“Which time?” I ask.
She flinches, and the first real indication of fear flashes in her eyes. “You’ve been to jail more than once?”
I remain calm and still and as unthreatening as I can. “That can happen when you continually stand up for the things you believe in.”
“You don’t believe in laws?” she asks, hearing me out, but challenging my truth.
“Not the ones that are wrong,” I say without pause.
She watches me a while and then grabs her wad of paper towels and approaches. “Which laws are the wrong ones?” She presses her makeshift sponge to the side of my forehead head and pulls at the splinter lodged there.
“The ones that prevent justice for children or animals or anyone else who can’t stand up for themselves.”
She throws a small, bloody stick in the sink and pushes at my head with the paper towels while she stares down at me. Eventually, she nods. “So which laws did you break, exactly?”
I wrinkle my nose. “You want a list of all of them? Or just the ones they could pin on me?”
Her unimpressed stare makes me gulp.
“The rabbits I stole from the research lab were too unwell to travel, and when they couldn’t prove I was the one who took them, their egos got all butt-hurt, so they pinged me for having too many critters in an urban environment and fought for a harsh sentence. The other time, I was coaching football, and akid kept showing up with the wrong kind of bruises. I beat up his dad a bit too publicly. That sentence was lighter than it could have been, because other people had suspected it was happening and were secretly glad the issue got resolved. I also did some shit to hold some of those people accountable for their silence, but nobody pressed charges for any of that. They knew they deserved what they got.”
Cady still has the paper towels bunched against my head, and it makes it hard to see her with both eyes. It’s really hard to read her face, and I don’t know if it’s because I have to do it with one eye, or if she’s just… unreadable. She looks like she’s thinking deep thoughts, so maybe that’s why I can’t tell what they are.
The vibe has definitely shifted between us. The suspicion and mistrust have eased, but there’s a sort of edginess to the tension still lingering between us. It wasn’t there a moment ago, and I don’t know what it means. Does she need more information?
“I’m not sure if you want to know the stuff that isn’t already on record,” I say carefully. “It might make you complicit.”
Her lips give a tiny twitch upward but then flip the other way. “You haven’t ever forced yourself on a woman?”
I lean back, horrified. “What?” I shake my head. “Cady, I wouldnever. No.”
She presses her lips together as she nods and then comes at me again with the paper towels. “I didn’t think so.”
“Good.” I breathe a sigh of relief, and then still. I reach up and move her towel-holding hand out of my face. “Hesaidthat about me?”
“He implied it.” Her attention is trained on the twig-extraction site so acutely, I’m sure she’s avoiding my eyes on purpose. “And I think he’d state it as fact to anyone who’d listen if he ever found out you were fucking his daughter, so it’s probably for the best if you don’t start.” She quickly turns away,but not fast enough for me to miss the disappointment in her face.
I try to chase her with my eyes, but she keeps her head low, takes a step back, and puts the used paper towels in the trash.
“Cady…”
She shakes her head. “I’m not risking that.”
I ease back against the cistern. If there’s one thing I know about Cadence Malone, it’s that she’d never willingly hurt a soul if she could prevent it — even if it meant she had to suffer. Her heart is pure, and her convictions are strong. She means what she says, and she’d never puts her needs above those of others.
“Is that your firm and final decision?” I ask. “Because as extreme as it may sound, I’m pretty sure I’d volunteer for the electric chair if it meant I could have you come on my cock even once before I go.”
Her eyebrows plunge, and she parts her lips like she’s about to say something, but I raise my palms to show her I don’t need to hear it. “If you’d rather we continue with our current diet of casual chitchat and celibacy, that’s fine too,” I say firmly. “I just need you to know that I’ll do whatever you want, either way. Before today, I was sure I’d never be invited into your life and was content to linger on the fringes — was grateful to be that close. Today, you changed shit up and said you’re feeling a certain way about me, but if you want to retract that information, then I’ll go back to assuming I have no chance with you. Not happily, but respectfully and obediently. Your command is law I won’t ever break.”
She whimpers softly and turns her back to me. “Why do you have to be such a sweet, articulate asshole?”
“Because you need me to be,” I say with sincerity. “I do it for you — and only you,” I clarify. “I’m not sweet for everyone. Only for the people I love. Mostly I’m just the articulate asshole part.”
Cady snorts softly and faces me again. She wipes a fresh tear from her cheek. “I don’t want to ruin your life.”
“Well,snap, Beautiful. I don’t want to ruin yours either.”
She purses her lips and stomps her sensibly shoed feet. “I want to… do stuff with you.”
