The Reluctant Journey Ch. 07

"This is truly how you want to play this?" He dared her. She glared at him as forcefully as she had ever glared before. She wasn't sure exactly how she completely felt about Cain or about the night before, but her pride had been wounded. She had woken up with a surprising new strength that had been completely unexpected after the emotional turmoil that had left her restless all night. She was ready to shift the balance in her favor for once. She needed to know how far he was willing to go after last night.

She arched her eyebrow at him, completely unamused by his clear attempt at bullying.

"Malia," he started, sounding like his patience was wearing incredibly thin, "I neither have the time nor the patience to deal with this bratty behavior right now. Get dressed!" She continued to glare and brought a spoon full of cereal to her mouth without looking down. She chewed deliberately as he looked somewhere between furious and astonished.

"If you don't get up right now and go change, I will drag you to the car fucking naked." His hands clenched and unclenched as if he wanted to strangle her.

Well there was no backing down now. She gave her best fake smile. "You know what? I don't think you will. I've been thinking about our agreement, you know the one where I said I would cooperate if you helped me see my family again. However inadvertent it was, you fulfilled your part of the deal. I will cooperate with your stupid plan. You need my cooperation now more than ever, all things considered. I don't think what happened last night is exactly conductive to your plan for Tristan. I assume you want my silence on the matter?" It took every once of courage she had to act so nonchalant as he stood menacingly over her seated form.

He looked like he was mentally counting to ten, though she didn't think he made it all the way. She thought he was going to charge towards her but he turned around and went down the hallway. She took a deep breath of relief, though it was short lived. He came back into the living room holding a black dress from her closet and a pair of strapy heels dangling from his finger.

"I'm giving you five minutes to change." he ordered her. He threw the dress down on the coffee table in front of her and hit the TV power button harshly as he walked back into the hallways, leaving her alone in the quiet living room.

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Cain wanted to strangle her. She was calling his bluff, and doing a damn good job at it. He'd expected her to be terrified and cower when he'd threatened her, but she'd nearly laughed in his face. She knew that he didn't want anything even remotely sexual to transpire between the two of them again because it would make the situation with Tristan even worse than it already was. The situation was pretty much blown to shit anyway. Tristan was placating him and Malia wasn't attracted to Tristan. The two had become friends but nothing more was evident. It was time to accept that his plan had failed. Tristan hadn't fallen for Malia Yates and he wouldn't feel obligated to do anything to move the relationship forward once she was reunited with her family. A major contributing factor to the plan had been her isolation and lack of options. Tristan sympathized with that and would have wanted to giver her a happily ever after. Now she was getting her family back, Tristan's hero complex would be satisfied and any possibility of the two getting together would become even more unlikely. Cain called Tristan.

"Brother, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Tristan answered.

"Do you have any romantic feelings for Malia Yates?" Cain asked bluntly.

Tristan laughed, "Very tactful Cain. I like her, she's funny, and smart, and very strong willed. She's pretty, though I'm fairly certain she doesn't know it." he sighed, "But no, I'm not in love with her Cain. You can't force love, sometimes it catches the most unlikely of people." He sounded like he was trying to be meaningful with the last part but Cain didn't have the patience to think too much into it.

"I'm letting you out then. You no longer have any obligation to speak with, entertain, or otherwise communicate with Malia Yates. Consider your agreement paid in full."

"Wait, why the sudden change of heart?" Tristan asked.

"I'm neither blind nor stupid Tristan. It isn't going to happen, you know it, Malia knows it, I know it." Cain was relieved that Tristan didn't have any romantic feelings towards Malia, he'd been fairly certain, but Tristan could always have said yes. The possibility had kept Cain up most of the night. He wouldn't have been able to deal with the guilt if Tristan had felt even the slightest romantic inclination towards Malia. He could breathe now that it was confirmed.

"Just because I don't want to marry her doesn't mean I wouldn't care if she got hurt Cain." Tristan sounded slightly worried.

