Page 19 of Cain

“The inside is a bit of a construction zone at the moment, and I don’t have a bed in any of the guest rooms yet. Sorry.” I throw him a sheepish look over my shoulder as I unlock the backdoor for us.

“I’m good with the couch, babe. Better, too.” I arch my eyebrow at him because who in their right mind thinks a couch is better than a bed? “Just in case he comes back and tries to break into the house, I’ll be able to shoot his balls off before he even makes it past the entryway.”

He looks way too pleased at the thought of that. “Fucking biker dudes,” I mumble to myself.

“Help yourself to anything in the kitchen. The bathroom is down the hall, first door on the right. I’ll get you a pillow and a blanket,” I say before I head upstairs, the steps creaking the whole way. It’s one of the quirks of buying an old house that I haven’t had the time to tune up yet.

A nice long bath is calling my name tonight. The need to decompress and take a minute to breathe is so strong. I hate feeling like my life is spiraling out of control, and there’s no way to stop it. Ever since the day I agreed to help out the club, weird shit has happened. And not the good kind of weird. I’ve worked so hard for my stability. I’ll be damned if some random fuckhead thinks he can come in and take that away from me.

I come to a halt just before I reach my bedroom. Would it be weird if I took a bath with a man downstairs whom I just met tonight?

For some reason, sitting naked in a tub of water with someone in my house seems weirdly intimate. Especially in this house where you can hear someone breathing from the opposite end because it’s so old. You know what I mean? Like they’re just going to be sitting downstairs thinking about everything I’m doing. And if they hear the water splash? The thought alone makes me cringe.

I find the blankets and pillows I’m looking for tucked away in my closet. I completely gutted the linen closet by the bathroom in the hall and haven’t opened the door since. Just another thing on my to-do list.

“I keep the alarm set at night, so if you need to step out for whatever reason, the code is 666420.” I can’t help but snort as I set the bedding on the couch. Life isn’t worth living if you can’t laugh at yourself along the way.

Only two people know the code: Zeke and the guy who installed it, and even they didn’t get it until I told them. So I’m a little surprised when Levi starts laughing. “The devil’s lettuce, right? 666 for devil and 420 for weed. That’s a pretty good one.”

“Yeah.” I smirk. I don’t know whether to be happy someone finally got it without me explaining anything or if I should be slightly concerned that I have the same sense of humor as a kid who probably isn’t old enough to drink legally.

“Alright, well, I’m going to call it a night. Again, anything in the kitchen is free game. Help yourself to whatever. I’m sorry you're stuck babysitting me,” I say as I start to head back toward the stairs, snapping at Hades to follow.

“Don’t sweat it, babe. Prez just wants to make sure you’re safe. Although, I can’t say I’ve ever seen him like this with a woman. You two a thing?” he asks, looking like he’s trying to put everything together before he realizes what he just asked. “Ah, fuck. Please don’t tell Prez I asked you that. He would have my ass, and I’m finally doing something other than being their bitch. Not that I don’t enjoy being their bitch. I do. I know I need to earn—” he rambles.

“Levi,” I cut him off. “It’s fine. I know you didn’t mean anything by it,” I assure him. “It’s already forgotten. But to answer your question—no, we aren’t a thing. He’s only being like this because I’m the only option right now.” At those parting words, I finish the trek to my room, but not before I see the unsure look on Levi’s face. Like he didn’t believe a fucking word I just said.

Levi is already up and ready to go when I finally come down around 11am.

“Didn’t know if I was gonna have to go up and put a mirror under your nose.” Levi smirked, coffee cup in hand.

“Waking up before 10am should be illegal, and anyone that does is probably well on their way to being a serial killer if they aren’t already,” I grumble as I pour myself a cup of coffee over ice before grabbing the dairy-free creamer out of the fridge. I can’t stand hot beverages. The feeling of hot liquid going down my throat and into my stomach makes me want to crawl out of my skin.

“Are you stuck with me today, too?” I ask after finally feeling that first sip of caffeine entering my bloodstream.

“Until Prez says otherwise. I’ll probably get relieved when Scotch and Brock come over,” he replies, scratching Hades behind the ear where he likes it.

I’m just about to tell him that he doesn’t need to stay when I hear the faint sound of bikes coming up through the woods. No, that can’t be right. Levi also hears it because he jumps out of his seat to go look out the backdoor as I move to look out the kitchen window. It’s not long before I see Cain, Scotch, and Brock coming out of the far left trail.

Those assholes.

They cut the fucking gate.

“Where the fuck did they come from?” Levi asks while putting on his boots.

“The back edge of my property butts up to the end of the club’s property. I realized that the other day when I found out that we’re neighbors.” I sigh. I should have never let Cain in on that little detail. Clearly, he thinks he can just do whatever the fuck pleases him.

“Hellcat.” Cain smirks as I step outside to meet them, Levi following behind.

“Cain,” I answer as I cross my arms across my chest.

“This is Brock. He’s going to be the one installing the cameras.” I nod my head towards him. He doesn’t have a cut on either. He must be a prospect like Levi, just way older. I’d put my money on around my age. “Now, show us where the fuck you caught this guy.”

Motioning with my hand to follow, I walk over to the side door. “I didn’t see exactly where he was because by the time I got over here, Hades already had him moving. But I noticed a bunch of scratches around and on the deadbolt that weren’t there before. Like maybe he was trying to pick it?” All of the males nod their heads, and their faces harden, confirming my assumption.

“The ground was still kind of wet from all the rain we had, so I noticed footprints next to tire tracks from a bike, like he walked it up my drive. That’s the only thing I can think of because I never heard the bike. I mean, I heard you guys coming up the trail from way back.” I cut all three of them a glare. “Thanks for cutting the chain, by the way. But I would have heard a bike, you know?”

“My guess is whoever it was knew you were home and somehow knew where the barn was because it doesn’t seem like they needed any help finding their way back,” Cain said, hands on his toned muscular waist as he looked around, surveying everything.

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