When Caine walks into the apartment the next morning, his eyes are bloodshot, his normally impeccable suit creased and stained.

“Where have you been?” I ask from the couch in the living room, where I spent the entire night, waiting for him, worrying about him.

“Denver,” he says, chuckling humorlessly.

“Yeah, Denver, where you left me alone with no means of getting to the airport.”

“You’re a big girl, aren't you? You can take care of yourself. That's what you want everyone to know, right?”

I flinch. He's hitting me where it hurts. I brace myself, knowing he's not done.

“A big girl with $125,000 in your bank account. Yeah, you can take care of yourself.”

I know he's just lashing out because he's hurt, like a wild animal with one paw caught in a trap, trying to bite the hands that are only trying to help him. Suspicious. He's trying to hurt me before I can hurt him, treating me like a villain in fear—no, anticipation—of the day when I’ll inevitably turn on him.

“Bertha was waiting for you last night,” I say softly.

“Here?” He frowns and stares at me incredulously.

“Yes.”

“What, you’re on her side now? You're best friends forever?”

“No,” I say as calmly as I can. “There are no sides here. There's just a mother who wants to make a connection with her son.”

“And you brought her here? I never said that was okay.” He stalks toward me now, anger in his eyes.

“You never told me not to bring her here either. And it's not like I could've called you to ask. You weren't around to call the shots, so don't blame me for doing what I had to do.”

“You’re right,” Caine says with a resigned sigh, to my surprise, the angry flame in his eyes snuffed out.

Where is his barrage of arrogance and rudeness? Where are his biting words?

Instead of fighting back, Caine collapses onto the couch next to me, looking like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“It doesn't matter,” he says with his eyes closed, as if shielding himself from everything. He leans his head over the back of the couch. “Everything is a lie anyway. It's all just one big joke.”

My heart clenches. Of course. How could I not see how Caine would be affected by this?

What I saw was a woman who, like me, found herself in an impossible situation and had to improvise. Bertha made choices she never wanted to make.

But, to Caine, it was betrayal.

He's already been let down by everyone else to the point where all he has is his family. And he's just learned that even his own family has been deceiving him his whole life.

I inch closer to him, scared of what this injured beast can do to me in his unstable state, yet yearning to bring him some measure of relief regardless.

With my heart pounding in my tightened chest, I reach out my hand and touch his head lightly. When he remains still, I stroke his golden hair, combing it with my fingers. He lets out a big sigh, then another.

When he opens his eyes, he stares at me with muted blue eyes. They're beautiful as always, but this morning there's a vulnerability in them that makes me want to take him in my arms and comfort him, even if he ends up tearing me to pieces.

So I do. I wrap my arms around him, knowing full well how dangerous it can be.

He feels as warm as usual, his body is as hard as usual, but I feel something soft within him, too. His tough shell is cracking, and he's letting me stay and be an audience to this rare occasion. I realize what a privilege it is to see this side of him.

There is trust here, and I have no idea where it came from, seeing as all we've ever done is hide things from each other. But at least my touch is honest; he knows that much. And I know the same about him.

When we shut up and communicate with our bodies, that's when we're most honest.

As if he can read my mind, Caine puts his arms around me and pulls me closer. He kisses me, softly at first, but it grows more desperate by the moment. It's like he's losing his hold on the world and I’m the only thing that could lead him back home.

I let him taste me, bite me, use me. Whatever it takes to help him feel better. I don't know when it happened, but I’ve accepted his pain as my own. I want so badly to fix this for him, and I’ll do it the only way I know how.

“Take your clothes off, all of them. I want you naked and on your knees.” Caine's voice is softer than usual, but I can still feel the authority in his words, and it fires me up inside.

I kneel on the rug, sinking into the thick pile, Caine’s powerful thighs trapping me on both sides. He slides down the couch until his bulge is right in front of my face, tempting me with its proximity. I can almost feel the heat emanating from it.

When I look up at Caine, the corners of his lips have curled up to form a small smile. My chest expands with pride, knowing I’ve put a smile on his face when he’s evidently at a low point in his life.

I may be on my knees, but I feel powerful. I always thought having sex was being vulnerable, and it is. But it’s a fair exchange, at least the way it is with Caine and me. We’re both vulnerable, and therefore we’re both powerful.

