Chapter
Ten
“Where are we going?”
It was finally October. Cayden and Trixie were in her Firebird on his second to last weekend furlough. He had this weekend, next week, next weekend, plus three days, and then he was free. Freedom was so close, he could taste it. He was walking on pins and needles, afraid to do anything remotely out of line. Mrs. Wynn had laughed at him the other day when she’d found Cayden scrubbing the kitchen floor. “I asked you to sweep it, dear. You didn’t have to wax it too.”
After work today, Trixie announced that she had a surprise for him. Cayden was thrilled and excited, but also nervous. He knew she knew his radius, and he was sure she wouldn’t risk his parole by taking him out of it, but the further they got from Romero’s the worse his nerves got.
“Relax.” She reached for his hand. “I told Peggy and Greg where we were going and it’s miles still within your radius. You’re fine.”
He nodded stiffly. “Good. But you still haven’t told me where we’re going.”
Rather than having him take his duffel up to her apartment that morning, she’d handed him the keys to her Firebird and told him to put his duffel and her suitcase in the car. Trixie had been tightlipped about their destination though, and it was killing him.
His eyes narrowed when they turned down a residential street. They were in the outskirts of the city limits where many family homes were. There was the occasional mom-and-pop business, but it was mostly residential housing. Why would Trixie bring him here?
They pulled into a cul-de-sac street. She turned into the driveway of a two-story single-family house with stone sides, a gray roof, and a chimney. It had a smaller front lawn than the others on the row. Trixie reached up and pressed a button attached to her visor that he’d missed upon getting into the car. His eyebrows scrunched; that was new. The garage door opened for her to admit her entry.
She parked and got out. Cayden was slower to follow. He didn’t understand why they were here. There weren’t any other cars in the garage or the drive. Who lived here? He trusted her, but damn, he hoped she’d gotten permission for them to be here.
Trixie popped the trunk to pull out her suitcase and his duffel. His obvious confusion only seemed to amuse her. She offered up no explanations. Just gave him his duffel and told him to “Come on.”
The garage had two standard doors. One led into the house and the other into a fenced backyard. She pressed a button on the wall as she entered the house to close the garage’s electric door.
The lights were on in the kitchen. She tossed her keys into a bowl on the kitchen bar. Cayden stiffly closed the door behind him. The kitchen on his left was decent sized with a large family dining room table on his right.
Trixie walked forward to turn on the living room lights too. She flipped a switch, and a fire lit in the fireplace. “Okay, so master bedroom is on the first floor.” She pointed over her shoulder to an open doorway. “There’s a full bath in there, too. Otherwise, there’s a half bath behind you. Right door is the bathroom, the left is a linen closet. So,” she pointed, “kitchen, living room, and through that door,” she indicated to her right, “is like a den/TV room. I’m thinking of redecorating it though. It was the only room down here I didn’t get to. Upstairs,” she pointed to her far right, “is two more bedrooms with a full bath between them. Those doors there,” she pointed to the double French doors on her left, “lead out to the back patio. I dropped off groceries yesterday and have steaks marinating. I figured we could grill up some steak and potatoes for dinner.” She smiled expectantly at him. “So, what do you think?”
Cayden fought to swallow the lump in his throat. “I’m not sure. Where are we? Whose house is this?”
Her smile faltered slightly. “It’s mine.”
Cayden blinked. Had he heard her correctly? “Yours? I thought you lived at Romero’s?”
“I do,” she said quickly. “I don’t come here often, but technically I own it.” Her expression turned sheepish. “I let it go a bit, but a couple of weeks ago I started coming by after work at night to clean and fix it up. I had to hire a maintenance guy because I couldn’t get the water heater to work at first. And then I paid a couple of teens down the street to fix up the lawn. They did a pretty good job too. I bought new furniture. I couldn’t…” She made a face. “I never really liked the old stuff much, anyway.” She pointed to the couch on her right. “I was going to take you shopping, but I figured it was better to not throw too much at you right off the bat. I didn’t want to overwhelm you, and now I can see I did just that, so I’m going to shut up now.”
She bit her lip as if to enforce she was going to stop talking.
