Chapter 14

fourteen

Kane

My brothers know all about my deal with Nevaeh. After all, Cash had been the one to give me the idea to buy the time I needed to make her mine. Hence, the deal.

Nevaeh’s life is complicated, there’s no question about that. It’s brutally, terribly interwoven with a million reasons why she shouldn’t let herself be with someone. At least not for real. That’s where the deal I made comes into play. Besides, making her my wife is the perfect way to ensure her crazy ex doesn’t get any ideas about forcing her to marry him. I plan to show her off to the world, because to me, this isn’t going to be fake. Not even a little.

To me, this is as real as it gets.

And once our year is up, I have no intention of signing any divorce papers.

I am, after all, my father’s son. And when we’ve found the woman—there’s no walking away. There’s no after her. There’s. Just. Her.

For me, that woman is Nevaeh. I knew it when she collided with me in that club. I knew it as I inhaled the scent of toasted marshmallow and caramel cream as her joke of an ex glared hatefully at me, because I had what he wanted. I knew it when I walked her to her car and I knew it when I let her drive away, the numbers of her license plate branded in my brain. I fucking knew it when I saw her beaten and bruised in that hospital room when it was physically hard for me not to call on my older brother, the head of the Volkov Bratva, to help me rid the world of a man who shouldn’t be allowed to breathe air.

I knew it again when I kept my hands clean—for her.

All that’s left is for her to get on the same page. For her to realize what I’ve known since the very first second.

So, my brothers know everything. Their women, however—they’ve been kept in the dark. I can see this by the way Candace’s eyes are bugging out of her head at the big ring that shimmers on Nevaeh’s tiny finger. It’s a statement, unquestionably bold, I’m making to the world.

This woman is my light. My sunshine in the dark.

My everything.

She might not see it yet, but at least everyone else will.

“What is that?” Candace shrieks. I bite back my grin as Nevaeh’s brown eyes get wide and dart in my direction. She’s looking for help, but after that little dig about the men in her past, I’m fit to punish her by letting her ride this chaos alone for a while.

“Oh—um—well—” she stammers, her face heating in that way that makes my dick throb. Damn, girl is sweet. Too sweet. “It’s—well, it’s a ring.”

“Yeah.” Candace bobs her head. “I can see it’s a ring. But what kind of ring is it?”

Nevaeh’s head swings my way, and her eyes get comically big. Candace swings her head my way too, hands on hips. “Kane?”

I push off the counter to move to my woman, tugging her into my chest as I say proudly, “Ladies and Gents, my future wife.”

Cash chuckles deep and low as Wrenlee’s mouth drops, nearly hitting her knees where she sits in Cash’s lap. Ian just shakes his head, a small smirk playing at his lips. But it’s Tav who makes me grin wide, because he sits back with a look in his eyes that says he didn’t think I could do it. Didn’t think I could convince her to be mine.

I give Tav a wink that says, ‘showed you, motherfucker.’

Now, I’ve gotta show her.

“The man who said he’d never fall…” Wrenlee starts.

Candace finishes, “Falls the fastest, apparently.” Then she gives wide eyes to Nevaeh. “How did this happen? I mean, y’all were hardly talking when I was here.”

Nevaeh gives a little shrug. “It just happened, I guess.”

I can hear her discomfort. She feels on display and alone.

I pull her tighter to my chest. “It only took one hit,” I say honestly. “I’ve been addicted since.”

Wrenlee rolls her eyes on a cute little snort. “Such a smooth talker.”

“That’s me.” I shoot Wrenlee a wink as I drop my face into Nevaeh’s neck and press a hot kiss to hot skin. Then I grin at the quiet little way she gasps. “Let’s eat outside tonight.”

The group moves, carrying the bags of takeout we brought as Nevaeh moves to the oven, bending slowly to pull something that smells really damn good from inside. I don’t stop myself from checking out her ass as she does it, either. A husband wouldn’t stop himself from appreciating what was his, so why should I?

She sets the dish on the stove and turns to me, slightly pale. “I made dinner. But—there’s not enough for everyone.”

“S’okay.” I move in close, pressing a kiss to her upturned forehead. “I wouldn’t share it with the guys, anyway. They’ve got their own shit.”

She blows a relieved breath from between her lips. “Okay.”

“I brought Chinese,” I tell her as I peer into her dish. “But whatever this is looks way better.”

She blushes, and I’m happy to see a little of the pale washing away. “Mom’s enchiladas. They’re amazing.”

“Yeah?” I lift a brow, wanting nothing more than to taste her mouth. If I could, I’d make this woman my last meal.

Before I know it, I’m crowding her against the counter, inhaling toasted marshmallow and everything sweet.

“Kane.” My name on her tongue trembles. I want to make the rest of her tremble.

“They’re watching.” A quick glance shows Tav watching with one curious brow cocked. “A-Game, baby. A-Game.”

