Page 212 of Safe Word

‘Shut it, Paula.’

My stomach dropped.

Cain’s gaze turned to iron. And I suddenly couldn’t breathe.

‘You’re still lying to my face. Or… do you actually believe in that?’

My mouth parted, disbelief clinging to my throat.

‘What does my family have to do with us?’ Something violent surged through my veins.

He stared. ‘I’ve been lied to my whole life.’

‘Is this why you’ve been brooding? Because you think I lied to you?’

Cain’s voice was steady, almost indifferent. ‘I know you lied.’

I felt a sharp pang hit my chest, heat flooding my face.

‘I did not lie.’ My voice came out firm, my hands curling into fists at my sides. ‘I told you exactly how things were. A couple of times, they helped out some friends, some family, as one would – that was it! If you had questions, why didn’t you just come to me and—?’

‘Because I don’t believe they didn’t know about Travis,’ he said, his voice deepening, cutting through the stale air between us. ‘It’s impossible not to know when someone is being abused.’

‘This again?’ My fingers pressed into my temples, trying to rub away the pounding frustration. My body sagged under the weight of this never-ending argument. ‘I’m too tired for this. We’re both too tired. Let’s rest and talk about it in the morning.’

‘I don’t think so.’ It landed wrong, too even and too quiet.

I whipped my head towards him, heart thudding against my collarbone. He was barely visible in the darkness, but I didn’t need to see his face to sense what was coming. The quiet curdled, pressing on something brittle inside him – and I saw it: the moment that anger, frustration, inevitability of the past bled into something darker, something that needed control to breathe.

‘Maybe I should remind you what kind of monster I am.’

And then—

He took a slow step forward, his presence looming, his body language shifting, unfolding like a predator stretching in the dark.

‘But I’m a forgiving man.’ He paused just long enough for the words to sink in, the air crackling between us. ‘I will forgive you… if you ask nicely.’

I let out a bitter laugh. ‘I’m not asking for shit! I did not lie to you.’

A long moment stretched between us. Then, his shoulders rolled back, exuding power, finality. And something inside me shrank.

‘I see.’ He hummed.

The silence was thick and suffocating, wrapping around my throat like invisible hands. Cain stood there, watching me with something foreboding in his eyes. He’d barely moved, yet I felt the pull of him, a force that made my skin prickle, my pulse stutter.

‘Come here.’

It wasn’t a request.

My spine snapped taut, and I forced myself to hold his gaze, ignoring the shiver that trailed over my back at the authority in his tone.

He didn’t seem the least bit surprised at my resilience. If anything, my defiance amused him.

Exuding pure control, edged with something lethal, he took another step towards me. ‘You come to me now… or you crawl back later. Either way, I won’t ask twice.’

It should have been a warning – every instinct told me to run – yet beneath the fear, something inside me unfolded. The same reckless hunger that had always answered his darkness stirred awake, licking through me, tightening low and deep until my breath faltered. He knew what he was doing. Knew exactly how to push, how to pull.

And I hated that my body listened and obeyed instantly.