Chapter 40
Forty
Hayden
I park the car outside Skyline, it’s busy as always. I don’t think there is one night this place doesn't have a line outside it.
I walk straight in, nodding at the bouncer as he opens the door. I look over at the bar and see Lincoln. Walking over to him, he meets me halfway.
I don’t even know if Cain is here or not. I thought if I called beforehand he would have left not wanting to talk to me.
“About time you pick your balls up and come.” Lincoln pats my back laughing, and I tell him to fuck off. “He’s in the office.” Giving Lincoln a nod I make my way up. It’s been almost three weeks since the night he came to the house.
This has been the longest I’ve gone without talking to Cain, and I understand it, it doesn’t mean I like it.
Walking into the office without knocking, I see Cain at his desk, he looks up from the paperwork as the door closes behind me. He leans back in his chair, and the corner of his lips curl up into the smile we all hate.
“Took you long enough.” He jokes.
“You know you can be an asshole,” I reply as I sit down on the chair in front of him.
“I’ve been told a few times now.” He walks over to the whiskey station he has in the corner of the office, and comes back, placing two glasses on the desk, and filling them up.
“What brings you here and if it’s to say sorry I might just throw you in the Pit for fun. ” Cain sits back down and looks at me.
I stay quiet, because I know the fucker isn’t joking, if I say that word he really would throw me down there for a day.
“You know if you came to me I would have put him on the list, I would have even let you throw him in the Pit for as long as you wanted to fuck with him.” Cain is the first to talk.
All I do is nod, maybe that would have been better. Let the spoilt fucker suffer down there, but I wanted this fucker to die and there wasn’t anything else in it for me.
“Even with what happened, and how much I pissed you off. I don’t think I would have done it differently.
I’m not going to lie and say I would, because I wanted to kill him, not for what he did to Olivia, but for me.
This was all for me, he…” I pause for a moment and take my drink.
“He fucked my life up, and I wanted to end his.”
Cain leans back in his seat, glass to his lips, and asks one question.
"Your brothers had nothing to do with it?”
"No," I say quickly. "They didn't. Miles knew about the driver. He found the name and brought it to me, and I told him not to tell you. That's on me, not him.”
Cain nods slowly. "I'll think about them three," he says. “You’re still off until I know you won’t go doing your own thing again. Hayden you’ve always been the one I talk to, so if you think I’m angry because you killed him I’m not. I'm angry because you thought you couldn’t talk to me.”
Wow, now that wasn’t what I thought he was going to say, and I have no idea what to say to him. Because he’s right, I’ve always been able to talk to him. Now I feel shit for a whole different reason.
I have no words to say to him, so I sit there in silence, and Cain knows I don’t know what to say.
“I’ll see you tonight for family dinner,” Cain tells me, and I tighten my brows. “Autumn is making me be there, so if I have to be there, so do you.”
“I don’t have a choice, mom will argue with me.” I get up knowing Cain doesn’t want to talk about what I did, and this is his way of forgiving me. He just won’t say the words.
As I reach the door, Cain calls my name.
“Happy you got your girl,” he says, not looking up from the folder.
I smile as I leave the office because I can put this thing with Cain behind me, as it was the only thing which was playing on my head. Now everything feels so much lighter for me.
For the first time in what feels like months I’m relaxed. There’s nothing weighing me down. I’m not angry with anyone, I’m not fighting the demons from the past.
I’m happy.
I have the girl I always wanted, the only woman I’ve ever loved, my brothers are talking to me again, and my relationship with Cain is on the mend.
Happy, and there is nothing in the world that can ruin my mood.
It’s family dinner night and the same things are happening. Miles and Mason are arguing over the hockey game, this has been going on for about an hour, and I’m shocked mom hasn’t told them to shut up.
“Because you don’t know shit about defense,” Mason snaps, leaning back in his chair shaking his head.
Miles scoffs. “I know enough to know that was a stupid play.”
“It wasn’t—”
“Boys,” Mom cuts in, not even looking up as she places another dish on the table. “Both of you stop it.”
