Cain Read online

  “What’s coming?” I ask in confusion.

  “We’ll have to fight for them, whenever they fucking tell us to, and probably each other.”

  “Who’s them?”

  “Scarfone and his henchmen,” Cain responds.

  Just the name sounds scary.

  “That’s who my brother will be fighting for too?” I ask.

  “Probably. He doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into,” Cain replies.

  “Will he be okay?” I ask in concern.

  “Maybe. I haven’t seen him so I couldn’t tell you if he’ll get his ass beat or not,” he tells me with a smirk.

  “Hey! That’s not a very nice thing to say,” I tell him through narrowed eyes.

  “And I’m not a very nice person. You’ll get used to it,” he says. “If you’re finished stuffing your face, go grab your shit and I’ll show you where your room is.”

  I sit there on my stool and stare unblinking at him after his offensive orders. Eventually, he reaches up and grabs a handful of his hair to push it out of his eyes before he asks, “Do you want me to show you where the fuck to sleep or not?”

  “Yes, but I’m not doing anything if you’re going to be rude,” I tell him, crossing my arms over my chest.

  “Suit yourself,” he says, getting up from his seat to throw his trash away. On the way out of the kitchen, he tells me, “Look for the room upstairs with a bunch of pink and purple girly shit in it.”

  Chapter Three

  Cain

  During Gabrielle’s first night, I’m not at all surprised by the sniffles coming from across the hallway. Everyone cries their first night here, even me. Not because I was scared but because I was in so much pain and kept hearing the screams in my head…

  Hearing Gabrielle’s sniffles turn into sobs is almost as agonizing as that night when I picture the tears running down her beautiful, angelic face.

  Ivan and Knox don’t appear to notice since I can hear both of their soft snores from their bunk beds, but mine is closest to the door.

  Climbing out from underneath the sheets, I tiptoe down the hallway and into the room that’s empty other than Gabrielle. There have only been two other girls over the few months that I’ve been here and they both just turned eighteen. That means that now they’re working at the club. Neither wanted to leave, knowing what future was ahead of them, but there’s no choice once you walk through the doors here. Scarfone owns us, even pays good money for pretty girls like Gabrielle. So as soon as we become adults, we have to pay him back for giving us a place to stay and feeding us. There are no exceptions.

  “Hey,” I whisper when I step into the dark room. “Go to sleep. Those tears won’t do you any good here.”

  “I don’t want…to be here!” she hiccups from her bed, curled up in a ball with her back to me.

  “Did Ivan or Knox say some shit to you?” I ask in concern. “Don’t listen to Knox. He’s always screwing off and joking with everyone.”

  “No. I just…wanna…I just wanna go home,” she answers.

  “This is your home now. It’s not bad, and it could be worse,” I tell her, knowing from experience.

  “I’m scared,” she whispers. “And I miss Robbie.”

  “Robbie your brother?” I ask as I approach her bed just to keep her talking instead of crying.

  “Yeah. He’s nineteen. A few months ago, we ran away from home in Columbia, South Carolina and came up here, but then he couldn’t find any work…”

  “When was the last time you ate a whole meal before you got here?” I ask her.

  “A few days ago,” she mumbles softly.

  “See, that’s one thing we’ve got going for us. Here you can eat whatever you want whenever you want it. There’s always tons of food, and Mrs. Engle might be slow but she can cook,” I point out to try and cheer her up. Honestly, the endless supply of food was my favorite part when I walked through the doors. I was emaciated, fed only scraps and forced to drink spilled water from the floor like a dog before I ran away.

  “Robbie’s gonna save some money and come get me soon,” she tells me, regurgitating whatever lies he obviously told her.

  “Look, not to be an asshole, but don’t get your hopes up,” I reply. “No one gets to leave this place, at least not until you’re eighteen.”

  “No! That’s not…he won’t leave me…” Gabrielle argues before she begins crying again even harder.

