Tall, Dark & Heartless (Pyte/Sentinel #3)(23)

"I'm not sure if you noticed or not, but I wasn't exactly in a position to fight off all of them. I was kind of busy being electrocuted and drowned," she said dryly.

He waved it off. "I'm not talking about that and you damn well know it. What I want to know is why the hell you let that ass**le in your life after I told you to stay the f**k away from him?" he demanded, showing more emotion than she'd ever seen him display. Even when she was a child he never let his emotions get the better of him. No matter what happened he always remained in control, but right now he looked on edge. If she wasn't so damn exhausted and weak she might actually manage to crack a smile at the sight.

Anyone else would probably be quivering in the corner, pissing themselves at the sight before her, but he didn't scare her. When she was a kid she used to love pushing his buttons to see what it would take to get his eyes to flash red and his fangs to drop. Most of the time he'd given her a little eye roll just before he did what she wanted just to get her to stop. The only times she didn't have to do anything was when Greg came too close to her. Then he unleashed the monster inside of him.

A few times she actually thought he was going to kill Greg. After she fell into that pit was one of the most memorable times. She didn't remember much about the incident other than a lot of pain, Caine hovering over her as she tried not to cry too much, but the one thing that she did remember clearly was Caine's reaction when he spotted Greg.

His eyes turned red as his teeth slid down and he crouched in front of her, looking close to attacking. She wasn't sure if he reacted that way because of the cruel little smile Greg sent her way or what, but she knew even then that he wanted to rip Greg's small throat out. Even then she knew what would happen to Caine if he did and she'd been terrified of being alone again, but she'd been more afraid for him.

She remembered reaching out and taking his much larger hand into hers before passing out. When she woke up hours later he was by her side so she assumed that he hadn't hurt Greg, but things changed. Before he seemed to find Greg's presence annoying, but after that he eyed Greg as if he was Satan himself. He constantly drilled it into her head that she needed to stay away from him and to never find herself alone with him. Since she hadn't cared for Greg one way or the other she'd listened, but once she was an adult and she no longer had Caine to count on, she allowed herself to welcome Greg into her life, hoping for a good friendship, but apparently that had been asking for too much.

"You gave up the right to tell me what to do when you turned your back on me," she pointed out, glad that she didn't sound as bitter as she felt about that.

He'd been her world, her friend, her mentor, her everything and then he wasn't. The way he dropped her out of his life left her hurt, confused, lost and so damn lonely that for the first few months she wasn't even able to be in the same room with him without feeling like she was going to cry. It was a weakness that she forced herself to get over.

"Is that what this was all about?" he demanded harshly, never ceasing his damn pacing.

"What?" she asked, fighting exhaustion even as it threatened to take her under again.

"Allowing that bastard to get close to you, trusting him," he practically sneered. "You did it to spite me because I tired of you?"

"Yeah, it's really all about you," she said dryly to cover the pain his words caused. Guessing and knowing that he'd gotten sick of her were two very different things and having it confirmed was a blow she hadn't been ready for.

He glared at her and she thought he was going yell again, but after a moment he looked away from her as if the sight of her disgusted him and she was more than fine with that. She didn't want him seeing her weak like this, and she sure as hell didn't want him to know just how much his desertion had hurt her.

Her eyes began to flutter shut when the door opened. She watched Caine drop into a crouching position in front of her. She wasn't sure what the hell that was about and wasn't going to allow herself to think that it meant anything. It didn't. If anything it was just leftover sentimentality for the little girl she once was. She also knew that once they threatened his blood supply that she was on her own, once again.

A low growl vibrated throughout the room as the door opened. Her entire body tensed and she hated herself in that moment for reacting. The last thing she wanted to do was to give Greg any kind of response. Something told her that if she did, the sick bastard would up his game and her situation would get a hell of a lot worse.

When a tall, lean man with golden blonde hair combed back in a style that befitted a CEO stepped inside of the room she felt herself relax, somewhat. For all she knew this man was worse than Greg, but he didn't have that personal vendetta against her that Greg seemed to have, so for the moment she decided she wasn't going to panic.

The man stopped just inside of the room. He threw the tank filled with pink water and the floating arm a look of disgust before he looked between Caine and her with curiosity.

"If you have a moment, I would like to speak with both of you."

Chapter 9

Boston Compound

Boston, MA

"Again," he said as the two-hundred and fifty pound Sentinel, that could have easily been a linebacker had he been born human, glared at him as he dragged himself back to his feet. "This time guard your left, Cupcake."

"I am guarding my left!" the Sentinel snapped as he wiped the blood dripping down his chin with the back of his hand.