Page 73 of Uncaged Obsessions

“You ran away from an arranged marriage twice and they got mad at Carson for letting it happen again. They weren’t going to get their ass saved by you. They got desperate and pissed, so they killed him.”

“You think that’s going to work?” Adam asks.

Caine has been noticeably quiet, so I look over at him to see he’s still fuming and definitely fighting the urge to rush out of here to find Doogie. He finally says something and I can see the anger in his eyes with his question. “Who’s their lawyer?”

Danner looks at him, swiping through her tablet a little bit before letting out a humorless chuckle. “Aldridge.” She looks back up at him. “Your dad and brother.”

“Of fucking course,” he grumbles.

“It’s fine. You all really need to work on trusting me. I’ve done nothing but help you.” Danner shakes her head.

“We do, we’re just on edge I think,” I add.

“Should be almost over, Even though I told you not to say anything,” she directs her comment to Max, her eyes narrowed. “It seems like it got the FBI off your back a bit.”

“See, I know what I’m doing,” Max announces proudly.

I pull her into my side, kissing the side of her head and chuckling. “Good job, little one.”

CHAPTER 40

MAX

Iinsist on riding with Caine back home, because I know if he’s left alone, he’s going to go after Doogie and will kill him. There’s no doubt in my mind he would drive his fist into that man’s face and not let up until he stops breathing.

He would take out all the pent up rage he had against Carson, and now Doogie out on the one man. One that certainly deserves it, but I don’t want to lose him when it looks like we may get away with what I did to Carson.

After Caine climbs on the bike in front of me, I wrap my arms around his middle, pressing myself against his back tightly. I swear I feel the tenseness in his body soften at my touch, but I also may just be imagining it.

We end up getting to my house at the same time as Drew and Adam. There’s a tension around all of us, and I feel like it’s because of everything we just learned. They’re pissed, and so am I but I know right now we just have to trust Danner and the process.

We need to distract ourselves, especially Caine because he reminds me of a caged beast who’s been throwing themselves at the bars and the enclosure is seconds away from breaking. I keep myself plastered to his side as we walk inside, trying to ground him.

Once we are inside I feel like it’s safe to put a tiny bit of distance between us without him immediately bolting from the house. Of course when I try, he yanks me right back against him, growling in my ear, “Where do you think you’re going?”

I look up at him, the anger and some other emotion swimming in his bright blue eyes, I blurt before I can think about what I’m doing, “We all need to talk.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Drew comments.

I shake my head. “No, not like that, I just,fuck.”

I feel like this isn’t how I should start this, but I can’t go on any longer without getting this confession off my chest. It may be ridiculous, and maybe I’m reading too much into everything. I’ve never experienced real love and attention, but right now I know that if I don’t say something soon it’s going to burst out of me at the worst time.

I know I should trust Danner, and I do. I also know, there’s always an opportunity for everything to get derailed and if I never get to tell them it’ll be the biggest regret of my life.

“Sit on the couch,” I tell them all, reminiscent of another time we did this.

I’ve never been good with words, I’ve always had to express my feelings in other ways. Dancing used to be my biggest outlet. The one way I could get out everything, and actuallyfeelfreely.

This may not be the most conventional way to express my feelings, but it’s mine. They’ve accepted me fully and wholly up until this point, and I can only hope they’ll accept me like this as well.

None of them argue as they sit on the couch, facing the pole that’s still up, though I probably should have taken it down. I’m glad I haven’t. While the thought of dancing has repulsed me since I got back, I want to now. I want to feel how I used to feel.

I want to take my power back.

Because it’s mine.

Their eyes are glued on me as I stand there, not doing anything, just looking at them. I quickly steel my spine and plaster a smile on my face.

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