  “Please stop crying,” I beg when I grab her shoulder. “You’ll wake up Mrs. Engle, and she’s old as fuck. She’ll probably break a hip coming up the stairs.” The old bat can’t hear worth a shit. But as much noise as this girl is making, she’ll get up to come check on her. Just last week, Ivan found her sprawled out on the kitchen floor after she slipped and fell.

  “Shhh, it’s okay,” I keep telling Gabrielle until her whimpers begin to die down. “Go to sleep,” I whisper before I pull my hand away from her to return to my room.

  “Wait,” she says when she rolls over and grabs my arm. “Will you…will you stay with me tonight?”

  Eww. This girl wants me to sleep in her bed with her? Knox would give me so much shit if he found out…

  “Please?” she begs so sadly that my decision is instantly made for me.

  “Will you shut up if I stay?” I snap.

  “Yes,” she agrees. I hesitate a few more seconds before I lift the covers and slip into her twin bunk bed. Gabrielle slides over toward the wall to make room.

  She’s still facing me once I lay my head on my half of her pillow. Grabbing a handful of the front of my shirt in her fists, she clenches it tightly before her puffs of breath in my face begin to slow and she drifts off to sleep.

  That’s when I know I could pry her fingers off my tee and sneak back to my bed, but I don’t. She’s so close I can feel the warmth radiating from her body, and she smells sweet like flowers.

  I must drift off to sleep fast, because the next time I crack my eyes open the sun is rising outside the bedroom window. It’s unfortunately not the only thing rising. I definitely need to leave before anyone else wakes up and catches me in here or Gabrielle wakes up and slaps me.

  The sad girl is no longer grasping my shirt. Instead, she’s facing the wall and I’m molded to her backside with my arm thrown over her waist.

  That’s not even the most embarrassing thing.

  My dick is pressed into the swell of her curvy bottom and it’s rock hard. I’m surprised Gabrielle hasn’t yet noticed or complained about how it’s trying to drill its way inside her.

  When she squirms in her sleep, causing friction on my hard-on, I nearly come in my athletic shorts. The pain is so excruciating that I can’t take another second of it.

  I jump up out of bed and go straight to the shower where I touch myself to make it go away.

  …

  Gabby

  Maybe this place won’t be so bad after all.

  That’s my first thought when I wake up in a strange bed, alone in an unfamiliar bedroom.

  At least I’m not starving. And last night was the first time I had ever slept in the same bed with someone else. It was…nice. More than nice to know that Cain was there and I wasn’t completely alone.

  And then this morning, when I felt his lower body protruding into my backside…well, that was a brand-new and exciting sensation. His shorts were thin, so his entire hard length was noticeable. The contact caused a warm, tingling ache to spread through my lower belly and made my skin feel like it was overheating. I’m not entirely sure what it was, but I do know that I want more of it again and soon.

  After just knowing Cain for a day, I’m starting to think there’s more to him than the tough exterior he portrays. He must have lost his parents or be a runaway if he ended up here with those two other boys. I wonder how long they’ve all been here. Guess I’ll have to ask them.

  Once I’ve had a shower and changed into one of the few outfits I have in my backpack, the smell of bacon has me jogging down the st
airs to find breakfast.

  “Morning, dear,” Mrs. Engle says when I step into the kitchen. I finally got to meet the sweet little white-haired lady last night at dinner after she woke from her nap. The three guys are already sitting around the long, wooden dining table, shoveling food into their mouths.

  “Morning,” I reply.

  “How did you sleep?” she asks.

  Glancing quickly over at Cain whose eyes remain lowered on his plate, I tell her, “Pretty great actually.”

  “Well, good. You let me know if you need more blankets, okay?”

  “I stayed warm, but thank you,” I tell her.

  “Fix yourself a plate. Ivan and Knox are about to go off to school. You should go with them and get registered.”

  “Yeah, sure,” I agree as I grab a plate from the counter and start piling up some eggs, bacon, and toast.

