Page 25 of Darkness

She knows the second my rope is pulled, she has to leave. They give her a window of one minute or they will come up, and there is no way that is happening. No one is touching her.

The water moves down my body as I stand in the shower, washing off all of my guilt. Because fuck do I feel like a fucking asshole right now.

I thought demons would kill me, but guilt or what I did might just do the job for me. She came to the office and looked so perfect. Everything about her was pulling me to her. There wasn’t one part of my body which wasn’t craving her. I want to touch every inch of her sexy body, but then it fucking hit me like a ton of bricks. I feel guilty for taking her sunshine away for my own greed. She might not understand it, but the darkness around me will overpower her light, and it will do it without warning.

I can’t do that to her. I can’t break the happy, smiling woman who seems like she finds happiness from everything.

She tasted better than I thought she would. Touching her soft skin was a drug I didn’t know I needed. The soft thunderstorm scent I get from her when I’m around her takes over my body.

Autumn-Rose, what are you doing to me?

Getting out of the shower, I walk over to the bedroom to grab some clothes. Some black sweatpants, a black t-shirt. As I pull the t-shirt over my head, a strong cold breeze slaps my body hard.What the fuck is that?

I take a look around my apartment to make sure no one is around. My alarm would have gone off, plus to get in here, they have to go through the club and my office.

Before I know it, I’m standing by the window, looking into Autumn’s apartment. She’s in her bedroom with a towel wrapped around her body. Do I blame her for wanting to wash me off her?

Shaking my head, I grab my tablets, and take three of them, and sit down to watch my English Rose.

Fucking hell, I’m calling her mine. I have no right to call her that.“Have faith,”a whisper hits me from behind. I’m going crazy. “Trust your gut.”Leaning forward, I press my palms into my eyes. “Fucking hell!” I shout to myself.

I hear the elevator doors open, all I fucking need right now is Lincoln coming into my quiet space. Pressing my palms a little harder before I listen to what he has to say.

“What the hell did you do? Is she crying?” Lincoln asks, and it gets my attention. Looking over at her bedroom, I see she’s wiping the tears away. Fuck, what did I expect? She shouldn’t care. Does she look like a woman who has flings? No. No she doesn’t. She looks like the type of girl who likes flowers, chocolates, romantic shit like that.

Not the person who I am, not anymore.

“Cain-”

“You shouldn’t have let her up!” I snap, needing to put the blame on someone other than me.

“Why? I didn’t think you’d fucking make her cry.” Lincoln fills a glass for the both of us with some whiskey. “I have no idea what the fuck is going on in your head, but the woman crying over there is all you can think about. There’s a reason for it.”

I don’t know what to say to him, because he’s right. She is all I can think about. But I also think about the targets on my back. Can I put her in that danger? I’m protecting my family. How am I meant to protect her without telling her about The Pit. Fuck, just the thought of her knowing about it hits me hard. She might hate me when she finds out. Then there are the scars. It isn’t like there are only one or two. Fuck no.

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Lincoln asks, making me snicker. He has to be fucking joking.

“Because of me-”

“If you’re talking about Tess, stop. You were in The Pit. You couldn’t protect her and you need to get that through your head. How do you protect someone when you’re in a prison of hell?” Lincoln taps his glass on mine, and I drink it in one go.

I watch Autumn-Rose moving around her apartment, making sure the door is locked, her alarm is on, and she grabs the baseball bat before going back to her bedroom.Who are you scared of?

“I know you don’t talk about what’s happening in your head and keep as much as you can locked up. But there is nothing wrong with moving on.” He pats my leg then hands me my cell, which has been going off with messages.

Grandad

Come see me.

He’s Mom’s dad, and also one of my other grandad’s good friends. Someone, since I met him coming out of The Pit, I’ve only seen a handful of times.

Cain

I’ll be over in the morning.

“What does he want?” Lincoln asks.

Mom

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