Love Among The Ruins-Chapter 101

CAINE’S P.O.V

I woke up before the sun rose.

Nadine lay sleeping next to me, her back pressed up against my front and her hands holding onto my forearm.

I lay there for a minute just watching her. She looked peaceful when she slept. She didn’t seem to carry the weight of the world. Her long lashes fanned her cheeks and her chest rose and fell with every soft breath. She was beautiful, even when she wasn’t trying.

This was the most peaceful I’d seen her in a while. Being on the road was scary, there was never a time to let your guard down. She hadn’t even looked this peaceful at the bunker and while I didn’t trust these people, I was grateful that they at least gave her a semblance of safety. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

I kissed her forehead before slowly detangling myself from her. She murmured a few inaudible words under her breath but didn’t rouse. I watched her for a moment longer before finally dragging myself out of the room.

Amy was seated on the couch when I got there. She had a mug in her hands and she took small sips from it. She was still in her clothes from yesterday and from the looks of things, she hadn’t slept a wink.

"Can I sit here?" I asked and she hesitated a moment before nodding.

I lowered myself into the spot next to her. It took her a minute before she glanced my way. Her eyes were red rimmed, highlighting the huge bags underneath. She was a mess and she knew it, she wasn’t even trying to hide it.

The smell from her mug finally hit me... vodka.

"They have booze here?" I asked and she nodded.

"I found it in the cupboard. It was unopened." She lifted the mug to her lips again but I took it out of her hands. "Give it back to me."

"No."

"Caine-"

"Stop!" I hissed and she went still. She crossed her arms over her chest with a huff and turned away from me.

"Take it, I don’t give a fuck. I’ll just get the bottle."

She attempted to rise but I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into the couch. She shot me an exasperated look and I could tell she was debating whether or not to hit me.

"I take back my offer to let you sit with me," she mumbled, wrenching her hand out of my grip and crossing her arms over her chest. "I want you to leave."

"No."

"Then I’ll leave."

"You’re not doing that either."

She let out a frustrated groan. "What do you want from me, Caine? Your girlfriend is in the next room sleeping. Why don’t you focus on her and leave me alone? I am doing just fine."

"Are you really?"

She let out a humorless laugh. "Don’t you dare try to assume that you know how I feel. None of you do. You lost a fetus that you didn’t even know but I lost a child. I carried him, I birthed him, I nursed him and I raised him on my own. A moment of selfishness is all it took for him to die. You don’t know what that feels like because you’ve never had a child!"

Her words hit me like daggers but my first feeling was gratitude that Nadine was not awake to hear this. Amy was speaking from a place of pain. I knew she didn’t mean the words, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t hurt. She knew just which words to say to poke at the pain I’d buried.

"Are you done?" I asked but all I got was an eye roll. "Your son may still be alive."

She scoffed. "Don’t be delusional."

"I know Trent better than any of you."

"And how is that? You’re a guard like the rest of us-"

"I’m his son," I cut her off and she fell silent. "I know him, Amy, and he may be a cruel bastard but he doesn’t do anything without reason. He wouldn’t just risk killing your son unless he was going to gain something out of it."

"He wanted to taunt me."

"Why? I don’t mean this in a bad way, but you’re nothing to him. He has no vendetta against you. Why would he choose to taunt you out of all of us?"

I could see her taking in my words.

I’d been thinking about it ever since we blew up that lab. Killing her son served no purpose to him. He didn’t stand to gain anything by it. It was wasteful and Trent was not wasteful.

"I can’t," she said finally, burying her face in her hands. "I can’t have hope and find out that he’s dead. It will feel like losing him again. Just let me believe that he’s gone, please."

I understood her reasoning. Sometimes it was better to expect the worst instead of hoping for the best. It was harder to get hurt that way.

A knock on the door interrupted our conversation. Amy started to rise but I stopped her. She was in no mood to entertain anyone.

I checked through the window before pulling the door open. Jennifer stood there, her hands crossed over her chest as she took me in.

"It’s morning, you have a meeting. Where are the others?"

I glanced over at Amy who was still drunk and teary eyed then thought back to Nadine who was asleep. "I’m the only one coming."

She cocked a brow. "That wasn’t the deal."

"The deal was that I’d show you all the documents and I will. Leave everyone else out of it."

"Alright then. I’ll wait here until you’re ready."

I shut the door in her face and Amy was on her feet in an instant.

"I could go with-" she began but I shook my head.

"You deserve some time off to grieve, Amy. Stay here."

"But-"

"I need to make sure Nadine has someone when she wakes up."

That seemed to be a good enough excuse for her because she nodded. "I’ll be here."

I took a quick shower and changed into clean clothes. I grabbed the bag I’d swiped from Trent’s office before joining Jennifer outside. We walked past Joshua’s house, fully intending to leave him when his front door opened and he walked out fully dressed.

As soon as she sighted him, she rolled her eyes. "You’re not coming with us."

"Like hell I’m not," he scowled. "I don’t know what issue you have with me-"

"Bold of you to assume that I have issues. I just don’t like your stupid face."

"I don’t like your fucking bitchy attitude."

She scoffed. "If you got your head out of your ass for five seconds, maybe you’d realize that I don’t give a shit what you like or don’t-"

"Can you both stop acting like children?" I asked and they both turned to me; eyes narrowed and faces flush. "You’re being immature. We have bigger problems to deal with than whether or not you like each other."

"I don’t trust him," Jennifer huffed. "He could be working for the General."

"You could be too," I argued. "We don’t have to like each other, but we need to trust each other. We have a common enemy here, and if we keep fighting amongst ourselves, he’s going to win."

I waited to see if either of them would argue, but they both wisely remained silent.

"Feel free to bicker in your free time. Right now, we have a meeting to attend."