I put my hand on the hardness straining the front of Caine’s pants. He opens his mouth and sucks in his breath, looking at me like every little movement I make could kill him or bring him back to life. Every little turn of my wrist, every little flick of my fingers.

“No hands,” he says with a voice hoarse with lust. “Put your hands behind your back.”

I interlace my fingers behind me, resting them on my bare ass. I rub my face on Caine’s bulge, feeling the hardness in his pants, the softness of the fabric. I breathe through my mouth onto it and feel him groan.

He hurriedly undoes his fly and pulls his thick cock out. He grabs my hair and runs the hot, hard shaft all over my face, slowly, deliberately. He’s savoring this. It makes me wet, knowing I’m giving him so much pleasure that he’s trying to extend the moment.

I gasp when Caine suddenly pinches my nipples with his thumbs and forefingers. He pulls me painfully, forcing me to get on my feet and onto his lap.

“What am I going to do with you?” He sounds almost sad, and I don’t know why. His words and the pain in my nipples send shockwaves of pleasure straight to my dripping pussy.

Caine grips my waist with his big, steady hands, lifting up until the head of his cock is pressed right up against my slit.

More than anything, I want to lower myself onto him, take his entire length inside me, but he keeps me there instead and takes my nipples into his mouth, one by one. He kisses them, licks them, bites them, alternating pain and relief.

“Caine, please…” I grab onto his shoulders tightly, the pressure building up inside me propelling me deeper and deeper into his trap in this seduction game.

“What do you want, my little flower? Tell me.” His lips graze against my nipple as he speaks, teasing my hardened, sensitive peak.

“I want you inside me.”

“You want me to fuck you?”

“Yes.” I moan and try to bear down with my whole weight, but I’ve always been skinny and Caine easily keeps me in place.

He thrusts up just a fraction of an inch and says, “You want me to go in…and out…” he says as he pulls back, “like this?”

I let out a frustrated sigh, the muscles in my pussy clenching at nothing, desperate to be filled up. I close my eyes as Caine continues his sweet torture. “Yeah. Just deeper.”

“Like this?” He pushes in a tiny bit deeper, making me crave even more of his cock.

“I want all of you. I want you to fuck me with everything you’ve got,” I say, emboldened by my arousal.

Caine puts his arms around me and pulls me close until my tits are squished right up against the front of his suit. My nakedness and his being fully clothed make it clear just how little control I have. He puts his lips right by my ear and whispers, “Be careful what you wish for, my little flower. I might ruin you forever, make your body crave only me, make your pussy ache for only my cock.”

“Please. Fuck me,” I say, not caring what he’s going to do to me. All I know is I need him inside me right now. A small voice inside me wonders if he’s right. Maybe I won’t find another man who can satisfy me like he does. Maybe I’ll spend the rest of my life after this, searching for another high like this.

In one smooth motion, Caine pulls me down and thrusts his hips up off the couch, burying himself deep inside me.

My eyes snap open and my jaw drops. Everything within me opens up to let Caine invade me with his strength, with his sensuality, with his dominance. I let him take the reins over my body.

Caine fucks me furiously, putting his entire strength behind every thrust, slamming mercilessly into me while I kneel there taking it, his hands on my waist restraining my range of movements.

I wail when I feel him grow a little harder inside me, his cock twitching and pulsing, hitting me right on my sweet spot, over and over and over again. I dig my fingernails into his back as an orgasm rips through my body, making me shudder against Caine’s chest.

He fucks me harder and harder, until his whole body stills, with only his cock moving inside me, pumping his hot, thick come into me. He grinds against me, which rubs my clit against his pubic bone, wringing one last shiver out of me.

All at once, Caine’s whole body relaxes, his muscles slacken. He’s spent.

I am, too. I hold him tight, resting my head on his shoulder, caressing the back of his head gently, savoring this moment, knowing we don’t have much more time together.

Remember, I tell myself, he’s engaged to someone else. I’m not even supposed to be here.

* * *

After I clean up and get dressed, I join Caine back on the couch.

I wonder if and when I should bring up his fiancee. I feel sick to my stomach when I think about that woman, who probably has no idea he’s fucking someone else, and that someone else is me.

There are more important things to do for now, though.

I eye Caine’s smartphone on the coffee table and remember I need to call Jack.

Things have been so crazy, I’ve had no time to make the call.

