The Embrace by Vivian Wood

7

The sun has barely risen in the New York City sky when I step out of our building. I’m wearing jeans, a black band t-shirt, and a black peacoat to guard against the early morning wind. But as soon as my foot hits the cement, a blast of chilly air almost drives me back in the door.

“Noooo,” I whine. “It’s so freaking cold. Can’t we just go back to bed?”

Calum is right behind me, dressed in jeans and a black fleece. The wind ruffles his hair as he glances at me with a tiny smirk on his perfect lips.

“No. We can go back to bed after this if we want to, though.”

I shoot him a glare and cross my arms as he hustles me down the street. “This had better be good. You still haven’t told me what we’re doing so early.”

Calum eyes me. “We’re going to a bagel shop a few blocks from here.”

I narrow my eyes on his face as I head down the eerily empty street. “I’ve never had a bagel that was worth getting up at five a.m. Actually, I am not sure that a big piece of bread even sounds that great. I cut carbs from my diet like a millennia ago.”

He wraps his uninjured arm around my shoulders and pulls me close. “Isn’t this what couples in love do in New York City? Get up early to scarf down a freshly boiled bagel?”

I shake my head at him, smiling ruefully. “Can we do it while staring into each other’s eyes?”

“Absolutely,” he says. “We should stuff ourselves with a bagel and a schmear. Or, hear me out… We just eat bagels and cream cheese until we are stuffed every single day. Maybe we can get pudgy together.”

I grin at him. “You sweet talker. I can’t think of anymore more romantic than growing old and morbidly obese with you.”

He chuckles at that. “Come on, we’re almost there.”

We turn a corner and it’s obvious which place we are going to. Though the sun is just beginning to light the sky, there is already a line that’s ten people long outside a shop ahead.

“So there are other people that are crazy like you. Huh.” I purse my lips.

Calum gives me side eye as we get to the back of the line. “I can’t believe you’ve never done this before.”

I pull away from him, grabbing his hand and pulling it inside the warmth of my peacoat pocket. “I can’t believe you have. I mean, how are you so in shape and then you go and eat bagels all the time?”

He sighs. “I will just hit the gym a little harder than usual today. Besides, there is more to life than being thin.”

“Don’t tell my father that. He would definitely not agree.”

Calum squints. “Isn’t your dad overweight?”

I give a humorless chuckle. “Yes. Being lithe of limb is only a sought after quality in women, according to him. There is no arguing with that kind of ignorance.”

“Hmm.” His brow pulls down as we move up in the line. “And here I thought that family meant that you would be loved, regardless of your appearance.”

A startled laugh bursts from my chest. “Definitely not.”

He looks away for a second, mulling that over. Then he looks at me, his expression serious.

“I love the shape of your body and the way you move. But my feelings for you run deeper than that. I love you for just being you. I hope you know that.”

My heart flutters in my chest. I reach out and spread my free hand across his chest with a smile.

“Thank you. I feel the same way.”

He snorts. “I doubt that very much.”

My gaze turns quizzical. “If your body changes… so what?”

His mouth thins. “I was talking about my wealth. Without it, you probably wouldn’t have even given me a second glance.”

My heart thuds in my chest. My jaw drops.

“You think…” I shake my head and stomp my foot. “You think I care about your money? That’s hilariously wrong.”

His lips twist a little and he looks away, uncomfortable. I move around his body to see his expression clearly. “I’m serious, Calum. If you told me today that we only had the clothes on our backs, I would be fine with that. I love you. I love ballet. Those are the only two things I really need.”

He slides his gaze over to me, making direct and intense eye contact. “Yeah? You could be happy without being a billionaire’s girlfriend?”

I slide my hands around his neck, ignoring the line of waiting people that moves up without us. Right now, my eyes are on Calum’s. I press up on my tiptoes and steal a warm, delicious kiss from his lips.

“Does that answer your question?” I ask softly.

His lips curve upward with amusement as he settles his hands on my waist. “Yes, beauty. It really does.”

A gray haired lady wearing approximately ten layers of clothing comes up behind us. She points her finger to indicate us. “This right here is very sweet… but I need you two to move your asses. Spielman’s only makes hot bagels for the next half an hour.”

Calum rolls his eyes. “Thanks,” he tells the lady.

He turns my hips in his hands and pushes me forward. He leans down next to my ear. “I’m going to fuck you ten different ways to Sunday when we get home. Just be ready for that.”