Pink lips part and a little tongue darts out to wet the lips I want to taste. The things I could do with that tongue. Fuck me, this little woman is driving me wild.

When her hands flatten against the pecs of my chest, slowly moving upward as she peers up at me through thick lashes, I’m nearly done for. Because this woman—fuck—she might be shy when it’s just us, but I’m gathering fast she can put on a show.

And here I thought I’d be the one to make her a mess.

It very well might be the other way around, but I’m here for it.

Hell, I’m here for whatever this girl wants to serve.

“If they’re watching,” breathy little words sound as she moves her hands slowly up over my shoulders. She’s on her tiptoes now, tiny, seductive, thing. “I better show you just how good I can be at bringing that A-Game, huh?”

“Yeah,” my own voice sounds gruff, thick with want. There’s not a damn thing fake about it. “Show me, Sunshine.”

She gives me a sinfully sexy slow blink, lashes sweeping across pretty, sun kissed skin before that little pink tongue slips out to wet full lips I want to stain red with the imprint of my kiss.

If we were alone right now, I’d hit my knees for this woman. Worship her.

Find a way to make her say she’s mine for real.

Head in the game, Kane.

Nevaeh’s body slides against mine, full breasts pressing into my chest as she rises onto the very tip of her toes, as though begging her man for a kiss. Who am I to refuse? I lower my head, covering her mouth with mine. I don’t kiss her gentle like I did in the room, my lips whispering across her flesh like feathers pulling shivers from the deep. I kiss her like a man who needs to claim. Fully.

I demand entrance with my tongue that she doesn’t deny, sweeping inside to taste and consume. Her tiny whimper only urges me on. It’s not long before I’ve forgotten all about the game, my family outside and the fact they’re probably all watching.

The only focus I have is the tiny seductress in my arms. I’m thinking thoughts of lifting her onto the counter and having my way with her when a tap on glass shatters through the spell of lust my little vixen puts on me far too often.

Breaking the kiss, I watch as she tries to hide her face in my chest at the sight of Wrenlee standing in the frame of the door, grinning an almost maniacal grin.

She likes this, I realize, seeing me whipped for a woman. She thinks it’s funny.

It kind of is.

“I’m so sorry to interrupt.” Wrenlee moves into the kitchen. “But that smell—I’m—what is it?”

Nevaeh pulls her head from my chest. “You mean the enchiladas?”

“Is that what that is?” Wrenlee’s hand covers her stomach as her eyes land longingly on the dish. I feel my head jerk back as Cash makes an appearance, watching his woman with a look that says something’s going on. Something he hasn’t shared.

Because I can read my brother, my eyes move back to Wrenlee. She looks like she might just cry if she doesn’t get a piece.

Seeing it, Nevaeh says, “I didn’t make enough for everyone. I didn’t know everyone was coming, but there’s enough for you—if you want?”

“Oh my God.” Wren makes a noise somewhere between a moan and a sob. “I want.”

“Kitten.” Cash is close now. He reaches out to grip her hips between his hands, tugging her back into his front. “You feelin’ okay?”

She tips her head back and to the side, looking up at him. “Doesn’t that smell so good, Cash?”

Cash chuckles, his eyes warming with affection only for her. “Yeah, Kitten, it does.”

Nevaeh dishes her a plate with three rolls, probably fearing Wrenlee might cry if she doesn’t. Wrenlee takes the plate and makes a noise I’m confident only Cash has heard in the bedroom before she wiggles from Cash’s hold and carries her plate back outside.

We all watch her move until she’s no longer standing with us.

“That wasn’t like Wrenlee,” I’m the first to speak.

Cash puffs his chest with a breath. “She’s been a bit off lately.”

Nevaeh clears her throat, shifting uncomfortably, like she knows something we don’t. I frown, lifting my chin in gesture of her face. “What’s that?”

She squeaks. “Nothing.”

“It’s something.”

She blushes. “Has she been craving a lot of weird food? Maybe smells something and either really loves it or really hates it.”

Cash’s eyes move to Nevaeh. “Why?”

“Has she been sick at all?”

“She had the flu last weekend, but she’s good now.”

Nevaeh nods, a small smile playing at her lips. “The flu.” A small laugh as her eyes move to Wrenlee, who has thoroughly demolished an entire enchilada, and is working on the second. “She reminds me of my cousin—when she was pregnant.”

My eyes bug, but Cash doesn’t change at all. I accuse, “You already suspect as much?”

He nods. “She has no clue, though. Shouldn’t the woman know?”

Nevaeh shrugs. “She might just be in denial. Or maybe she honestly hasn’t thought about it yet.”

“I’m going to have to bring it up,” Cash says. “Fucking hope she is.”

Then he’s walking away again, and I think—am I jealous?

No, I can’t be. That’d be crazy.