It was actually the realization that she was as nervous as he was that snapped him out of his confusion. “I have questions.” She nodded, understanding, but didn’t speak. “First, why do you live at Romero’s if you own a house?”
Trixie looked slightly embarrassed. “I inherited it from Abuelo.” This was her grandfather’s house? Meaning, it was the house she’d found her grandfather’s body in. No wonder she didn’t come here often. For the first time, Cayden noticed the family pictures lining the mantel above the fireplace and the living room wall above the couch. “I’d already been living in the apartment at Romero’s when he passed. Mi hermanos signed everything over to me, the shop, his cars, his house… I tried to buy them out, tried to offer them shares, but they didn’t want anything. Said they had their own lives, and of course, AJ was already incarcerated.” She winced. “Anyway, I kept the house in case they wanted to do anything with it. I didn’t have the heart to sell it, but I also didn’t want to live here. At least, not alone.”
His eyes snapped back at her. “Are you planning on living here now? Not alone,” he added pointedly.
She still wouldn’t look at him. “Um, I was hoping… I mean, only if you want to. I just… I thought it’d be nice after your term was up if you had someplace to live.”
Cayden crossed the room to her. Her cheeks were flushed in his new favorite shade of red. He waited. He wasn’t going to force her to meet his eyes this time. She had to do it on her own. It took several minutes, but finally she glanced up at him. He asked her two simple words with a whole lot of meaning behind them: “With you?”
Her cheeks brightened even more, and she nodded.
Cayden cupped her face. “Beatriz Romero, it would be my absolute pleasure to live here with you.”
Relief seemed to flow off of her, and she sagged. “Yeah?”
He smiled. “Yeah.” Cayden dipped his head to claim her lips. Her eyes were clouded over with contentment when he raised his head. “Now, how about you show me this grill? I’m starving.”
As it turned out, grilling was a bit more difficult a task than either of them had expected. Trixie had purchased a really nice black four-burner gas grill, but with neither of them being grill masters, they struggled with what temperature the steaks needed to be at. It also didn’t occur to them to spray down the grate prior to putting the meat on. A call to Mr. Wynn saved the potatoes. Thankfully, Trixie had supplied the house with olive oil, salt, pepper, and aluminum foil. One steak was ruined beyond repair, while the other was so far undercooked it practically mooed as Cayden cut into it.
“So apparently I need to watch some YouTube videos on how to grill steaks.”
Trixie found the whole experience hilarious. Or maybe she was just so relieved that he’d agreed to move in with her that she couldn’t stop smiling. Cayden didn’t care either way or if it was both. He loved that smile, and he would do anything to keep it on her face, even ruin a couple of perfectly good steaks.
They ended up throwing a steamable bag of broccoli in the microwave, fried up some bacon, and grabbed out some cheddar cheese and sour cream from the fridge. The steaks were tossed. Under the porch lights, they ate their loaded baked potatoes on her new patio furniture.
The backyard was easily three-times the size of the front. There was a rundown old metal swing set to the side and a large tree to the other. A tall fence separated them from their neighbors’ view.
Cayden pointed with his fork to the tree. “I bet you climbed to the top as a kid.”
She smiled mischievously. “I was the only girl among three boys. They also taught me to wrestle and burp the alphabet.”
Cayden laughed, his eyes glancing around from the yard to the patio to the house behind her. “You’re lucky, growing up the way you did. Not a lot of kids have all that.”
Trixie reached across the table to grab his hand. “You don’t speak about your childhood much. I know you were raised by tu abuela. No siblings?”
Cayden shrugged. “Don’t know. There’s probably some crazy kid out there that’s related to me. My dad wasn’t exactly a monk, and I never knew my mom. Gran won’t tell me her name. Just refers to her as ‘that selfish bitch’.” He turned his hand over under hers to grip it. “Don’t pity my life just because you had all this, Trix. I might not have had a swing set in my backyard, but Gran still took me places. Every year on my birthday she took me to the zoo. Didn’t matter how old I was, ten, twelve, nineteen, or how much I complained I didn’t want to go. Every birthday, we were at the zoo.” Guilt gripped his heart. “Well, not every year. The state wouldn’t give me a day pass for the last three.”
