“HERE’S THE BOOZE order and the schedule for the girls for the next two weeks,” Jett said, standing at my desk. She’d had a lot thrown on her shoulders these past few days and handled it like a pro.
I took the papers. “Thank you for taking on all this shit.”
She shrugged. “I’ve got your back.” Yeah, she did.
“I know. What all needs to be taken care of?”
Her smirk told me I wouldn’t like what she had to give me.
She held out a file folder. “Expense reports for this month.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Yay, fun for me.”
“I can go over them if you like.”
I waved her off. “No, I’ll do it. I’ll make sure all the numbers add up.”
Her eyes drifted behind me to the man currently lying on my couch. It was my turn to silently shrug.
“You good?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m good.” Not really, but Sirens was the only stable thing I had going right now.
“Alright, I’ve got things to do,” she said, giving me a slight wave before heading out the door.
“You like doing all this shit?” Cade asked from the couch as soon as Jett left.
I thought he was asleep, considering I hadn’t heard much from him, but looking over at him, I saw he was typing on his phone, calm as could be. Not me, I was a nervous wreck. The Colonel would be here soon.
“What?” I asked stupidly, putting the papers in my hand down on the desk.
He waved his hand in the air, motioning to my desk. “The paperwork. Do you enjoy it all?”
I tilted my head, taking him in. I popped my lips and answered honestly. “Like doing isn’t what I would call it. I look at it as, if I want Sirens to be run right, I need to have my hands in everything. It’s the only way I know for sure what’s going on all the time.”
He chuckled, and I lifted a brow. Surely, he wasn’t laughing at me.
He shook his head. “No, not laughing at you. I’m laughing at us.”
“And why would that be?”
He licked his sexy bottom lip, and I felt my belly quiver. “You and I, we’re cut from the same cloth.”
When he didn’t continue, I asked, “And that means …?”
“I run the garage and the club. I’m neck deep in paperwork all the time. After my dad made a fucking mess out of everything, I took it all on my shoulders.”
A warm feeling spread through my chest, yet something puzzled me. “But you’ve been spending tons of time with me here. I haven’t seen you do a single piece of paperwork in that time.” Hell, since three days ago when he took me out of the hotel, he’d been with me almost nonstop.
He held up his phone, shaking it from side to side. “Boner was on my ass about not delegating, so I did. He’s been scanning the important shit to my email and handling the rest. This way, I’m still taking care of shit and doing what I need to get done.”
“You’ve put all this in motion in the last few days?”
His laughter slithered down my spine. I’d always loved it.
“Yeah. We move quickly when it’s important.”
“You know you don’t have to be here all afternoon,” I quipped.
He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and laced his fingers together. “Trixie, the only way I’m gonna get you to trust me is if I’m here. You know all my shit now …” He trailed off.
“How do you trust that I won’t go to the cops or something?” Not that I ever would, not in a million years.
He rose, coming at me. I turned my chair on its swivel as he dropped to his knees in front of me, his eyes alight with lust and caring. The action hit me hard. It was profound in a way I couldn’t explain.
He grabbed my hands, and the warmth from his touch had my eyes going to our connection. “Fifteen years ago, you tunneled your way into my heart.” He cleared his throat. “One look at you in my clubhouse, and that was all it took. I knew … knew you were mine. In knowing this down to my fucking bones, I trust you completely. I know I have to earn yours. I get it, and I’m doing it by spending time with you, fucking you, and dealing with the hard shit like talking to the Colonel. When I have shit that’s really important, like a meeting with the boys, then I deal and come back to you. I’ll always come back to you … for you.”
Tears welled in my eyes, and I tried with super human strength to push them back.
I leaned over and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him to me, my face burrowing in his neck. I wanted to believe it. I did. However, I was scared. Terrified.
His words wouldn’t normally cut me, but those … Those cut me to the quick, and I latched on to every single one of them as I held him tight.
We stayed in that position for long moments before lifting our heads. When we did, he kissed me, sexy and sultry and with as much passion as ever, but it was also slow and sweet. He cupped my cheeks as he surprised me with the type of kiss and then pulled away.