"You said it yourself Tristan, Malia Yates is very strong-willed. I'm sure it's going to take a lot to break her of that. I'll talk to you later." Cain hung up before Tristan could try and change his mind. Malia Yates had some lessons to learn. Whatever newfound defiance Malia had found would be squashed from her and squashed quickly. He would not be threatened by her and now any hold she thought she had over him was gone. He smiled at the thoughts of just how he would show that to her. Malia was now his to do with what he wanted, guilt free. 'This may just turn out to be a fun week after all', Cain thought as he walked back towards the living room.

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Cain wasn't going to do anything to put his relationship with his brother in jeopardy. Malia used the thought as a comfort while she finished her cereal as the black dress continued to lay on the table. She finally would have some kind of power in the relationship. Cain would not dictate every aspect of her life. She smiled at the thought of telling him what to wear for once. Maybe a worn pair of jeans and a belt, that's all. Her smile faded when he returned to the room. Instead of being furious at seeing her in the same outfit, he was smiling maliciously. She didn't like that smile at all, it generally didn't mean good things for her.

"I see you've chosen the hard way?" Cain asked, arching an eyebrow at her. "I've realized something little girl. I've given you the false impression that you have any sort of power over me. It's my mistake really, but one I think will be fun rectifying." He pulled her from the chair by her arm. Her bowl fell to the floor and spilt it's contents on the rug and hard wood. She saw a flash of his angry face from the night before. He wasn't supposed to do this, not again. He was supposed to feel regretful and guilty. He was supposed to be thinking of his brother.

"Cain, what about Tristan?" She was loosing her resilience by the second, she could hear it pathetically draining from her voice.

"Tristan says hello." He mocked. His hands were quick to reach the hem of the shirt she was wearing. Despite her own hands trying to fight his much larger ones off, he managed to easily tear the shirt completely in half as it was on her body. She gasped as she looked down at the garment in tatters.

"Okay, Okay I'll change!" She begged as she tried to cover herself.

He smiled and cocked his head to the side. "What was that?"

"I said I'll change!" She screamed.

He looked at his silvery watch. "Since you've seemed to waste the five minutes I gave you, you have one, go." He stepped back slightly and kept his eyes on the watch. She didn't hesitate, so much for shifting the balance of power. She should have known that Cain wouldn't allow anything to strain his controlling hold. She turned around as she unbuttoned her jeans and slid them down her legs. She removed the rest of the ruined top.

"Bra too Malia." He said dryly. She didn't have time to argue, she unclasped her bra and slid it down her arms. She reached for the dress. "While your at it take off the panties."

"What?" She answered, her back turned to him.

"Take them off, you're wasting time." He said impatiently over her shoulder.

She clenched her teeth. She wasn't going to find out what was going to happen at the end of the minute when she was already nearly naked. She dropped the panties to the floor and quickly slid the dress over her head. It fell like silk down her body. She adjusted her breasts into the built-in cups of the dress and she was done. The dress was fitted in the bust and waist but the skirt had an excess of fabric that made it flowy. It came directly above her knees. She didn't think the style would comfort her as it would only emphasize the bareness underneath.

He came closer behind her and she wished she would have turned around as soon as she'd been dressed. It was disconcerting as he spoke directly in her ear softly and menacingly. "Every time the wind blows up that pretty little dress I want you to think why it is that you can feel it so intimately. Test me like that again and I won't be so forgiving."

She clenched her jaw as he spoke. "Such a good method to set me up with your brother, sexually assaulting me repeatedly."

He laughed behind her. "Tristan isn't interested in you little girl. Maybe he'll feel differently when your little sister moves in. She was quite attractive wasn't she?" He said slowly and coldly.

