Page 108 of Heir

I hadn’t really known what I wanted to do when I grew up, mostly because I had come to believe I would be nothing more than somebody’s wife and mother… like my mom.

That would have been my job.

To look pretty and take care of the household for my husband.

That was, until Mom realized there was something wrong with me.

That I wasn’t like the daughters of her society friends, and that no matter how many people she hired to give me the proper training, I couldn’t get my brain to benormal.

I couldn’t get myself to be normal, and she resented me for it.

Perhaps that was why she had done what she’d done.

She felt like I owed her something, and this was her way of getting me to repay that debt.

I shook my head.

It was too late for her now.

I bet she would never guess how quickly I’d lost my virginity after deciding to leave her behind.

But now there was Kai.

I had packed a bag to stay at his house for a few nights. It was currently sitting in the back of his car. Or perhaps he had brought it up to his apartment already.

I didn’t know where he saw this going and I knew I had to talk with him sooner rather than later—only I was scared to ask him.

I was scared of doing anything that might break this fantasy bubble I found myself in.

So now I was going along, hoping he wouldn’t break my heart at the end of this.

God, please don’t let him break my heart.

“Gemma, why don’t you take your lunch?” Leslie Brown, my boss, said.

I turned to find her standing by the door before I checked the time on the clock hanging over the door. It was three o’clock already, and I had missed lunch.

It was on the tip of my tongue to refuse. I usually didn’t eat lunch, but today, I was… especially famished. The thought of a turkey sandwich from down the street sounded good.

“Thanks, Leslie. I’ll be back in an hour.”

I quickly grabbed my purse and went out into the bright, sunny day. I was wearing black slacks and a white T-shirt, my standard work clothes most days, and even that seemed to be a little too much now that the sun was out. The heat prickled my neck.

I hurried to the little sandwich shop up the street and was about to open the door when someone called out to me.

I pulled up short as my eyes moved up over my mom’s thin frame in an expensive white summer dress. When I got to her face, her blue eyes were tight, and her red lips were set in a thin line of disapproval.

I blinked in surprise. I noticed Kenton loitering in the background.

It was only because we were standing in the middle of a busy walkway during the day that I wasn’t freaking out.

“Gemma, dear,” she said, her voice sounding off. “Why don’t we go somewhere private to talk?”

Yeah, I wasn’t going to go anywhere with her and Kenton.

“I don’t have anything to talk about with you,” I said, looking down at our shoes. Mine were Converse sneakers, and she was in strappy white heels, her toenails painted bright red.

She let out a laugh that sounded more like a cackle. “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course we do.”

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