Page 27 of Cain
Chapter Twelve
Emma
“Cutter, are you harassing that poor girl?” A woman about my size comes walking toward us. She looks just like Cain.
“No, babe, just welcoming her to the family.” He laughs and I’m taken aback by his statement. Then it clicks that he means because Cain claimed me, I’m part of the club, the family.
“Well, get out of here and let us girls talk for a little.” She shoos him away and I can’t help but laugh. “Nice to meet you, hon, I’m Cain’s mom, but you can call me Jaz.”
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”
She takes my arm and leads me down through the main room, next to the bar where there’s a door. When she opens it, I see there are a few couches and a TV. The room is much more decorated than any room I’ve seen here.
“What is this?”
“Have the girls not shown you this yet? This is where we used to go and hide from everyone.” She sits down and pats the couch next to her. “So I hear that you have some rough stuff going on. If you need an understanding ear, I went through my own issues when I first met Cain’s dad.”
I nod. “He mentioned something like that but no specifics.”
“I figured he would. I had a husband who used to abuse me, physically and emotionally. The physical bruises hurt more at first, but the emotional ones hurt more in the long run. Some of them are still with me because once someone gets in your head to the point that they change the way you think, it’s hard as hell to rid yourself of that experience.”
I haven’t talked to anyone but Cain about this, but something makes me feel like I can open up to her. “It’s almost like I’ve forgotten how to function. Something small will trigger a memory and then my whole body freezes. I can’t move, can’t think. It scares the hell out of me.”
“You need to lean on people. You can’t do everything yourself. No one can.” Her hand rests on my leg and I look up. “Lean on Cain. He wants to help, but he doesn’t know how. Maybe you don’t even know how he can help, but sometimes just knowing someone is there is all the help you need. I have never seen my son close to loving someone, much less in love. That kind of emotion is powerful and it can do amazing things if you embrace it.”
“It’s too early for him to love me.” I look away, trying not to let her see how screwed up my emotions are right now. “He just wants to save me.”
“Hush, that might be something you tell yourself because you’re scared, but you and I both know you love him too. It’s why you can’t even look at me right now. Love isn’t measured by the amount of time you’ve known a person, but by how they make you feel. The way you put them before anyone else, you worry about them before yourself. The only thing time does is go by.”
I know how I feel and how much I care about Cain. I also know she’s right. I’m scared. I don’t want to be hurt again, I don’t want whoever this is to hurt any of us.
“Now, how about we head out there, grab something for lunch, and get to know each other?”
I nod. “That sounds great.”
I follow Jaz out to the main room and Cain is standing there talking to his dad. I can’t help the smile I get when I see him standing there.
“Hey, beautiful.” He puts his arm around me and I lay my head against his chest. “How you feeling?” he whispers in my ear.
I turn to face him and smile. "In love."
He freezes for a minute like he didn’t hear or understand me. Cain leans down, kissing me. “Say it again.”
I laugh at his expression. “I love you.”
“Goddamn, that sounds even better than when you said you were mine.” He picks me up and spins me around a few times.
“My turn!” Amy yells, running into the room.
Cain bends down, scooping her up. He spins her a few times and her giggle echoes through the large space.
“Hey, Cain?”
He stops spinning her. “Yea?”
“There is a dance the other girls are going to.” Amy looks around and then at the floor. “It’s for daddies and daughters, but I don’t have a daddy.” My heart breaks as she says that statement. “Do you think you could take me?”
Oh my God.