I bite my lip, blushing and giggling. “You’re terrible.”

He chuckles, his breath hot on my ear. “You love me.”

After waiting in line a little more, Calum steps inside the shop to order. I hang outside because let’s be real, I’m still not nearly as invested in hot bagels as he clearly is.

Rolling my eyes, I step out of the shop. My phone buzzes and I look down at it for a few minutes, scrolling mindlessly through the text messages I've missed. I sort of zone out due to the early hour.

It's not until a dark shape zooms into my peripheral vision that I even look up. When I do, I find myself staring my own father in the face. He looks haggard. He's dressed in khakis and a polo shirt as always, but his clothes are wrinkled and his thinning hair is a mess as if he has recently been sleeping on it.

He grabs me by the wrist before I even have a chance to open my mouth. “Kaia. I knew it was you.”

My heart beat sounds in my throat. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

His face drops into a scowl. “Does that really matter? I'm your father. I'll always be able to find you, no matter where you go.”

I wrench my wrist from his grasp, anger bubbling up inside me. “You have to go. I don't even know why you're here in the first place. I can assure you though that there is nothing that you want here. You've tapped all of the resources that were available to you.”

He snorts through his nose. “Yeah right. You owe me. You'll always be indebted to me. That's the whole reason that people even have children.”

I give him a funny look, shaking my head. I look over my shoulder to see if I can make eye contact with Calum through the glass door. But it seems that he is nowhere to be found. I suppose that is only fair since Calum has done nothing but fight my battles for me for the last few months. I lick my lips and suck in a breath.

“Kaia, I’m talking to you!” my father growls.

Looking my father right in the eyes, I raise my chin.

“I don't know what kind of world you were brought up in. But I do know that the world I live in doesn't allow for you to treat me like this. I might be your daughter, but I am also a person. A human being. I'm not an endless well for you to draw from any time you get thirsty.”

My father runs his hand through his hair, looking distracted. “I need a hundred thousand dollars. And I need it right now.”

I can feel my face coloring. I shake my head and back up another inch. “I don't know what made you this way. But I'm telling you right now. There's nothing else coming to you. I've already given you everything that I have to give.”

His mouth twist. “And your boyfriend? What does he have to give? Because as far as I see it, I own everything that he has. After all, I gave him you.”

I scrunch my face up just as I hear the bell tinkling on the door behind me. I squint over my shoulder and Calum is suddenly there, his eyes hardening as he takes in my father's stance.

“Get away from her.” He steps forward, his hands curling into fists. “If you had any sense at all, you'd be turning around and heading down the street by now. I don't want to fight you but I won't let you lay your hands on Kaia again. This is the end of the line.”

My father scoffed. “You don't tell me what to do. Just because you have money—“

Calum cuts him off quickly. “Let me tell you something very important. Listen carefully. If I ever see you again. If I ever hear from you again. If Kaia is ever bothered by thoughts of you again, I will end you. This is my last fucking warning. After this, you will disappear and never be heard from again.”

My dad sneers at him. “Yeah? I don’t believe you. You’re full of shit.”

Calum drops the bag of bagels that he was holding and as fast as lightning, he is on my father. A quick couple of punches, left and then right, faster than I can even process what’s happening.

My dad's on the ground just that quickly. Blood is seeping out of his nose and he keens, the sound seeping from his mouth and raising hairs on the back of my neck.

“What the fuck?” he mutters.

Calum calmly picks up the rolled up paper bag of bagels and extends his hand out to me. He looks me in the eye, clearly trying to keep himself in check. “Ready to go?”

I nod, swallowing against the huge lump of emotion that threatens to burst out of my mouth. “Yes.”

“You can’t just punch me and then run off!” My father howls. “You won't get away with this! You both just two-bit hustlers trying to take advantage of me…”

I don't look back. As Calum leads me away, my eyes are only for him. Though my heart beats frantically, there is no sadness in me whatsoever.

He squeezes my hand. “It's okay, beauty. It'll be okay. We’ll be out of his sight in less than a minute.”

I pull him to a stop. Reaching up to his neck, I press up on my toes and give him a hard kiss. Sweet, hot, searing. A claiming kiss, a branding one.

He is mine.

When I release Calum from my grip, he slides his hand around my waist and urges me onward. But he does lean his head closer to mine, whispering in my ear.

“Later,” he says. “Let’s get out of here first.”

I nod, trying to respect this pitfall of a man who has named himself my protector. He grips my hand again and walks me down the street.