Paradise Found: Cain (Paradise Stories Book 2) (37 page)

“In attempts to prove my loyalty to your father, I killed two innocent people. Your father covered for me as long as I gave up the girl. His daughter.”

“I’m so sorry, Sofie,” Kursch turned to her; the sadness in his tone begged her forgiveness. Something I knew she’d offer, but he didn’t deserve.

“You’re old,” Elma interjected, disgust in her voice.

“I’m older than her, yes, but not too old for her now.”

“You are still too old for her,” Atom added, with venom in his voice. The irony that he was protecting a child he clearly never wanted.

“If you knew all along who she was, why didn’t you take her back?” I questioned. If her adoptive father was dead, at his own hands, why didn’t he bring his daughter home?

“Your mother was gone. What was I going to do with another child? I only wanted a son. A fighter,” he emphasized, clenching his fist and raising it upward. He disregarded his first born because she was a female. He only wanted one son, but he had two, and on top of that, he had two daughters. History only dictated the fate of those sons. What happened to the daughters of Eve? I hated him in that moment. He had blatantly ignored his other children. What kind of father does that? I had my answer. He stood before me.

“So the daughter you gave up was raised by Zeke Shepherd,” Abel clarified. “Which means Ava is our sister.”

The clarification of this confession swirled around us on the open field, until the sharp cry of Kursch refocused us on the two old friends. Kursch turned to face his new nemesis and the knife in his back was literal. Hanging just below his left shoulder blade was the handle of the weapon Atom had held at my neck.

“You’ll never have her,” Atom sneered. He’d clearly lost his mind. He didn’t want his own daughter, yet he wasn’t willing to let another man love her. It was such a disconnect. It only proved his heart was stone. If I didn’t know the horror stories Cain let slip to me, the past few hours affirmed that Atom was a ruthless, unstable man.

Kursch stepped forward in his last attempt to defend the honor of Ava before he fell to his knees. Uncertain of damage inside his body, the amount of blood slowly pouring from his back could not be a good sign. The knife needed to be removed. I didn’t have emergency training yet, so my first thought was only to apply pressure, in hopes to abate the bleeding. My hand covered the space around the knife.

“Pull it out,” he mumbled, still facing Atom, but his baldhead lowered in agony. He was troubled in more than one way. He’d lost the love of his life in Ava, by the ruthless dealings of Atom. His best friend also had stabbed him in the back. Only a coward does that to a man. Only a coward weakens one son before he fights another. Only a coward beats his child.

“I can’t risk more damage. I don’t know what this has done to your internal organs. We need to move you to the truck and get you to a hospital, as quickly as possible.” Mustering the calmest tone, my arm wrapped around his back in a weak attempt to raise him upward. Instantly, Cain was gently pushing me out of the way, pulling the large man up and over his shoulder. Abel limped to the other side. Together the two brothers helped their injured father figure to his own SUV.

“What happened?” Ava shrieked, jumping out of the passenger seat where she’d been waiting.

“Atom stabbed him,” Cain strained under the increasing weight of a barely conscious man. The string of profanities coming from Ava would have made a truck driver blush. She was torn between going after Atom herself and caring for Kursch.

“You need to drive,” Cain bit out instructions. “Sofie,” his voice pleaded. He was counting on me to help Kursch. We hadn’t had a moment to process what happened. How I got there under the trickery of Malik, or what Atom had threatened if I didn’t appear, but there wasn’t time now. I hopped into the back, balancing myself on the floor as I applied pressure to the still-bleeding wound. Kursch was passed out, face down, and sprawled as best we could lay him across the open space in the back of his SUV. Cain folded in next to me, hovering. The nervous energy coming off him would have frightened anyone else, but I had to remain calm. This was going to be my future, helping those in physical need.

I cringed internally with each bump and bounce over the gravel road until we hit the smoothness of the highway, speeding back toward town. Ava wasn’t speaking as she white knuckled the steering wheel. There were so many questions to ask, but nothing seemed pertinent under the stressful conditions. Cain disagreed.