Her smile was weak. “She loves you very much.”
He nodded. “She does. She can’t wait to meet you, by the way.”
Trixie cocked her head. “You told her about me?”
“Baby,” he smiled, “I told her about you the day we met. I said ‘Gran, I met a girl. She’s far too good for me, but I’m going to make her mine anyway.’”
Trixie giggled, ducking her head to hide her blush. “No, you didn’t.”
He waited for her to lift her head again before saying, “Yes, I did.” Her cheeks blazed. Cayden indicated to her plate. “Are you done?” She nodded. “Good, because I’d very much like to take you inside and make love to you in our house.”
They put their dirty dishes in the sink, ignoring the mess in the kitchen. He took her hand and led her towards the master bedroom.
Trixie had spent a lot of time redecorating her abuelo’s old room. She’d long ago donated his bed set, but she’d left everything else as he had. It had been years since his death, and she had only just packed up all of his clothing and belongings for donation. She kept a few things, like the pictures he’d kept on his dresser and his coveralls with the original Romero’s logo on it under his name.
There was still a hint of paint fumes in the air. When she’d donated the remainder of the bedroom furniture, she’d also had them take the old dining room table set, the living room couch, and lounge chair. Before her new furniture was delivered, Trixie had had new floors installed. The layout of the downstairs was mostly laminate hardwood flooring, leaving the only carpeting on the first floor in the master bedroom.
Her abuelo’s walls had been a light shade of gray. She’d repainted them to a light shade of lilac that had caught her eye. To keep the room from seeming too girly, she’d gone with a black and white comforter set. The four-poster king bed and matching dressers were dark cherry. Her apartment at Romero’s was a queen bed, but she liked the idea of getting a king for the house.
The master bathroom had dual sinks with a large corner tub and a shower stall. There was a small walk-in closet where she had her new towels, spare sheets, and laundry basket. She wasn’t sure what she would do with the apartment at Romero’s when they officially moved in here. Maybe she would keep it in case one or both of them were working late and wanted to crash at the shop instead of driving home.
Trixie smiled. They were actually doing this. In a little over two weeks, they would be moving in together. Like a real couple. Domesticated.
She felt his knuckles trail down her cheek. “What brought on that look?”
Trixie grabbed his callused hand and kissed his palm. “I’m happy. I was so nervous to ask you to move in with me. We’d never really talked about what would happen after your parole was up. We kept counting down to it, but we never said what would happen afterwards.” She gripped his hand to her chest. “I want this, Cayden. I want us to live here. Be that annoying neighbor couple who hosts outside barbecues but somehow always tricks someone else into manning the grill. I want us to drive into work together and maybe…maybe one day raise a family here.” Her bottom lip started to tremble. “Cayden, I—”
He cut her off with a rough kiss. Trixie gripped him tight, only slightly perturbed that he’d prevented her from continuing. Cayden skillfully dipped his tongue into her mouth and dragged her lip through his teeth.
She felt her back hit the mattress and gasped. She hadn’t felt him move them. In a quick, practiced motion, he had her pants unbuttoned and unzipped. He kissed his way down her throat, past her breasts, over her belly and down to her navel. Trixie squealed when he yanked her jeans down, revealing her lacy panties.
He pulled off her jeans and then placed a knee between her legs on the mattress. Their eyes locked as he pulled off his shirt. She let out an appreciative sigh. She never got tired of seeing his well-formed physique. He leaned over to kiss that spot just under her ear he loved so much. Basking in euphoria, Trixie dug her nails into the hard muscles of his back.
Together they wormed their way onto the center of the bed. He raised up on his knees to unbutton his jeans. He pushed them down to his knees before bending over to kiss the exposed valley of skin between her breasts. She used her feet to push his pants down the rest of the way. A kick on her part and they hit the floor by hers.
Feeling his bare skin, she tipped her head down to confirm with her eyes. “Have you been going commando all day?”
He nodded against her breasts. “It’s Friday. I try for less clothing to have to take off later than more.”