“You get me now, Trixie?”
I nodded because I did, even if everything was a mess right now.
“Good.” He kissed my forehead. “What about me killing my father?”
The air left my sails. Even after having time to process it, it still seemed so surreal, but it was now my reality. I understood why Cade had done what he did. While murder was a horrible thing, I didn’t feel outrage or even fear from him. If anything, it made me realize the lengths Cade would go to for me.
I looked into his captivating eyes. “Cade, I’m not saying that I’m alright with you killing people, but I get why you had to take out your father.”
“Does it scare you?” he asked hesitantly.
I bent over and touched my lips to his. “No.” I stared into his eyes. I couldn’t give him exactly what he needed at the moment, but I hoped my eyes told him what he needed to know.
“Good, Trixie, good.” He kissed me hard then rose. “Your dad should be here in an hour.”
I looked at the clock, and a boulder fell in my gut. One hour. Shit.
Cade moved back to the couch and sat down, pulling out his phone and getting back to work. I turned back to my desk, mentally preparing myself for the meeting with my father.
I wasn’t going to lie. I was happy Cade was here. My father had always made me nervous growing up. I’d always felt more like an obligation to him than a daughter. I learned quickly how to take care of myself, because my father hadn’t cared if I had eaten or bathed, and the nannies always did the bare minimum. He always told me that I “needed to grow up,” which I did faster than any child should. Regardless, I survived and grew out of it, becoming tougher than most women.
The boulder in my stomach flipped and flopped, making me queasy. It felt like forever before there was a knock on the door, and Jett popped her head inside, her face pale as a ghost. I knew the Colonel was here.
Jett had never liked him, told me he freaked her way the hell out. She had a right to be seriously scared.
“The Colonel’s here,” she said softly, her eyes moving to Cade.
“Let him in,” I said and mouthed, “It’s okay,” and she nodded, shutting the door.
Cade pulled a chair around from the front of the desk and sat next to me, cool and calm. I wish I had that, but no, my heart was pumping so fast I was surprised my body didn’t spasm. Hopefully, it didn’t show on the outside.
The door opened, and in stepped my father, the Colonel. The air seemed to get sucked out of the room as his eyes came to mine. He looked as good as always in black slacks with a pressed crease down the middle and a white shirt unbuttoned at the collar. His shoes were the expensive Italian kind.
His face was worn yet firm. He had lines by his eyes, which I knew didn’t come from laughing. I’d had yet to ever hear him laugh. They had to be from all the scowls. My same green eyes locked on me then swung to Cade.
“Well, this is interesting,” he said in a low tone as he shut the door behind him and walked into the space like he owned it.
I wouldn’t show weakness, not ever. As much as I wanted to either pace or move my leg up and down, I did neither. I was stoic, even clasping my hands together so I didn’t start scratching the desk. If I did that, then he’d know I was nervous.
“Hi, Colonel. Please, have a seat.” I gestured to the chair in front of me.
“You packing?” Cade asked from beside me.
“Always. You?” he countered.
Cade nodded. I had mine, too, under the desk, but it was nice to know everyone was at play here. Anything was possible with the Colonel.
My father sat, crossing one ankle over his knee and sitting back in the chair, relaxed as can be.
“You summoned me,” he quipped.
My heart rate sped up, and I tried to slow it, but it was on a warpath. I wanted to ask the question yet stumbled on it, my normal bravado taking a back seat when I needed it the most.
“I told her about the girls,” Cade said, shocking me. One, for bailing me out. Two, because I wanted to kiss him for having the balls to flat out say it. I wanted some of those balls when it came to the man sitting before me.
The Colonel remained stoic. “And what girls would this be?”
Cade stiffened beside me while I kept my eyes trained on my father.
“I told her about my father’s side business that you took over.”
The Colonel’s eyes sliced to Cade as some unknown to me conversation went through them. I wanted to be in one of their heads.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he claimed, and my heart dropped.
While I hadn’t really expected him to tell me, part of me had hoped. That little girl inside who had always wanted her father’s approval wanted to think he’d tell me the truth. I knew better, yet I wished he would have turned over a new leaf. I let the hope die along with everything I had always wanted for in a father.
