Paradise Found: Cain (Paradise #2)(48)

“Nothing. It’s nothing.” I was about to say I forgot, but that would have never been a good enough excuse. Abel used that excuse as a child. Absentminded, he had too much in his head to keep it all straight. Unfortunately, beating Abel wasn’t going to make him remember, and my father couldn’t see that. It was at those moments I had to step in.

“I forgot, Daddy. It won’t happen again. I’ll try harder,” Abel had whined.

It grated on my nerves. Father didn’t like whining and it made Abel sound weak. My father preyed on the meek, and it only fueled his wrath toward Abel.

“It was my fault, Dad. Abel asked me to do it for him, and I forgot.”

“Stop taking care of your brother,” he responded with a slap across my face. “That’s for forgetting. Don’t let it happen again.”

I stood before the very desk where that conversation occurred. There were so many discussions in front of this desk. It stood like a monstrosity before me, mocking me. A powerful piece of furniture that was as threatening as my father with its dark wood and wide berth.

“Cain,” my father threatened. “This can’t happen again. Whoever the * is, dump the skank.”

My fists clenched and I had to remind myself to remain calm. That skank he referred to was my wife, but I wasn’t ready to share that fact with him. Trying to woo back my wife had cost me that fight, but fighting for Sofie was a better battle than the cage. I was growing tired of the cage, anyway. It was time to let others have their glory. Abel was one such character. My gym project would be the other.

On many occasions, I wanted to share my plans with my father. On a sickening level, I wanted him to be proud of my goals and the accomplishment to make life better for others. I didn’t tell him, though, because fear of his disapproval overweighed my enthusiasm. I despised being afraid. It made me feel weak, but when it came to my father, I was. He could bring me down with a glance. His words destroyed Abel. His rejection haunted Evie. His fist reminded me, I was less than him. It wasn’t a competition to be better than him. I just had plans that differed from his.

“You have a fight in two weeks, then a major one in Seattle at the end of this month. So help me God, you better be there. You better be prepared. This is important.” They were all important to my father. Every fight was a statement, but for what, I no longer knew.





Cain dreaded the fateful trip to see his father in Vegas and returned to me with eager interest in taking my body wherever and whenever he pleased. I wasn’t complaining and I couldn’t deny him. The things he did to me, the way he made me feel. His mouth tasted me like I was the sweetest fruit. His eyes devoured me like he wanted to draw me into him. His touch covered me in worship and wonder. He wasn’t rough, but sweetly hungry to discover me, what I liked, what he could do to please me. Intense was a good word for him, and he apologized, if he thought it was too much. I assured him, it wasn’t. In the shower, against a wall, over the counter, the floor of the hall, he was becoming my drug, and I couldn’t get him deep enough inside me. My heart was full, too, but I worried at times I was confusing lust for love.

Two weeks after our return from the vineyard, he partook in a fight. I couldn’t attend as I had finals for the summer session, plus I wanted to give Cain time with his father. The full extent of damage Atom Callahan had done to his first son was unknown to me, but I knew enough to realize that Cain having a wife wasn’t going to be met happily. While Cain was definitely more visible around campus, and even met me out one night with the girls, he avoided any conversations about making our relationship public, especially with his father. He kept telling me he had to wait.

When Cain went to Vegas, I was worried. I didn’t like the thought of him possibly returning to Malinda. As active lovers, I hoped I kept him more than satisfied. I was reassured when he stole into our bedroom late Saturday evening, or more likely early Sunday morning, having caught the first flight out of Vegas. His eager attention to my body let me know that he’d missed me and waited to return to me. His body was a temple, and I prayed to the god within him in response to the way he worshipped me.

A small debate for us was the ring he’d given me. I hadn’t officially worn it. I wore it home that first morning, but by evening Cain questioned where it was.

“Don’t you think we should wait? Let people see us together before we announce we are already married?” I was also holding out for Cain telling his father. “Besides, you haven’t told your father, and you don’t wear a ring either,” I reminded him. For some reason this upset Cain. He didn’t agree this was the same thing.

“I want people to know now,” he stated, sounding petulant as I undressed for bed that first night. He watched me with those hypnotic eyes, while I disrobed, as we argued.

“You aren’t playing fair,” he hissed low to me, his eyes opening wide as my shirt hit the floor.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I admitted, as I wasn’t done with our discussion. I wanted to reassure him that I wasn’t saying yes and then bailing on him. He seemed to need that security.

“I’ll get a chain and wear the ring around my neck. It will be close to my heart as we let everyone get familiar with our relationship first, including your father,” I tried to soothe. “You could do the same with a ring of your own,” I suggested, stepping toward him, but he retreated from me. He walked around me in our room to open the top drawer of his dresser. Removing a long chain, he returned to face me, and held out a silver loop with a heavy cross at the end of it.