by Ashley Jade
They thought it would be easy to take my dignity as well as my life—but fuck them both, because I’m taking them back.
Steeling myself, I hold her stare. “Don’t you dare—”
“Eden,” Cain hisses at the same time a heavyset man approaches our little circle of hell. “Don’t do this here.” His brown eyes soften. “Please.”
My heart twists and I have to remind myself the only thing he’s worried about is the stupid election.
“It’s a shame they don’t serve booze at these things,” the portly man joining us declares with a wry smile.
It quickly fades when none of us return it.
“Eden?” Margaret asks, looking perplexed. “As in Karen’s daughter Eden?”
The woman couldn’t put more distance between me and her new man if she tried.
“Yes, Margaret,” Cain replies, sounding exasperated.
For a woman who went through the trouble of hiring a hitman to get me out of the picture, you’d think she’d do some research on her target.
Either that or she’s just super convincing.
“Well, pardon my confusion, Cain,” she drawls, giving me the side-eye. “Last time I checked, you said she didn’t leave the house due to her mental issues.”
My cheeks flame as embarrassment courses through me. It would be more humane if she took out a gun and shot me in the face.
I look at my shoes again, wishing the ground would open up and swallow me whole.
“I suggest you both stop talking about my fiancée like she’s not standing right in front of you,” Damien says, pinning Cain with a malicious smile. “Unless you want to join Covey in that casket.”
“Fiancée?” Cain spits, his expression darkening.
“Mazel tov,” the man next to him declares and Margaret smacks his shoulder.
“The man just threatened your daughter, Daddy,” Margaret mutters. “Don’t congratulate him.”
The man tsks. “As usual, you’re not seeing the bigger picture. Just the other night we were discussing where to send the girl so Cain would no longer be burdened with her after he wins the election.” He gestures to Damien. “However, it seems she’s no longer our problem. Therefore, congratulations are certainly in order.”
Every cell in my body screams in silent agony as I glance up at Cain. “That’s why you want to get rid of me?” I whisper, my voice quivering with unshed tears. “Because I’m a burden?”
Cain shakes his head. “No—”
The governor clears his throat loudly, cutting him off. “Ah, the priest has arrived. The service will be starting any minute, so we better take our seats.”
Damien starts to speak, but the governor ushers Cain and Margaret away. He gives his daughter’s arm a gentle squeeze as they make their way to the chairs on the other side of the room and she beams at him.
Cain might not have wanted me gone…but they certainly did.
Beside me, Damien’s jaw works. It appears he didn’t much care for the governor’s rude exit.
Good. Maybe now he’ll understand what it feels like to be a fish out of water.
“Are you happy?”
His lips press together in a tight line as he escorts me to the last row of seats in the back of the room. “About?”
“You knew they would be here and yet you still forced me to come today.” We take our seats as the priest ambles up the aisle. “You said no one would disrespect me if I was with you, but they did.”
It’s all people ever do.
I rise from my chair. They already won, but I refuse to give them the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“To the bathroom.”
Damien stands, but I hold up a hand, halting him. “The least you can do is grant me five minutes to myself so I can cry in peace.”
I stalk off before he can argue.
I’m wiping the smeared mascara from under my eyes at the bathroom sink when the door opens.
I don’t think anything of it until I hear the faint click of the lock followed by swift, hefty footsteps—like someone’s on a mission.
My stomach contracts when I look up at my reflection and see Cain standing behind me.
The moment our eyes connect in the mirror, his become tiny slits. He looks more enraged than I’ve ever seen him.
A scream lodges itself in my throat, but he slams a hand over my mouth.
I struggle against his hold as he drags me backward, but he’s double my strength. It’s not long before he shoves me against a bathroom stall, pinning me there with the force of his arms.
“How the fuck could you do this to me?” He compresses my wrists so hard I yelp. “Damien fucking King.”
“I didn’t do anything to you,” I croak, breaking out in a cold sweat. “You’re the one who hired him to kill me. You and your new fiancée.”
Cain’s eyes widen in disbelief and he gives his head a shake. “Is that what he told you?”
More like confirmed it, but that’s neither here nor there at this point.
“I’m sorry taking care of me was such an inconvenience, but I thought—” I choke back a sob. “Jesus. I loved you, Cain.”
I still do.
And in the end, it’s my love that will be responsible for my death.
God, what a sad, pathetic, tragedy I turned out to be.
The slap of my hand across his face shocks us both, but I’m too worked up to stop myself.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
He swore he’d never leave me. He vowed to always take care of me.
He promised not to hurt me…and I stupidly believed him.
I slap his cheek again, harder than before. “I hate you.”
Falling in love with Cain Carter was the best and worst thing that ever happen to me.
“I hate you,” I rasp, my vocal cords ripping to shreds. “I hate—”
He catches my wrist before my hand connects with his cheek a third time.
“No, you don’t. You hate how much you love me.” My tears fall faster, and he cradles my face in his hands. “Do you honestly think I could ever hire someone to kill you?”
