And yet, now I know who Mr. Cain really is, I can’t stop questioning everything.
Why give me the job? Why not hate me like the rest of them do? Why does he look at me like I’m not the monster they all believe I am?
My palms are sweating when I knock on his office door, then open it quietly when I hear him say to come in. Cain is seated behind his desk, going through paperwork. I've never really beenin here apart that one time when he gave me the job, and last night. I stand just inside the office, eyes to the floor. “I just, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. If I’d known who you were, I wouldn’t have applied. I would never want to be anywhere Hayden might turn up. I didn’t know. I swear, I didn’t. I just wanted a job. I needed something stable. I’m not trying to cause problems, I promise. I didn’t?—”
“Stop.” His voice isn’t loud, but it carries weight, a weight I don’t understand. I shut my mouth immediately, biting my lower lip.
Mr. Cain leans back, folding his arms, and studies me with the kind of look that makes it hard to keep eye contact.
“My name is Cain Crawford,” he says calmly. “But that stays between us. Out there, I’m Mr. Cain.”
I swallow hard and nod. He stands up and walks around the desk, which for some reason makes me take a small step back. Cain leans against the edge of the desk. His posture is relaxed, but I don’t think that is a good thing.
“I know who you are, Olivia. I’ve known from the beginning. Before hiring you, I asked Hayden.”
I blink; my chest tightens. “Hayden said… I could work here?” That’s not a question. It’s me thinking out loud to myself.
Why? Why would he let me work here? Does he want me close? Or is this some kind of punishment?
“I’m not sure why, but you hurt my brother. I’ve done a lot to protect my family, but I couldn’t protect him from your lie.” Cain stops when I look at him in shock, wondering what he means by that. “That man trusted you with his life, and you fucking ruined it. You have no idea what your lie did to him, not just with hockey, or school but mentally you have no idea. You have no idea, but I’ll give you one, he became a man who closed his heart to anyone, a man who'd put himself in front of a bullet to save his family because he doesn't care if he dies or not. But aslong as I’m alive, nothing will happen to him, that's a promise.” He stops, and I feel my eyes burning as I stop the tears from escaping. “Olivia Banks, you broke my brother and now you refuse to fucking fix him by telling him the truth.”
“I can’t.” I whisper which makes Cain laugh.
“I know the truth, I have a file, yet Hayden won’t look at it, because he wants you to tell him the truth. A file doesn’t hold up the way a confession does. If he reads a piece of paper, he’ll spend the rest of his life wondering what you left out. He needs to hear it from you, Olivia. After what you did to him, Olivia, you owe him that. ”
I stand there with no words. No words to say, no words even coming to my mind to say. Cain has the truth yet Hayden refuses to read it, everything I can’t say he has at his fingertips ready for him, but no, He wants me to tell him, if only it was so simple.
“You’ll continue to work your scheduled shifts. The second my brother says to get rid of you, I will. Until then, you’ve got a bouncer on you at all times. In case that idiot shows up again.”
My throat is dry, but I nod again. “Thank you. And again, I’m sorry?—”
The door creaks open behind me, stopping me mid-sentence.
A laughter.
Mason.
Then I hear Miles joking about something, and then silence, they must finally see me.
The silence which puts a cold shiver through my body, and for some crazy reason the only person I can look at it is Cain.
My fingers curl tightly around the hem of my work shirt, grounding myself. Breathe. Just breathe. My body tingles all over the moment I feel Hayden walking into the office.
“Well, if this isn’t awkward, I don’t know what is.”
Cain sighs. “Mason.”
“Just saying. There's a lot of tension here. Maybe someone should open a window?—”
“Mason,” Cain snaps again, which makes me jump.
He walks past me like I’m not even here. Doesn’t glance my way. Doesn’t pause. Doesn’t even flinch.
Just walks straight over to Cain, throws something onto the table, and for a second… my heart stops.
The keys.
I recognize them instantly, not just the keys, the keyring. The cookie, a treehouse, and a popcorn box. He said it was perfect but was mad at me for spending money on him.