“How can this fucking be true?” he barked, looking up at the back of Ava’s head. “My sister? Did you know?” The edge to his voice was razor sharp.

“I had my suspicions, but I didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want to believe something so evil,” Ava shivered and the tremble came through her tone. “How could I be a product of that man?” Her eyes shifted to the rearview mirror, glancing only briefly at Cain next to me. It was clearly an insult, but I don’t think she intended it as such.

“I’m a product of him,” Cain growled under his breath.

“No,” I hissed, twisting my head to look at him. “No, you’re nothing like him,” I assured. My eyes begged his face to look at me, but he refused. His own were trained on the redness that covered my bare hands and the knife sticking out of the back of his friend.

“I did this to him,” he muttered. A shaky hand came to his forehead, which he rubbed ceaselessly. My heart shattered to see the slightest weakness in a man so strong as Cain.

“Cain,” I spoke softly, “look at me.” He shook his head slowly left to right in refusal.

“Cain,” I demanded. “Look at me.”

My heart grew icy, as the glare that met my eyes was dark and unemotional. Emptiness filled them. I blinked at the fear that Cain Callahan was at the end of his rope. His body pulsed with suppressed anger. His skin prickled with the need to strike. If I didn’t know better, I would worry I’d be his next victim as he needed to lash out at someone.

After arriving at the emergency room, medical staff took over, and I was escorted to a bathroom to wash my hands. Covered in Kursch’s blood, I was given a doctor smock to wear with my jeans. I looked official but I felt helpless. My thoughts raced to the emotion within Cain at the prospect of losing Kursch. He was a strong force in their limited family. He loved Cain in a way no other adult had shown, and while he did nothing to prevent the beatings, he brought subtle comfort in acknowledging that they were wrong. He wasn’t soft with Cain, but he had been patient and understanding. He’d been kind. He understood that Cain had good in him. He understood Cain needed love. The urge to tell Cain again that I loved him almost choked me. He had to know that I would be here for him. If anything happened, I would be here for him from this day forward.

Cain was pacing the waiting area when I returned. Immediately, I walked up to him, prepared to envelop him in my arms, but he flinched from my touch. So deep in his thoughts, I’d actually startled him when I brushed his arm. He pulled back from me, staring at me like he didn’t recognize me.

“Cain?” My concern jumped to the worst of conclusions. He stepped back like my touch singed him.

“He’s being taken into surgery,” he said, rubbing the spot on his arm where I’d touched him. He fell silent after that.

“I love you,” I blurted in a desperate attempt to reach him, pull him out of his head. He continued to stare back at me, like I was a stranger.

“What’s happening with Kursch?” The timbre voice of Malik roused Cain, who leapt for him instantly. Tumbling down to the floor, plastic waiting room chairs crashed and clattered over the industrial tile. The crack of bone echoed and additional blood spilled. My attempts to grab for Cain were thwarted when arms circled my waist, holding me back. Security was pulling Cain off Malik.

“What the fuck were you doing?” Cain screamed over the shoulder of the officer, who was repeatedly telling Cain to calm down.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Cain yelled louder, struggling with the hold by security. I tried to intervene.

“Cain, this isn’t helping Kursch,” I offered. I didn’t risk reaching for him, as he clearly didn’t want my touch.

“Shut up,” he spit at me, his eyes wild and solid black without recognition.

“Hey,” came a voice behind me, still holding me firm against his chest. The tattoos on his arm instantly let me know it was Abel preventing me from getting near Cain. He was also ready to shield me from him, if necessary. I didn’t want to be afraid of Cain.

“Answer me,” Cain demanded at a slowly rising Malik. Blood teemed from his nose, and he spit rudely on the floor.

“Okay, pal, out we go,” the officer emphasized, pushing back on Cain. The struggle was real. Cain wasn’t going willingly, but the security guard was able to hold his own against the anger in Cain.

“I had that coming,” Malik offered, wiping his nose roughly, blood dripping in delicate drops onto his t-shirt.

“You haven’t seen anything coming,” Cain belted, “until I’m done with you. You’ll go so far back to that street, they’ll pave over you,” he hissed.

