Paradise Found: Cain (Paradise #2)(5)

I was staying at The Belfast, the casino resort in Vegas where the fight took place. I hadn’t wanted to attend. I avoided Cain Callahan and all news of him as much as I could. However, at times, I’d cave in to the temptation to learn a little bit of information. I’d tell myself I just wanted to know what happened to him. I wanted to know if it was true. Did he kill someone?

As soon as I’d see his hard face during an Internet search, I couldn’t look any farther. A scantily clad girl draped over his broad shoulders was all I’d need to recall that I had been nothing more than a one-night stand to Cobra Callahan, famous fighter and international champion. His cold dark eyes looked dangerous captured on film and video. I didn’t recognize the man featured in the media. He wasn’t the man I had encountered one weekend last summer at my grandparents’ vineyard. That man had been different.

In the bar at the Belfast, my thoughts of Cain were dulled by the excess of alcohol I consumed. I could handle my drink, but tonight I let the power of alcohol make its way through my veins. The granddaughter of producers of wine, I practically grew up on the sweet taste of fermented grapes. I also had my fair share of Grandpa’s Passion, an alcoholic beverage filled with secret ingredients known only to my great grandfather. It was potent. I’d seen it bring large men to their knees. It had brought Cain to his.

I shook my head to rid the memory of our first night together. It had all been a lie, a fa?ade of types. We were pretending. Tonight, I was pretending he had no effect on me, so I drank with the girls who encouraged me to attend the fight. I needed to dull the ache between my thighs from his touch hours ago.

Lindee Parks’ parents owned The Belfast, a glorious resort filled with grand ballrooms, a large casino, private gambling rooms, and an arena. The fight was the event of the decade: two brothers pitted against each other. There wasn’t even a title involved. It was only for pride; which brother was better. To say I hated Atom Callahan, their father, was an understatement. I could not comprehend the evil that allowed a father to pit his children against each other in the ring. Observing him across the cage, it was evident that all his faith was on one child only, and my heart ached for Abel, the younger son, who I had developed a friendship with over the past few months.

While I hoped to avoid Cain, the fight was impossible to ignore. My decision to be there was last minute. I took the place of Elma Montgomery, a girl that I suspected Abel desired, but denied himself from having. It seemed to be a family trait, but then again, I wasn’t convinced that Cain Callahan ever had any real interest in me. I was a fleeting moment in his superstar life and I knew better. My own family had their success story with a well-known vineyard in Napa Valley, which catered to the rich and famous who wished to be discrete. Affairs of the extramarital kind, escapes from the burden of paparazzi, and the occasional elopement took place in our secluded winery. We were a sinner’s haven in the midst of paradise.

Our foursome rounded out with Maggie, who was Lindee’s cousin, and Lucie, my best friend from my time abroad in Italy. The fight was over and to everyone’s surprise: Abel Callahan beat his brother. It was the shock of the modern century. The leaner, lesser-known fighter, rose up from the ashes of the underground fight pits and beat his brother, a renowned champion. In many ways, it wasn’t realistic, and people were still dumbfounded by the course of events. Either way, The Belfast was ready to party. Drowning sorrows for the huge sums of money lost or celebrating glee for mysterious dollars won, it made no difference. The casino dance lounge was full.

The bright lights were like a neon splatter paint explosion. The dance floor reflected garish fuchsia, royal blue, and highlighter yellow. The flashing rhythm matched my racing heart that accelerated with each thought of Cain, and what he’d done to me in the hallway outside the locker rooms. I cursed myself as I downed another shot. I’d lost count and stumbled to the pulsating floor to join Maggie and Lucie.

My hips swayed to the vibrant music. The mix of songs blended in a way that there was no break from one to another. The lyrics rolled together and the beat went on. I raised my arms in the air, not caring that my skirt rose with it. I’d already been exposed. Nothing could touch me now, I thought, as I let myself fall into the thumping bass of the music. Lucie and Maggie danced with me, and we smiled as we sang out the song. My face was ready to crack from the alcohol-induced grin.

I refused to shed more tears over Cain Callahan. I’d been racked with sobs so severe at the first loss of him; my body ached for days. My mind grew numb and my limbs moved like an automaton. I couldn’t recall a thing from the first week after he disappeared. Tonight, I wanted him to disappear again, but I felt his eyes on me from across the crowded bar. Seated in an alcove of couches for VIP members only, Cain was surrounded by women. Why his attention focused on me, I didn’t understand. A long legged blonde, with a short skirt slithered up to his side. She curled over his thigh, but his eyes were still on me. I knew this only because I’d stolen a glance in his direction and the weight of his dark orbs didn’t leave me long after I looked away. Dirty and desired rolled into a mutual sensation. The warmth of shots helped me ignore both emotions.

“He’s watching you,” Lucie yelled over the beat of the music.

“I don’t care,” I shouted back. Her face scrunched up as she shook her head. Lucie didn’t know my secret, no one did. She’d been observant enough, though, to notice I had a strange obsession with a fighter in the United States when we were abroad in Italy. When she questioned me, I’d say he was someone that I used to know. She’d laugh and sing out a famous song with those lyrics. The inquisition was dropped.