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So far, the note left for him with the head hadn’t warranted any information. It had been completely combed through as if preserved, which only pissed him off more. The list of people he’d hurt over the years was endless. There was no way he could narrow it down.
He wanted to hurt something, no, someone.
A knock at his door caught him off guard and then he remembered Grace was supposed to be coming to him.
There was no way he’d let her see him like this. She wasn’t the cause of his pain, nor responsible for taking his sister away. He would never allow her to see this kind of anger.
Thrusting the pain deep inside, he got himself under control and stepped toward the door.
She was a little earlier than he anticipated, and well, he had no problem with her seeing him in a towel.
As he opened the door, her gaze went wide and she slapped a hand over her face. “You’re naked.”
“I have a towel on.”
“Can you, er, get dressed?”
“I am dressed.”
“Caleb, please?”
“I don’t feel like it.” He reached out, taking hold of her hand and pulling it down. “Cute pajamas.” This pair had cute little bananas. If she was trying to go for completely unflattering, she’d failed. Clothes didn’t matter to him.
The body beneath, that was what he wanted, one touch, and he knew those large tits, gorgeous ass, and juicy thighs were waiting to be touched.
He pulled her into his room and closed the door.
“I have this,” she said, lifting the walkie-talkie that showed the picture of James sleeping.
Caleb nodded to the one beside his bed. “So do I.”
“Why do you have one?”
“He’s my nephew. Do you really think I’d let him out of my sight? There’s not a part of this house I don’t see.”
She held her hand up. “Wait, are you saying you can see like in every single room?”
Caleb pressed his lips together. Since when did he spill all of his secrets? Fuck!
“Not in every single room, but I see enough to know if my men are going to betray me.” He stroked her cheek. “So you came to my room.”
“You’re trying to distract me.”
He rolled his eyes and turned his back on her, going toward his closet. “What do you want?”
“Caleb, you called me to this room, but now I’m curious about what it is you see,” she said.
He moved away from the closet. “How about you be really good and I’ll show you?”
“I’m not a child.”
He raised a brow.
“Please, don’t treat me like one.” She lowered herself on the edge of the bed. “How old are you?” she asked.
“Is my age really important?” he asked.
“I want to know more about you. I want to know more about the man I’m going to be with.” She wouldn’t look at him.
“Grace, this isn’t going to work if you can’t even look me in the eye.”
She slowly lifted her head and looked at him. “I’m sorry. I’m new at all of this. I don’t know what to do. I always imagined meeting someone and having dates. Falling in love. I didn’t exactly expect to use my … as my way to freedom.” She averted her gaze.
The nerves rolled off her in waves. She wasn’t shaking, but he saw the tension.
“I’m forty,” he said. “I’ve never been married and I don’t believe in having girlfriends. I did trust myself with one woman, but she tried to blackmail me to get what she wanted. She thought I didn’t know she had a kid with another man; I did, and that didn’t work out.”
“How is it possible you’ve met so many bad people?” she asked.
“I grew up around them. My parents were not good people.”
“You never told me about your parents.”
He moved to sit beside her, hoping to put her at ease. He hadn’t put any clothes on, letting his ink-covered body be on full display. “They’re not exactly a highlight of my life, Grace. When you talk about your parents, I envy you.”
“You do?”
“I didn’t get the laughter or the fun at events. Most of the time, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, they came and went without us even knowing. There were no presents beneath the tree. Nothing. There was always the feel of his belt or fists. The slap from her.”
She gasped and grabbed his hand. “You were abused?”
“I guess that’s what they call it now. Back then, we were just unlucky. That’s all I saw.”
“You never told anyone?”
“Why would I tell anyone? It’s all that I knew.” He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I can’t claim to know what you want, Grace. I’ve never been in love. It’s an emotion that makes people weak. I don’t care easily.”
“You must care. I see the way you are with James.”
“I’m incapable of love.” He didn’t know why he was warning Grace of this. She’d gotten under his skin, but it wasn’t love. No, this was a need to take, to push her, to make her prove to him she was like everyone else in the world. At the same time, he didn’t want to.