“Cain,” I snapped. “You don’t mean that.”

He turned on me again; his glare so intense it struck me. Abel held me firmly against him, then shifted me to his side, ready to step between myself and Cain. Something in this stance made Cain snap his menace from Malik to Abel.

“Get your hands off of her,” he hissed, spit literally coming out of his mouth.

“Calm down,” Abel commanded, attempting to bring his brother down.

“Calm down?” Cain strained against the guard, who hadn’t given up holding Cain but wasn’t forcing him outside the entrance yet. “Calm the fuck down? Our father just stabbed Kursch,” he swallowed forcefully, “And we just learned we have an older sister.” His eyes still remained wild and unseeing, but his focus was in the direction of Abel. “My wife was clearly kidnapped by some street trash,” he stated turning back to Malik, “and you have your hands all over her.”

It was my turn to be offended. The implication was clear. Cain wasn’t seeing what was before him. I was worried out of my mind for him, and he was barking at me, but that tone came filled with hurt. He was panicked. He couldn’t control this situation, and he couldn’t step into someone else’s place. He couldn’t cover for Kursch, like he’d done for Abel, or take care of him like he did for Evie. Cain was utterly helpless, in this moment, and his fear was making him overreact. It took all my intelligence to come to this conclusion, as I was shaken by the tone of his voice and the direction of his anger.

“He’s closed off to me,” I whispered to no one, but hoping Abel would hear me. “I’m sure it’s the shock. So much information.” Abel turned to face me.

“He’ll come around.” His slow smile attempted to assure me.

“Of course,” I stated quietly, not really certain that would be the case. Abel leaned forward to kiss my forehead. When he pulled back, we heard a low rumble.

“Well, don’t let me interrupt,” Cain growled from behind the security guard. A soft rush of skin brushed my arm, as Elma approached Cain.

“You need to chill. She loves you,” Elma stated. Cain reached around the large man, getting one of his arms free, and motioned for Elma to step away from him.

“Hey!” Abel shouted, rushing to Elma’s side. “That’s not necessary.”

“I didn’t touch her,” Cain defended. He hadn’t actually, but it wasn’t necessary to swat at Elma.

“I’m fine,” Elma tried to assure Abel, her hands on his chest ready to hold him back.

“We’re all hurting,” Abel clarified over his small girlfriend. “We all heard too much today.” Abel’s voice was rising.

“Kursch isn’t your concern,” Cain bit.

“He’s my uncle, too,” Abel deflected.

“He’s not even related to us,” Cain snapped. He shuddered. “He loves our sister. That would be … that would just be wrong.”

“He loved us,” Abel demanded, pointing his finger between the brothers. “Differently, but we both know he was there for us.”

“Oh, and what did he do for you, Abel? Protect you from Dad? Comfort you? Coddle you?”

“Don’t,” Abel pleaded bitterly. “Don’t do this.”

“He took care of you because you were weak,” Cain spit. I gasped. “He didn’t favor you. He felt sorry for you. He was there for me!” Cain yelled, slamming a hand on the wall nearest him. The guard had his fill of the family drama. With full effort, he had Cain moving backward toward the emergency doors.

“Gentlemen, I’m going to have to…”

“Your lashing out at me isn’t going to help,” Abel said through clenched teeth. His hands fisted at his side. A vein protruded from his neck.

“Nothing’s going to help,” Cain roared.

“Cain, we don’t know that,” I offered, despite my effort to stay quiet. I reached out for him again. His eyes opened wide again, and that’s when I saw it. Cain Callahan was
afraid
I’d touch him. His body vibrated as he hissed at me.

“Don’t. Just don’t.”

I stepped back. He didn’t want my touch? The question rang slowly through me. If he’d hit me, I might have taken the blow better than the venom in his tone.

“He doesn’t mean that,” Abel comforted, reaching out to rub my arm. Cain’s eyes followed the motion. Despite Abel holding Elma with his other hand, the connection of Abel and I was watched with dark orbs that gleamed fire. I retracted my arm from Abel but it was too late.