Paradise Found: Cain (Paradise #2)(50)

I vaguely heard my name called, but I couldn’t discern if it was Abel. It certainly wasn’t Cain. It didn’t matter. I had to get out of there.

“Who do we have here?” The sinister voice of an Irish accent stopped me in my tracks. “And what is this?”

I hadn’t realized I released the chain from within my blouse and clutched the cross between my sweaty fingers. It was my left hand and it exposed the diamond, front and center, to the narrowed glare of Mr. Callahan.

“What do you have there?” he said, reaching out to roughly loosen my grasp. I let the cross fall to my breast, and Atom didn’t hesitate to pull it forward. His eyes opened wide, as his fist wrapped around the sacred item and he yanked the chain. My neck lurched forward but the force of his pull fulfilled his mission and broke the clasp. One hand held the charm, the other wrapped around my arm. He tugged me forward and I didn’t resist. I only wanted out of the room, away from it all. Images of Cain’s mouth open and warm against that woman’s, wrapped around another snake, made my stomach roil. The bile rose to my throat, and I choked as I sputtered to swallow. I stumbled on my heels as Atom Callahan dragged me out into the arena hall. Forcing my back against the wall, he pinned me.

“How did you get this?” he cursed in my face, as he shook his clamped fist with the cross inside.

“I … it was …”

“Where is she?” he hissed. I blinked uncertain what he was asking or who he referenced.

“I’m going to ask one more time before I split you in half. Where. Did you. Get this?”

“Cain,” I whisper-choked as I spoke his name. The venom of it poisoned my tongue, which grew thick in my mouth and forced the bile taste to return. Tears burst instantly.

“Tears don’t work on me,” Atom Callahan snarled. He studied my face for a moment.

“Who are you? Why do you look familiar?” he demanded.

I could only shake my head. He’d seen me before, but I wasn’t about to explain. It was evident from his behavior that Cain had never informed him, not even a hint of me. The Cobra had never told the snake pit of his father that he had a wife.

My arm was gripped again and I was tugged down the hall. I honestly didn’t care where I was being taken, as long as it was out of this arena, away from Seattle, and away from the Callahans.

“Atom.” The gruff voice of Kursch sounded in my ears. “Sofie, what’s wrong? Atom, what’s going on?”

“She has Eve’s cross,” Atom stated, as we came to an abrupt stop. “And I’m assuming you know something about this. Now get out of my way.”

“Atom, think about this before you do anything rash.”

“Rash,” Atom spit. “Rash is letting a piece of * get in your head.”

“Atom,” Kursch warned. In that moment, I realized how weak Kursch was against Atom. He did nothing to protect me and I was beyond saving myself. My body trembled in a combination of fear and anger, while the logical part of me shut down. I couldn’t process that before me stood a bully of a father, and I was doing nothing to protect myself. My thoughts fought so hard against the image of Cain with Malinda wrapped around him, I had no fight in me for Mr. Callahan.

“And a rash needs to be dealt with.” With those words, I met the cold drizzling air of the night sky. I stumbled again as I was tugged forward to a black vehicle. After Atom shoved me inside, I curled into myself on the backseat. He muttered something about an airport when he climbed in next to me. I didn’t care. My heart was so broken; the pieces swam in my stomach until they came loose on the black carpet.





I was wound tight. The adrenaline of the fight. The anger at seeing Sofie’s hand on Abel. The pressure of my father. The potential for him to discover who Sofie was to me. I panicked. Then there was the look in her eyes as she watched me with Malinda. I was unnerved, and I was stupid. That kiss was more than I intended. The expression on Sofie’s face afterward broke me. I was a snake at her foot, and she’d crushed me with her pain. I couldn’t move at first. Shards of ice filled those normally baptismal blue eyes, and then she was gone. Lost in the crowd, while I was extricating myself from Malinda, who had coiled her way around me. Her hand sliding down my abs to a treasure that was no longer for her. I’d stopped her just in time, but I’d lost Sofie. I’d gone too far.

Abel suddenly appeared before me.

“Father took her.”

That’s all I needed to hear before I was pushing through the crowd, a bull on a mission through the streets of Spain. Elbows out, I plowed people out of my way. In the hall, I had a choice – left or right. I broke into a sprint to the left and found I’d chosen poorly. Circling back, I found Kursch dumbfounded by an exit door.

“How could you let him take her?” I accused, assuming without knowing that Kursch had let them pass. He was a loyal bodyguard, but he was more faithful to my father.

“How did she have Eve’s cross?”

“I gave it to her,” I sputtered, wondering how Sofie’s possession of my mother’s jewelry had any bearing on her sudden disappearance.

“You hadn’t told him?” Kursch questioned.

“Told him what?” I spit.

“You love her,” he said straightforward.