The Secrets We Hide (The Four #2) - Becca Steele Page 0,12
he said, carefully. “But if you can cope with the blood and gore, you might be able to work out if it’s the same guy that held you captive.”
“If it helps us, I’ll look.”
He nodded, sliding his phone across the table to me.
Fuuuuck.
Damaged was so not the word I’d use.
My stomach rolled as I studied the image of the body, his head completely smashed in, his face almost unrecognisable. Steeling myself, I zoomed in on the photo, trying to avoid looking at the worst bits, concentrating on the intact parts.
“I can’t be a hundred percent sure, but I think that’s him. The hair is the same. And what I can see of the clothes.”
“So if that’s him, who rescued you?” Kinslee spoke the question I was sure we were all wondering.
“Another one to add to the list.” I shrugged, sliding the phone back to Zayde.
As if the nausea from looking at that image wasn’t enough, a sudden zing of pain shot through my head, and I bit my lip to stifle a groan. Caiden didn’t miss it, though. “You need your painkillers,” he stated. Moving me back to my own seat, he pushed back his chair, the legs scraping against the floor, and headed out of the kitchen. He reappeared a couple of minutes later with two tablets, which I swallowed with my Coke.
“I need to rest. Sorry, I feel really wiped out.” I rubbed my head again. “I thought I was okay, but I guess not.”
“You can’t expect to recover that quickly. You had a traumatic head injury, not to mention all that bruising on your face. You were out of it for almost five days straight.” Cass gave me a severe look. “We’re not gonna let you do anything except rest and recover, until you’re back to normal.”
“But—”
He held up a hand. “Sorry, we already agreed. Kinslee, too.”
I swallowed hard around the lump in my throat. They really did care about me. In such a short space of time, the people in this room had become the most important people in my life. “Thanks,” I managed to say.
“C’mon.” Caiden pulled me to my feet, and we headed into the lounge, where he set me up on the sofa under a blanket. He then crossed to the door and spoke to someone on the other side, then closed it firmly behind us.
Time to have the conversation I’d been dreading. I could only hope that Caiden believed me.
SEVEN
Returning to me, Caiden sank down next to me on the sofa and turned to meet my eyes, his stormy gaze troubled, torn between concern and the clear need to know what had gone down with me and James. “You up to talking? I asked the others to leave us alone for a while.”
“Yeah. Listen, I was in the library, and James tried to kiss me. I pushed him away as soon as I recovered from the shock. I don’t know what’s going on, but…” My voice trailed off as I stared at him. “Cade? You do believe me, don’t you?”
He scrubbed a hand across his face, and the hesitation before he answered told me everything. Everything I didn’t want to hear.
He exhaled heavily, staring straight ahead. “I want to. I mean, I do. Look, you have to understand how fucking bad that video looked. I see my girl all over Granville, hugging him and touching his face, then the next minute, you’re kissing him.”
“Are you serious right now? Don’t you trust me?” I couldn’t help the frustration, and yeah, anger, that bled through my tone.
He was silent for a long moment, his eyes meeting mine again, just looking at me, letting his walls down so I could see the torment in his eyes. A pain started in my chest, spreading the longer he remained silent, and I dug my nails into my palms to give myself something to concentrate on to stop myself from crying.
“Fuck…Winter. It’s not— I find it hard to trust,” he finally admitted in a low, defeated voice, and my eyes filled with tears.
“Caiden. Do you want to be with me? Like in a real relationship?” I leaned closer to him, watching him intently as all his emotions played out on his face.
“Yeah.”
A tear rolled down my cheek. “If we don’t have trust, what do we have? How can we have a relationship if you won’t let yourself trust me?”
He closed his eyes, his jaw tightening. “I don’t know. Fuck.”