Authors: Jenika Snow
Chapter Two
Four years later
She had been writing to him for four years, and this was the first time she would see Cain Trainer in all that time. She was nervous, so damn nervous that she was sweaty, her hands shook, and her heart raced. At twenty years old she was still trying to find her way in the world, but what kept her grounded, what kept her head clear and the demons at bay, was the thought of Cain. He was so much older than she was, so dangerous and powerful, and the father of her best friend, Fallina. But despite all of that he had always been there for her, maybe indirectly and not consciously, but he had helped her out when she had been lost and confused.
She went through the metal detector at American Federal Supermax prison
, feeling uncomfortable that she was even within its walls. ADX was one of the worst prisons in the country and rightly so due to the prisoners that resided within its high security walls. Fremont County, Colorado was hours away from Chatham View, but she had made the trip because she wanted, no, needed, to see Cain. She was at a part of the prison that wasn’t as high security, but not any less dangerous. She’d planned this visit for months, had to get permission from several higher-ups in the administration department in order to see Cain, but she was finally here.
The metal detector didn’t go off, and she picked up her keys and purse, knew the officer had gone through that as well, and followed the guard toward the visiting area. The small room held two tables with four chairs at each one. It was currently empty, and when she took a seat at one of the tables and stared out the glass window right across from her, her heart started beating harder. She was nervous, so nervous that she was going to see Cain again after so long. Although she had asked if Fallina wanted to come, the timing hadn’t worked out. But she knew Fallina came up to see her dad frequently, and although Fallina would always look downtrodden when she’d return, Violet had a feeling Cain wasn’t the type of man to want visitors. This certainly wasn’t a place that elicited happy, loving memories, even if Cain was here because he had protected them all those years ago.
Violet felt like she sat there for hours, and then she heard a loud buzz, signaling a door being unlocked. Moments later she saw him, walking behind a guard, and another one right behind him. He didn’t look at her, not until he stepped in the room. He had handcuffs around his wrists and shackles around his ankles. He stared at her, looking older, more dangerous, if that was even possible. He had several days’ worth of scruff on his cheeks, and his dark hair was on the longer side, brushing his shoulders. He looked rough in a way that told her he’d probably seen far too much while inside. The guards took off the handcuffs, but left the shackles. He moved toward her, his dark eyes trained on her and this hard look on his face.
“I told you not to come here, Violet,” he said in a hard voice, and was clearly pissed she didn’t listen.
“I’ve been writing to you, and I wanted to see you, Cain. You rarely respond when I do contact you, and it’s hard.”
He breathed out and leaned back in his seat. “I don’t want you at a place like this. It’s fucking brutal in here, and I don’t want you exposed to this shit.”
Yeah, she knew the reputation of this prison, but they were in the visiting wing, away from the offenders that were truly dangerous and locked up for everyone’s protection. “If it wasn’t safe then they wouldn’t allow me to come, to see you.”
He didn’t move, didn’t respond, and looked even more pissed now. “It doesn’t matter, Violet. This place is fucked, and I don’t want you here. I told you that, but you’re so damn stubborn.”
“I wanted to talk to you, and the few letters you sent back were not the responses I thought I’d get.”
He leaned forward and braced his elbows on the chipped and worn tabletop. “I am pissed because I want you to stay away from Carl, and not go near him to try and figure out his location.”
“I thought you’d want to know where he was, Cain, because I know you’re not done with him.” She hoped he wasn’t done with him, and how sick did that make her? But the truth was she had a bigger beef with Carl than anyone knew. Fallina didn’t even know about the nasty things that pervert had done to her.
“Believe me, I’ll handle shit,” he said in a softer voice. “I don’t want you worrying about anything, nothing, Violet.”
She glanced at the guard standing by the door, and the other two standing right outside of the room. Violet didn’t want to get into this with Cain, especially not here and now, but Cain was upset, and she needed to tell him why she was so invested in not letting Carl get away. She knew that it wasn’t anyone’s responsibility to handle the man that almost raped Fallina all those years ago. She also knew that the club could have taken out Carl, gotten him while Cain was locked up. But she heard from a couple of the club members right after the attack, while she had been in hearing distance, that Cain wanted to handle this on his own.
He grabbed her hand, stunning her. She looked at him, saw the serious expression on his face, and knew that whatever he was about to say was not going to be something she wanted to hear.
“This isn’t your fight, isn’t your worry.”
She looked down to see him running his finger along the back of her hand. She was really going to tell him, say something she’d never said to anyone because she was ashamed and disgusted. “Carl raped me when I was sixteen, not long before he attacked Fallina and tried to do the same thing.” Violet didn’t look him in the eye.
He stilled, tensed right in front of her, and the anger and heat came from him like a blast to the face. “What?” he said in a low, hard, and dangerous voice. He moved his hand off of hers, shifted on the seat, and stared at her with this cold, unrelenting gaze. “Why didn’t you say something before, Violet? Why did you keep this in for all these years?” He was shaking now, his anger tangible as it wrapped around her, suffocating her slightly, and stealing the air that was in her lungs.
“I was ashamed, Cain, disgusted and sickened that it happened, but can you now understand why I needed to keep track, if not for my own sanity?”
He didn’t respond, didn’t even move after she spoke.
“I need this just as much as you feel you do.” She didn’t elaborate on what she needed, because she knew Cain understood her just fine. There were guards around, in a fucking prison, and so talking about wanting someone dead probably wasn’t the best course of action.
He leaned forward another inch, dropped his voice to a low whisper, “Things will work out, Violet. Don’t worry about anything.” The look in his eyes was violent, deadly, and he was not even blinking as he watched her. “Everything will work out exactly the way it is supposed to, understand me?”
