Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Pleased he was willing to share something personal, no matter how brief and incomplete the account might be, she easily said, “All right.”
“Although they remained together for a while and shared the same home, they were separated in an emotional sense. He didn’t want her, but he refused to relinquish his claim to her, even when they later lived in separate houses. And so none of the other males would dare touch her, which was his objective. Adam didn’t feel that she had the right to find happiness with another.”
Already hating this dude, Wynter asked, “Why?”
“Because the hypocritical fuck thought she deserved to be scorned for sleeping with another man. In his mind, his gender ‘have needs’ and so it’s only natural that they see to those needs and sleep with whomever they choose. Women, however, should only have sex with their consorts in his fine opinion.”
“What an absolute, motherfucking dick.” Wynter had known plenty of guys who upheld such a philosophy, and she’d found that they were all very entitled and misogynistic.
“He wasn’t hurt that she’d slept with another man. He was embarrassed by it. He felt that she’d made a fool of him. For Adam, it was all about how the whole thing reflected on him. Things only got worse when . . .”
“When?” she prompted.
Cain gently squeezed her hip. “That we’ll discuss at a later date.”
Grr. “Fair enough.” She tipped her head to the side, searching his eyes and carefully scrutinizing every line of his face. “You don’t seem at all happy that your mother’s here.”
He gave a small, fluid shrug. “I don’t really know her. I wasn’t given the chance to bond with her. Adam took me from her when I was a baby, confined her to their chamber, and only allowed her to see me once every few weeks.”
“He what?”
“Cruelty was always something that came easy to Adam. He will cross many lines, and he will feel justified each time. I’m not saying he’s without a conscience. Only that it rarely bothers him to ignore the voice in his head. He tells himself that people have earned their punishments. In his view, Eve deserved to be punished however he saw fit for as long as he felt it was necessary.”
“It didn’t bother him that, because of his chosen punishment, you’d be without a mother most of the time?” It was bothering Wynter. Like a lot.
“People are easy to discard for Adam. He already had five sons at that point to various women. He had no more interest in them than he had in me. He kept me in the family home, but he had little to do with me. I was put to work when I was young.”
Outrage bubbled in Wynter’s stomach. “He treated you like a servant? Eve didn’t do anything about that? She’s your mom, for fuck’s sake.”
“She was also essentially a prisoner in her own home.”
“And no one cared about that?”
“Back then, women were considered chattel to do with what their consort wished, and Adam wished to keep Eve confined to their chamber. No one questioned it. She could have left him, of course, but he made it clear that she wouldn’t be allowed to take me or her daughters with her—another thing nobody would have objected to.”
She blinked. “You have sisters?” He’d never mentioned that before.
“I had two. They died in the war. Unlike me, they had a true relationship with Eve; she was permitted to see them whenever she wished. She couldn’t stomach abandoning them or me, so she toed the line. Especially since the less fuss she made, the more time she was allowed to spend with me. And once Abel was born, Adam often threatened to remove him from her care as well whenever she defied him.”
“God, that asshole needs to have his insides ripped out. And I’ll be more than happy to make it happen. Just say the word, and it’s done.”
Cain felt a smile tug at his mouth. It might have been somewhat perverse, but hearing her threaten to kill someone on his behalf made his chest go warm and tight. She was so very rigorously protective of him, and he loved that. He’d never had it from anyone before.
He brushed her hair over her shoulder and gave her a brief kiss. “Always so ready and eager to draw blood.”
“Duh, revenant. That’s how we roll.” She planted her hands on his chest. “I can’t even begin to imagine how horrible it must have been for you to live with that rat bastard.”
It had been no easy ride, but Cain hadn’t cared for Adam so hadn’t given a pittance of a shit that the man despised him. It was being on the outside of the family that had most hurt Cain.
“For a while, I didn’t understand why I couldn’t be considered part of the family,” said Cain. “Adam told me that Eve didn’t want me; that she only pretended to love me. I didn’t believe him. Because each time he declared that her ‘visitation’ with me was over, she would cry and beg for him not to take me away again. He got off on that.”