She smiled wide. “I approve.”
He wiggled his eyebrows wickedly. “Good. Sit up.” He went back on his heels, straddling her legs. She rose and took off her top before he could. His hands cupped her tits. “God, I can’t wait until I get to see these daily. Wake up every day with you,” he dipped his head to place a kiss on her throat, “and go to sleep with you in my arms every night. That’s the dream, Trixie. You’re my dream.”
A shiver ran through Trixie. “Soon.”
He nodded against her skin. He blindly reached for a pillow. He placed it behind her on the bed and then laid her back down. Cayden spread himself out over her, taking his time to kiss every inch of her body. He started up at her ears and worked his way down her throat to her breasts where he feasted like a starving man on each nipple. His hands worked in unison, massaging her scalp, shoulders, arms, and breasts as he moved onto a different part of her body. She was a rapturous pile of mush by the time he made it down to her navel.
Oddly, he skipped over her lace-covered sex and paid attention to each leg. He knelt on the floor by the bed to thoroughly massage and kiss each of her feet.
“Look at me, baby girl.”
It took great effort to lift her head. When had he gotten her panties off? He’d either had a condom already on his person or he’d found the stash she’d put in the nightstand. She watched as he rolled the latex down his cock. He crawled his way back onto the bed between her legs, gripping her ankles to widen them.
“Trixie.” She met his mismatched eyes. “I need to say this, even if it’s just once, even if you don’t say it back.” Her heart pounded in her chest, knowing exactly what he was about to say. Her mind worked on overdrive, needing to memorize every detail of this moment, knowing just how monumental it was for the rest of her life. “You’re beautiful. You’re perfect. You smell like grease and motor oil. You can take apart a V8 engine blindfolded, which is so unbelievably sexy. Fuck, baby, what I’m really badly trying to say is that I love you.”
She felt herself shiver as her heart swelled in her chest and a wide smile spread over her lips. Her ears hummed like they were soaking up his words and craving more. Trixie reached for his hands. When he gave them, she pulled herself up onto his knees. She could feel his covered cock pressed between their bellies.
Trixie wrapped her arms around his neck. “You silly man, that’s what I was going to say.”
She lifted herself up, using one hand to hold onto his shoulders and the other to maneuver his hardness to her opening. Slowly, she lowered herself down onto him.
They both groaned in unison.
“Say it,” he gritted out. His hands gripped her hips, holding her in place. “Say the words, Trix.”
Using her fingertips, she traced his face from forehead to chin. “I love you, Cayden Russo.” She rose and then back down on his cock. She trembled at the feel of him rubbing against her inner walls. “I love you,” she said again.
Suddenly she found herself flipped over onto her belly on the mattress. Cayden pressed his hard body against her back, sliding back into her in a single motion. Trixie shoved the pillow out of the way so she could breathe. She tipped her head to the left as he pressed his mouth into his spot just below her ear.
Holding onto her hips, Cayden ground himself into her over and over again. Trixie gasped and moaned. She craved release while never wanting this to end. His teeth gripped her ear lobe, causing her to groan.
“Please,” she managed to plead out. “Cayden, please…”
“Come with me,” he drawled into her ear. His speed picked up. “Come, baby. Come for me.”
“Cayden!” she shouted as her body convulsed. Pleasure ripped through her veins as she saw fireworks behind her eyelids.
She heard him grunt, “Fuck, baby! I love you! I love you so goddamn much!” before his body convulsed over hers.
Both gasping for air, silence fell as they savored the moment. Light kisses trailed up her spine, drawing a smile to her lips. Carefully, he pulled out of her and then journeyed to the bathroom to dispose of the filled condom.
Trixie rolled onto her side to watch him. He carried a washcloth back to her. He proceeded to wash between her legs before tossing the cloth unceremoniously towards the bathroom.
Cayden stretched out on the bed next to her. He touched her lazily, trailing his fingers up and down her side. It was a good thing she wasn’t ticklish. “How did an ex-biker like me get so fucking lucky with an amazing girl like you?”
She grinned teasingly at him. “I believe you won a bet.”
