“Always,” he whispers, and I feel him walk over to the bed and sit down. His arms pull me closer, his hand cradling my head.
After a few moments, I take in a deep breath and pull back. Caine wipes my cheeks with the edge of my towel and gives me a sad smile.
“Sorry about that.” Ishrug sheepishly. I hadn’t seen that coming!
“Never apologize for missing your father or for being emotional with me. Never with me,” he says firmly, cupping my head between his giant hands. “Don’t keep that stuff locked away.”
I place a soft kiss on his lips and unwind myself from his body. I do need to dress.
Rather than drive all the way to Dallas, Jack took a connecting flight to Lawton, saving us from the worst of the traffic. That doesn’t mean we didn’t run into any. What usually takes a little less than an hour ends up taking about an hour and a half with holiday traffic.
I feel awkward as we make our way to the airport. Caine clearly senses my unease because he keeps gazing over at me.
To distract myself, I play with the music selection, but when we hit the sixty minutes point of the drive, Caine presses the pause button on the screen. He then squeezes my thigh a little harder than usual.
“You need to talk to me.” His voice is deep and sonorous. “Now, Mick,” he adds, squeezing my thigh again.
“Did you keep it from me because you don’t trust me?” Fine! If he wants to do this, let’s do it!
Chapter Thirty-Three
Caine
I almost slam on the brakes, so surprised by her statement. I didn’t see that coming at all!
Not trust her? Where in the fuck does she even come up with this stuff? Seriously, of all the conclusions she could have reached, that was what she came up with?
I have to purse my lips to keep myself from saying what I’m thinking. Nothing good can come from me saying those things. And at the end of the day, Iknow for a fact that this is all her mother’s doing. When Mikayla lost her dad, her self-esteem plummeted under the same roof as that horrible woman. I know this in my head, yet after everything, I’m definitely a little pissed off that Mikayla thinks I don’t trust her.
“One, how does one tell another that they are a multimillionaire? That isn’t a normal part of everyday conversation. And two, when would this have come up? At what time would I have had the opportunity to tell you about my net worth?” Okay, I may be doing a piss-poor job of curbing my irritation.
Mikayla looks down at her hands, which are clasped together so tightly I don’t think blood is flowing through them at this point.
“I knew you were financially comfortable. I just feel like this is something I should have known. And I live with you. You know about my financial situation,” she says quietly. “I figured you were worried about that and that’s why you didn’t tell me.”
She turns her head and looks out the window; the wind seems to be knocked out of her.
We pull up to the arrivals section of the airport, and I pull to the right under the airline sign.
Mikayla quickly unbuckles her seat belt and hops out of the car. Before I can say anything, she’s running to a tall man with her same chestnut-colored hair.
He drops his bags and picks her up. I hop out of the car and open the trunk but let them have their moment.
I can see they are both crying, and I imagine they are likely feeling the loss of their parents in this moment. They need this, and as much as it hurts my heart to see another man comfort her, I know it’s her brother, and this moment isn’t about me.
After a few minutes, I make my way over to them. Jack lets his sister go, wiping his face with his hands before seeing me approach.
“It’s good to finally meet you,” I say, extending my hand to him.
Jack’s not a small man, only a few inches shorter than me. He also has a firm grip as he shakes my hand.
“Hi, Caine. Sorry, it’s nice to meet you too,” Jack says. He bends and grabs his bags, and I show him to the car.
I frown when Mikayla gets in the backseat. I close the trunk and open the passenger door and bend down, cupping her face with both my hands.
“Look at me,” I whisper when she closes her eyes. “I trust you,” I say before drawing her to me and kissing her lips. “Now, why are you in the backseat?” I ask after I pull back.
“Jack needs the legroom,” she says simply.