Mason and Miles don’t listen and continue the argument just a little less shouting at each other. Mom tells them every time to shut up, but it never works.
I still have to question why mom wanted more kids after them two crazy idiots.
I drop into my seat, grabbing a drink. “Same fight every week. You’d think one of you would win by now.”
“Shut up,” they say at the same time and I laugh.
Across the table, Lileah groans and drops her head into her hands. “I swear to God, if they’re like this at prom, I’m not going.”
That gets my attention. “You’re not going because of them?”
She snaps her head toward us, and glares at all of us like we’re the problem. “Do you know how embarrassing it is having three overprotective brothers at the same event? Do you know how embarrassing it is to have you there for my prom?”
“Four brothers,” Mason corrects. But she knows Declan won’t be paying attention to her, because we’ve told him to enjoy the night and not worry about her.
She points her fork at him. “You’re the worst one.”
“I’m the responsible one,” Mason tells her, making everyone at the table laugh.
“You threatened a guy for asking me for directions.”
“He looked at you for too long.”
Miles laughs. “He blinked.” Trying to make this argument with Lileah a little less serious, but we know her and we’ve had this same discussion so much now, she needs to know we aren’t changing our minds.
Lileah turns to me. “And you. Don’t think I’ve forgotten you exist.”
I raise my hands. “I’ve done nothing.”
“You will,” she says flatly. “You always do.”
“For good reason!” I snap at her, and her eyes move to Olivia. Lileah knows what prom means to me, even when Miles and Mason went to theirs, I had flashbacks like crazy.
Cain walks into the dining room, and smiles at Lileah. “I don’t see the issue. If they act out, I’ll deal with them.” He winks and turns to all of us.
She stares at him. “That’s not comforting.”
“It should be.” The four of us look between each other shaking our heads. We know he is only saying it to make her feel better. If he had his way, he would hire a security team for her.
Autumn laughs under her breath as she sits beside him. “Let the girl enjoy one night without a security team.”
Lileah drops her fork with a loud clatter. “Exactly my point.”
The conversation changes to Dad asking Olivia if her dad is settling in, Autumn talking about some wedding she got booked. It’s a simple family conversation, nothing about business, nothing about the Pit, just a simple family dinner.
Lileah keeps going on about dresses and how she refuses to match with anyone her brothers approve of.
Mason threatens to veto every guy. Miles says he already has a list. Trixie has designed the dress for her after Mason approved it for her, so no one will have the same dress as her, so I’m not sure why she’s worried about it.
I glance over at Cain; his eyes are closed and I’m not sure what he’s thinking but a small smirk forms on his lips when Lileah calls us all psychos.
Mason laughs at the comment and I glance toward Olivia.
She’s quieter tonight, but she’s smiling. Relaxed. Her fingers trace the edge of her glass, and when she looks up and catches me watching, she holds my gaze.
“I’ll be right back,” I mutter. I walk around the table, stopping beside her chair. “Come with me.”
She looks up, her brows pulling slightly. “Where?”
“You’ll see.”
She studies me for a second, then stands.
We slip out before anyone decides to get involved, but they all know where I’m going. The treehouse. Our spot.
I go up first, and smile seeing the small room the way I want it, Lileah and Autumn did a nice job for me. As Olivia gets in she looks around smiling.
“Hayden, this looks…beautiful.” She looks around at the small light around the room, and some flowers.
I take her hands in mine, pulling her closer to me, I give her a kiss.
“I don’t want what happened before to follow us into everything,” I say, keeping my voice steady. “I don’t want it hanging over prom. Over us.”
Her expression softens, but she doesn’t speak.
“I want one night,” I go on. “No past memories, I want to remove them all. Not just for me, but for you. A prom night is meant to be something every girl talks about.” I feel her hands curl into my t-shirt.
“Prom,” I say, holding her gaze. “The way I wanted it. The way it should’ve been. Will you go to prom with me?”
She’s silent for a moment, and then she smiles.
“Yes.” she says quietly. “I’ll go with you.”
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and for the first time, I know how that night is going to end.
They way it was meant to.