He shook his head. “That bet gained me a kiss. You’re so much better a prize and I am completely unworthy of you.”
Her eyes narrowed. She didn’t like it when he said that. Trixie pushed him over onto his back and then straddled his hips. “You, Cayden Russo, are more than your rap sheet. You are more than an outlaw biker. You are more than a gearhead.”
“Am I?”
She nodded, leaning over him but didn’t kiss him. “You’re sweet and caring, cocky and talented. But most importantly, you are mine. And you know how protective and possessive I am with my…merchandise.”
He chuckled. “So I’ve heard.” He gripped her hips. “You are so fucking beautiful.”
She smiled. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Mr. Russo.” She leaned over to kiss him but paused when she saw his nose scrunch. “What?”
“Damn condoms are all the way over there.”
Trixie burst out laughing before jumping off him to grab a handful.
Now that the dam was broken, Cayden couldn’t stop telling Trixie that he loved her. He woke her up Saturday morning by making sweet love to her. She shattered in his arms, shouting his name. He attempted breakfast in bed, but the eggs turned out worse than the steaks. He ended up offering her Pop-Tarts on a plate.
Around lunch, they took a walk around the neighborhood so he could get his bearings. There was something so simply domesticated about walking down a sidewalk hand-in-hand with his girl. Their lunch was boxed macaroni and cheese.
“We’re going to have to take cooking lessons or something,” Trixie informed him as she licked her spoon. “I have a feeling our neighbors are going to see a lot of delivery vehicles otherwise.”
“Mrs. Wynn’s been trying to teach me,” he confessed. “I’m not very good at it. Mostly I chop or dice as directed and she combines everything together.” He gestured to the two-door fridge. “Just think how many pizza boxes we can stash in there.”
They wandered upstairs after lunch. Trixie showed him her childhood bedroom, the one she’d shared with AJ until she was eight. She’d explained that the den on the first floor had been her father’s bedroom. Lee and Marco had shared the one room with AJ and Trixie in the other. After Lee had left for boot camp, AJ had moved in with Marco. One by one, her hermanos had moved out of the house. Zyn had then moved upstairs.
Even though she’d moved out after she’d turned eighteen, her bedroom still housed most of her childhood items. Cayden wasn’t surprised in the least to find car posters instead of boy bands or Hello Kitty adorning Trixie’s walls.
“We need to decide what we want to do with these rooms.”
Cayden turned towards her. She was hovering by the open door. “We don’t need to decide right now. We can leave them as is.” He shrugged. “Maybe redoing these rooms can be a winter project.” She nodded, but he caught the pain in her eyes. Cayden approached, gripping her forearms. “What is it?”
Her lips tightened. “It was easier to redo downstairs. Up here, though…” She glanced over her shoulder at the closed door that had been her brothers’ and then father’s bedroom. “It’s a bit harder, I guess. I didn’t expect that.”
“Well,” he rubbed her arms up and down, “unless a condom breaks, we shouldn’t need a nursery for a couple of years at least. There’s no rush.”
He was gifted with her sly smile. “A condom breaking? That’s the best you can do?”
“Would you rather I ‘forget’,” he made air quotes, “to put one on?”
She slapped him upside the head. “No.” She scrunched her face in thought. “You are right, though. There’s no rush to get these rooms done. With just the two of us, we don’t need the room.”
Not wanting to subject her to more memories, Cayden took her back downstairs. They popped some popcorn and watched a movie in the den. For dinner, they boiled hot dogs on the stovetop and microwaved some baked beans. Thankfully, they were both masters of the microwave and knew not to put the metal can in the appliance. It was a simple meal, but one they were quite proud not to have messed up.
Plus, he greatly enjoyed the sight of her eating a hot dog. Noticing he was staring at her, she asked with her mouth full, “What?”
In place of an answer, Cayden ended up making love to her on the kitchen table. He’d luckily had a condom in his pocket. He was going to have to start stashing them strategically around the house. He had plans to take her in every room. Well, maybe not the ones upstairs. At least, not yet.