She nodded.
“Carl, that motherfucking prick, will get exactly what he deserves tenfold.” Cain’s voice was undeniably hard and true, and she knew that there was no doubt Cain and his men would deliver on the promise of making this right. The truth was she didn’t want them getting involved, that if she had the means she would have made sure Carl suffered by her own hands. But Cain was already invested in this, not going to back down, and she knew that no matter what she said or did he would handle this on his own terms. He took her hand again, squeezed it tight, and breathed out as if he were in pain.
“I wrote, called, and I miss you, Cain. I miss the family I have with you and Fallina. Blocking me out isn’t what I want, and I hope it isn’t what you want either.”
He shook his head, but didn’t respond right away. Minutes seemed to move by agonizingly slow, but she knew it was seconds that skated by at a snail’s pace.
“You can’t come back, Violet. You can’t. Don’t write, don’t call, and don’t fucking ever come back to this shithole. You’re better than this, better than
me
.” He stopped talking for a second, as if to let those words penetrate. “What you think you want with me will never happen, because I’m a dirty biker bastard, and you deserve so much better.”
“Don’t tell me what I should and shouldn’t want, Cain—”
“Violet, I don’t want you anywhere close to this murder pit where assholes run around and have little care for the human population. They’d destroy you, sweetheart, and then I’d have to destroy them.”
She wouldn’t cry at his harsh words, and even if she knew he was only doing this, pushing her away, because he wanted her safe, she had to believe that he felt something more for her, something as monumental as she did for him. Violet stared at him, watched as he rose to his huge height, and then he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. Violet closed her eyes, clenched her jaw at her emotions, and breathed out when he pulled back. He stared at her for a moment, then left her alone in that sterile, lonely room.
****
Violet had left the prison hours ago, and Cain found himself in his cell, with his metal trunk open, and staring at the stacks of letters she’d written to him over the years. The truth was he didn’t want her to back off and leave him alone. He cared about her, more than a man like him should, and he wanted her in his life. She was a woman now, smart and mature, making something with her life, but all he thought about was the fact he wanted to fucking tear out that rapist bastard’s throat. If Carl had been in the joint his molesting, raping ass would have gotten it hard and good by the other inmates. Men in here were violent murderers, arsonists, rapists, and burglars, but hell, bring in a man that hurt a child and everyone joined together to make sure the offender was taught a hard lesson and paid for his crime with his life.
“Hey, man.” Goon, the man he shared this piece of shithole in the wall with, stepped inside the cell, a towel in hand, and the standard issue jumpsuit open at the collar. “You coming to work out in the yard?”
“Yeah.” Cain shut the metal trunk and moved out of the cell with Goon leading. They had an hour for activities, outside in the yard, as it was called. The outdoor, barbwire fenced and bricked-in courtyard was on the south end of the building, and it was only because Cain had been on good behavior that he was given some leniency. They entered the caged-in outside square of space. Some prisoners were leaning against the chain-link fence that separated the courtyard into two sections, while others played basketball using the several hoops in the far corner. A row of workout equipment, aged by the sun and worn by the weather, was being used by a group of white supremacists. There were guards stationed all around the courtyard, some even in the towers above them with their guns trained at the prisoners. The barbed wire atop the fencing that kept them all housed in was harsh in appearance. It was meant to keep others from getting out, but also from anyone getting in.
He walked over to the set of bench-presses that were on the left hand side, currently not in use because half of the men were being ushered back inside because their hour was up. Cain set his towel down, took off his shirt, and Goon went behind him to be the spotter while he lifted. For the next twenty minutes Cain pumped the bar up and down, felt sweat cover his body, his muscles burn from the power he was wielding, and finally had Goon set the bar back on the arms. He sat up, grabbed the towel, and as he wiped the sweat off of his face and chest he glanced around the courtyard. A small gang known as Aullies had formed while inside the prison. It wasn’t as large as the other already formed groups, but they tended to start shit with people they thought disrespected them. That particular group stared at him, three of them huddling in a corner as the rest of their men were ushered inside. Cain knew the leader of this particular gang had it out for him. This was the first time they had been in the same area after their last altercation three months before, when the little asshole had tried to say Cain had to give up an extra set of his uniform. Cain wasn’t having that shit, didn’t bow down for anyone, and after a scuffle, and being called a pussy because he wasn’t about to ruin his good behavior record, he backed off. It wasn’t something Cain ever did, because he always stood his ground and fucked up an asshole that came up to him, but he needed to be out and with his girls.
“You think they’ll have the balls to come over here and start shit?” Goon asked and went over to the bench to start his workout.
Cain gave one more swipe over his chest with the towel, stood and went over to spot Goon. He glanced at the group of bikers that he associated with while in here, and because there were no Brothers of Menace inside at the moment, he still had to rely on back-up from other groups. It was a necessary evil, and because a person couldn’t be on their own while inside it was important to form alliances.
“I think he’s going to try, but I can’t risk my record getting fucked up.” Cain looked over at the guards currently standing the closest to them. “But if I don’t show this bastard up he won’t stop.”
“I got cha’,” Goon said and walked over to the bikers. Cain kept his focus on the punk staring him down, and then looked over at the group of men Goon spoke with. The leader of that particular group of bikers nodded over to Cain, and sent a couple of his guys over to where some others were playing basketball. Then all hell broke loose as a fight broke out between the bikers and players. That was Cain’s chance and cue to get this done while the guards were occupied. The little bastard across the courtyard realized that, too, then came charging toward Cain. The other bikers moved forward, not to help in the fight, because Cain didn’t want that, but to block the sight so the guards wouldn’t be able to see what was happening.