Page 27 of The Sweetest Devotion

“Do you like the Sharks?” I poked at my halibut, wondering if Cain was even into sports.

“No, I prefer the Raiders,” he said.

Of course.

“Are you from Las Vegas?” I attempted to eat a piece of my fish, to distract myself. The dish was tasty, but I hadn’t a true appetite to enjoy it.

Cain’s finger tapped on the table as he pondered over my question. I could tell my line of inquisition wasn’t his favorite. His short and simple answers a pure testament.

“No,” he said after a long pause.

I moved some asparagus around my plate. “Interesting.”

“Is that so?” he challenged.

I gathered my water and took a drink. “It’s going to be a fun year getting to know you, Cain. I can just tell.” Controlling, and invasive yet secretive? Oh, I pictured a great time ahead.

His finger tapped against the table once more. He shook his head, heaving a sigh as he traced his fingers around the rim of his mouth. “I know what you’re doing, holding off the wedding like this. I’m not stupid. Just don’t embarrass me.”

“Embarrass you?” I felt bold enough to laugh at him. “God, as if you shouldn’t be embarrassed already after forcing this on me. Because your ego was bruised.”

“Careful,” Cain warned.

“Or what?”

Cain went back to his plate. He meticulously cut up his foie gras like the psychopath he was. “Be nice, and I’ll make it worth it.”

There was nothing in the world he could buy me to make a marriage worth it. To make twisting my father’s arm okay.

“You’re a bastard,” I declared.

Cain shrugged as if it the insult were nothing. “I’ve been called worse.”

Why did he want me? Was this really some power play? A show he could have anything he set his mind to?

“The reason I bring up the athlete is because I’m curious,” Cain began speaking after a few bites into his meal. “Has he been in contact with you since news broke of the engagement?”

I thought back to getting my phone and sifting through my messages. Gaius had sent me a text.

Gaius

Wow. I know we haven’t spoken in a while, but I’m in shock right now, Kenn. Regardless, I’m happy for you. I’ll always have love for you, no matter what. Congrats on the engagement! G.

He’d been heartbroken when I broke up with him. Unlike Cain, Gaius would never force me to do anything I didn’t want. He was good to spoil me and treat me like a princess.

“Yes,” I admitted. “He congratulated me.”

Cain took a drink of his wine, humming at the news.“I’m going to be straightforward on this. If you’re seeing someone else, I sincerely hope he’s bulletproof.”

Time stopped all around me as his threat froze me in my chair. I didn’t dare ask him to repeat himself. He’d looked me right in the eye and said it plainly and clearly. He would kill a man I was cheating on him with. Which left me asking, “A-And me?”

Cain frowned. “I’ll keep you barefoot and pregnant, and then you’ll be too busy to think of someone else.”

“I’m on the pill.”

“I’ll crush every one.”

“I’ll get an IUD.”

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