Sweet Sins (10 page)

“I do.” She kissed my chin then rubbed my chest. “You’re the most wonderful man in the world.”

“It was my brother. I had to do something.”

“And you did.” She cupped my face and kissed me again.

Mike and Cassandra pulled into the driveway and got out of the car. Scarlet ran to Mike then hugged him.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said into his chest.

“That makes two of us.” He kissed her on the forehead then rubbed her back. “Sean saved us.”

Scarlet turned and hugged Cassandra. “I’m so sorry about everything.”

“It’s okay.” Her eyes welled with tears but they didn’t fall. “It was so scary…”

“You’re safe now,” Scarlet said firmly. “Let’s go inside.”

I grabbed Scarlet’s hand and pulled her into the house. Scarlet immediately went into the kitchen and made tea. She handed me and Mike a beer, something to take the edge off.

Mike downed his in a single gulp then left it on the table. His eyes were hollow and empty.

Cassandra leaned her head on his shoulder, her arm hooked through his.

We sat at the table, quiet for a long time.

“Are you still going to have the wedding this weekend?” Scarlet asked. Her arm was hooked around my neck, reminding me she was there.

I was thinking the same thing.

Cassandra looked at Mike. A silent conversation happened between them. “I’m marrying Mike on Saturday. I’m not letting this ruin the greatest day of our lives.”

Mike nodded. “Then we’ll do it.”

“Good,” Scarlet said.

Mike looked at me, a sad expression in his eyes. “You’ll be my best man, right?”

I wasn’t expecting the question. “You forgive me?”

He smirked. “You just saved my life. Of course I forgive you.”

A light smile crept on my lips then fell. “Well, that worked out.”

Mike chuckled lightly. “You always got my back and I always got yours.”

“Looks like we’re even,” I said.

“Nah. We’re never even.” He clanked his beer against mine. “To the hero.”

“I’ll raise my glass to that,” Scarlet said. She tapped her tea against my beer. “My husband, the hero.”

I shook my head. “I’m not a hero. I did what any man would do.”

“You obviously don’t know how shitty people are,” Cassandra said darkly. “Most men are cowards.”

“But I was scared,” I whispered.

“You think I wasn’t?” Mike asked. “When that gun was pointed at my face, I thought my life was over.”

Cassandra covered her face and whimpered.

“Baby, I’m sorry.” He held her close. “I shouldn’t have said that. Remember, I’m fine. Everyone is fine.”

Scarlet rubbed my shoulder and tried to release the tension in my body. “You’re a wonderful man. I’m honored to have you as my husband.”

“I’ll never be worthy of you,” I whispered.

She kissed my ear then my neck. “I’ll show you how wonderful you are when you’re feeling better.”

I smirked slightly.

“Yes,” Mike said. “Give him lots of sex for saving me. He deserves it.”

She rested her head on my shoulder. “I’ll see to it.”

Cassandra moved into Mike’s lap and leaned into his chest, her eyes closed. She clutched him so tightly, it seemed like she would never let go. Scarlet clung to me just as much.

I realized that risking my life wouldn’t have meant much if I didn’t have such a wonderful life to come back
to. When I was scared of dying, it wasn’t the fear of not existing that got to me. It was leaving my wife while she raised our baby on her own, leaving her unprotected. That’s what scared me most. I was grateful I survived so I could be with her. That was my sole purpose in life, to be with my wife.

“I’m not going to let some loser ruin my wedding day,” Mike said. “He’s going to jail and he’ll be there for a long time. I’m not going to let this bother me. It happened and we survived. Life goes on.”

I nodded. “I agree. It’ll take some time to get over, but it would be worse to let it sabotage our plans and our lives.”

Mike rested his head on Cassandra’s. “I’m sorry for the way I treated you, Sean. I overreacted.”

“No you didn’t,” I said immediately. “My actions were wrong.”

“I was entitled to be mad at you, but I shouldn’t have removed you as my best man. That was wrong.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “Let’s just forget about it.”

“Okay,” he said. “You know I love you, right?”

“Of course I do.”

He nodded. “Then it’s forgotten.”

10

Mike

I took the next few days off from work so I could stay home with Cassandra. I knew she was scared even though she didn’t directly say it. When we went back to the house for the first time, she clung to me like a magnet, expecting a villain to jump out of the closet.

I wasn’t scared. Zander was in jail and he would be there for a long time. If he ever got out, I knew he wouldn’t make a move again. It was foolish and stupid. Plus, I refused to live my life in fear. And robbers weren’t stupid enough to try and loot us. I decided to get an alarm system that covered the property. It was expensive and unnecessary, but I knew it would help Cassandra sleep.

“I want a gun,” she said.

No. There was no way I
was giving her a gun. “We don’t need one, baby.”

“What if someone does that again?”

“They won’t.” I gave her a firm look. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Mike, I want one,” she demanded.

“We’re having kids soon.” I eyed her stomach then looked back at her. “Keep that in mind.”

“We’ll put it somewhere they can’t reach
it, like a safe.

“It’s still dangerous.”

She glared at me. “I. Want. A. Gun.”

I sighed. I knew I wasn’t going to win this argument.

“I won’t touch it. It’s yours. But I like knowing you have one in the house.”

“You’ll need to learn how to use it. Being educated in guns is necessary if we’re going to have one in the house. But even if we put it in a safe, if someone breaks in, you really think you’re going to have time
to unlock the safe and grab it?”

“Then get a gun
box, something with your fingerprints to get it out.”

