Atonement (Master's Protege 2)

“You are not nobody,” I tell her when she’s within my reach.

“Cain,” she murmurs, her eyes focused over my shoulder at the door. She’s afraid we’ll get caught like this, but I couldn’t give a shit. She shakes her head, flustered and frazzled, until I tug a little lock of her hair just at the base of her scalp. Her eyes widen, and her lips part as her gaze meets mine.

“Not here,” she whispers, begging me not to dominate her where someone could see us. She gave me her word when we closed our first case together that she’s mine. That she’d devote herself to me, give me carte blanche in exchange for my serving her vengeance on a platter.

“Violet,” I warn. She promised me. She gave me a vow that she’d give herself to me, and giving herself to me means I take her wherever, whenever, and however I want. I use that to my full advantage. Never said I wasn’t an asshole.

“You are not nobody,” I whisper in her ear. “You are the most brilliant, the most mesmerizing, the most intriguing woman I’ve ever met.” And I love you, I mentally tack on, but I can’t say it aloud. If I do, she’ll run. I’ve worked every day since the minute she stepped foot on my property to build her trust, but we’re not there yet. She still occasionally flutters her wings like a caged bird, ready to flee when the door opens.

“Well,” she murmurs, placing her hand on my shoulder in an attempt to calm me. It works. “That still isn’t reason enough to follow me. So the very idea’s preposterous, Mr. Master.” She cocks her head and gives me a teasing smile. “Since the only person who finds me so enthralling… is you.”

My heart stops. For one raw moment I think she’s actually hit on the truth. But no… she can’t know.

The handle to the door behind me turns, and we quickly go back to work. I’m distracted, though, as we do our detail.

Does she suspect anything?

The night goes on without a hitch, other than one minor incident involving an intoxicated ex, but Claude escorted him off the property so effortlessly, the crowd at the beach never knew what happened.

I do my job with only one eye toward the party, though.

As always, my main focus is Violet.

“Has anyone ever told you you’re smothering?” she asks, sliding her hand into my back pocket as the evening winds down. She rubs her chin against my chest so briefly she’s like a cat scratching an itch, before she resumes her professional demeanor.

“You’re the one grabbing my ass in public and painting me with your smell as if to warn off any potential predators.”

She reaches for my collar, and I look into her mesmerizing eyes the color of amethyst.

“I’ve got claws, and I’m not afraid to use them.”

“Mmm. Is that a promise?”

She grins, and her belly growls as Joe comes into the room. “House secured. That’s a wrap.”

“Perfect. How late’s Sake and Sushi open?”

She grins. “Late enough.” It’s her favorite, and I’m kinda partial to the spring rolls myself.

I want to keep her happy. I want to keep her safe.

I want to keep her right here by my side.

Chapter Three

Violet

Cain’s troubled tonight, but it’s not out of the ordinary for him. I know this is just the way he is sometimes.

I blame it on his past.

Sometimes he wakes in the middle of the night, unable to sleep. He paces the room we share and stares out at the ocean. He tries to be quiet so he doesn’t wake me, but I know him too well, and I often wake when he does.

We haven’t known each other for long, but it feels like it’s been much, much longer. Sometimes there’s a depth to our relationship… an understanding, one might say… that makes me feel like I’ve known him for years.

After dinner at Sake and Sushi, my belly is full and I’m tired from the night’s events. Cain’s got a frenetic sort of energy driving him, though, and he hasn’t even stripped for bed.

I don’t ask him what’s on his mind. If he wants to tell me, he will.

I’m lying belly-down on the bed, the pillow tucked under my cheek, when I feel the bed sag beside me from his heft. He’s the largest man I’ve ever known, pure muscle, yet he walks quietly and folds himself onto the bed with surprising grace.

“You move so quietly, I hardly know you’re there,” I say with a smile, my eyes still closed. I feel his hand come to rest on the base of my skull, his fingers gently stroking my hair.

“Comes with my line of work. It pays to move silently so no one ever knows you’re coming.”

That makes me wonder… is there more to his “line of work” than I know?