Page 69 of Cry, Little Dove

Is that what I feel, too?Love?

I always want to be close to Cain. I melt into his embrace, andhissmile makesmewant to smile. Calm permeates me when he holds me in bed at night before I fall asleep. His touch sets me alight when he seduces me, and he makes pain feel like a feather’s kiss.

Am I in love with my captor?

We look into each other’s eyes for what seems like an eternity, until smoke rises between us. Cain’s gaze drops.

“Aw, shit!” He stomps on the carpet. When he lifts his boot, it reveals crumpled tobacco, torn cigarette paper—and a walnut-sized hole in the soft pile. He laughs. “Good thing I’m not attached to this old rug, cause you’re one hell of a distraction, darlin’.”

“You can buy a new one.”

“I just gotta be careful I don’t burn down the whole house next time you so much as smile at me. But forget about the goddamn carpet.” He takes my chin between two fingers. “Do you really want to be my partner and my equal?”

I nod.

“Do you trust me, Erica?”

The shocking truth stops my heart for a split second. “I trust you,” I whisper.

Cain grins. “Then are you gonna be my good girl and follow me into the darkness?”

By now, this dynamic between us is familiar and it brings me so much comfort. He commands and I obey. I know what to do, what to expect. The lines are clear cut… unlike my emotions.

“Yes, Dr. Morrow.”

He kisses my forehead and walks around the desk, reaching underneath the tabletop. A click sounds. My eyes widen when one of the bookshelves pushes outward, sliding in front of the others to reveal a metal door.

Cain strides toward it. He brings his face to a biometric scanner before inputting a multi-digit number into a keypad. With a hiss and a whirr, the thick door pops open. There’s a bright hallway behind it, elevator doors at the end.

Cain holds out his hand and my heart soars when our fingers entwine. He doesn’t have to tell me where we’re going. We’re heading straight into the predator’s den, but this time, I’m not afraid.

This time I’m not a victim.

I’m Cain’s partner, and I’m determined to prove that I’m worthy of standing by his side.

“What the fuck? Nate?” I blurt out.

Pulse racing, I step closer to the operating table and the naked man lying on it with an IV in his arm. He looks foreign under the bright white light washing out his brown hair and blue gaze, but it’s definitely him.

My ex’s eyes roll wildly. The beeping of the heart monitor speeds up, but Nate doesn’t move a muscle. He must be getting the same drugs that paralyzed me.

I spin around and bump into Cain. “You knew about Nate? How the hell did you track him down? I tried for weeks with no success.”

Cain clicks his tongue. “I saw the texts in your phone and when I realized he stole from you, I worked some magic.”

“You were with me all day every day, except for once when I went out with your sister. But you can’t have found and taken him in that short time. It was just a few hours!”

“That’s the errand I had to take care of without you.” He smirks. “First, I paid somebody very handsomely to find this scumbag and bring him to San Antonio. While you and Mandy were out shopping, I went to the drop-off, stuffed him in the trunk of my SUV, and brought him here. Ever since, he’s been in this basement in a nice little artificial coma. I woke him earlier today while you were in the shower.”

I suck in a gulp of the chemically scented air. “Youhiredsomeone to kidnap Nate?”

“From the dark web. You wouldn’t believe the kind of sick shit and disturbed bastards you can find there. Anything is for sale. Drugs. Organs. Murder. Rape. Torture. Snuff. It’s a den of fuckin’ monsters.”

“And you’re one of them,” I mumble and lay a hand on his broad chest, his pulse beating steadily against my fingers.

“You know that. I’m a horrible, cruel man and I deal with other horrible, cruel men in the only two currencies they understand: cash and death.” He lets out a casual laugh. “You didn’t think I was selling the spare organs in broad daylight like girl scout cookies, right? A lung ain’t exactly a packet of thin mints.”

“I never thought about the logistics in so much detail,” I admit with a grin.

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