They accidently knocked the bowl of baked beans over, splattering them both. Cayden carried her to the shower in their bedroom, loving the fact that it was theirs. He’d never shared anything like a bedroom before with anyone—not including his jail cell. That one hadn’t been by choice, so he didn’t count it.
He’d had to run out of the shower soaking wet to grab another condom and then rush back to her. They were laughing as he took her against the wall, the hot water spraying down on top of them.
Too hyped up on the exhilarating bliss of their coupling, they decided to grab the tub of Rocky Road Trixie had in the freezer and two spoons. They curled up on the couch in the den. Trixie’s long legs lay over his as they passed the ice cream tub between them. The TV was on, but they kept the volume low as neither was really paying attention to it.
Trixie was leaning forward to lick the drip of ice cream off of his chest when they heard a thump outside. They paused, faces scrunching. He was prepared to ignore it as a neighborhood noise when they heard it again, louder and closer to the house.
Carefully, Cayden moved Trixie’s legs off of his. The den had two open doorways. The one faced the stairs to the second floor and the main door; the second opened into the living room opposite of the French doors. The sound had come from the backyard. As much as he hoped it was racoons, his instincts told him it wasn’t.
He peeked through the dark living room. The shades were closed on the French doors, but he could see the glow of the outside light through them.
“Where’s your phone?” he asked softly. His was in the bedroom.
“Kitchen,” she whispered, picking up on his tension.
Cayden squatted low, making his way into the kitchen. He made sure to keep Trixie in his sights as he searched for her phone. He found it by the sink. He slid it across the hardwood floor towards her in the den. She had to stretch forward on her hands and knees to grab it.
“Stay there,” he ordered. “I’m going outside. If I’m not back in five minutes, you call 911.”
“I’m going with—”
His stern gaze cut her off. “You stay there. Promise me.”
She made frustrated face, but nodded. Still, she countered with, “Three minutes.”
He rolled his eyes. Keeping low, Cayden made his way to the back doors. He put his back up against the wall by the electric fireplace. It had been lit since Trixie had turned it on the day before. Cayden moved the curtain to peek outside. He couldn’t see anyone, but the hairs on the back of his neck told him someone was out there.
He paused. With the end of his parole term so close, was he being stupid and selfish not calling the police right away? Was he risking Trixie’s life by not having her call now? What were the chances that a burglar decided to break into their house on their second night in residence? He didn’t have enemies, per se, but he was sure there were some very disappointed people who were displeased he’d quit the life. Could one of them have tracked him down?
He glanced back towards the den. Trixie was kneeling by the doorway, partly hidden from view by the living room couch.
“Call,” he mouthed to her. Even if his term was extended or he was placed back under house arrest, even if he went back to jail, he wasn’t willing to risk Trixie’s life. He’d pay any price to ensure her safety.
Cayden opened the back door and stepped onto the wooden patio. For a second, he stared out at the empty backyard. Then he caught movement to his left and jumped as a man stumbled forward, clutching his left shoulder. On instinct, Cayden caught the man before he face-planted onto the porch floor. He smelled the blood before he saw it.
Cayden laid the man down on his back, kneeling by him. “Trixie!” he called, his eyes landing on the bleeding wound on the man’s left shoulder. “We need an ambulance!”
“No…” Cayden looked down at the man, surprised he was still conscious. “No cops.”
Like Cayden wasn’t going to call the cops? He stared unblinkingly at the stranger. “You’ve been shot and you’re on my back porch—”
The gasp from behind him drew his attention to Trixie. She pocketed her phone and rushed forward to kneel by his side. Cayden had a suspicious feeling she hadn’t completed the call.
Trixie started pulling up his shirt. Cayden had to lift his arms so she could. She knelt over the man, pressing Cayden’s shirt into the obvious bullet wound in the man’s left shoulder. What made the situation all the more distressing was how she touched his face with familiarity. “Stay awake. Look at me.”
The man blinked his eyes open. He attempted a smile that failed. “Trix… No cops. Promise me.”
“No.” Her eyes widened, her face paling. “You’re shot. You need an ambulance. I have to—”
“Trix.” The man’s bloody hand shot out to grip her wrist. “No hospital. No cops. Trust me.”
