Page 93 of Vicious Intentions

Cain

Love.

I’d grown up accepting the fact that love wasn’t a possibility for a monster like me. At first, I’d told myself the reason was because the woman would be considered a weakness, which still held some merit. Then I’d been certain there wasn’t a woman who could tolerate my needs. That no longer remained true. Sage had been… perfect.

My cock twitched just thinking about how passionate we’d been, her needs paralleling mine.

The final reasoning would remain locked in my mind.

I didn’t deserve to have joy and happiness, love and passion because of who and what I was. A killer. An evil man. That much she’d known, even accepting who and what all three of us were.

The simple truth was that I wanted Sage in my life so badly I would do anything to keep her happy. Hell, I would lock her in a cage, protecting her against the evils of this world.

Including me.

Including the two other men who wanted her heart.

And I would hunt down the people responsible for hurting her.

I glanced at Hunter and Cristiano as they studied the arrival board for at least the third time. I’d thought about taking my jet to San Diego, but she’d gotten on the plane returning to Chicago, or so I’d been told. She was coming back.

But in what capacity?

As a woman determined to destroy the three men who had a part in the tragedy that had altered her life, or as the girl we’d fallen in love with years before?

I’d seen the notes she’d written down and had been able to feel her anger and anxiety in every word scribbled on the pieces of paper. Then there was the story, one so breathtaking that I hadn’t been able to breathe. Now, I paced the floor of the airport, hoping I’d get a third chance to make it right.

Which I didn’t deserve.

Hunter turned to face me, the look on his face the exact one on Cristiano’s, and if I looked in the mirror, I suspected the same version would be reflected.

She’d managed to get so far under our skin that we had difficulty functioning.

Hunter swaggered towards me, his eyes boring into mine. “We will protect her. We will care for her. She belongs to us.”

He made the statement as if I’d argue with him. I couldn’t blame him for that.

“I have the jet standing by if she didn’t get on that plane. We will find her.”

Cristiano overheard and returned. “She’s on the plane. She’s as connected to us as we are to her.”

The tension between us was almost laughable. The few times we’d made incredulous plans of finding the right girl, settling down together had made us laugh. We’d tried to tell ourselves it had been the alcohol talking, but the seed had been planted, watered the night we’d gotten a taste of Sage.

When I tried to look away, Hunter got in my face. “Admit it. You’re in love with her.”

I lifted a single eyebrow and exhaled. “Yeah, man, I am. That doesn’t mean shit if she doesn’t want to be with us.”

Cristiano studied the runways outside the oversized window. Her flight was due in fifteen minutes.

“Your men are in place around the airport. Right?” he asked.

“No one is getting to her here. In addition, I have Brogan finding out everything he can about Watkins’ activities over the last few days and his current location. We’re going to pay a visit to the man.”

“That’ll add gasoline to the fire,” Hunter threw in.

“Maybe so, but we’re going to start ruling out candidates one by one. Besides, it’s time we address the fact that he made our lives a living hell for years.”

“I’m down with that,” Cristiano threw in.

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