I owed the man.
“I’m not asking for your blessing. But I’d like it.” I cleared my throat. “I think Casey would like it.”
He stared at me.
“Is this about getting your dick wet, DeWitt? Because if you toss her aside I will come and rip out your tonsils.”
“Wow Mason, tonsils? That’s so specific.” We both looked to see Casey standing in the doorway, drinking her beer. “You are lucky, Conn. He threatened to skin the last guy who asked me out.”
“Do not get drunk-”
“Don’t drink that too fast-”
Mason looked at me and we both realized how ridiculous we were. There was almost a camaraderie between us in that moment. But I was distracted by what she’d just said.
“Who the hell asked you out?”
Casey shook her head and set her beer down.
“I’m taking Besos for a walk. Try not to kill each other while I’m gone.”
I was on my feet in an instant.
“A walk? By yourself?”
“It’s fine. Dante’s gone. I’m safe now. You told me yourself.”
Mason cleared his throat.
“Actually, Cain wants to see you, Casey. He’s coming by.”
I stared at him, my jaw ticking. Cain was the head of the Untouchables. Though some people treated Mason like he was a leader, he wasn’t active in the gang. Cain was.
And the guy was fucking intense. Not as crazy as Dante or his second in command Shane. Cain was nowhere near as out of control. In fact, the man seemed to specialize in control.
The man ran his crew with military precision. He was cold and calculating. And he never, ever got caught.
Dante had been scary because he was a wild card.
Cain was scary because he was… not.
We both looked towards the door as we heard half a dozen roaring bikes pull up outside.
Fucking perfect.
Cassandra
I stared straight ahead, stopping now and then while Besos stopped to sniff something on the ground. I was doing my best not to be intimidated by the hulking, silent man beside me.
Not that I wasn’t used to big men. Mason was a big guy. Connor was too. They were giants really.
But Cain was something else altogether.
He was big, but also quiet. Silent really. He saw everything that happened around him but he rarely said a word.
The head of Mason’s former gang had never once said anything to me. All the times he’d been in The Jar, someone else had ordered for him. He was feared and worshipped by the bikers around here.
Not just the Untouchables either. Everyone.
And now he was escorting me around the block while my scruffy little dog peed on trashcans. Still not talking.
It was pretty much the weirdest ten minutes of my life.
A handful of the Untouchables were loitering in front of Mase’s house while Cain and I took our little stroll. As we rounded the last corner he paused in his step.
When he stopped, I stopped.
He didn’t look at me. And I didn’t look at him.
“You didn’t talk.”
“No.”
“And you won’t.”
“No.”
He made a gruff sound of approval and strode the last ten feet to his bike. Without a word they all followed suit and tore off into the night. Connor and Mason came outside and looked at me.
I shrugged, holding up the plastic deli bag.
“He didn’t feel like going.”
Mason laughed and Connor ran his hands through his hair. He ran out to the sidewalk and pulled me into his arms.
“You alright?”
“Yeah. He didn’t really say much.”
“Mason said he was just making it known that he was cool with you.”
“Oh.” I nodded. “That makes sense.”
“Mason said you were one of them now. Officially. That Cain’s visit was a sign of respect.”
I shrugged.
“I guess?”
He looked at me, swallowing hard.
“Case- I don’t want you to be one of them.”
I shrugged his arm off my shoulder. I was furious. After all of this- after everything- he was going to throw that superior good guy/bad guy crap in my face?
“If you aren’t cool with who I am, or where I came from, then just say it.”
“No- no, I didn’t mean that. It’s just- one of these guys. One of them-“ He exhaled and stared at me. His eyes were full of raw pain. “One of them killed my partner.”
I reached out for him, touching his chest.
“It was one of the Untouchables?”
“I don’t think so. We were investigating the Raisers. But-”
I broke away. That was bullshit. He was looking down on me and Mase!
“But nothing. You can’t lump all these guys in together. That’s- well, it’s wrong to judge people that way. Look at Mason and Dante. Do you think they are the same?”
“No. But I think they’ve both killed people.”
Now it was my turn to look shocked.
“Mase- what?”
Conn shook his head.
“It’s not my story to tell. But yeah. I think most of these guys are killers or capable of it. He’s nothing like Dante. He’s a good guy for the most part. But that doesn’t change that we aren’t on the same side.”