Paradise Found: Cain (Paradise #2)(65)

“I’m sorry?” I questioned, as I cleared my throat, uncertain how to respond to such a brash insult.

“He had plans. Dreams,” his voice rose, while he struggled to contain the anger. “He was going to be a champion again. Prove his worth. All his labor and work has not been in vain. But you? You had to come along and tempt him away from it. Seduce him, somehow.” His eyes roamed my body, causing me to shiver unpleasantly. It was as if his assessment of me proved a point. He couldn’t imagine how my slim body could have attracted the powerhouse Cobra. Cain was attracted to more than just my body, I liked to think.

“I don’t …”

“Don’t speak,” he snapped. I was about to explain that I didn’t see how Cain’s dreams had anything to do with me, but Atom’s command startled me into silence.

“Now he claims he wants to quit. QUIT!” he shouted. “I didn’t raise quitters.” He paused. “Even Abel has turned out to be a true Callahan, in his weak attempt to rise above himself.” He scoffed at his younger son’s ambition to prove he not only could fight but also could win. “He says he wants to settle down and try something different.” Atom’s eyes flamed with angered disbelief, as if running Cain’s gym and teaching others his technique was a disservice.

We hadn’t discussed Cain’s fight plans, so I had no idea he wanted to leave the circuit completely. I’d only seen him twice in the last month and a half. I had no idea he was stepping down. Building his gym and training new recruits was important to him. I remembered his face both when he showed me the empty warehouse and once it was completed. Dreams change. The gleam in his eye told me his future was Malik and Razor, and the prospect of developing those men. He wanted to pass on what he knew, not keep it to himself.

“Settling down is what you do with a wife,” Atom continued, breaking into my thoughts. “You settle. You give in. Give up on your dream.” Atom appeared to no longer be talking about Cain. His voice took on a tremor, and his eyes widened, as they darkened. His fist punched the top of the desk for emphasis.

“Mr. Callahan,” I began, trying to remain the rational one, while I trembled with fright. His nostrils flared at the lack of control in my voice. He smelled my fear.

“If Cain wants to do something different with his life, I don’t see how that’s my concern,” I continued. Raising my hand as I sensed his early protest, I carried on. “Nor do I see how it’s yours. Cain is a grown man and capable of making his own decisions, regardless of having a wife.”

Atom’s eyes narrowed at me, as if he was dissecting me. He was slicing me into pieces.

“You’re that girl, aren’t you?”

“What girl?” I swallowed.

“The one at the inn. The one in his room. I didn’t see it before. I didn’t recognize you. With your clothes on,” he snapped. The insinuation was there. Either I had been a slut, or I had trapped Cain.

“He married you.” His voice took on a sense of disbelief as if he recalled some memory. “But it wasn’t legal.” He paused. “I told him to take care of it.”

I continued to stare at him. I hardly believed it myself most days, but it had been legal. Apparently, it had been very legitimate, even without us living together. This wasn’t the time to express my frustration at the original lack of honesty Cain betrayed to me, however.

“Divorce him,” he snapped, his teeth clenching with a slight crunch, as if to emphasize the severity of his bite. He’d chew me up if I didn’t. He’d devour me.

“I tried,” I exhaled, giving in a little to the pressure of Atom’s glare, while I stood across from him, still using the desk as a weak barrier between us.

Atom stared at me long and hard. The sensation of his teeth pressing into me, as if the sting of his tongue would not be enough, overwhelmed me. He’d tear into me if it were the only way to infuse his venomous poison. His eyes questioned me, so I answered him.

“Cain refused.”

The explosion of his fist on the desk startled me enough that I stepped back. Already distinctly aware that I was weaker than Atom Callahan, I didn’t wish to display how frightened I truly was of him. He could crush me with one blow of his hand. His eyes proved he was determined to squeeze the beat out of my heart, if he had to.

“Try again,” he demanded. “You’re killing his dream. Women do that,” he added. While I wasn’t convinced I had anything to do with Cain’s decision, I did feel a twinge of guilt. He had moved to Preston and opened the gym where I lived. There had to be other areas with better prospects of attracting fighters, better places for living the lifestyle he was used to than a historic university town in the Silicon Valley.

“What will you do, Mr. Callahan, if I don’t?” The question sounded braver than the person asking it. “Kill me?” I questioned, glaring at him. My eyes were not as hard as his. In fact, I imagine mine probably plead with him. “I have nothing left, Mr. Callahan. You’ve already taken my parents.”

“You still have grandparents,” he hissed. The strike was quick and unpredictable. He wouldn’t go after two older innocents, I questioned instantly, but I remembered just as quickly whom I was facing. This man would stop at nothing to win. He had dragged his own wife down, beat his son, belittled another, and sent his daughter away as a child. He had actually pitted his children against one another. He had no concern for others, only himself. I wasn’t even convinced he loved the son he was claiming to protect. He loved what the son did for him, not who the son was.