Love Among The Ruins-Chapter 115

CAINE’S P.O.V

I’d always been proud of Nadine, but there was nothing hotter than watching her stand up to Solomon and Sam.

She didn’t even turn back to gauge their reactions before slamming the door to our room shut. I fought back a smile and resisted the urge to follow her and pin her to a wall. Instead, I focused my attention on the two men in front of me.

"You know we could always ask Joshua to go with us," Solomon said after a moment of silence. "You two aren’t our only choice."

"Then ask him." I crossed my arms over my chest. "If you had another option, you wouldn’t be here."

He just hummed and stood to his feet. "We’ll be in touch."

He walked out without another word, leaving just Sam in my living room. I watched him, waiting for him to stand up and leave too, but for a long minute, Sam just sat there staring at me. He didn’t try to initiate conversation, he just remained stoic.

I held his gaze, raising a brow in question, but all I got in response was a slight nod of his head before he finally walked out, slamming the door shut behind him. It was by far the most confusing interaction I’d ever had.

I sat there for a few minutes after trying to figure out what it meant, but I came up empty.

"Are they gone?" I heard a soft voice from behind me and I nodded. "They really need to stop showing up here."

Nadine had changed into a black long sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts. She took the spot next to me, crossing her legs in front of her as she stared at the spot that Sam and Solomon had previously occupied.

"Do you think they’ll take our offer?" she asked. "Or will they just cancel the whole thing?"

"Solomon won’t risk looking bad."

"True."

She hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "Do you want to go back out there?"

I didn’t answer immediately, not because I didn’t know what to say, but because I’d never truly thought about it as a want. I’d lived my entire life alone, I’d spent my whole life surviving and fending for myself, and ever since these monsters were created, I’d been fighting them.

Being out there had always been more real to me than being safe.

It should’ve been an easy answer but I couldn’t give it, because I’d come to like the normalcy and the quiet. I enjoyed training with the others not because I had to do so to survive, but because I wanted to. I enjoyed not worrying about whether or not I’d be killed by a monster or punished for doing something wrong.

"Does anyone truly want to be out there?" I responded finally and Nadine frowned.

"That’s not what I asked, Rowan." She turned to face me completely. "I need you to be real with me."

"I don’t mind being out there. I would just prefer it if you weren’t."

She snorted. "There’s no way I’m letting you go alone. We’re in this together, remember?"

"This isn’t fun and games."

"It has never been fun and games. Every single time we go out there, the risk of us dying increases drastically. It’s always been about survival, Rowan. I know that. I won’t let you be around people that I don’t trust to keep you safe. I need to know that you have someone on your side, even if that person is me."

The corner of my lips tugged up into a small smile. "You’re no longer the spoiled princess I used to guard."

"I was never a spoiled princess to start with."

I hooked my fingers into the waistband of her shorts and pulled her into my side. "Yes, you were."

I placed a lingering kiss on her temple and let her nuzzle into me.

For a while, we just sat there, neither one of us speaking. There was nothing more to say to be honest. We were both going, and as much as I didn’t like it, I knew I didn’t have a choice. The only other option was knocking her out and leaving without her, but I knew without a doubt that the moment she woke up, she’d come after us.

"There’s something you never told me," she spoke, her voice barely over a whisper. "You wanted to be my guard."

I hesitated slightly. I thought she’d forgotten all about it. "I did."

"Why? I didn’t know you, and you didn’t know me. Why would you choose me?"

"I knew you."

"That’s not true. The first time we spoke was when you told me to get the fuck out of your way. I’d never seen you before then."

"Just because you didn’t see me doesn’t mean I didn’t see you."

She turned to me, her brows furrowed in confusion.

I sighed, running my hands down her shoulders gently. I buried my nose into her hair and took a long inhale before I continued speaking.

"The first time I saw you was in the training center. You were sparring with someone. It was impressive. I saw you again near the kitchens, you were speaking to one of the maids. You were nice to her. It wasn’t something I was used to seeing."

I saw her hundreds of times before we ever spoke for the first time. I saw her gentleness, I saw her softness, I saw her spark. I saw how much fight she had in her.

"I didn’t know who you were at first until one day, I saw you with him—your father. It felt wrong to see you as his child. He was cruel and you were not."

"But you were mean to me when we first met."

"Yes, because it was easier to pretend that you were just like him. Perhaps it was my own self-loathing from being my father’s son. I wanted to hate you."

She smiled. "Look how well that turned out."

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"I’m glad you asked for me."

Wrapping my fingers around her chin, I leaned down to brush my lips against her. "I’m glad I did too."