His to Save (Chicago Steam) by Genni Bee

Author:Genni Bee [Bee, Genni]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-08-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Neal

Before the shitstorm that hit me after my wife's death, I would never have guessed in a hundred years that I’d be held hostage by a teenager.

But here I was. Totally fucked.

Madeline tapped her foot on the ground, happily chomping a wad of gum as Church glanced around the close quarters of the store.

“Why are we here again?” I asked, running a finger down the seam of a navy blazer that Madeline had just thrust into my arms.

“Because you like my mom.”

My stomach flipped over. I wasn’t sure whether it was because of how close that was to the truth, or the fact that Madeline was now eyeing a loudly printed button-down that I would rather burn than wear. I cleared my throat. “Everyone likes your mom. She’s very likable.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be obtuse. You know what I mean.”

“I don’t.”

“You like her. I can tell. And while you’ve got this whole rugged, sad-puppy thing going that maybe she’ll love, it’s time to make you over a little.”

Church coughed into his hand, clearly disguising a laugh. I glared at him before turning my attention back to my captor. “What does that mean?”

Madeline held up three fingers, ticking them down with each word. “Hair. Clothes… Then we’ll get to work on your sunshine demeanor.”

I glanced down at myself. “I’ve always been like this.”

“Have you always looked like this?”

“No,” I answered honestly before I could check myself. But I was being truthful. Before I’d given everything up, I’d been happy in my body, my clothes, my house. I thought I knew what I wanted, and I’d loved what I did for a living.

But now, well, I was a worthless shell of that man. And for good reason. Finding out that she’d taken not only the best years of my life, but everything that was about to be my future in one swoop had been too much. It had been easier to walk away, to turn into nothing.

Madeline grinned, looking suddenly like her mother. “Consider it my gift to you, for saving my mom.” She held up a credit card, waving it slightly in front of my face.

“I refuse to let a child pay for me.”

Madeline swatted the air, a laugh filling the room. “Oh God, of course not, I stole this from my uncle. He’s a money hoarder and has more of it than God. He won’t even notice.”

“Which uncle?”

Madeline grinned at me, the picture of mischief. “Will.”

I grinned a little. “Alright, I can get behind that.”

“Really?”

I shrugged, my arms full of clothes. “Really, really.”

She squealed, grabbing my elbow and towing me farther inside the store. Several hours, countless hundreds of dollars later, we strolled farther down the street. Madeline was sandwiched between Church, who turned out to be quite an entertaining shopping partner, and me as we neared our final stop.

I groaned. “Can’t we just do a barber? This place looks over-the-top expensive.”

Madeline appeared to not hear me, rubbing her hands together with gusto. “Okay, so here we go, the final step.

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