Chapter 45
After showering with Cade, I’d settled onto the couch with him. Hours had passed, and we were on our third movie. My cheek rested on his chest, and my belly was pressed between his legs. He combed his fingers through my hair.
Each time I’d peeked up at him, he was watching me. I could tell he was trying to work up to asking me something.
Only intense emotions echoed through our bond, so severe I knew I had to prompt him.
“What is it?” I whispered, angling so I could look up at him.
“Are you okay?” He cleared his throat. “Like, are you sad or upset about losing your dad?”
“Oh,” I muttered. Was I sad? “Yes, but not in the way you think. He was all the family I had. As shit as he was, he was alwaysthere.” I exhaled. “But there’s no doubt in my mind that the world will be better off without him.” And I would be too. The slight nostalgic feeling I was experiencing had everythingto do with what could have been if I’d been raised in a loving environment.
He was still watching me, silent contemplation on his face.
“I keep wondering if I’d been born to a different family how that would have changed things.” I shrugged.
“I know what you mean. I used to think about how different everything would have been if we’d been adopted.” He finally met my eyes. “Until you. You’re home.”
The soft smile that crested his lips made my heart leap.
“You don’t need him, and you never did. You’ll always have us,” he murmured, rubbing his thumb along the crest of my cheek.
Tears welled, and I blinked quickly. I did have them. I rested my cheek against his chest and nuzzled.
“I do have a question.” I could hear his grunt rumble in his chest. “You guys did that so easily.” I wet my lips, still not looking up at him. “Is it something you guys do often?”
“Are you asking me if we’re casual murderers?” He snickered.
I scowled. It sounded ridiculous like that. “No, Eva, we aren’t serial killers. We just know how to get rid of . . . issues.” He left it at that. “Just know, you’ll always be protected.” He pressed a kiss on the top of my head.
Footsteps echoed from the hall.
“They’re here,” I gasped.
Cade’s arm stiffened, keeping me still on him. “They’re going to need to get cleaned up.”
Dorian entered, Rafe right behind him. Blood covered their faces and splattered across their shirts. They didn’t lookright. Rafe seemed withdrawn, and he crossed the living room with quick strides, heading to the hall.
“Returning to Forest Peak had an effect on him,” Dorian explained. “I’m going to wash up.”
Cade and I watched in silence while their footsteps retreated.
I hoisted myself upright. “Do you think Rafe will be upset if I go check on him?”
Cade’s expression turned even softer if that was possible.
“I can’t say, Eva, you’ll have to try yourself.” He cleared his throat, and his hand cupped the back of my neck as he pulled himself higher. “But the fact that you even care,” he whispered against my forehead. “Fuck, I love you.”
Butterflies exploded in my stomach at his tender touch. Emotion swelled, and my eyes skirted away from his. I wasn’t sure why the words couldn’t come easily. Why they got stuck in the back of my throat.
Cade chuckled again, and he patted my hip. “Go on.”
I swung off him and padded through the hall until I got to the second to last door. Inching it open, I listened at the threshold. The spray of the shower echoed, and I pushed in the rest of the way, crossing his simple, neat bedroom until I was at the open door to the bathroom.
Rafe’s back was to me as he faced the corner walk-in shower. Fog coated the glass panes.
I cleared my throat, not wanting to startle him.
