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“Nope.” Tugging me against his warm body so that we were spooning, he said against the back of my neck, “It has to be a beautiful girl. That’s the secret.”

He stroked the outside of my arm, the cardigan sliding down until he removed it completely. I was waiting for him to try and work me up—this man had a libido like no other—but ... he never did.

Kain wrapped us in his arms and the blankets, and as the sun rose above and the world woke around us, we curled together like puzzle pieces left behind in the box. Alone like this, the bigger picture didn’t matter at all.

He really did want to just hold me.Every time I thought I understood Kain Badd ...

I learned something new instead.

Time came and went. Not just that morning, but in general for me. I had the window to tell me when day ended, I also wasn’t without consistent meals or company. The family was treating me like a guest who just happened to be locked away.

What was most terrible was how I kept justifying that this was okay.

But fuck, that repeating image of Kain being strangled, of his father’s cryptic words, it had left me with so much doubt. I’d been very close with my parents. It hadn’t always been easy, sure—is it ever?—but I relished our little unit.

My dad was gone often; he worked as an independent landscaper, so his jobs were all over. In spite of that, for most of my life, money was there, we were comfortably middle class. The only time money came up was when he pulled me from riding, explaining that it was just beyond what we could afford.

I’d been distraught ...

But I’d forgiven him.

After he’d passed, my mother began to fall ill. They were like two lovebirds; she was lost without him, and I was so busy with my new job I couldn’t return to keep her company. All the money he’d squirreled away—and there was a good chunk—ended up being spent on my mother’s health. I often wondered if quitting sooner and moving back here would have prevented some of her fading strength.

I loved them both so much. My father had taught me that family takes care of family.

How could I sit by and watch Kain throw his family away just for me? How could I watch him shed blood with his family forme?I couldn’t.

I wouldn’t.

So time passed. I’d call my mother here and there, I’d claim work was just filling my time, and I’d often send Kain to check in to make sure she was all right. The nights he wasn’t with her, he was here—sleeping in the bed I was forced to see every single day. We’d tangle our bodies together, we’d watch the stars and the sun as they crossed the sky.

It all blurred together, so much of it the same.

Until one night it changed.

In a small way, but it changed.

Lying on the pillows, I realized how Kain was looking at me. It was the same look I’d glimpsed on our first night together, that real brand of tenderness no hookup should ever create.

And as I faded away, I had the funniest thought.

That’s what a man in love looks like.

- CHAPTER EIGHTEEN -

SAMMY

A torrent of envelopes rained down onto the table, some of them sticking to the side of the pancakes I’d been about to eat.

“Look out below,” Kain said, standing over me with a smile.

Lifting an envelope, I stared at him dubiously. “Usually you’re supposed to say that before you drop things on someone. What is all this?”

“It’s the mail from your shop.”

Perking up, I stacked everything neatly. I’d been at the estate for over two weeks now. Most of it had been spent inside of this beautiful excuse for a prison. It had its upsides—my own bath, a nice fresh smell from the flowers, books to read, and all the stars at night I could count.

Oh ... and I was lucky enough that no one stopped Kain from seeing me.