A Natural Act (Contradictions) (23 page)

“I said some horrible things to them,” I finish telling Craig my story, hanging my head in shame. “Called them all sorts of names. I said I was ashamed of them, made them feel small and insignificant.”

“
Bella,” Craig frowns, reaching his hand out to squeeze mine.

I suspect he wants to pull me close to comfort me but he's trapped, immobile as Jim attacks his skin with ink.

I wipe my tears away with the cuff of my jacket, which is already sodden.

“
He manipulated you, Bella;” Craig tells me quietly, still rubbing his thumb over my fingers.

“
I know that,” I snap with shaky breath. “Doesn't make it any better. I let him manipulate me. I burnt a beautiful relationship with my family in order to get pretty dresses, fancy restaurants, and expensive champagne.”

“
You wanted those things?” He raises an eyebrow.

“
I thought I did,” I shake my head. “I grew up looking at all the kids with their brand named clothes and their fancy lunch boxes. Their mobile phones and their laptops. I had to get by with whatever mum and dad got scrape together and buy from charity shops.”

He narrows his eyes.

“But what I didn't appreciate when I was younger was that those are just things. I was still happy, our family was still happy. Happiness doesn't come from things, it comes from people.”

“
Sounds more like the Bella I know,” he grins.

“
Nigel changed me,” I admit, hugging my arms around myself. “I'm not using that as an excuse. I let him change me.”

“
You were young, lady. People are still trying to find themselves at that age. You wanted better for yourself, and that's admirable, you just went about it the wrong way.”

“
It was a mistake,” I agree, managing a weak smile because I bet he's sick of seeing me cry. “But it was a mistake that cost me my family.”

“
Lady,” Craig reprimands with a firm voice that reverberates right to my spine. “You can't lose family.”

“
Clearly you can,” I mumble.

He studies my in his usual silent fashion for a while
before speaking. “When Jake was four years old. He was kicking a football in the house which we were never allowed to do. My brothers were all busy with chores so I guess he thought he could get away with it. He's always liked bending the rules. He managed to knock my mum's trophy off the shelf. She won it for the charity work she'd done for the community the year my parents met.

My dad loved that trophy. Sometimes we'd catch him staring at it when he thought we
weren’t watching.”

“
It broke?” I cringe, anticipating what would come next.

He nods.
“Completely beyond repair. Came into the room just in time to see it happen. Look on his face was priceless. Never seen Jake cry but that's the closest he's come.”

“
I can imagine,” I nod. They don't have much left of their mother apart from memories.

“
He looked at me, looked at the mess, then ran.”

“
He ran away?” I gasp. He was four.

He nods, a slight smirk
on his face as his eyes glaze over with the memory. “Chased after him but the git has always been fast and he ducked under a hedge in the garden that I couldn't fit through and I lost him.”

“
Oh my goodness.”

“
Dad didn't say anything when I told him what had happened. Just asked where Jake was, really calm.”

“
He wasn't mad?”

“
He probably was, just hid it from us. He was more concerned with where Jake was,” Craig shakes his head. “Had all of us out on the streets looking for him. We were gone for hours. We came back when it started getting dark. We were about ready to call the police.

When we got back we found him with a gym bag filled with clothes and toys about to leave through the back door. He'd
sneaked back in whilst we were out. He was literally about to run away for real.

He bolted for it as soon as he saw us. Ian managed to catch him first. He screamed and kicked but eventually he realised he wasn't getting away.

Jelly was only a toddler, she tried to give Jake her favourite toy elephant to make him happy but that didn't work, much to her dismay.

My dad asked Jake why he was running away. Jake thought Dad would hate him for breaking Mum's trophy. That he wouldn't want him
anymore.

Never forgot what Dad told Jake. He said 'You're my son, Jacob. No matter what you do, I will always love you. I may not always be proud of your behaviour but I will always love you.'

That's what a family is, Bella. Unconditional love.”

I shake my head because he doesn't understand. There is no way of taking back the awful things I said.

“They'll never speak to me again,” I tell him. I accepted that long ago.

“
Bella,” Craig growls. Jim has apparently finished and Craig sits up and glares at me. “Your parents are still alive. Don't fucking give up on them.”

I recoil because he's mad at me. I'm not scared, not with Craig. Never with Craig. But I've never seen him angry at me before. Not like this.

“I...”

“
Yes, you did an awful thing. You were ungrateful and cruel. Don't you think they deserve an apology?”

I contemplate his words. I can completely understand why he seems so upset about this. I know he'd give anything to have his parents back. I still have mine and I gave it all up.

I do owe them an apology.

“
This isn't the sort of thing you fix with a letter or a phone call, lady. When you're ready, I'll take you to see them.”

I nod because there's nothing else for me to say. He's right but it doesn't mean I have to like it.

“Kiss, Bella,” he demands.

I grit my teeth because I don't really feel like kissing him right now.

He rises to standing and pulls me up too, his hands on their place on my waist. He kisses my forehead gently.

“
Good talk, lady.”

I don't respond but I'm quickly tucked into his chest and cradled there until my frustration fades away.

