Broken(74)

He opened his mouth to speak but she raised her hand to stop him.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’ll never forget what happened to me and I may never get over it completely. Something like that stays with you, you know? But you showed me how it was meant to be between a man and woman. You showed me love. They were tears of joy, Cade, not sadness. Now, stop being silly and come over here and hold me.”

Cade found himself grinning from ear to ear. She didn’t need to tell him twice. Sliding his body next to hers, he pulled her in his arms and held her tightly, not wanting to let go. Dropping a kiss on the top of her head, he stroked her back. “I love you so much. Jocelyn, no matter what happens, promise me we’ll be honest with each other from here on out. I don’t think I can take another seven years without you in my life.”

Her bottom lip poked out in a pout and a forlorn expression crossed her face. “Oh, Cade. I’m so sorry for what I did to you. I wish I could take it back. If I knew now what I knew then, I would have told you the truth, but I was so afraid of how you’d react. I didn’t think it was fair to burden you with my problems.”

“And that decision was mine to make. I was angry when I first learned what happened to you and that you lied to me, but I’ve had time to think about it. Not once did I blame you for what happened. Oh, I admit to being mighty miffed about you keeping it from me, but I could never be upset with you for what happened. It wasn’t your fault. Those bastards are to blame, and let me tell you right now, I will find them one day and make them pay for what they did to you.”

“But I don’t even know who they are. I don’t know their names, for all I know they could have been aliases. Besides, after all this time, if we did find those guys, it would be hard to get a conviction.”

Cade raised a brow, fury boiling in his blood. When he looked at his precious Jocelyn, knowing what was done to her, he could commit murder. “I never said anything about taking those motherf*ckers to court. I said I’d make them pay by handing out a little Texas justice Devlin style.”

She placed her hand against his chest. “Cade, don’t do anything stupid. You’re no good to either of us if you’re in jail.”

“I’m not going to kill them if that’s what you’re thinking, although I’d very much like to. No, I have something else in mind. You forget, we Devlins have connections around these parts and I have some buddies in Dallas who owe me a few favors. If those punks are still hanging out in the same spots, I’ll find them.”

She shivered. “Cade, I appreciate the gesture, but I don’t want you getting in trouble with the law. I know you care about me, and knowing that is enough for me. You don’t have to seek revenge on my behalf. Don’t get me wrong, I want to see those bastards strung up by their balls but I know it won’t change what happened to me. Besides, I wouldn’t even know where to find them.”

“We can start with the person throwing that party and go from there.” Seeing the apprehensive look enter her eyes, Cade realized this probably wasn’t the right time to have this discussion. There’d be time to go over this, later. But for now, he simply wanted to bask in the aftermath of what they shared. “We’ll discuss it later.”

“You can’t just bring something like that up and expect me to forget about it. Don’t you think this should be my decision?”

Cade saw the fear lurking in her eyes. More than anything, he wanted to take away her pain, turn back time and make things the way they used to be. He sighed, knowing he’d need patience. “Are you scared about confronting them?”