  There’s an open seat at the table next to Cain, but I don’t take it because I get the feeling he wouldn’t appreciate me crowding him, especially in front of the other two guys. Instead, I take the one next to the black-haired boy who doesn’t say much.

  “So, how long have you all been staying here?” I ask as we eat, just to break up the silence.

  “Forever,” Knox, the guy with red streaks in his hair, says. And I’m not sure if he’s serious or being sarcastic. “Ivan’s been here for two years, and Cain just got here a few months ago.”

  “Oh,” I mutter in surprise. I want to ask how they got here but figure that might be pushing my luck. “So, you’re all training to fight?” I ask.

  “Yep,” Knox answers before using his fork to point at my plate. “Eat faster or we’re gonna be late.”

  Taking the hint, I scarf down every delicious crumb, then thank Mrs. Engle for cooking before I grab my backpack and follow the guys out the door. Cain doesn’t say a word to any of us when we leave, although, when I sneak a peek over my shoulder, I find his eyes on me. The frown on his face makes him look sad like he wished he could go with us, which is crazy since I would do anything to get out of starting a new high school in the middle of the year.

  “Why doesn’t Cain go to school?” I ask Ivan and Knox as we walk along the sidewalk with me in the middle.

  “They say he can’t. Lucky SOB,” Knox replies. “Not sure what’s up with that, though.”

  “Must be wanted,” the silent kid speaks up and says, the first words I’ve ever heard him say.

  “Whatever,” Knox mutters. “Ivan swears Cain’s a criminal on the run or some shit. I figure he probably just got suspended for brawling and can’t go back to school for another year.”

  “That would make sense,” I agree. “More so than him being wanted,” I tease the quiet kid, hoping to get a response from him, but he keeps his eyes straight ahead and doesn’t smile.

  “Anyway,” Knox starts. “Just keep your head down in your classes. There are a lot of jock dickheads running around campus, and the girls aren’t much better.”

  “Yeah, okay. So, it’s pretty much like every other school?” I ask as the tall building with an American flag flying out front comes into view.

  “Pretty much, except with probably more drugs and criminals. You’re in the Italian mafia district now, sweet cheeks,” Knox tells me as we approach. And again, I don’t know whether or not to take him seriously.

  “The Italian mafia?” I repeat in disbelief. “Those guys are just in the movies, right?”

  “They’re real,” Ivan speaks up and says. “And they own us.”

  I assume he means him and Knox; but before I can ask, we reach our destination. Some kids are standing around in groups smoking cigarettes while others are rushing inside the building to get out of the cold.

  Grabbing my arm to pull me to a stop, Knox whispers, “If anyone messes with you, just tell them you’re one of Scarfone’s girls.”

  “But I’m not,” I reply with my brow furrowed in confusion.

  “Uh, right, yeah. Don’t worry about that right now. Just remember the name, okay?” he asks.

  “Yeah, Scarfone. Got it,” I agree.

  “The office is just inside on the left. They’ll get you registered and give you a schedule. Meet you here after the bell?”

  “Ah, yeah,” I agree nervously because I hate being in a new place with a bunch of strangers. Not for the first time, I start to wonder if up and leaving home with Robbie was a huge mistake. But I guess new and different is better than the old and familiar hell of a single mother who sold everything we’ve ever owned for her nasty drug habit. When she owed her dealer more than she could pay, he threatened to come after Robbie and me, so leaving town was our only option.

  Hopefully, things will calm down soon so that we can go home.

  Chapter Four

  Cain

  I’m on edge all day, thinking about Gabrielle and wondering how things are going at school.

  And for the first time, I actually wish I could go too like a regular teenager. That way I could be there to make sure no one fucks with her.

  At the gym, I keep an eye out for the piece of shit who sold his sister. It doesn’t take long to spot him in the boxing ring, sparring with Vaughan, one of the coaches. Robbie’s hair is a little darker blond than his sister’s but there’s certainly a resemblance. He’s taller than I am by several inches and probably has thirty or forty pounds on me. I may not be able to take him one on one right now, but someday I’m gonna kick his ass for sentencing his sister to this god-awful life.