I don’t give him an answer. I can’t. I never thought he would hurt me like this, and yet here we are.
“Look at me.”
I try to turn away, but he won’t let me. “Goddammit, look me in the fucking eyes, Eden.”
My gaze rises to those intense brown orbs of his that are swirling with so much emotion my breath catches.
“No.” I swallow, and it feels like glass going down. “I thought Margaret did, and you went along with it because of the election and—”
“Fucking hell. No. Never. I would never let anyone take you from me.” My heart squeezes when his lips find my jaw. “Do you have any idea how much I love you? How special you are to me?”
Tears prickle my eyes for an entirely different reason. “I’m sorry. Damien—”
His lips capture mine before I can get the words out. For a moment, I’m too stunned to move.
Cain’s never kissed me before. Not like this.
I whimper into his mouth when our tongues brush. He’s so gentle and tender with me, like I’m made out of porcelain.
His hand slides down my neck. “Fuck. I love you so much, Eden.”
And just like that, my heart blooms back to life like a rose after a long, cold winter.
My toes curl when he groans and deepens the kiss. It’s forbidden, frantic, and intense…it’s everything we are.
Everything I always wanted us to be.
I want to pinch myself to make sure this is actually happening and I’m not imagining things.
He pivots his hips, digging his erection into me. “Did you like the way he fucked you?”
There’s no mistaking the lethal edge to his harsh words or the sheer jealousy shading his eyes. But even more concerning is that he knows.
“How—”
He fists the neckline of my dr
ess. “Are you really so naïve? No way in hell would he keep you in his home or declare you’re his fiancée without fucking you first.” Snarling, he tugs on the material, jerking me close to his face. “Did you enjoy it?”
I give him the truth. “It hurt. But not nearly as much as your betrayal did.”
He laughs but there's not a drop of humor. "Want to know what else hurts? Spending the last two nights worried sick about you. Wondering where the hell you were and if you'd ever come back to me." His voice drops to a whisper. "Wondering if you would ever forgive me."
The tightness in my chest turns to flutters when he drops to his knees. “You’re the last person in the world I want to hurt. You know that, right?”
I don’t even have to look at his earnest expression to know he truly believes that.
But Cain’s intentions have never been the problem…it’s his actions. How far he’ll go to reach his goals. The people he’ll hurt in the process.
His hands slide up my thighs and he hooks a finger into the band of my panties. “Let me make it better.”
My breath comes out in ragged gasps as he kisses my torso and the delicate lace falls to my ankles.
“My beautiful, innocent, Eden.” He bunches the hem of my dress in his hand, exposing me. “Such a shame this little cunt of yours will never taste as sweet as it used to.”
His words sting, but I know it’s all the anger he’s harboring over me having sex with someone else.
It must make me an awful person, because deep down there’s a part of me that enjoys seeing his pain.
Not because I want him to suffer…but because it means what he feels for me is real.
I want him to hold on to it so tightly it can never escape.
I want it to haunt him just like it haunts me.
“Did you think about me when he fucked you?”
I nod.
I thought about how much I loved him. How angry I was about his engagement to Margaret. How much he hurt…
I cry out when he rams two fingers inside me. “Shh, sweetheart.” He removes his fingers and shoves them into my mouth. “Cain’s gonna take care of you.” He maneuvers his head between my thighs. “I'll fix you, just like I always do.”
I grip his hair as he drags his tongue across my slit. “I love you.”
Even when I should hate you.
He’s like poison pumping through my system. The more I absorb him, the sicker I get.
I jolt against his mouth as he speeds up his movements.
Every flick of his tongue along my clit is a lashing. A brutal reminder of every ounce of pleasure he’s ever given me…
Followed by every piece of my heart he’s incinerated.
“I love you so much.”
So much I hate myself for it.
Tears drip down my cheeks and onto my chest like a river with no end. Freedom from the prison he keeps me in is so close I can taste it, yet I’m too scared to leave.
Cain’s all I’ve ever had. All I’ve ever known.
And you can’t escape when you have nowhere else to go.
Chapter 15
Cain
Eden’s orgasm is as fiery and turbulent as she is. My chest swells with pride as she comes with tears trailing down her face and my name on her lips, her svelte, curvy body shaking with the force of it.
It’s a vision if I ever saw one.
Too bad it’s a tainted one.
I nip her little clit as she spasms. “It’s too much.”
It’s not enough. It will never be enough.
I seize her wrist when she tries to push my head away and repeat the action. She doesn’t get a say in this.
I control her pleasure and her pain.
And unfortunately, her pleasure will come at a price.
Eden has to pay for sleeping with the enemy. After she helps me keep him at bay.
I suck and bite her soft flesh, ignoring her whimpers and pleas for me to stop.
I’ll never stop. Not when it comes to my Eden.
Not when I need her now more than ever.
“Good girl,” I soothe when her body goes slack and I’m certain the fight has drained out of her.
