“Okay.” I reached out to take her shoulders. I stared into her eyes, so much like my own. “You can go too, if you want.”
She gave Cain a swift look and shook her head.
“No. I’m good.”
I hated that the way she’d looked to him for approval. The way they’d communicated without words in an instant. I was about to argue with her when Cass came in, looking like a ray of fucking sunshine as usual. She was so gorgeous it made me forget what I was doing entirely. Living with Cass was like living in a natural skincare commercial. All the damn time.
I couldn’t help but smile as she wrapped her arms around Kelly, giving Cain a respectful nod. They looked like angels standing together like that, minus the wings. My anger was gone, replaced with a sense of ultimate contentment. My wife was the ultimate antidepressant.
The ultimate Viagra too.
“Let me get you settled.” She linked arms with Kelly and led her toward the stairs. “If we are going to be on house arrest, at least we will be together!”
I looked at Cain. Cain looked at me.
“I’d like to walk the perimeter.”
I nodded. I’d expected nothing less. We took the front door and walked around the house, with Cain pointing out any issues he saw. There weren’t many. A trellis with climbing roses Cass had planted under Daniella’s window. A rain pipe that could be climbed, though not without making a fuckton of noise. I showed him the security lights I had angled at those exact spots.
I smiled smugly as we circled back to the house. I grabbed two beers and took him out to the back deck. We drank in silence for a few minutes.
“I’m sorry about your friend.”
He nodded but didn’t say anything.
“Is there any chance he was mixed up in this? Have any connection to Dante? Or Shane?”
Cain shook his head swiftly. But he looked tense. Tense and worried. Tired too. The man had just lost a friend, I reminded myself.
“Shane’s not the killer. He’s fucking crazy, but he’s not evil.”
“Yeah, I have the same gut on that.” I swigged on my beer. “But, your friend?”
“No. No way. Even in the Corps, he was a rule follower. He was the straightest biker I know.” He finally looked at me. “Except me.”
“Right.”
Cain was straight as an arrow. No one could argue with that. I couldn’t even fault him. I just didn’t like him touching my sister.
This was a damn good time for that talk I was set on having.
I chewed on a toothpick and looked out at the dark woods. It was quiet, even with his guys patrolling the woods around our house. I was impressed. They barely made a noise. I had security cameras everywhere. The women and children were safe.
“You aren’t good enough for her.”
His answer surprised me. He barely even took a breath before he answered me. He just got right to the point.
“I know.” He looked at me. “You aren’t good enough for Cass, either.”
I grunted. He had me there. Nobody was good enough for Cass. She was a literal angel on earth. A sexy, funny angel who watched too much reality TV. I felt an uneasy truce settle between us.
Well, fuck.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kelly
“Thanks, Mich. I’ll talk to you later. Kiss those cuties for me. And Mase too, of course.”
I hung up and stared out the window, longing to go outside. I was on day three of the lockdown. And despite Cassandra’s best efforts, it was wearing on me.
I was ready to climb the damn walls.
Cass and Michelle were going nuts too, but they were more used to it. And Mich was allowed out, with escort, of course, to take Payton to and from school. There was someone parked outside the school and the house at all times.
Plus alarm systems. Plus cameras. Plus drones.
Between the club and Cain’s security firm, Michelle was covered.
But as of right now, Cass and I were dealing with a lot more. There were a ton of off-duty FBI agents coming and going constantly, and that was on top of the damn MC! I alone was dealing with Cain in addition to all this, and he was driving me batty.
It was hard to believe, but Cain was even stricter than my brother. Even more of a hard ass. He had so many rules! I wasn’t allowed to sunbathe out back during the day or even get some air. I was supposed to stay away from the windows at night. Apparently, it made me a target, not that the killer used bullets. And I wasn’t allowed to leave at all!
The worst part was, Cain couldn’t even be bothered to come and visit me himself! That irked me most of all. He sexed me until my knees were weak and then rode off with the cavalry. It was just like a man! Trying to save the day and treating me like a helpless damsel. I didn’t like it one bit!