The Billionaire's Prize: Taken & Tempted: (Book 3 Billionaire Bodyguard Series) (25 page)

“She’s supposed to call
me,
” Cade said acidly. “Maybe.” He let out a rusty laugh. “Or something.”

Adam scratched his chin. “Hey, would you mind if I shoot some video, then? Since you don’t give a shit about anything, and all. I want to capture the moment.”

“What
moment?
” Cade growled.

Standing up, Adam reached for his smart phone in his back pocket. “You—Mr. Perfect Everything—reduced to the same sad playing field as the rest of us poor schmucks.”

A red light blinked on Adam’s phone. The bastard was serious. Cade seethed. “Shut it off.”

Adam peered through the viewer. “Who’d have thought we’d see the day? Golden boy, Cade, who’s always gotten every woman he’s ever wanted…”

“Shut. It. Off.”

“Now he’s finally found the one he can’t have.”

Red rage gripped Cade.

He charged at Adam. Drew back.
Swung hard.

The impact of knuckles against bone cracked the silence. Adam’s head whiplashed. He fell backward onto the couch, landed hard.

Pulling in stilted breaths, Cade’s chest heaved. He wanted—prayed—Adam would say something else worthy of another punch.

Instead of retaliating, Adam smiled through his split lip. “That’s gonna hurt in the morning.”

Suddenly, Cade’s back went down. The raging haze lifted. He paused and cursed under his breath for losing control. The one thing he’d always had that Adam didn’t. Now their roles were reversed.

“Not bad.” Adam moved his jaw side to side to make sure it hadn’t unhinged. “I’d give you a pat on the back, but I think I’d rather high-five a viper.”

“You got him good,” Liam said, casually inspecting his brother’s already swelling jaw.

Adam brushed away a trickle of blood from his lip with the back of his hand. Then he glanced at Cade. “Feel better?”

“Yes.” Cade shook out his hand. He realized his muscles had released the tension that had plagued him since Kylie left. “Actually, I do.”

Adam threw Cade a grin. “Thought that might help.”

The brothers clasped hands, and Liam helped Adam to his feet.

“You’re not serious.” Cade’s glance bounced between the two of them. “You did that on purpose?”

“Uh, yeah.” Liam rolled his eyes as if it were painfully obvious. “Something had to snap you of your funk. Might as well have been my brother’s hard head that did it.”

Cade’s eyes widened at his cousin. “Adam, I’m—”

“We’re straight.” Adam nodded to Cade. “Just promise me one thing. If I ever get this stupid over a girl, you’ll knock some sense into me.”

“That’s hardly fair,” Cade said reasonably. “I get to punch you twice.”

Adam snorted. “The second time, I’ll deserve it.”

Out of appreciation for Adam’s sacrifice, Cade spent the next several mornings showering at Adam’s place. He still refused to go home. He still had no word from Kylie.

Over the weekend he even borrowed from Adam’s closet, because the second he let himself think about his own place, or Kylie, or that it had been a week since she left, his heart wrenched. His gut churned. And he felt like seven kinds of hell.

Early Monday morning, he woke on the couch in the conference room, as usual. Judging by the darkness outside and the lone mourning dove cooing on the rooftop just above him, it was not yet six o’clock. Not that it mattered. Time had become an irrelevant concept anymore. Just days and, worst of all, nights without her. Sitting up, he tossed off the blanket covering him and scrubbed a hand down his face. That’s when he saw a tall, dark-haired shadow across the room. He wasn’t alone.

Suddenly, his brother moved into the reflected light of a streetlamp. “What the…Trey?”

“I didn’t even know you could grow a beard.” An amused chuckle followed the remark.

“Jesus.” Cade sat up and shook his head to slough off the last vestiges of sleep. “What are you doing here? Man, when did you get back? How long have you been home?”

Trey dragged a rolling conference chair behind him toward the couch. He sat down a few feet in front of Cade.

