Paradise Found: Cain (Paradise #2)(20)

Practically ripping the phone off the counter, the missed calls were from my father. I wasn’t about to return them, and the last thing I wanted was him to ruin my night, even from a state away. I was turning off my phone as I returned to the dining room when it buzzed again.

Malinda, it read. Her overlarge cleavage showed under her name scrolled across the screen.

I’d like to say I was a faithful man, but I was no saint. I was the devil, and Malinda had played the succubus part to rid me of tension I couldn’t relieve alone. She was in Vegas, and the night before a fight, we had a standing engagement, if I wished. I wasn’t in Vegas tonight, though.

I looked up to find Sofie standing, literally right in front of me. Her face began to color pink, knowing she was caught glancing down at my phone. Her playful smile had disappeared.

“Must be really important,” she whispered.

“It’s not,” I stated, clicking off the phone and pocketing it.

“Too bad for her,” she added under her breath. I was about to give her a warning when her hand reached out for the blue envelope. She brought it to the table and stood as she read the front cover. I had the words memorized:



In the matter of marriage, Petitioner, Cain Atom Callahan, and Respondent, Sofie Antoinette Vincentia, Final Decree of Divorce…



Skipping to line 4.

It is ordered that the Petitioner and the Respondent are divorced.



I wished I’d memorized our marriage license half as well as I studied that divorce decree. A settlement was attached that seemed reasonable and fair for Sofie to remain quiet about this affair. It felt appropriate to pay her for her trouble, although I was doubtful she’d want to share with others her whirlwind engagement, one-year estranged-marriage, and secret divorce. It was so scandalous and ripe for the tabloids, which was just what I didn’t need. I was trying to rebuild my reputation, or at least my father wanted it rebuilt. He wanted me to prove I was still the best. Cleared of killing Joey Montana, The Mountain, Atom still wished for men to fear the power of death within my hands.

My mind came back to the dining room table as I watched Sofie reading. I hadn’t moved, holding my breath, while she scanned the pages. Hopefully, she would agree to the amount written at the bottom of the final page. I didn’t see why she wouldn’t take it, but if she asked for more I was willing to give it. Anything she wanted just to ensure she remained silent. It was as much for her protection as mine.

“Do you have a pen?” she asked. It was the most mundane question. Her voice was hollow. I’d never heard it so empty. Even when she said my name on that fateful morning, it wasn’t nearly as despondent as her tone presently. I found one in the kitchen and returned quickly. Sofie was still staring at the final page of the settlement. The click of the pen was like a shotgun going off in the silence that suddenly oppressed us. Drowning in the quiet, I watched her make some marks and then sign on what I assumed was the final line. We needed a witness, but Kursch already agreed, despite not being present. He knew I wouldn’t force her hand. She’d sign the forms willingly.

“I’d like to go home, now,” she spoke quietly with that vacant voice.

“Sofie, I…” But the look in her eyes stole the words from my lips. I’d seen that look before. When I woke up another morning, thinking she was some random woman I’d hooked up with, and I demanded a repeat performance before kicking her out of my bed, out of my room, and out of my life. Something was off that morning, though. It was the disbelief in her expression. It was the way she ignored me. People often didn’t. I commanded attention, positive or negative, but Sofie just scooted away from me. She was doing it again. She was shutting me out.

I reached to push back a fallen hair from her ponytail, but the slightest movement let me know my touch was not welcome. Sighing, I lowered my hand and pointed toward the front door. My hope had crumbled.





My eyes stung as we rode in silence back to my apartment. I continued to blink rapidly, willing the tears not to fall. I had been such a fool. Tempted by the fruit of another, continuously replayed in my head. He hadn’t been faithful to me, and yet it was ridiculous to expect a man of his sexual capabilities to remain loyal. I had been the pretend wife. I didn’t even know we were still married until less than a week ago. How was I to expect him to remain true to me? His presence screamed sex. It was in the way he walked. The way he smiled. That slight dimple peeking from the curve of his mouth. It was how he brooded when he said my name. He couldn’t possibly have remained with one woman. The devil dances with all types.

Then there were all those zeroes to keep me silent. Essentially that’s what the final statement entailed. As we had only a few witnesses, too drunk to remember any better than Cain did, our only legal witness was his bodyguard and some woman who apparently was a legitimately ordained minister. She had probably been bought off as well. This was a scandal, only less epic than the rumors of Cain’s killing a man.

My arms crossed over my stomach and my hands rubbed up and down my cold skin. I shivered. Shock, I warned myself. When something traumatic happens, the body can shut down. It was a basic result of overload and I was in it. The weight of the girl’s name, the rush to sign the papers, and the amount of money offered were too much for me. I was a simple girl. I wanted a man who loved me, a marriage that was real, and I didn’t want any trouble.