Caden's Vow Read Free

with her.”
    Caine dismissed the challenge with a wave of his hand. Whiskey
sloshed in the cut-crystal glass he held. Caden remembered when they used to
drink it straight out of the bottle. “Hell, I know that, but that woman has a
powerful affection for you.”
    “She’s like a child.”
    “Maybe when she first got here. But have you noticed lately
she’s more here than there?”
    “She’s healing.”
    “Desi says she’s forgetting.”
    Caden took one of the glasses from Caine. “How the hell does a
woman forget being forced to serve men from childhood?”
    “A woman who knows how to escape into make-believe?” Caine made
a slashing motion with his free hand. “How the hell do I know?”
    “Then, why are you bringing it up?”
    “Because Sally Mae told Desi that I should.”
    Of course she had. Caden sighed and swirled the whiskey in the
glass. “Life was a hell of a lot easier before we had women cluttering up the
place.”
    Caine’s whole expression softened as he looked over at his
wife. Blonde and petite, her curly hair temporarily confined in a knot, Desi was
the love of Caine’s hard life and he was hers. If ever two people fit together
like pieces of a puzzle, it was Desi and Caine.
    “I happen to like the clutter,” Caine drawled.
    Caden bet he did, but the Miller men didn’t have that kind of
heart luck. They were treasure hunters, adventurers, trailblazers. Caden took a
sip of whiskey. The only thing the Millers brought women was loneliness and
disappointment. “I know.”
    “You really going to try to salvage that gold mine of Fei’s?”
Caine asked.
    Caden swallowed the whiskey, savoring the burn. That was more
like it. Enough whiskey could cauterize any wound. “Yup.”
    “Sam said Fei blew it to hell and gone.”
    Caden shrugged. There were ways around that. “Just presents
more of a challenge.”
    “A hell of a challenge for one man.”
    Caden smiled and took another sip. “Since when did Hell’s Eight
shy away from a challenge?”
    “Never.” Caine swirled the whiskey in his glass. “Is that what
has your feet itching? No more challenges for you here?”
    There were plenty of challenges at Hell’s Eight. Just because
they’d staked their claim didn’t mean there wasn’t someone who was going to try
to take it.
    His father’s face flashed into his mind. Frozen in time. Remember who you are...
    He’d done his duty by the Hell’s Eight and Tia. But now it was
time to do right by his family.
    “More like a promise I’ve got to keep.”
    “What promise?” Caine asked.
    “Nothing that involves you.”
    “If it involves you,” Caine countered, “it involves Hell’s
Eight.”
    Caine’s loyalty to those he considered family was all
encompassing. Caden drained the glass and set it beside the delicate champagne
flute. Such elegance where before there had been none. He turned away. “Not this
time.”
    “The hell you say.”
    He met Caine’s gaze squarely. “I do.”
    “At least let Ace or Luke go with you.”
    Caden could see Maddie scooping up her piece of cake. Saw her
smile at Tucker shyly as he pretended to grab for it. Inside, something twisted,
revealing a touch of...anger? He pushed the feeling aside.
    “You can’t spare the hands.”
    “We can spare what you need,” Caine said.
    Caden knew the state of the ranch as well as anyone. Knew the
threats against it. They’d just expanded. Every man was necessary. And now with
the cavalry being pulled back East to deal with the discord there between North
and South, they had to add the renewed threat of Indian attacks to the mix. “Too
many people would draw attention.”
    “Two is hardly too many,” Sam cut in, coming up beside them, a
whiskey glass in one hand and a bottle in the other. Behind him was Ace. “Hell,
it won’t even get the job done. Remember, I saw the place after Fei blew it up.
The woman is thorough.”
    Caden knew he’d eventually need help, a lot of it likely, but
right now, he