Sly had been such a beautiful piece of my life since the moment he’d walked into it, but he always kept his past locked up tight. I knew he’d left behind a great love, but until Vinnie walked into the room, I always assumed it was a painful part of him he didn’t want to talk about.
Seeing it made me realize not only how hard the pain of leaving her behind must have been, but how raw and real their love trulystillwas.
Cain pulled me from my trance of watching them when he placed his hand on my shoulder, rubbing it in light circles before he took my hand, urging me to stand. Wrapping his arm around my shoulder, he leaned in, his lips brushing against my ear as he said, “Let’s give them some space, baby. He’s not alone anymore.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
“Baby, how many times do I have to ask before you finally say yes?”
Cain was kneeling down in the middle of my office, holding a velvet box open with a gorgeous marquise diamond ring inside.
This was the second time he’d proposed in the six months following the attack on the Sinners. So much for our talk about me never wanting a normal life, but then again, the thought didn’t seem so scary these days. Not that I’d admit that to him yet.
“I’ve told you a million times now, I’m not sure I ever want to get married, Cainy-boo. How many times are you going to propose until you realize that I’m not the barefoot and pregnant marriage material type?”
A low growl rumbled through his chest at my refusal. Standing quickly, he scooped me up and tossed me over his shoulder.
“Put me down, jackass!” I laughed, hitting him in the back with my fists playfully.
Cain brought me to my desk chair and deposited me in it, then dropped to his knees. He had that look in his eyes that made my toes curl without a single touch.
“You wore a dress today, baby. I like it,” Cain told me, temporarily distracted. He slid his finger against the triangle of fabric that acted as a barrier between us.
Instinctually, my back arched against the chair.
He rubbed my clit through my underwear, and I spread my legs wider for him. Pulling the fabric aside, he dipped one finger into me, watching the way it slid in and out through my wetness.
“And I told you, I’ll never stop trying to put a ring on your finger,” he said, picking up where the conversation left off.
His finger curled upward, and he made stroking motions inside me. My ass slid further down in the chair, and he used his free hand to roll me closer to him. Groaning, he undid his belt buckle with one hand while he fucked me with his fingers.
My breathing hitched. “You’re insufferable.”
“But you love me anyway,” he countered, adjusting his hand so he could rub my clit with his thumb.
“You’re right,” I moaned. “More than I thought possible.”
My thoughts floated back to how so quickly everything had changed, and throughout it all, the intensity of my love for him only grew.
It’d been months since the family barbeque from hell, and I still found myself looking over my shoulder constantly. My heart raced in fear every time I heard a motorcycle pass by.
After Sly was discharged from the hospital, we spent the next week helping Nixon plan Preston’s funeral, while the Sinners also held Church several times to discuss The Reaper’s Wings. Cain didn’t fill me in often on what happened in the meetings, knowing how much I was already struggling with the constant worrying. But I knew enough. I knew the important details.
The Sinners were far out of their depth. It was a constant debate in which the vote was split on how to handle it. Some wanted retaliation, while others believed that the ‘debt had been paid.’ An eye for an eye. Cain killed one of their own, and they killed Preston.
There was no longer a debt to be settled.
Cain had spent many late nights with the club, and in the end, they’d decided to call a meeting with Rifton, their president. They met at a halfway point to discuss their feud.
I’d never been so fucking scared.
The entire time Cain was gone, Noah sat with me at the bar and we tossed back whiskey like it was water. I checked my phone obsessively, anxious to find the text he’d promised to send, and terrified I’d end up with a call from someone saying the meeting had gone sideways.
When I’d picked up my cell phone for the millionth time, Noah finally admitted that I should relax a little. Some officers on the Ridgewood P.D. had posed as Sinners and were with them right that very moment, waiting for The Reaper’s Wings to do or say something to incriminate themselves.
The Sinners intended to dismantle The Reaper’s Wings entirely, and while the roadside meeting hadn’t offered any usable evidence against them, the Sinners continued working with the Ridgewood P.D. and Bridge Point’s department to make it happen.
Shortly after the meeting, the Sinners moved out.
