The Summer He Came Home (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 1)

And yet how did you wipe away that kind of pain?

Michael plunged forward, and Cain realized the best thing he could do was listen.

“I was so scared that I ran back to my room and hid in the closet, but he found me.” His voice lowered until it was barely a whisper. “His face didn’t even look normal. It was all red and angry and scary.”

Michael kicked his foot, and his little hands were clenched so tight, the knuckles were white. “He tried to hurt me too. Said I was a little snot-nosed bastard who didn’t deserve anything.” Michael shuddered. “The police came and took him away before anything really bad happened.”

Cain’s gut rolled over. Shit. He’d had no idea. But it sure as hell explained a lot. The wary look that had been in Maggie’s eyes the first few times he met her. How she’d cowered when he tried to help her after she fell. She’d thought he was going to hit her.

“What happened after the police came?”

“We left and came here.”

Cain let the information settle for a bit. “Have you talked to your father since you’ve been in Crystal Lake?”

The boy shook his head. “No.” He looked up at Cain and was anxious. “I’m not supposed to talk to anyone about him. You can’t tell my mom I told.” His chin trembled, and Cain squeezed his shoulder.

“Hey, we’re good. I won’t say a word.”

“Swear on the Bible?”

“A whole stack.”

“Okay. Mom says it’s our private business and no one needs to know. I think she’s scared…”

Cain frowned, unease sliding through him. “What’s she scared of?” He asked the question, but he knew what Michael was going to say before he opened his mouth.

The boy’s small shoulders hunched forward as if he were trying to draw what warmth he could from the fire. “She’s scared that he’ll find us and then…”

“Then what? It’s okay. You can tell me.”

“He’ll hurt us. I don’t want him to hurt my mommy,” Michael blurted before burrowing into his side. The boy shuddered and shook against him. It was obvious he was scared, and for a moment, red-hot anger coursed through Cain.

His arms went round the boy, and he pulled him in as close as he could. His gaze traveled back up to Maggie. His heart pounded hard and fast, and he clenched his teeth together tightly.

The thought that anyone could hurt her or Michael filled him with such rage, he wasn’t sure he could speak. To think this little guy had seen such violence against his mother made him sick, and to think of Maggie on the receiving end left him feeling weak. So he took a few moments. Envisioned his fist connected with the slimy coward’s face many times over. It might not be the right thing to do, but it sure as hell made him feel better.

“That won’t happen.”

“Promise?” Michael whispered.

“Yeah.” His chest welled with the hot flush of emotion inside him. “I promise.”

What the hell was he doing? Cain knew he was about to cross a line, but he didn’t care. Maybe he should. Who the hell was he to be promising her kid that everything would be all right? He ignored the inner voice of reason. The one that months, or even weeks, earlier would have been enough to send him packing.

Cain nodded toward the fire. “How ’bout some marshmallows?”

Chapter 16

“What are you doing, Cain?” His mother’s tone was sharp, and he knew that he was most likely in for it. She’d been dying to get him alone ever since she arrived and found Maggie and her son at the cottage. He glanced back toward the lake, but it was hidden by the dense grouping of birch trees that lined the driveway next to the cottage.

It was late. Michael was asleep, curled up near the fire in a large comforter he’d found inside the cottage. Mac had returned, dropped off by a taxi, and he’d crashed in the back bedroom almost immediately. A quick, slurred “Hey” and he’d disappeared.

He’d left Maggie by the fire too, and he thought of her there, with the moon low across the water, a breeze in her hair, and the glow of the embers reflecting on her skin. Things had changed between them today. Their connection. It wasn’t subtle. It was potent, and he knew she felt it as deeply as he did. Anticipation sat in his gut, twisted his insides so badly he was short of breath.

He wanted to hold her—make love to her—protect her with a ferocity that he’d never felt before.

“Cain? Did you hear me? Are you all right?”