The Wrath of Cain(51)

I watch her retreat into the bathroom and wait to hear the water start. I snatch up my phone and walk down the hallway completely out of her earshot.

“Cain. Is everything all right?” asks Cecily, sounding out of breath on the other end.

“Everything’s great. I need a favor.”

I hear the smile in her voice.

“Of course.”

“Well...” I scratch the back of my neck. “I never bought Calla a wedding ring. I have no clue what the hell to do. I thought maybe you might be able to help me, maybe get someone to come to Salvatore’s house so we could look at some.”

I hesitate, her silence making me nervous.

“Hello. You still there?”

She clears her throat before speaking.

“Well, I would love to help, but I’d like to show you something first, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure,” I say, more out of confusion than anything else.

She must catch it in my tone. She knocks me back when she speaks again.

“I have my mother’s wedding rings. They’re stunning. I think Calla would love them.”

I’m in shock. Family means everything to all of us. She would love to have those rings. Hell, I would love to put them on her finger.

“That’s perfect. Those would mean the world to her.”

“I think so, too,” she agrees. “I’ll get them out of the safe. We can get them sized and cleaned up.”

A deep hole has just been filled in my heart. There are a few more demons I’ve been holding back from her, ones that are intimate, and that up until now, I have kept to myself. It’s time to finally let go of my past. But first, I have to go make sure my girl is okay.

“I can’t believe how fast this fills up,” Calla says when I help her into the tub and sink down behind her. My lips go straight to her neck, my arms circling her waist.

“Nothing but the best for you.”

I nuzzle into her neck. She has her hair piled on top of her head, her neck exposed. I love that spot on her neck just as much as she does.

She slumps down further into the water. My lips leave her neck, giving me the perfect opportunity to answer the question about my tattoo I’ve been avoiding.

“The other day you asked me about my tattoo. Do you remember?”

“Yes, and you evaded it very smoothly,” she remarks.

I hold back my laugh. I should have known she wasn’t fooled.

“You may think I’m crazy for getting it, but my reasons are my own. You and I have been with others...”

I hate the fact we both have. There isn’t a damn thing I can do about it, so I continue on.

“...but no one has ever seen that tattoo but the person who put it on me, myself, and now you.”

She goes to speak, but I press down on her stomach and she halts.

“Listen. Not only has my heart belonged to you since the first day I saw you, my entire being has, including my dick. What you and I had back then meant more to me than anything. I never had any type of real, honest love until I met you. I grew up with a father who I know loved me in his own way, but who lied and deceived me my entire life. I know my mom loved me before she died, but I was so young, I barely remember her. We were young. We fell in love. That love never once died for me. The whole time you were gone was spent cleaning up the mess my father made of this place. I turned it into something I wanted. Something as honest as possible, given that everything I did behind the scenes was illegal as hell.

“But you... I needed to have a part of you with me. And well, that’s where I decided to put it. It was either there or over my heart. It felt too sacred for me to put it over my heart. I put it the one place I always wanted you to be. And I don’t mean that in a dirty way. It’s just that, every time we made love back then, it meant the world to me.”

I wait while she absorbs what I just told her, wondering if she thinks I’m f*cking crazy. Finally she sits up, straddling my lap. Tears stream silently down her face, a look of love and admiration in her eyes. I let out the breath I was holding. Her tiny hands cradle my face.

“That’s the most beautiful thing I have ever heard,” she whispers.

“You think so, huh?”

“I know so,” she affirms, leaning down to brush her lips over mine.

I kiss her longingly.

“One more thing and then I’m done. No more secrets.”

“These lips have never touched another woman. Only yours.”

Her shocked expression leaves me tense.

“You mean to tell me you’ve never kissed anyone? How? I mean—”

I place a finger over her mouth.

“No one. I can’t take back the things I’ve done. Everything I did, I did to protect you. Kissing is an intimate act, and those other women meant nothing to me. I meant nothing to them. But you? I would do anything for you. There isn’t another person on this earth who I want to kiss, or let my lips touch theirs, or let my tongue touch any part of their body. No one.”

“Oh, God, baby. I… I don’t know what to say.”

Tears keep rolling down her face. I hate making her cry.

“Don’t say anything. Except promise me you will never leave me again. No matter what happens. No matter how tough it gets, or what life throws at us. Just don’t f*cking leave me, all right?”