She turned to face him directly. She shoved his chest away from her as hard as she could and he took a couple steps back. "Stay away from her!" She pointed at him threateningly. "I have done everything you've asked you fucking asshole! Stay away from my family!" She clenched her hands to her sides when he just smiled at her in reply. She'd woken up with a new sense of power, now she felt more helpless than ever. She should have realized that Cain wouldn't continue using her for Tristan when there was little success to show. Now he had complete power over her, more than he ever had before. He didn't need her for anything. Anything he did to her now would be done because he wanted it.

"Such a temper. I would love to discuss this all in further detail but the car is waiting outside, we wouldn't want to be late. Put the shoes on." She glared at him and he cocked his head at her, daring her to attempt to challenge him again.

She slid her foot into the shoe and pulled the strap behind her heel and repeated the process with her left foot. She turned and walked angrily out the door and towards the black SUV. She wasn't thrilled by the recent turn of events at all but at least her attraction to Cain had died down considerably due to their last conversation. She wished she could say that it was gone completely. She didn't think Cain wanted anything to do with her family, but she was done trying to read his mind so she couldn't be sure.

They drove to some kind of military camp, it wasn't a far drive. Cain sat in the front and spoke to the driver as she sulked in the back. Cain opened her door when they parked. He had a satisfied smirk on his face as she carefully positioned her legs to get out of the vehicle, trying to avoid flashing anyone. She wanted to punch him in his snarky face so badly. She knew she was providing him satisfaction with her obvious negative reaction to his punishment, but she wasn't able to calm herself enough to feign indifference. She was seething. Thankfully he didn't provoke her as they walked to a large building in the center of the complex. Cain and the driver, a soldier beneath Cain, walked in front of her virtually ignoring her as she followed them. There were groups of men everywhere, and as Cain passed they all seemed to stop what they were doing. Sometimes they saluted but Malia was too sidetracked to see a pattern of when. There were various buildings throughout the camp, all very utilitarian in appearance. There were flags thorough the complex with an unfamiliar flag waving, most likely the new flag of the country, the flag of Phoenix. It was so strange to not belong to the country where she'd been born and raised. The building in the center of the complex was slightly more elaborate than all of the others. There were statues standing on the top corners of the stone building as well as one in the center that held a flag as the peak of the building. There were even some leafy plants to the sides of the large stone stairs that led to the entrance of the building.

The floors inside were marble and the ceilings were high. Everything looked very official. The trio skipped the desk at the far end of the lobby and walked down a hallway to the right of the building. After a series of turns Malia didn't keep track of they came to a wooden door that looked exactly like the hundred or so they must've passed. This door however had a nameplate beside it reading 'Cain Malcolm GEN". They entered the office and Cain spoke to the driver as she looked around. It wasn't as big as she would have expected his office to be. There were three large bookshelves along the walls, the fourth had a fairly large window. Cain's desk faced the door and took up most of the remaining space of the room. She couldn't imagine him spending much time here considering the elaborate office in his house. There weren't any pictures or personal belongings sitting around which she didn't find incredibly surprising. Cain dismissed the driver who closed the door as he left them alone in the office. She was alone with Cain, again.

"Sit." He motioned to a small chair in the corner that she hadn't noticed.

It didn't seem like a battle she wanted to choose so she sat in the chair. Cain went behind his desk and began to boot up the computer. She didn't see why she was here, he could have just as easily left her at the cabin. She wasn't going to run away when her family wasn't with her yet. She might've cut holes in the knees of all Cain's expensive suits, but he could afford it and he would've deserved it.

"Why am I here?" Malia asked after a minute or two of him ignoring her.

He looked up over the computer at her. "Because you can't be trusted left to your own devices."

"You left me at your house by myself for a week." She argued.

"You were not by yourself." He countered, looking at the monitor.

"I've given you no reason not to trust me." She said seriously.

He laughed. "Are you serious?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes I'm serious. I told you that I was Olivia because I thought I was saving her life. I'm tired of you trying to turn that into something bad. I am not sorry I did it and I would do it again. You would have done the same thing anyway if you were put in my position."

He looked at her again. "Would I?"