Cayden watched in horror as Trixie’s head ducked, her hair falling loosely over the man’s bloody chest. It was slight, but she was nodding. “Fine. I promise. No cops.” She turned to Cayden. “Help me get him up.”
“Who is he?” Cayden demanded. The man was tall and built. He had a few days hair on his chin and upper lip. His long black hair was caked in blood, dirt, and sweat. He guessed the man to be late thirties, maybe forty.
“Cayden, please.”
He didn’t like it, but he also had never heard such desperation in her voice. Cayden reached forward and picked up the man. Damn, he was heavy. Trixie followed awkwardly, trying to keep pressure on the wound.
Not knowing where else to take him, Cayden brought the man into their bedroom and placed him on the bed.
Trixie turned on the lamp on the nightstand and the overhead light, as well as the bathroom lights. Then, to add to his distress, Trixie grabbed his duffel bag and phone. She rushed out of the bedroom. Why did she take his duffel?
Cayden looked down at the man passed out on their bed and then out at Trixie. He decided to follow Trixie. “What the hell is going on, Trix?”
She was in the kitchen, filling a large mixing bowl with water. He saw a knife, scissors, and a lighter on the counter. When she turned towards him, Trixie had tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, I need you to go.”
“Excuse me?” The fuck he was leaving her, and not just because there was currently a strange man with a bullet wound in their bed!
Trixie rounded the bar to open the cabinet under the sink. She pulled out a bottle of dish soap. “Here, wash yourself. Quickly. Your Uber will be here any minute.”
She’d called him an Uber? “What the fuck?” Cayden looked down at himself. As his shirt was currently being used to keep some strange man from bleeding out, he was just in jeans. He didn’t even have shoes on. His hands and his right forearm were streaked in blood. “I am not leaving you.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if she was trying to gather up her patience. “Cayden, I need you to trust me—”
“What the hell is going on, Trixie? If you honestly think I am going to leave you alone here, then you don’t know me at all!”
She grabbed some paper towels, wet them, and then dipped some soap on top. She rushed over to him and started to clean off his hands and arm. “Baby, you can’t be here. Don’t you understand?” She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “You have less than two weeks left on your sentence. Twelve days, Cayden. I won’t do anything to mess that up. So you can’t be here.”
She was trying to protect him?! Fuck that. He was not leaving—
She grabbed his chin and held it tightly in her grip. Finally meeting his eyes, she said with more conviction. “You just told me you loved me. Now I need you to trust me.”
His anger was rising, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t like how she was acting, what she was saying. “It’s not a matter of trust,” he snapped. “I’m not leaving you alone with that guy!”
“And I am telling you that you need to.” Her phone dinged. “That’s your ride.” She pulled a shirt out of his duffel and threw it at him. “Cayden, you need to go. I am in no danger. I promise. I just… I need to figure out what’s going on. Once I do, I swear, I will call you first thing in the morning.”
His feet were frozen in place. He didn’t put on the shirt.
“If you love me, you will do this for me.”
He fumed. How dare she say that to him? How dare she question his love for her? “That’s not fair! You can’t—”
“I can,” she snapped. “Cayden, leave. Now. Tell the Wynns we had a fight, I don’t care, but you can’t tell them what happened. You cannot be involved here.”
“You can’t be involved here!”
“I already am. Go!” She started pushing him to the front door. “I will call you tomorrow. I promise.”
“You better have a damn good explanation, and you better tell me every goddamn detail, Trixie.” He couldn’t believe he’d just said that. Why was he letting himself get pushed towards the door?
She nodded, though her eyes kept glancing back at their bedroom. “Go!” The front door was opened, and he was pushed through, his duffel and shirt in hand, his feet still bare. “I love you.”
Then she closed the door in his face.
Cayden stood there staring at the door for several minutes, fighting with his need to protect her over doing as she’d asked. She clearly knew the guy. Why couldn’t she just tell him who he was?
“Fuck!” he shouted into the night.
Cayden turned to find the Uber driver standing against the passenger side of his car. The guy gave Cayden a sympathetic look as he asked, “Bad breakup, man?”
