Page 11 of Let Me
My eyes flash open.
A cold voice. One that I would recognize anywhere.
I can’t see him, but I hear his steady footsteps. And the men’s grips slacken as they turn.
“I said,Let her go.”Caden’s voice is low. Dangerous.
They release me, back away from me with their hands up.
“Hey man, we were just—” one starts to say.
“We didn’t know she was yours,” the other says.
“She isn’t.” Caden’s fist connects with the bald man’s face and he goes down, hard. I’m still against the wall, breathing hard, my head aching, and I watch as Caden takes the other man and slams him against the wall opposite me, over and over and over, the man’s head connecting with the brick, blood gushing on his face. Then Caden lets him go, and he falls, too.
Neither of them move, and I can’t say I’m sorry for it.
Caden’s back is still to me and he’s looking down at the man at his feet. I see his fists clench and I still can’t move. The muscles of his back flex as he finally makes to turn toward me, his eyes catching mine in the darkness. I see spots of red on his shirt.
“What thefuck,Riley?” he spits at me, as if this ismyfault. He closes the space between us, puts his hands on either side of me, caging me in.
I can smell him.
He smells like soap and something else that’s heady and masculine and just him. His scent was always intoxicating. Even before that night, before Jack died. I could still smell him in the Virani’s house, when he passed by me. In the club that night when he pulled Jack off of me.
“Why the fuck would you come down here in the middle of the goddamn night by yourself?” he growls at me, and I press further against the wall, the brick digging into my back, through my dress.
“You think this is my fault?” I ask, surprised and pleased my voice isn’t shaking. But my head hurts with the words, from where they slammed it against the wall. “You think Iwantedthat?” I look beyond him, indicating the men on the ground.
His light eyes, like ice, are unreadable. Maybe he does think I wanted it. We haven’t spoken, until today, in nearly three years. I know he spent all three of those years thinking I was a slut in the worst way.
I can’t exactly say he’s wrong. I’m dirty and tainted andwrong.
“You were pissed because Adam was—”
“Don’t talk to me about Adam,” I say through clenched teeth, my palms pressed flat against the wall behind me, my head held high, eyes on his above me. “Benji fucking sent that picture, didn’t he?”
Caden lets out a low laugh and I smell his breath. Peppermint and vodka. “Shouldn’t you be sayingThank you?” he hisses.
“Fuck you, Caden.” My eyes are filled with tears and even though I almostnevercry, the past few hours seem to have changed that for me.
Caden’s lips tug into a smile. “You’d like that wouldn’t you?” he whispers, leaning closer, his brow against mine. “Have you dreamed of me inside of you, after all these years?”
This is a trap. Nothing I say will help this situation. If I answer honestly, if I tell him that Adam doesn’t mean shit to me, that Benji wasn’t hurting me by sending me that text and instead he washelpingme, if I tell Caden any of that, it’ll go nowhere.
Because Caden hates me.
His brother is gone.
It’s my fault.
“You’recrying,Riley?” He brushes his thumb roughly against my cheek, and he doesn’t move it, not for a long moment, his eyes searching mine. Then he runs his hand through the long strands of my hair, and tugs, gently.
I feel my knees go weak beneath me.
This is what I deserve.
This is what I want.