She looked at him seriously. He was so irritating. He made it openly known that he would sacrifice anything for his little brother and when she told him that he questioned her. "Yes you would. It's not like you try to hide it."

He nodded slowly and contemplatively. "Maybe I would, but I wouldn't expect someone to blindly trust me afterwards."

She sighed. "Fine. This is a good opportunity anyway. It seems you know everything there is to know about me. You however are a virtual stranger to me."

"You know everything you need to know." He was looking at the monitor again.

"Why did you join the military?" She asked.

"My father was in the military." He answered distractedly, reading something on his screen.

"That's it? You joined because your father made you?"

He looked up at her. "He didn't make me. My father was a respected general who was in line for the highest promotion in his field before he died. I joined the military to continue his legacy as he wanted me to."

It was instinctual for her to want to say sorry for his loss but she was finally getting some answers about the elusive man and wasn't going to stop now to be polite, he didn't deserve her politeness anyway. "What did you want to do?" She asked when he looked down again.

"What?" He asked annoyed at the multiple interruptions.

"What did you want to do with your life, before your father died?"

"I didn't want to do anything." Cain answered shortly.

"You had to want to do something. Everybody wants to do something, even if it's completely unrealistic." Malia continued unfazed by his clear annoyance.

"Right." He laughed softly. "Because a kid born into tons of money, prestige, and power dreams of one day having a nine to five job. I wanted to continue to do what I had always done, lived off my parents without a care in the world."

"I wanted to be a photographer." Malia said reflectively. "My dad and I used to watch shows about animals around the world and I thought it would be so cool to travel and take pictures of animals and sunrises and stuff." She hadn't meant to share anything about herself. She had hardly even remembered that she had one day wanted to do that. It was so long ago that she had dreamed about the future for herself. Somewhere along the road she'd accepted that her options had become very limited and her dreams had slowly faded, locked away like a time capsule of a time when her future wasn't written for her.

"I have a meeting." Cain said as he stood. "Stay here and don't touch anything." He looked at her distrustfully. She expected him to add on a threat if she didn't obey him, but he didn't. He left her in the small room and closed the door.

She went over to the computer almost immediately but there was a password. She sat in his recently vacated chair and looked out the large window. She needed to get a grip on her new situation. Cain was lashing out. The reason Malia couldn't fully associate last night's experience with rape was because it had only started out as a rape. She'd made him change his mind. He was mad about it. He had started off wanting to exert his power over her as always, but she had made him change his mind. She'd made him give up some of that power and control. She had a moment of self-satisfaction at the knowledge. Maybe she wasn't as powerless as she thought. When he'd ripped her t-shirt earlier she'd noticed his eyes darken like they had the night before. He wasn't as aloof as he would have her believe.

Cain had ended the arrangement between Tristan and herself. It really wasn't going to work out anyway. He hadn't been ready to end it though. She'd forced his hand when she challenged him. Now he was free to be an asshole one-hundred percent. She ground her teeth in frustration. If he thought he was going to turn her into some obedient little bitch he had another think coming. She had let him get into her head and drain her confidence. She was stronger than she'd been acting recently and it was time to show that. Cain was only human, he had plenty of flaws to prove it, she'd given him more power than he really had and he knew it. She was slightly surprised to find that she wasn't really as afraid of him as she'd been before last night. If all bets were off she was done giving him an easy time. If he thought she'd been difficult before he wasn't going to know what hit him. She smiled to herself and spun around in his chair a couple times.

Cain was gone for two and a half hours, during which she unplugged his computer from the wall and all of the wires from the tower. She also 'reorganized' the hundreds of books in his office once she saw they were meticulously alphabetized. Moving the books around took most of her time but eventually she just slowly spun around in his chair in boredom. She had dozed off in the chair by the time Cain returned.

He looked at her suspiciously as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. From the door he could see the computer with all of its wires unattached. "Really?"

"You didn't leave me any sharp objects so my options were limited." He continued to scope out the room. She laughed when he saw the bookshelves and glared at her.