Exile

Chapter 7

CASPIAN

She convinced me to go on a damn walk by the lake.

No woman had ever convinced me to do anything, but it seemed that the more she was around, the harder it was to say no to her.

I used it as an excuse to walk her home. I wanted her to be safe, especially knowing that a certain someone was lurking around here.

Should’ve taken my chance to expose him a long time ago.

Darwynn walked next to me, her arms wrapped around her body, her boots crunching on the gravel path.

“So,”

she said, breaking the silence, “what’s the deal with you and Henry? You two looked like you could’ve had a full duel when you entered the bar.”

Mind-readers didn’t exist, but I was pretty damn sure Darwynn had that ability. It hadn’t been the first time I had thought of something, and then she mentioned that exact thing seconds later.

I huffed a laugh, shoving my hands deeper into my pockets. “That obvious?”

“Painfully.”

She glanced at me, her lips quirked into a small, curious smile.

I took a moment, watching the faint waves of the water as I thought about how to answer. “Henry’s the kind of guy who’s always looking for a reason to hate somebody. When I moved here, it didn’t take much. To him, I’m just some arrogant Hollywood actor who doesn’t belong.”

Darwynn’s lips curled further in amusement. “You technically are—”

“Don’t say arrogant. I’m not.”

“I was going to say that you don’t belong. But I guess you do now. This is your home, and it’s good for you. You’re happy here, even if you don’t show it on your face.”

Yeah, it sure as fuck was my home.

And, fuck, this woman’s words never ceased to make me feel an ache in my chest. An ache that felt good, one I had never felt.

I glanced at her, meeting her perfect eyes. Eyes I wanted to stare at the whole damn day because of how rare they were.

“But why does it matter to him who you are?”

she asked, genuinely curious.

I shook my head. “I think he’s just…bitter. About everything. But me? I’ve got plenty of reasons to dislike him, too.”

She raised a brow, and I had to tear my eyes off her before I couldn’t stop staring. I would make things weird. “Oh, do tell.”

I debated how much to say, but then I decided to simply tell the truth. I wanted her to know the type of person Henry was before she let him get close again. “A while back, a group of women visited the village. Tourists. They first stopped by his store, and he urged them to go to the bar with him. They agreed, thinking he would simply show them the hottest hang-out spot around here. But once they were all at the bar, Henry filled them up. Bought them drinks.”

I could see in her eyes that she already knew where the story was going. I continued. “They were young. Around your age, I believe. They enjoyed themselves at first…until Henry started to be inappropriate. Touched them. Pulled them to the bathrooms one by one, doing whatever the hell he did to them before letting them return to their friends. It took us way too fucking long to realize what was happening, and we managed to get the girl to their stay safely.”

“And Henry?”

“Henry deserved to leave the bar with a broken nose.”

My jaw clenched.

“But…”

My body tensed. “But he started crying and whining, saying sorry over and over again and explaining that he just got dumped by his long-distance girlfriend—who I’m pretty damn sure didn’t exist—so what he did was his frustration’s fault.”

“Please tell me nobody believed him,”

she begged, her nose scrunched.

I let out a heavy laugh. “You think in a village like this, where everybody knows everybody, they wouldn’t believe him?”

I shook my head. “They took him home, let him sleep off his “frustration,”

and forgot all about it the next morning. I guess he’s still angry at me for holding that against him.”

“You have every right to!”

she clarified, then muttered, “What an ass.”

“Exactly,”

I said, my voice rougher than I intended. “I managed to talk to the girls and ensure they were okay. Luckily, they didn’t let Henry get to them physically. Still, they didn’t deserve that. No one does. Henry’s always been like that. Entitled, rude, small-minded. He only gets away with it because no one sees who he really is. But I do.”

“Is that why he’s so scared of you? Because if he messes with anyone ever again, you’ll call him out on it?”

“I won’t just call him out on it. I will personally break every single bone in his lanky body.”

She didn’t flinch at the harshness of my words. No, she looked like she would join me instantly if that ever happened.

“Honestly, I had a bad feeling about him from the beginning. He was too…flirty.”

She paused and tilted her head. “I officially dislike him, too.”

I smirked, glancing at her. “Glad to have you on my side.”

“Always,”

she said, her voice light, but the word hung between us like it meant more than just this conversation.

We walked in silence for a while after that, and we got closer to where she was staying. I never liked this campground. It was pretty safe around here, but I hated the idea of Darwynn staying in this tiny house alone. She didn’t seem to mind, though. She liked the calm. The quiet.

The automatic light turned on when we reached the small porch. She stopped and turned to me, tilting her head back to look up at me. She wasn’t small—about five-four. I was just a giant.

“So,”

she said softly, pursing her lips as she eyed me closely. “Thank you for walking me home.”

“Anytime.”

I kept my eyes on her, taking in every single freckle on the right side of her face. I usually wasn’t curious or interested in knowing more about a woman, but with Darwynn, things were a little different.

It probably was the fact that she was my damn granddaughter.

It sure as fuck didn’t feel that way, though.

“What’s up with your freckles?”

It sounded like an insult, but she didn’t take it like one.

She laughed, throwing her head back and exposing her delicate neck.

Fuck…

When her eyes met mine again, she said, “I wish I knew, but I guess it’s just genetics.”

“Your mother never had freckles,”

I stated, remembering my daughter’s face. Though, I had no fucking clue what it looked like now. It’s been a while since she…ah, fuck that.

“No…but you do. So maybe I got them from you,”

she said, her smile gentle.

“That’s sun damage, not genetic.”

“Right.”

She looked amused, and I huffed.

“Go inside now. It’s late.”

“Yes, sir,”

she muttered under her breath.

I raised a brow. “Sir?”

There was a teasing gleam in her different-colored eyes. “Does it bother you when I call you that?”

No, it fucking made my dick twitch.

I didn’t answer her. Instead, I kept my eyes closely on her face as she calculated her next move, and my body tensed when she stepped toward me. Her arms wrapped around my neck as her body pushed into mine, and I steadied us both as I rested my hand on her lower back.

She was tiny.

At least, against me, she was.

Her body melted into mine, and I let it happen, even if it took everything inside of me not to push her away.

This felt too damn fucking good, and not in the way it should have.

“Thank you again for tonight. I had a great time,”

she said, her voice soft.

I clenched my jaw, my hand flexing on her back. “Anytime.”

We stayed like that for a while longer, but when I risked my mind to go places it shouldn’t go, I stepped away from her, keeping my hand on her hip to keep her at a safe distance.

“Sleep.”

It sounded like a demand, and in a way, it was one. “I’ll see you around, kid.”

She pursed her lips and rested her hand on my forearm before taking two steps back. “You keep calling me kid.”

“You don’t like that?”

It wasn’t much of a question. Of course, she didn’t. She wasn’t a kid. She was a woman. A damn beautiful one at that.

She scrunched her nose. “I’m twenty-one, so…”

I cleared my throat and ignored the itch at the back of my head that was trying to come up with a different nickname for her.

Shit…I needed to stop those train of thoughts altogether. Immediately.

“Just call me Wynnie,”

she said softly, helping me out.

“Fine. Goodnight, Wynnie.”

Her smile would stay with me all damn night. “Night, Caz.”

Yeah…I had never liked when people called me that—especially Theresa—but I sure as fuck liked it coming from her lips.

I watched as she entered the tiny house and waited until I heard the lock click, locking herself in safely.

As I turned to head back, the weight of the quiet night settled around me, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something between us had shifted.

And I wondered if only I felt that way.