Page 57 of The Sweetest Devotion

“Everybody wants to be a gangster, until it’s time to be a gangster,” Cain quipped as he took a sip of his water.

Gangster. The moniker fit him to a T when I thought about it. There was nothing clean-cut about Cain Carter. “Now that we’re engaged to be married, will people be out to hurt me?”

My father was a businessman and even he hadn’t ever walked around with security like Cain did.

Cain regarded me, a serious expression on his face. “You’ll always be safe and looked after when you’re with me. You never have to question that.”

I barely knew Cain, but I could just tell he was a man of his word. If he said something, he meant it. If he promised something, he saw it through.

“Still,” I went on as I stole a peek at where Beans was ordering food with a waiter and the other man was scouring his menu. “Do youhaveto have your men follow you everywhere you go?”

Cain glanced at his men and came back to me. “Precaution.”

“Precaution,” I repeated. “Sure.”

Cain tapped his finger on the table, once more looking over at his men. “Vino’s the only person you want watching your back. And Beans…” Cain’s gaze fell to the tabletop. “He’s the closest thing to family I’ve ever known.”

“Really?” I didn’t miss the way Cain’s face fell, the sense of vulnerability in the air.

“We…met in foster care,” Cain admitted.

At once I turned, giving him my complete attention. “Foster care?”

Cain stiffened a little beside me, letting me know this was a hard topic for him. “My mother…she died suddenly when I was twelve. With no father coming forward, that left me a ward of the state.”

Despite it all, I reached out and placed a hand on his. “I’m sorry, Cain.”

He regarded my soft palm on his. He gave a shrug, as if it didn’t matter, but I called bullshit. “So, anyway, that’s how I met Beans. He was…differentfrom the other kids, and that made him a target. I stuck my neck out for him, and he’s been loyal to a fault ever since.”

Suddenly, I felt bad for Beans, being bullied after being placed in the system. “You know, with a little cleaning up, maybe I can set him up with a girl I know.”

Cain almost seemed to smile. “That won’t be necessary.”

I got back to their relationship. “So, he owes you.”

Cain was quick to shake his head. “He doesn’t owe me a thing, but I respect his loyalty. I trust it.”

“Trust seems like it’s hard for you.”

He frowned. “You have no idea.”

“Could you…trust me?”

“If you give me a reason to trust you, Kennedy, I’ll trust you one hundred percent.”

I grabbed my glass of water and took a hearty sip, half paying attention to the Bill Withers song playing through the speakers in Lucky’s.

We were engaged, and I was having an affair. I wasn’t selfish enough to ask him to trust me.

Sitting so close, I saw it. There, on Cain’s bottom lip, was a scar. About a few inches long, faded, but there.

“What happened there?” I wanted to know.

Cain thumbed at it and looked off. “Lost battle.”

Somehow, my mind pieced together his time in foster care, his connection to Beans, and this telltale scar. Against all that I felt for him, my heart softened.

Cain peeked at me and snickered surprisingly. “Jesus, to think pity would’ve been a good route in winning you over.”

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