Chapter 6
“What did Bas want?”
Cain glanced over at Damon. The man looked deceptively calm sprawled in the passenger seat of Drew’s Acura, with his long legs stretched out and his leather seat tilted back, unless you noticed his hands. His right was coiled into a fist and digging into his injured leg, while the left beat a relentless rhythm against the center console.
The dashboard GPS Damon had programmed showed they were about twenty minutes into the forty-minute drive to Chelsea’s house, and Damon had been silent the entire way. But Cain felt the man’s tension building, much the way he’d watched thunderstorms brewing in the heavy clouds on the far side of the mountain back at his parents’ cabin - he wondered when it would break, and whether he would be in the path of destruction when it did.
Cain considered his response for a second as he shifted into the left lane and poured on the speed. Damon had told Chelsea an hour, and they were running late.
He really didn’t want to tell Damon all the shit Bas has spouted. Cain was pretty sure Damon had doubts about him already - all those pointed remarks about Cain’sloyaltythis morning had made that abundantly clear - and he didn’t want to fuel the fire. But he also recognized he couldn’t show he was trustworthy by lying.
“He warned me that I’d better not be planning to mess things up for you,” Cain said simply.
In his peripheral vision, he saw Damon’s head tilt back. “What?”
“Don’t sound so shocked. You heard him earlier. You’refamilynow.”
Damon shook his head. “I donotunderstand that guy.”
“It’s not real complicated,Big Daddy.” Cain smirked as Damon’s head twisted in his direction.
“You’renotcalling me that. That’s never going to be a thing.”
Cain hummed thoughtfully. “Too late. Pretty sure it’s already a thing.” When Damon didn’t reply, he shrugged and continued, “Bas feels bad for the way things happened after the accident. He’s decent at the core, even if he seems like a total asshole.”
“I guess,” Damon said dubiously. Then a minute later, he added, “And what did you tell him?”
“That he needed to stop being a hypocrite and pull his head out of his ass when he’s dealing with Drew,” Cain admitted. He grinned and glanced at Damon again. “It felt really good.”
Damon’s lips kicked up. “I bet. So Cain Shaw lost his temper and the world didn’t end? That’s twice in one day,” he noted.
Cain opened his mouth, then shut it again, grateful when the GPS reminded him to take the next exit so he could concentrate on driving and not have to reply. The truth was, it did feel really good. Not because he’d lost his temper, but because he hadn’t. He’d stood up for himself and he’d stayed in control the whole time.
He’d no sooner had that revelation than his phone began to ring from the holder on the dashboard.
Mom calling.
He glanced at Damon, who’d obviously read the display. He’d missed two calls from her already when they were at Drew’s house, but he really didn’t want to have this conversation while Damon could hear him. Phone calls with his mother always followed a certain script, and this was not going to be pretty.
“I’ll take that later,” Cain said.
“Take it now,” Damon disagreed. “You don’t know when you’ll get another chance.”
True. Cain licked his lips. “Okay, I can put it on speaker while I’m driving, but… she can’t know you’re here. You have to stay silent.”
Damon flipped his hands out, as if to say this was obvious. Cain took a deep breath and accepted the call.
“Cain Edward Shaw,”she said, before Cain even had a chance to say hello. “I’d like an explanation, young man.”
Cain could feel Damon’s gaze on him and his face went hot.Kid, kid, kid.
“Good morning, mother.” He forced himself to sound calmer than he felt. “I’m feeling much better this morning, thanks for asking.”
His mother’s snort of disbelief resonated through the speaker. “You were no more sick than I was! And you have no idea what you put your father and me through when we couldn’t find you.”
“I texted to let you know I’d gone back to the hotel,” he reminded her. “You couldn’t have been worried for long.”
“I most certainly was! There was a security incident at the fundraiser just after you left! Some… bigthugtried to force his way into the party.”
