Chapter 34
34
CADEN
C aden sat in the cargo bay of a military transport aircraft opposite of Nathan. His brothers were strapped in as well. Everyone was too quiet, and they were avoiding eye contact like they could get a disease just by looking at her.
“So… Marskib, he’s obsessed with you,” Nate yelled over the sound of the engines.
“Marskib was behind your kidnapping?” That explained a lot. Why they had gone after Nate again.
“Yes. He made a whole speech about you and how you belong to him—you two have history, I take it?”
“Yeah. Uh, he tortured me for a while and I eventually escaped. Guess he’s still mad about it. He said I belong to him?”
“Yup.”
“Creepy ass weirdo.”
“He was indeed.”
“ Was ? Is he dead?”
“Yeah, he got shot.”
“Okay. Good.” That was one nightmare taken care of.
Silence settled. Caden fidgeted in her seat, knowing she should probably say something. Nate opened his mouth and then closed it again. It didn’t help that his brothers were there, watching every move they made. Money exchanged hands and Caden glared at the duo, Kade and Maddox.
“Caden—”
“Wait, Nate. Don’t.” Caden had to yell in order for her voice to carry over the sound of the plane’s engines.
He looked crestfallen. Clearly, he thought she was going to reject him again.
“I’ve got something to say.” Caden decided to ignore their audience and turned to face Nate.
“Okay.” Nate’s voice was unsure, but he sat up straighter.
“I’m not good at this. Not good at talking or sharing… feelings .” The word ripped out of her like she’d never said it before.
Which was the understatement of the year. Caden shoved a hand through her hair and tried to put the words she wanted to say in the right order. Her brain was a jumbled mess.
“I thought you shouldn’t— couldn’t love me because… because I didn’t deserve you. I thought I didn’t deserve happiness or love because of the things I have done.”
“Caden, I’m a mercenary too.”
“That was part of it, but mostly I thought I didn’t deserve anything good because I let my father murder my baby sister.”
“That wasn’t your fault!” The outrage in his tone made her feel warm and misty eyed. Which was ridiculous because she wasn’t going to cry, damn it.
“You’re right.” It took her a long moment to collect herself enough not to burst into tears. “It wasn’t my fault. It wasn’t my fault when Ezzy died either—none of it was.”
She’d said it in her head a million times, but there was something about saying it to Nate that made it real. She believed it. He believed it. Again, tears threatened to spill, but she held them back.
“Nathan, I deserve love. I deserve happiness.”
“Well, yeah .” Like it was the most logical thing in the world. Like it hadn’t taken her thirty years to understand herself. “If it’s with someone else?—”
“No, there’s no one else. There’s only you. I want to be happy with you. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life happy and in love with you.”
Caden could feel the weight of her words hanging in the air, like she had just released something she’d been carrying for years. It was strange, the way her chest loosened as the confession settled between them. She glanced at Nate, expecting to see shock or disbelief, but instead, his eyes softened with something far more terrifying: hope.
Her heart pounded in her chest, the sound almost deafening in the silence that followed. She could still feel Kade and Maddox’s eyes on her, the two of them probably bursting with smugness at the unfolding scene. She didn’t care anymore. She had finally said what needed to be said.
Nate’s expression flickered, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, but he seemed too cautious to fully let it show. He leaned forward just slightly, his eyes locked on hers like he was afraid she might vanish if he moved too fast. “You mean that?” His voice was quiet, like he wasn’t entirely sure this moment was real.
Caden nodded, her throat tightening again as she tried to find the strength to continue. She had spent so long running from herself, from her past, from anything that might make her feel vulnerable.
“I love you,” she said again, and this time the words came easier. More solid. “I don’t want to keep pretending that I don’t. I don’t want to keep fighting something that feels this right.”
For a moment, Nate just stared at her, like he was processing, his gaze flicking over her face as if searching for any sign of hesitation. Then, slowly, his expression broke into that wide, easy grin that had always made her stomach flip.
“You sure you’re not just saying this because of the high stakes adrenaline-heavy situation we just got out of?” he teased, though there was a tremor in his voice, like he was holding back emotion.
Caden rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t stop the small laugh that bubbled up from her chest. “No, Nate. I’m saying this because I’m done being afraid. Done running. I want you. I want us.”
He stood then, crossing the airplane in two steps before pulling her up from her seat. His arms wrapped around her, strong and warm, grounding her in the moment. She could feel his heart hammering against his chest, matching the rhythm of her own.
“Damn right you deserve happiness,” he murmured, pressing his forehead against hers. “And I’m going to make damn sure you have it, Caden. With me.”
Caden leaned into him and Nathan nudged her head up with fingers under her chin. As he leaned forward, she licked her lips and launched herself at him. She would have jumped on him but his injuries held her back.
Her mouth landed on his, open and hot. Immediately, she tasted the metallic sharpness of blood on his tongue as she took his mouth without reserve. She couldn’t help but make a sound of hunger and deepen the kiss before realization came back to her that they had an audience and she reluctantly pulled away.
His brothers were whooping and whistling and hollering their fool heads off. Caden rolled her eyes at their combined ridiculousness and grinned up at Nate, who was staring down at her with something like wonder in his eyes.
“You really love me?” Nate whispered, his voice barely audible over the roar of the engines.
“Yeah, I really do,” she replied, her fingers tightening in the fabric of his shirt. “I love you, Nathan Savage.”
“Good,” he whispered back, his lips brushing against her forehead. “Because I fucking love you.”
And for the first time, Caden believed it.