“The business you took over for Spook’s father,” I finally spoke. “Why would you do this?”
Nothing on his face gave him away. He wasn’t going to tell us anything.
“Cade’s putting some serious ideas in your head. Lies, lies, lies. You trying to get in my daughter’s pants again?” he accused.
“Just finish this, Colonel. She knows. Deal with it,” Cade retorted in a clipped tone.
My father looked me straight in the eye, the intensity coming off him in waves. “You’re going to believe him? Come on, Trix; you’re smarter than that,” he scoffed like it was all the same to him. He really didn’t give a shit if I believed him or not.
“Why would Spook lie?”
My father shrugged. “Who the fuck knows?”
“I’m not fucking lying,” Cade growled.
My father stared at Cade, and I could feel the anger billowing off the man beside me.
“First, why would anyone admit to anything of the sort? That would be a fool’s move, and I am no fool. Second, if someone were to know such damaging information, they would have to be dealt with.” The last words were snapped tight.
Coldness took over my body. It was a threat to me.
My throat clogged, and I couldn’t speak. It shouldn’t be a surprise, considering everything I’d learned, but not once in my life had he ever threatened to deal with me. Never once laid a hand on me. He’d gone and done it now. I was officially petrified of the man.
“You come fucking near her, and I’ll kill you,” Cade fumed, his body still relaxed, but not his temper.
Cade was right; this was a bad idea. I was smarter than this and should have played the outcome in my head better, not letting all the new information clog me up. That was on me.
When I reached over and put my hand on Cade’s knee, his hand came to the top of mine and squeezed. I needed it, needed the reassurance, his comfort.
“I won’t say anything.” My words came out so much smaller than I wanted, allowing the bit of hurt to come through, which was a mistake. The Colonel would use it. I kicked myself for not having the control.
“I know you won’t say a word because you have no proof of anything. I, on the other hand, do.” He paused, his eyes going to Cade. “Proof that your boy here killed his father in cold blood. I’d hate for that information to get into the wrong hands.” His face was so still. Nothing, not a tick or an eye movement, to tell me he was lying.
Cade was wrong. Someone else knew. Shit.
“You asshole,” Cade ground out.
This time, my father gave a devilish smirk. “Never play all your cards. You never know when you’ll need one in reserve,” he said to both of us.
Shit, his teachings came back to me. He’d always told me that, if there were a way to hold a card back to use at a later time, do it.
His eyes were cold, so cold the frost filled my veins. “I’m done.” He stood and went to the door. I went to say something, but he turned back to me. “Watch yourself,” he said, slamming the door behind him.
Holy shit. I allowed my body to shake because it so desperately needed it. I’d held it all in, and if I didn’t let it out, I was going to implode.
Cade must have seen it, because he pulled me out of the chair and plopped me in his lap. He rubbed my arms and kissed the top of my head, not saying anything. I clung to his warmth, allowing him to chip off the ice I felt to my bones. I needed the quiet to process everything that happened. I felt like my life was in a blender that was turned on high. A chill ran up my back.
“Trixie, we’re leaving here and going to your place. I want you to pack everything you need for a while. You’re coming to stay with me. If you’re here and I’m not, I’m gonna have a man on you. I don’t know what the fuck he’s thinking, but I’m not taking any chances.”
I burrowed farther into him. Cade wanted to take care of me, protect me. I’d been protecting myself for so damn long it felt nice to have someone help with the burden. I felt a small part of me crack.
Thoughts of all my options played in my head: Go back home alone? No thank you. Stay with Ike or Jett? Nope, not bringing the Colonel down on them.
I had to start somewhere with Cade, and he’d already started building the blocks of trust by protecting and trusting me. If I stayed with him, then I’d let the cards fall where they may.
“Okay.”
“You’re not gonna fight me on this?” he questioned.
“No.” My voice lowered to a whisper. “I’m scared, and you make me feel safe.”
He kissed my head again and chuckled. “And here I thought you were gonna be a challenge.”
“I’ll always be a challenge.” I would be, but when it came to him protecting me, the trust was building.