I give her cunt one last kiss, then walk over to the sink so I can wash my hands and face. I don’t want to chance what will undoubtedly be a ghastly fallout if Margaret smells another woman on me.
When I look in the mirror, I notice Eden’s still propped up against the bathroom stall. Her red lipstick is smeared, her once pristine face is marred with black streaks, and her dress is ruffled.
A long sigh leaves me. My former innocent girl now resembles a cheap hooker you’d find down an alley in a bad part of town.
Fortunately, her appearance is now Damien’s problem. Not mine.
Something my nemesis failed to realize when he came back to town and declared war.
I’d send him a thank-you note for taking the hot stepdaughter obstacle plaguing me out of my way during the election, but the moron probably has the reading level of an elementary student.
I eye her in my peripheral as I rinse off my face. “Now that we’ve kissed and made up, I need a favor.”
She gives me a wary look as I walk over to the paper towel dispenser. “What kind of favor?”
Dabbing my chin, I turn around to face her, making sure my expression conveys exactly what I need it to.
Fear. Vulnerability. Need.
All the things that will get Eden to agree to help the love of her life.
“I’m in trouble.”
My gullible girl’s brows pinch in concern. “What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t hire Damien to kill you…but that doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous.”
She doesn’t look fazed by my statement. Probably because Damien isn’t exactly Casanova. The barbarian wouldn’t know how to treat a woman—hell, a human—if his life depended on it.
Especially someone like Eden.
Eden’s like a delicate flower. She needs to be watched and cared for just so. This way you’ve already earned her trust and she’ll be none the wiser when it’s time to tear her from the soil and rip her pretty petals off.
“I don’t understand why he’d make me think you hired him to off me, or why he would bring me back to his home.”
Eden’s also like a small child. You have to explain simple things to her like you would a toddler.
Lack of experience with the world will do that to a person.
“He did it to trick you, sweetheart. He took you as part of his revenge against me. He knows how much I love you and that makes you an important person to target.”
She closes the space between us. “Why does he want revenge?”
I cup her cheekbone. “We were good friends in high school. Until he did something unforgivable. I was going to tell the authorities, but he fled the country. This is the first time I’ve seen or heard from him in eleven years.”
She worries her bottom lip between her teeth. “What did he do?”
I grip the back of my neck. “You know what? Forget it. I shouldn’t be discussing any of this with you. I’m gonna set you up somewhere safe for the time being.” When her eyes go wide, I add, “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to put things in place so you’ll be well taken care of after I’m gone.”
“Gone?” Her face turns ashen. “What do you mean, gone? What the hell is happening, Cain?”
I rub my forehead. “If I tell you this, you have to swear you won’t tell a soul.”
She palms my cheek. “Your secrets are safe with me.”
“I know they are.” I kiss the inside of her wrist. “Sometimes I feel like you’re the only person in the whole wide world I can trust.”
“I feel the same way.”
I pull her close. “I’d never betray you, Eden. I might do some things I don’t want to and make choices I’m not proud of—like marrying Margaret in order to help me win the election. But you and me? We’re the real deal.”
She places her head on my
chest. “We’re family.”
“That’s right. And family doesn’t turn their back on one another.” I kiss the top of her head. “Want to know what my biggest goal is?”
“Becoming President one day?”
My girl knows me well. “No.” I trail a finger down her arm. “It’s us. More specifically, our future. After I serve my two terms as President, I want to spend the rest of my life making love to you. I want to die old and gray in your arms, Eden Williams. I want to take my last breath looking into the most beautiful eyes belonging to the most beautiful girl I’ve ever known. The only person I’ve ever truly loved.”
I inhale her sweet scent. As many lies as I’ve told her, this isn’t one. Eden’s my end game. Always has been. Always will be.
I’m livid as hell about her sleeping with Damien, and she’ll get punished for it—but I’ll never love anyone the way I love her.
She sees the best in me. Even though I know she can sense the evil lurking within.
She gives me my humanity back.
She’s a reminder of my past…and my North Star guiding me toward my future.
“I don’t want anyone to hurt you.” She looks up at me. “Tell me what’s going on with Damien. Tell me why he wants revenge. Tell me everything so I can help you.”
“You’d really help me after everything I put you through?”
I should be nervous when she doesn’t answer immediately. But I’m not. If anything, it tells me she’s carefully considering her answer and the one she gives me will be set in stone.
“You’re the only one…” Her lower lip trembles. “You’re everything to me, Cain. I wouldn’t know what to do without you. I wouldn’t even…I need you.”
I give her a big smile.
Love is a capricious thing—it can change with the wind.
But dependency is constant. Resilient. Permanent.
It can bend, maybe even chip. But it never fully breaks.
I make a mental note to phone her shrink and psychiatrist later so we can discuss the new game plan since Eden’s no longer living with me. I doubt Damien will welcome either of them into his home with open arms, so we’ll have to figure something out sooner rather than later.