I could’ve tried calling with Bertha’s phone, I guess, but it didn’t even cross my mind after all the dramatic events of yesterday.

When Bertha and I landed in San Francisco last night, we went straight to Caine’s apartment. Luckily, I remembered the lock code for the door.

I could’ve made the call last night, because Caine was not home and his bedroom door wasn’t locked.

But Bertha was so distraught over what had happened and I was so busy trying to convince her everything was going to be fine. By the time she left, it was late at night and it was a school night, so Jack would’ve been asleep.

I’d been waiting for Jack’s school to let out when Caine got home. Now that he’s here, I’m not sure he’ll let me make the call.

“Caine, can I use your phone again?” I analyze his features for an answer. When he doesn’t move a muscle, I add, “The other day, the line was busy and I didn’t get to speak to my brother. I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

“Just use it,” he says. “No need for the long sob story.”

“Thank you.” I grab the phone before he changes his mind.

Meanwhile, Caine walks away into his bedroom with his duffel bag.

It feels like I’ve been waiting forever when Katie finally picks up.

“Who’s this?” Katie says, her voice dripping with suspicion. I can just imagine her with her eyebrows furrowed and her hand on her waist.

“Whoa, what’s with the extra friendly greeting?” I didn’t expect Katie to answer, and I’m happy I get to talk to her. She must have today off.

“Oh my god. Daisy?” She sounds incredulous.

“It’s me.” I grin into the phone.

“Where have you been? We’ve been trying to call you but your phone is always off. This is not your usual number.” Katie’s voice is urgent.

“What happened?” I ask, alarmed. I’ve already told them I was going away to work and I wouldn’t be available by phone. There’s no reason why they’d worry about not being able to reach me if everything’s okay.

“Shit, Daisy. Shit happened.”

“Tell me.” My voice starts to falter as my heart sinks into my stomach. I hold my breath, afraid of missing a syllable of Katie’s reply.

“Where do I even start?” Katie inhales deeply. “So, Chad Murray paid us a visit.”

“What?”

“Yeah, he came when Jack was alone at home, too.”

“Shit, I’m so sorry.” Tears prick my eyes. Jack must’ve been so scared. “What did he want?”

“He said you haven’t been paying and he wants his money.”

“I told him I was going to pay him everything soon. Shit.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what your deal with him is, but that’s what he said.”

“How’s Jack doing?”

“He’s fine now. He was smart enough to not open the door, even though they were pounding on the door for, like, half an hour.”

“Are you serious? The apartment door? Like, just by the hallway?”

I’m surprised—Chad has never entered the apartment building before, and now he’s suddenly knocking on my door, intimidating my family? My fear and worry slowly turn into anger. We had a deal!

“Yeah. Jack let them bang on the door and shout. He called the cops, pretending to be a concerned neighbor. He’s a smart kid.”

Pride swells in my chest. “Yeah, he is.”

“He didn’t even come out of the apartment when the cops came. He didn’t want them to be able to identify him, he said.”

“That’s really smart of him.”

“Yeah, but I’m afraid next time, smart won’t be enough to keep them away. You need to take care of this.”

“I know.”

“Daisy, you also knew this was a risk when you took out that loan from Chad Murray. Can you really pay him like you promised him? Did you miss the deadline or something?”

“No, he’s just being a piece of shit.”

“Yeah, I can believe that.” Katie chuckles.

“How are you so calm?”

“I’ve had time to calm down. I was totally freaking out when I got home, and Jack told me what had happened while I was away. We tried and tried to call you, but you never picked up. We left, like, ninety voicemails, too.”

“I’m so sorry. I’ve been so busy.”

“What exactly are you doing? You’re not putting yourself in danger, are you? That would be just trading one problem for another.”

“No, I… I probably don’t have much credibility right now in your eyes after what just happened—”

“Damn right you don’t,” Katie says, cutting me off. Fair enough, I guess. I deserve that, even though it hurts.

“I know, but just… I know what I’m doing this time, okay?”

“And it’s not dangerous?”

“I won’t die from it, let’s put it that way.” I laugh nervously.

“Well, as long as you’ll live,” Katie says, joining me in laughter.

“I’ll come home and take care of Chad as soon as I can, okay?”

“Okay, Daisy. Just… Don’t forget to take care of yourself as well. You always put yourself last.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do.”