Carnal

Chapter Thirty-Seven - Invasive Inquiries

The sun had hidden itself beneath the horizon, a dull glow of orange light in its wake that faded into deeper shades of red and violet as the moon rose.

Stars had begun to twinkle in the sky above us when Cain and I walked out of the house into the night air.

"I really don't need new clothes," I said, repeating myself for the thousandth time that evening.

Instead of honoring my whining with a response, Cain looked me up and down. His silent judgement upon the outfit I wore—which consisted of his t-shirt, my jeans and snow boots—wasn't subtle but I had a feeling it wasn't supposed to be.

When he continued to walk towards his red Ferrari, I followed, sighing as I realized that my continual protest was only annoying him rather than hindering him.

He was a stubborn man set in his ways.

Reaching down, he opened up the car door for me and I stopped in front of him.

"Why don't we just drive around for a bit and sightsee? We can come straight back here afterwards," I offered, trying my hardest to dissuade him.

Cain drew in a deep breath as he leaned forward to rest his forearms on the car door.

"We will go where I drive us and I will buy what I want to buy. Now, you can get in the car and come with me so you can pick out what you like, or you can stay here while I pick out what I want you to wear. Those are your options."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes as I wordlessly stooped down and got into the car. I knew there was a smug smile plastered on his face as he closed the car door and ventured over to the driver's side to take his own seat.

There was a part of me that secretly wanted to smile too, excited at the prospect of buying new clothes. This part of me made me feel guilty, like I was being a brat. There were plenty of people in the world without anything to wear and there I was begging the man driving a Ferrari not to buy me anything.

However, the other part of me could have withstood the sound of nails on a chalkboard better than I could the thought of Cain spending even a penny on me. I had been financially independent for so long that it made me sick to my stomach to feel like a monetary burden on anyone.

While an internal war raged within me over how to feel about shopping with Cain's wallet, both sides agreed that I was in desperate need of clothes and something to do besides stay in the house all night.

This stalemate caused me to seal my mouth shut as the car roared to life.

The gate in front of the house slid back as Cain drove up to it. When it had opened wide enough, he pulled out of the driveway and drove out onto the street, heading towards the cityscape of Casablanca.

Despite the beauty of the sun setting behind the city, I found myself staring at Cain instead.

"Can I ask you something?"

He looked at me from the corner of his eye, as if the prospect of being questioned scared him.

"Why didn't you tell me about your brother?" I asked.

He shrugged nonchalantly, but I could tell he was thinking hard about what words to use next.

"I didn't think it was important."

"Bullshit," I said incredulously.

"Excuse me?"

I let out a laugh, although it was one of amusement rather than humor.