.
“Um, maybe, it didn’t help having Dennis in her life for two years. But I barely hear from him…” She lowers her voice to a whisper. “Now that he’s signed over custody to me, and I don’t require child support. But he’s not completely done making my life hell.”
It’s sad, really. I’ve heard Calla and Maddox talk about their own father in the past, and how they’d long for more time with him, yet there are fathers like Dennis out in the world. My thoughts race to my father and my hope of one day repairing our relationship.
“So do you mind me asking a blunt question?” I look over at Rain who in the course of a couple of minutes has finished her breakfast, somehow retrieved an iPad out of nowhere, and has headphones on.
“Yeah, she’s a ninja like that.” We both give a small little laugh. “Sure, ask away.”
“What is the story with you and Anton?” Her expression doesn’t change as if she’s been expecting this intrusive comment.
She takes in a deep breath. “That’s a story in which I’ll need more than just coffee. But the skinny of it all is we have history.”
“Well, that’s as obvious as the coffee in front of you,” I add with a little chuckle.
“Yeah, I chose wrong. Simple as that.” She sips her coffee, and I want to delve deeper, but I can sense the immediate shift in her mood, and how she’s gone from smiles to a tightness in her jaw as she stares out into space. “But I have Rain, and she’s all I need.”
Her smile returns with the mention of her daughter’s name, and we spend the rest of the morning chatting about makeup, cooking, clothing, and all the girly things the two of us love.
Maddox is still very dominant. I find the one thing that gives him most pleasure in our relationship, besides tying me to the St. Andrew’s cross or caning me, is picking out my clothes each day.
When I get out of the shower, he’s laid out my outfit for the night. I love that one simple act of obedience gives him the most joy. He rarely wants me to kneel unless we are in play, but he still enjoys me walking around the house naked. Unless I have to study, then apparently, my nudity distracts him too much.
We’re never far from one another. He’ll sit with me in my little alcove and read his own books while I study. If I cook, he’s always at the island talking to me, and because I’m not allowed to be by myself because of Drake Danner, I’ll sit in his office and study as he works.
Cady, a former SWAT officer,