Man, she was determined.
“Okay. I’ll think about it.”

“No, you’ll do it,” she snapped. “I want to blow someone’s head off if I have to. No one is coming near my kids!”

The protective side of her was coming out. I noticed it more often the longer she was pregnant. Her maternal instincts were coming out. She was a momma bear you didn’t want to cross. “Okay. Okay. Let’s worry about it after the wedding. We got too much to do.”

She calmed down. “Okay.”

“Baby, I would never let anyone hurt you. Don’t worry about that.”

“I care about someone hurting you,” she whispered. “If I wasn’t carrying a litter, I would have stayed beside you.”

“I would never want that. When I tell you to run, you run.”

“No.”

This argument was unnecessary and going nowhere. I decided to drop it. “I’m going to fix the door.

“Okay.”

I walked upstairs then grabbed my toolbox. I took off my shirt and started working. Cassandra leaned against the wall in the hallway with a cup of tea and a book. She glanced up at me from time to time, watching me work.

“You like what you see?” I gave her a wink.

“Why do you think I’m sitting in the front row?” She sipped her tea and gave me a playful look. I kept working until I replaced the door with a brand new one. After I cleaned up everything and finished the final touches, the place was just as it had been before. Our beautiful house was restored.

Cassandra and I didn’t make love for the next few days. She said she was too stressed out and not in the mood. I didn’t pressure her. All I wanted was for her to feel calm and safe again. I’d give her whatever she needed.

She had a hard time sleeping at night. She would toss and turn in her sleep, whimpering from time to time. I’d wake her up then whisper into her ear, reminding her I was there and she was safe in my steel arms.

“Thank you for staying home with me this week,” she said over breakfast the next morning.

“You don’t need to thank me, baby.”

“I hate being scared. I’ve never been scared…”

I gave her a firm look. “It’s okay
. That’s normal.”

She sighed. “It just makes me feel weak.”

“We went through a trauma, Cassandra. It would be odd if you weren’t scared.”

“When h
e dragged me into that alley, I fought back, not caring if I lost the battle. I refused to let him push me around. But…now that I’m having our baby I’m scared. I love something so much and I haven’t even had it yet. I just couldn’t bare the thought of something happening…”

I placed my hand on hers. “You’re a mom. You’re going to worry over our children until the day you die.”

She sighed. “I suppose.”

“But nothing is going to happen again. I promise. History will not repeat itself.”

She nodded. “I know.”

“I wouldn’t leave you alone unless I knew it was safe.”

“I know that too.”

I kissed her hand then gave her a gentle look.

“You can go back to work tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded.

“Because I w
on’t if you’re uncomfortable. Or you can come with me.”

“No,” she said firmly. “I refuse to be scared. That’s no way to live.”

She improved over the past few days. Initially, she was scared to come back to the house at all. After we were home, she couldn’t sleep. She jumped at every noise, but now she was better. Last night, she slept without any problems. “We should go upstairs…” She pushed her plate away, which was still full of pancakes and toast.

“Why?”

She sauntered to me then rubbed her hand against my chest. “Because my man needs to be satisfied. I’ve been falling behind on my duties.”

I smirked. “You don’t owe me anything but I’m not going to say no to that.” I jumped out of my seat and followed her up the stairs, grabbing her ass and playing with her.

When we were in the bedroom, I pulled her clothes away and she undressed me. Once our bodies were combined, I felt a million times better. The stress washed away and I knew we were okay again. She looked up at me with the green eyes I loved and moaned quietly, her nails digging into my skin.

We were okay.

11

Ryan

The wedding was just a day away, and I had to take care of a few things after work. I hadn’t seen Janice much because she was at Cassandra’s place helping with the decorations and last minute touches.

When I was at the shop, it was swarming with people like usual. I considered expanding the size because I couldn’t accommodate any more artists. And since I was swept in paperwork and money matters, I never inked. It was a shame because I was pretty damn good at what I did.

My evening manager called in sick so I was stuck running the shop until closing.

When are you coming home?
I knew Janice was pissed I had to stay at work. Whenever I wasn’t home on time, she was mad. But I felt the same way about her. If she had to stay after because of a book emergency, I was always irritated. She and I were odd in a way I couldn’t explain. She pissed me off and drove me crazy, but damn, I loved her. I was sick of being her fiancé. I wanted to be her husband, and I wanted her to call me that. The ring tattooed on my finger wasn’t enough. I wanted her to have my last name.

The artists cleaned up their stations and clocked out. I stayed behind to do some bookkeeping since I
’d be busy for the next few days. They walked out but didn’t lock the door. I was going to leave in a minute or two anyway.

The bell over the door rang when someone walked in.

“We’re closed,” I said without looking up.

No response.

“I said we’re closed.” I finally looked up, irritated that the visitor didn’t leave.

“Hello, Ryan.” Her brown hair was tangled and off to one shoulder. She looked like she lived in a sewer for the past twenty years.
Her skin was wrinkly, adding years of age to her appearance. The sudden smell of smoke filled my nostrils, making me reminiscence to my childhood. The skin of my shoulder suddenly burned. Anger, rage, and disgust ran through me. I never hit women and didn’t intend to, but this bitch was an exception. I was already pissed she called me, but now I was furious she showed up here. Thank god she didn’t come to my apartment where my fiancé was. That would be unacceptable. “Get the fuck out before I call the cops.”

“And say what? I’m not robbing you.”

“I’ll lie.” I meant it. I had no integrity or honor when it came to her.