I glance between Cain and Samuel, and my face splits into a grin. “This is your brother,” I say warmly.
We never met properly as kids. I saw him from a distance a couple of times, playing with Cain on their land, but he never came over to our house the way Cain did.
They don’t have to tell me. They’re so alike in many ways, right down to their posture, that it’s easy to tell.
Cain turns to Samuel and signs something.
“He can’t hear you,” Mal explains. “Cain is just telling him what you said. He can read lips though, so if you address him directly and speak clearly, he should be able to see what you’ve said.”
I turn to Cain’s brother. “It’s so nice to have you here.”
Everyone is hovering by the door, and it’s making me nervous. Deacon is behind Cain and Samuel, and I smile at him. I notice some of the others are missing, but I don’t want to ask. I’m guessing their absence isn’t good news.
Unsure how to act around these two men who have just lost their father, I go into mother hen mode.
“Cain, are you okay?” I ache to throw my arms around him and just hold him, but what if it’s unwanted? What if he somehow blames me for everything that has happened?
“Ophelia,” Cain says, his voice low and deep.
“Yes?”
“Stop flapping and come here.”
My heart lifts at his words and I do as he says.
Big arms wrap around me, and I inhale deeply, the same way I did with Roman not that long ago. We stay like that for a long moment, and I can feel his heartbeat against my cheek.
When Cain steps back, I turn to Malachi and give him a longer hug, too. He buries his face in my neck and when his lips touch the shell of my ear, I think he’s going to kiss it, but he whispers, so softly no one else but me can hear.
“You stink of sex, bad girl. We’ll need to punish you for that later.”
He moves away, smirking, as if he’s not said a word, and my cheeks burn. I glance at Deacon, hoping he didn’t catch any of that, but he’s pale and looks shellshocked. I crash down to earthwith a bang. He’s lost his comrades and friends. And here I am thinking about sex. Maybe the Prophet was right all along, and I am a dirty sinner. Shaking those thoughts from my mind, I focus on the men in the room. I’m really not sure what to do in this situation, so I do what my mother would do when any of Father’s men had a bad shock. I offer them alcohol.
“You all need something to drink,” I say. “Sit. Please. Go take a seat and I’ll fix you drinks. What do you want?”
The answers are vodka, brandy, scotch, and from Samuel, when Cain signs to him, just soda, since he’s only sixteen.
I bring everyone their drinks, and they take seats in the living space. Cain downs his glass of vodka in one go and hands it back to me.
Silently, I refill it without needing to ask if he wants another. Roman casts me a concerned glance, and I know that concern is for Cain.
“Man, are you okay?” Roman asks. “What’s gone down is heavy.”
“I’m good,” he says. “It had to be done, and it wasn’t me who pulled the trigger in the end.” He sends a knowing glance to Samuel.
I turn to Cain’s younger brother, and my heart breaks for him. No child should have to do that to their parent, whether an adult or not. It breaks all the rules of nature.
Samuel smacks Cain’s upper arm and jerks his chin. Cain puts his drink down and signs, and Samuel signs furiously back.
Cain’s smile is grim. “He says it was a long time coming. That bastard.” Cain breaks off, shaking his head. “He arranged your kidnapping, Ophelia, and he ruined your life, and he wrecked mine, and Samuel’s too.”
“What will your brother do now?” I ask Cain, feeling a little bad that I’m talking about Samuel as though he’s not here.
He sighs and scrubs a hand over his face. “I don’t know. I need some time to talk to him. He can stay here as long as he wants.”
“Of course,” I say quickly, even though a part of me, a small and selfish part, is disappointed because I wanted some time alone to connect with my men again. After all we’ve been through, we really need it.
Samuel signs again to Cain, and Cain shakes his head. “No fucking way.”
