Page 66 of The Preachers' Promise
I kiss her forehead and slide out of the bed. I walk bare-ass naked past Cain, who doesn’t even glance my way, he’s so focused on Ophelia.
In the bathroom, I turn on the shower to full, and when it’s raining down hard on the tiles, I step in and let the water cleanse me of more than just the surface dirt. I picture all my shame and fear washing away with it, too.
When I step out of this shower, I’m going to be born anew, a fucking warrior, here to protect Ophelia from any harm that might come her way.
32
OPHELIA
Cain sitson the edge of the bed and lazily runs his finger around one of my nipples, watching as it crinkles under his touch.
“What did Roman mean when he said he meant every word?” he asks.
He sounds almost disinterested, but I know he’s not.
I’m torn between telling him that Roman and Malachi have declared their love for me or keeping it to myself. It feels wrong not to tell him. Cain is my oldest friend. He’s the one who set all this in motion, really, but now, his friends have both declared their love for me, yet he hasn’t.
Do I love Cain?
The answer is clear and immediate to me. Of course I do. I’ve loved him since we were children, and even though we’d been apart for so many years, those feelings never went away. Now they’ve morphed into something deeper and more intense, and I can only pray that he feels the same way.
But I don’t want him to feel awkward or as if he has to say the words, too, not if he doesn’t mean them, but I also want him to know the truth. I don’t like lying by omission, and I would be because he’s outright asked me now.
Shifting against the headboard, I glance down at my exposed breasts, suddenly vulnerable.
“Angel? What is it?”
“I don’t want to make you feel weird,” I whisper.
“What the hell could Roman say to you that would make me feel weird?” He laughs softly. “Don’t overthink things so much, Angel, but you don’t have to tell me.” He drops a kiss to my forehead and moves as if to stand.
“Wait.” I put my hand on his forearm, stilling him. “Roman told me he’d protect me no matter what because he … um … he says he loves me.”
I wait, breath held.
Cain smiles. “Of course he does. We all do.” He frowns then. “Although maybe, don’t tell your father that. We need to get him on our side. Your dad knows I love you, because I told him, but he has no idea about what we’ve got going on here.”
I stare at him, not even blinking. He told my dad that he loves me? Does he realize what he’s just declared? “Cain … do you … are you saying that you love me?”
His face falls a little. “Of course I love you, Fee.” His use of his other childhood name for me feels so personal right now. “I don’t go around just breaking any old girl out of institutions, you know.” He chuckles. “Or risking my neck by telling their father I love them.” His expression grows serious. “But I’ve been remiss, because I realize I didn’t tellyou.I’m sorry, Ophelia.” He takes my hands. “I love you, Angel. I fucking love you, with all my heart.”
I let out a small, gasped sob as I throw my arms around his neck. Cain, my childhood friend, who is now this big, strong man, loves me. “I love you, too. So much.”
“Ah, you’re making me want to cry.”
The sarcastic tone has me pulling back from Cain to look toward the door where Mal is lounging against the frame. He’slike a storm cloud at a wedding, all dark moodiness and pissed off energy.
Roman opens the bathroom door right then, too. “What have you been doing?” He jerks his chin at Malachi.
“Thinking and plotting.” Mal grins, but it’s hard edged and kind of wild. “I’ve got an idea, but we all need to talk it through.”
Roman’s gaze lands on me, and he frowns. “Are you crying?” He stalks over to the bed, taking my chin in his fingers and angling my face up.
“Yes,” I sob happily. “You all love me.”
The men glance at one another, and for a horrible moment, I worry they’re all going to start fighting over why they didn’t discuss this with one another, but Roman simply shrugs. “Well, yeah, of course we do.”
“You’re very loveable,” Malachi adds.
