Page 11 of Unhinged Kallie

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THREE YEARS LATER

“I can’t believe you’d do this, Cain,” Kirby growled under her breath.

“I warned you that if he became a problem, I’d handle it.” We didn’t have lies between us. I could’ve said I took Carter for a walk, and he went in to see the pigs on his own, but I never lied to my Sunshine.

She stomped across the kitchen floor, rage etched into every single feature. “You made me a promise.”

“If he wasn’t a problem,” I countered.

“He’s six, Cain. Six. It’s a little difficult for him to be a real problem, and the fact that you would even…”

“Do what,” I asked, pushing myself to my feet and walking across the room. “Did you think you were changing me, Sunshine?” She backed away from me, but I followed, and when her ass hit the counter, I gripped it on either side of her. “Is that what you thought? I’d somehow grown a conscience?”

“No, of course not, but I thought…” She looked down, and I tilted her head back up using my finger so she had to look at me. The anger was still there, but her heart was pounding harder.

“Don’t look away from me, Sunshine. You knew what I was, what I could do, and what I would do to anyone, if needed, the day you chose to stay. I gave you one more opportunity to leave, but you chose to marry me. I’ve told you time and again that I will do what I must to protect what is mine. You and Kallie are mine.”

“Cain, I know that.” Kirby sighed and rubbed her face. “I didn’t expect you to change. I don’t want you to change. I love you for who you are.”

“Then what’s the issue?”

“The issue is that I hoped after some time passed, you’d see him how you see Kallie and me, that…that things like walks to the pigs and threats wouldn’t happen. You’d find a way to accept him as part of our unit.” She cupped my face, her eyes searching mine. “What would’ve happened if I hadn’t come home early?”

“Sunshine, you’re confusing emotion and logic. I have very little of the first, so I rely on the latter, and logic dictated he needed to be spoken to. He broke into my room. He saw my work area, and he saw the pictures on the walls of all those I’ve hunted and am hunting. Logic dictated that if you wanted him to remain part of this unit, I needed to make sure he understood the consequences of his actions.”

This only made sense to me. I did what Kirby wanted. I made sure that Carter didn’t have to die. I was struggling to understand why she didn’t see that. Why was I the bad guy? Carter’s age didn’t matter. What mattered was the safety of everyone living on this property and under this roof.

“So you weren’t planning on…” Kirby licked her lips. “You know.”

“Aunt Kirby? Uncle Cain?” Carter’s voice was low as he stepped into the kitchen.

I glanced over at him, and although I could feel Kirby’s energy shift, I didn’t release her from the cage of my arms so she could run to him. She needed to get over this. If the kid was a threat, she needed to see that. No one had ever broken into my work area before. Even Kirby hadn’t figured it out when I changed the system to the most advanced one you could get, other than a retina scanner.

“You were told to go to your room,” Kirby said, putting on her ‘mom’ voice. She said she didn’t have one, but she did.

“I know.” He clasped his hands in front of him. “Please don’t fight. I didn’t mean to make you two fight.”

“We’re not fighting. We’re having a discussion,” I said, standing straight. “Adults need to have discussions sometimes, but we are not fighting.”

“But, you are mad, I can tell,” he said, his eyes lifting to meet mine.

I expected Kirby to rush to Carter, pick him up, and escort him out of the room away from me, but she stayed by my side.

“What you did was wrong, and we will talk about it again. But right now, Kirby and I need to talk about what you did and decide what to do about your actions.”

Instead of running out of the room, he walked closer until he was a couple of feet away. I could see the intelligence swimming behind his green eyes. He may not have the same urges I had at that age, but he was highly intelligent.

“I know what you do,” he said, and Kirby grabbed my arm even though I hadn’t moved. I cocked a brow at her. Did she really think I would grab him and snap his neck in front of her? I mean, I could, but I wouldn’t. I would at least wait until she didn’t have to see me do it.

“What do you think Uncle Cain does,” Kirby asked. Carter twisted his shirt around his hands, his eyes going back and forth between us. “It’s okay. You can tell us.”

“He’s a superhero,” he whispered, looking around like he was making sure no one could hear. “I saw the pictures of the bad men. You put an X when you catch the bad guy.” I didn’t think anyone other than this kid would call me a superhero. “You’re like Batman, The Punisher, and Wolverine. You catch bad men and punish them.” He smiled wide. “I won’t tell anyone your secret, and I’m sorry I snooped. I wanted to see what was in the locked room. I won’t tell anyone.”

Kirby and I looked at one another, and she seemed just as baffled by the workings of a six-year-old’s mind as I was.

“Do you have a cape?” He asked, his eyes bright with excitement.