Page 62 of Full Throttle

Looking back up to the house, my eyes clocked her silhouette in the front window. “Go to bed and take your man with you,” I ordered.

“Why? Planning on breaking in and kidnapping someone?” she quipped.

“Yup.”

As soon as the “p” left my lips, she hissed, “Get your ass inside. Now.”

“Don’t use your mom voice on me,” I said calmly, finding this entertaining.

I heard her sigh. “Cain, please come in the house. Dontell and Nikki are in the garage working on the cars. Just come in and talk to me,” she requested softly.

Cigarette forgotten, I pushed off the car and crossed the street, making my way to the front door. Once I stepped onto the porch, she ended the phone call, and a second later, the front door was gently opened. She put her finger to her mouth before waving me inside. Once I was in the door, I watched as she slowly and quietly shut it.

Mina reached for my hand and pulled me through the living room and down the darkened hall before veering left into their library. As my eyes took in the tasteful room, she shut us in. The lamp by the chair was on, and in the chair was a sketchbook with a few pencils sitting on top. I tilted my head as my eyes narrowed on the drawing.

Before I could take a step forward, Mina came around to my front with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Cain, you need to leave Nikki alone,” she urged me in a whisper.

Shaking my head, I replied in the same tone. “Mina, I need you to stay out of this. She is under my care—my protection.”

Confusion washed over her face. “She’s under Oasis’ protection, not just yours.”

I was trying very hard to be patient, and this was Mina. Mina was my friend, and she deserved my patience, my respect. “I came back up to the loft, ready to do everything in my power to get her to have a conversation with me,” I began as her features softened. “We’d been living in silence for days, Mina.”

She remained silent, waiting.

Suspicion crawled up my back as I studied her further. Then, it clicked. “She told you, didn’t she?”

Mina’s eyes flashed, and I was floored.

“Mina, what did she tell you?” I pressed.

Inhaling through her nose, she turned away and went to sit on the couch. “Why don’t you go ask her?”

“I’m not asking her,” I shot back, my voice still quiet. “I’m asking you as my friend.”

“I’m not a mouthpiece, Cain,” she told me.

My jaw tightened as I looked over to the bookshelf, my eyes scanning over the titles. “She said I hurt her,” I murmured.

When I didn’t get a response, I looked back over to her. “She told me I hurt her, Mina. And I don’t even know what the fuck I did.”

My friend was taken aback. “What do you mean?”

My past was where it needed to be—in the past. I hated bringing it up, but Dominique was a huge part of my life. Swallowing, I explained. “When I turned eighteen, I tried to end our friendship. She’s three years younger than me, and I was planning on getting the fuck out of my mother’s house.”

Her brows came together, and she sat up slightly. “Why—”

I shook my head once. “I’m sorry, Mina, but I’m not going to dive into that. This is about Dominique and me.”

Sitting back, she nodded. “Okay.”

“A year after I ended our friendship, she showed up at The Pit.” Lustful memories tried to resurface, but I shoved them down quickly. I’d already given into them once; it wasn’t going to happen again. I waited for Mina’s reaction, but she gave nothing away.

“She was looking for me, didn’t find me, and when a buddy of mine told me she was looking for me, I nearly lost my shit. She was still in fucking high school and had no fucking business being in The Pit. So, I went to look for her, found her walking down a fucking sidewalk. After I told her to never come back to The Pit again, and I didn't see her until a few months ago in Denver.”

Mina stared at me with sadness in her eyes, waiting for me to lay everything out for her. But I couldn’t—my childhood was a torturous hell until Dominique moved in next door with her colors and yapping.

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