Chapter 29
Devon
“Engaged?” Megan asks once more after we told her. I didn’t care if she knew or not, but she is Caydence’s best friend, and that means something to her.
“Technically, we’re already married,” I chime in. Megan looks from me to Caydence a few times before Caydence shakes her head as if to say don’t even ask.
“Well, congratulations. I think it’s great. I can tell that you really love her, Devon.”
“You can?” Caydence asks.
“Yeah. You can see it in his eyes,” she adds. Caydence looks over at me, and I smile back at her. She has to know I love her more than anything in the world.
“You really love me that much?” Caydence asks. I nod my head and grab her hand, bringing it to my lips and pressing a kiss.
“I love you more than that. I don’t think you understand just how much I love you, Caydence.”
“How much?” she whispers.
“More than anything. More than myself,” I tell her. I see the tears in her eyes, and I think she may finally understand what she means to me.
I pull her into me and hold her tightly as Megan smiles at the two of us.
“This is what I’ve always wanted for her,” Megan says after clearing her throat. Caydence pulls away from me and looks to her friend and smiles.
“Thanks, Megan. It’s just-”
“Just what?”
“I think it’s all too fast,” Caydence tells her.
“I don’t think so. Not if you love each other. I think it’s great.” I can feel Caydence tense in my arms. I think she was hoping her friend would agree with her on that.
“Exactly. I do love her,” I remind them both.
“Then we should celebrate,” Megan says. “I’ll put something together,” she adds.
“Sounds good to me. For now, I’d like to take my wife home.” Megan smiles as I stand and pull Caydence along with me. She moves to hug her friend and then returns to my side. I wrap my arm around her and lead her out to the car after all the goodbyes.
Once we’re both in, I take off for the house, needing to be alone with her.
The drive doesn’t take long, and she’s quiet the whole time, which bothers me slightly. I pull up and nod for her to get out.
“There’s one last thing I need to take care of.” She nods her head and climbs out as I go and park the car. I pop the trunk, grab my black hoodie, and tug it on over my head before grabbing the mask. I slide it on and into place before walking in the side door.
Caydence walks into the kitchen, and that’s where I go as well. She turns around and drops her glass of water, the glass shattering on the floor at her feet.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, her voice shaky now.
“Did you miss me?”
“You can’t be here. I’m married. You need to leave,” she says quickly. I smirk under my mask. Good girl. She knows who she belongs to.
“Aren’t you curious as to who I am?” She shakes her head quickly, but I know that she’s lying to me. She is interested in who I am, and I know it.
“No.”
“Lies. It’s okay. You can unmask me,” I tell her. I drop down to my knees and hold my arms out to my sides. Caydence glances around before she slowly steps toward me, glass crunching under her feet.
When she’s close enough, she looks around once more before she reaches out slowly.
“I won’t touch you,” I tell her. Her hand shakes as she reaches for the mask and slowly slides it up and off me. As soon as she sees it’s me, she steps back quickly, slamming into the counter.
“How? It wasn’t your voice.” Her voice trembles with shock.
“Voice changer,” I tell her as I stand to my feet.
“Why?”
“Because you liked the thrill of it all.”
“That … you …”
“I did it for you, Caydence. I know what you like. I’ve told you that before,” I remind her.
“You tricked me. You lied to me!” she yells this time. I step closer and shake my head.
“I never lied to you. You didn’t ask if it was me.”
“What is wrong with you, Devon? First this, then you kill people. Who the hell are you?” she asks as if she’s mad at me.
“Your husband.”
“I don’t think I can do this,” she whispers.
“Why?”
“This is all too much! This is crazy.”
“So you’re drawing the line at the mask?” I muse.
“All of it, Devon. This is insane.”
“You’re mine, Caydence. There is no walking away now.”
“You can’t force me to stay.”
“Is that a bet?”
“Devon-” she starts, but doesn’t finish.
“No. You’re mine. You knew what this was for a long time now, Caydence. Don’t you dare stand there and say that you don’t love me.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Then what’s the problem?” She tugs at her hair and begins to pace the floor.
“I … I don’t know! This is all crazy.”
“This is all us, Caydence. So what if our lives aren’t the same as others'? Does that really matter?”
“You have to promise me, Devon. No more killing.”
“As long as no one hurts you, there won’t be a need.”
“I mean it.”
“Me too. I won’t kill anyone else unless they hurt you,” I remind her. I can tell by the look on her face that she’s still a little torn about this, but I also know she loves me as much as I love her, and she isn’t going anywhere.
Our love isn’t normal. It wasn’t meant to be normal.
I could lie and say I was raised this way, but I wasn’t.
It was all her. Once I got into her mind and learned what she liked, I knew what I had to do to get and keep her.
I knew what I had to do to make her feel safe and protected.
I knew that she needed to tie up loose ends of her past, and I made that happen for her.
I step into her, pulling her into my arms and pressing a kiss to her lips.
“I love you. Until death.”