Page 35 of Kael

I smoothed my hand over the two-piece short set Kael had bought me. He said he liked seeing my legs. Kael was dressed down in jeans and a polo. He looked like a tatted-up J.Crew model. We looked very "hood girl meets preppy bad boy." His hand rested on my lower back, steering me through the crowd. I wished we'd come later, just before it closed, so there weren't so many people.

"We really don't have to go shopping," I said for the third time. "I can wear something from my closet."

"You don't have a closet. You have a wardrobe I built for you."

"That's not—"

"You're going home to visit your parents tonight," he cut me off. "You need clothes and a few gifts."

I opened my mouth to argue, but nothing came out, because he was right.

My parents hadn't seen me since before Kael took me. They'd spoken to me on the phone—brief, tearful conversations where I promised I was okay and they pretended to believe me. But they hadn't seen me.

"Okay," I whispered.

We walked into the first store, and Kael immediately stepped away from my side.

I blinked at him. My first thought was that he didn't want to be seen with me.

"What are you doing?"

He gestured toward the racks. "Go. Pick out your clothes." He crossed his arms. "I want you to look like you, not a doll I dressed when you see your parents."

I stared at him.

"Go, Bunny. We got more than one store to go to."

I hesitated, then walked toward the racks. I could feel his eyes on me, watching, but he didn't follow. He just waited.

I ran my fingers over the fabric.

I grabbed a few things: a pair of jeans, a simple blouse, and a dress that made me feel pretty.

I walked back to him, holding them up. "This okay?"

He looked at them, then at me. "Get more."

"Kael—"

"Get. More."

I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling.

We hit every store in International Mall.

I picked out dresses, jeans, and tops, along with a pair of heels that made me feel like I was walking on clouds. Kael just kept encouraging me to buy more. He followed me, carried my bags, and paid.

By the time we were finished, I had three new dresses, two pairs of jeans, four tops, and a pair of heels. Then he dragged me into a jewelry store. Holding a diamond tennis bracelet, he asked me, "You like it?"

I stared at the seven-thousand-dollar price tag. Drug-addict me thought,I could buy so much dope with that.But I swallowed the thought and said, "Kael, this is too much."

He looked at me like I'd just said something stupid. "It's not enough."

"It's—"

"Get the necklace, too," he told the sales associate.

I stared at him as he checked out, paying over twenty thousand dollars.