  After I finish weightlifting, I pull up my black hoodie and start in the direction of the campus to check on her. But just a block from the building, I talk myself out of it.

  The heat is still on me because of the fire, so it’s not worth risking someone recognizing me from the news. At the gym, I’m safe because they’re all Scarfone’s guys who would never rat, but anywhere else and I could be spotted, setting myself up for a world of trouble.

  Back at the house, I try to sit down in the den and draw. Unlike most days when the dark images are trying to fight their way out of my head and onto the page, today I’m coming up empty.

  Well, not exactly empty.

  There’s one thing that I can’t get out of my head, so eventually, I give in and sketch her, remembering in detail the heart shape of her face, the slope of her feminine nose, the way her pink bottom lip is fuller than the top.

  Usually, I only draw in black and white, but for Gabby, I need colored pencils to do her justice. That’s the only way to capture how beautiful and angelic she is with her pale blonde hair, dark lashes, and eyebrows that make her bright cerulean eyes stand out even more…

  Fuck.

  Once the picture is finished, I look down at it and feel like the biggest pussy on the planet for drawing her. What if Ivan or Knox find my notebook and see this shit? I’d be the laughing stock at the gym with all the guys, big ass dudes I’ll have to fight in just a few years.

  Even though it pains me to do it, I rip the thick sheet of paper out of the notebook and start shredding it into tiny pieces before I go dump them in the kitchen trashcan.

  Bracing my palms on the counter, I close my eyes and hang my head to try and rid myself of this stupid, juvenile obsession with a girl I just met yesterday. It’s so damn ridiculous that I’m ashamed of myself for how I’ve been thinking about her, especially the filthy fantasies I woke up to this morning and thought about in the shower when I was jerking off.

  Gabrielle is certainly not the first girl I’ve thought was sexy and wanted to fuck, but thinking about her that way just seems wrong. She’s not much younger than me but she’s one hundred percent innocent, and I’m…a murderer who doesn’t deserve to lay a hand on her. I shouldn’t have slept in her bed. I’m so fucked up it could rub off on her, and she’s so bright and sweet that she doesn’t deserve to have even a speck of my darkness tainting her.

  …

  Gabby

  This school is…dangerous.

  I had no idea how calm and quiet the h
igh school in my hometown was until today.

  During my American History class, I was asked to pass some sort of white powder in a baggie to the girl sitting behind me. At lunch, I sat at the end of a table with a group of kids, and even four chairs down I could smell the alcohol from their “water” bottles.

  And at the end of the day, just when I’m tossing my Algebra textbook in my locker, a fight breaks out behind me between two big guys.

  One of them slams into my back, causing my forehead to crash into the edge of my open locker door, leaving me with one hell of a headache and a big knot.

  “Whoa!” Knox says when I walk up to meet him and Ivan on the sidewalk out front when I’m able to escape the chaos in the building. “What the fuck happened to you?”

  “Ugh,” I groan, reaching up to brush my fingers over the growing egg that’s pounding with every beat of my heart. “Some guys were fighting in the hallway, and I ended up becoming collateral damage,” I explain.

  “Who was it?” Ivan asks, his hazel eyes cutting over to the school and his fists clenched at his sides.

  “No clue. Haven’t learned everyone’s name yet,” I tell him. “Anyway, it was an accident. Let’s just go home.”

  Home.

  Am I already referring to that house as a home?

  That’s ridiculous.

  Who knows? If we can’t go back to Columbia, maybe in a week or so Robbie will have a job and be able to afford for us to get a place of our own here in town.

  “Otherwise, how was your first day?” Knox asks as the three of us start walking, again with me in the middle.

  “It was…different,” I answer. “Nothing like my previous school, or even the one I went to across town for a few weeks.”

  “I bet not. It’s a rough place, but you’ll get used to it,” Knox says. “At least the teachers are pretty lenient. Not much time to teach shit when they’re constantly dealing with a bunch of fools.”