“Thank you,” I whisper eventually because it does feel better now that I've talked it out. I'm not holding out any hope that I'll get my parents back but at least I can ease some of the guilt and, more importantly, apologise for the awful things I said and the way I cast them both aside.

“
None o' that in here, Jesus,” Jim rumbles as he comes into the room.

“
Called a hug, old man,” Craig grins. “Might wanna try it.”

“
You offering?” Jim raises a bushy eyebrow.

“
Fat chance,” Craig chuckle.

“
What I thought;” Jim fakes a sigh. “Arse on the table again, boy. Need to wrap you up.”

I wait patiently, watching Craig's relaxed body language as he chats with Jim.

“What d'ya think, lass?” Jim gestures to Craig's tattoo.

I peer round at Craig's side trying to figure out what to say.
“The lettering is beautifully detailed. I'm not quite sure what it means thought.” I look at Craig expectantly.

“
Me neither,” Jim answers. “Doesn't matter though, tattoo only has to have meaning to the person that bears it. That's the real beauty of it.”

“
Looking great, Jim,” Craig tells him, admiring his new ink in the mirror.” The seemingly random combination of letters does look fantastic. I'm awed by the skill shown by Jim. It's like looking at a canvas only far more impressive because his canvas is living.

“
Of course,” Jim replies nonchalantly, obviously secure in the knowledge that he is a talented artist.

Craig chuckles and follows him out to pay. I have to admit I'm slightly surprised by how much it costs but I figure it is going to be there
for the rest of his life so it's probably worth the money for him.

“
Home time, beautiful lady,” he tells me, leaning in for a kiss.

“
Home,” I agree with a smile. He seems completely contented and relaxed. Not at all like somebody who just spent a few hours being stabbed repeatedly by a needle.

“
You want to know what the tattoo means,” he states, obviously reading my thoughts.

“
Later,” he grins. “Curiosity killed the cat.”

“
I'm not a cat,” I point out sardonically.

He just raises an eyebrow at me so I shake my head disparagingly. My loquacious doctor.

I'm too busy grinning and shaking my head at him that I don't think twice about answering my phone when it rings.

I always check the screen but I'm too busy enjoying my care free moment. I answer it.

“Hello?”

“
Isabella,” his voice turns my blood cold.

I stop dead in my tracks and Craig stops with me. He looks at me questioningly but I'm sure he can tell by the pale pallor of my skin who it is that I'm talking to.

“What do you want?”

“
Where have your manners gone, Isabella?” He chides in a cool voice. “That's what happens when you associate yourself with commoners.”

“
What do you want, Nigel?” I grit out because I'm not giving him the satisfaction of hanging up on him.

“
I hope you haven't gotten a tattoo, Isabella. You know how I despise tattoos.”

I refuse to answer because it's none of his business. He just wants to prove that he knows where I am. I resist the urge to check over my shoulder to try and see his man. He won't be here in person. He doesn't do his own dirty work.

I worked for his family's company long enough to know that he doesn't do it himself. They have people for that. People with names that can't be real and constantly changing mobile numbers.

“
That will cost me quite a bit to get removed,” he continues, unperturbed by my non response.

“
What do you want, Nigel?” I repeat through gritted teeth. My heart is beating rapidly in my chest as I clutch the phone to my ear.

“
What's mine,” he states simply.

“
I don't belong to you,” I answer as calmly as I can because it never helped to lose my composure around him.

“
That's where you are wrong, darling,” he tells me. “You will always belong to me.” He hangs up and the line goes dead.

I remain immobile.

Craig says nothing but pulls me into a hug. I can feel from the tense set of the muscles on his back that he's angry but he's a carer at the heart of his personality and making sure I'm okay will always be his first priority.

“
He asked if I'd gotten a tattoo,” I whisper to Craig.

“
He's not going to stop watching you,” Craig tells me bluntly. “But it doesn't matter, Bella. He's not getting to you. I'll keep you safe.”

“
I know,” I tell him. “I just wish he'd leave us in peace. I don't want this for the rest of my life.”

“
He'll leave you alone, Isabella. Problem is that it will only happen when he finds a new project. A new person to torture.”

“
I wouldn't wish that upon anybody,” I shudder.

He nods in agreement.
“I'll figure something out.”

It seems hopeless but I can already see his cogs turning and his brow furrowing in concentration as he mulls it over in his mind.

“Hey,” I squeeze his hand as we begin walking.

He looks over at me but his eyes are still slightly glazed over with
the task of problem solving.

“
Let's forget about him for now. This has been an awesome day. You have a new tattoo. I met your family. Now we can go home and get naked.”

“
You trying to distract me, lady,” he smirks, coming back to the here and now.

“
Maybe,” I grin. “I just want to continue enjoying our day.”

“
Liked the naked part,” he winks at me, relaxing considerably. The glaze in his eyes has been replaced with the fire of passion.

He
picks up the pace and we speed walk through town and back to the apartment. I grin as he unlocks the door because he's already naked in my mind.

My hands are at the buckle of his belt as the door slams behind us. Unfortunately for us, the front door is visible from the sofa and we have uninvited guests.

“Straight for the goods!” Danny yells out.

“
Lucky S.O.B,” Rick cheers.

The twins are on the sofa. My plans for birthday suit fun disappear instantly.