“I’m checking up on your sorry ass, though I heard how your brilliance saved the day, and the girl. I thought I had the monopoly on that. Then again, you did get your MBA. That diploma had to be useful one of these days.”  Trey’s dark eyes assessed Cade with blunt appraisal. “Adam and Liam warned me you were in rough shape. But I never thought I’d see the day you wore jeans with holes to work.”

Cade grimaced. “They’re Adam’s.”

“That’s a relief.” His brother grinned. “If you’d gone through your closet with shearing scissors, I’d know it was time to commit you. Or maybe there’s a Twelve Step program for that.”

“Give it a rest,” Cade grumbled.

Trey sighed. “That’s the one thing
not
happening at my house. It’s chaos and bedlam. The kids haven’t exactly had a smooth adjustment to First World living.”

“Right.
Man, how are the kids?” Cade frowned. “And give me one damn good reason you didn’t call me the second your plane landed so I could meet my new nieces and nephew?”

“I could give you several reasons. Not the least of which is you’re in no shape to meet them.”

“I’d clean myself up,” Cade growled. “That’s a crap excuse.”

Trey’s expression softened. “No one’s met them yet. We wanted to give them time with me and Devon alone, before we paraded more strangers through their uprooted lives. Yesterday the four-year-old and the toddler finally called us Mommy and Daddy. Believe me, that was huge.”

“That’s amazing,” Cade whispered.

A flash of his future, and his future children with Kylie, rolled like phantom video footage through his mind. His lungs clenched so hard, with such fierce longing, he struggled to breathe.

“We’ll have the rest of our lives to talk about our kids,” Trey said, weariness etched on his features. “Right now I need to know what’s going on with you.”

“I’m freakin’ fantastic. Can’t you tell?”

“I can tell you’re in love.”

“Yeah.
A lot of good that’s doing for me.”

Trey leaned into the chair and crossed his legs at the ankles. “Remember back when Devon told me she was leaving Denver for a new job, and that things were over
between us?”

Cade huffed a laugh. “I found you tearing your house down. Literally. The rain was pouring through your nonexistent roof. Adam brought a tarp, and we nailed it over the hole you made.”

“Not one of my finer moments.” Trey nodded. “But I had to do something. Because sitting still and doing nothing would’ve killed me faster than a support beam falling on my head.”

“I’ve been working,” Cade retorted.

“Yourself into the ground. That isn’t going to help.”

“Nothing’s going to help.” Cade shook his head in misery. “I’ve never been so…”

“Lost?”

“Yes.” Cade shrugged. “Pathetic, right?”

“No, that’s good.”

“How?” Cade demanded in a strangled voice.

“You found something worth having. Worth keeping. That’s once in a lifetime stuff right there.”

Cade scowled. “Thanks for the pep talk. I feel so much better.”

“Nothing anyone says can do that. It’s just something you have to get through, so when she does come back, you’re ready to do whatever it takes to make things work. Especially when you’re going on thirty six hours without sleep, trying to soothe a screaming baby, and chasing after two rug
rats who don’t speak English who’re bent on destroying your house and stealing food from the fridge at three a.m. because they’re afraid it won’t still be there in the morning.”

The poignant moment caught in his chest. My God, those poor kids. A swell of pride filled Cade knowing that Trey and Devon had chosen to remove these innocent souls from a life of abject poverty. “I’m really proud of you, man.” Then he added, “To think, you left me out of all the excitement.”

Trey groaned. “It’s…something.” He offered a tired smile, but his dark eyes glowed with powerful emotion. “Then I look at Devon. She’s covered in baby vomit. Up to her eyeballs in dirty diapers. A comb hasn’t touched her hair. And I love her more now than ever. More than I thought was possible. Even when I tell her she’s beautiful and she throws a pillow at my head.”

“Sounds like heaven,” Cade murmured, no sarcasm in his response.

“It is,” Trey said. “Just when I think it can’t get better, it does.”

Cade sighed. “So you’re trying to convince me purgatory is a good thing?”

“It makes you appreciate what you have. Even through the rough spots.”

“I want the rough spots,” Cade admitted, his heart twisting. “I want the good and the bad. I want it all. With Kylie.”

“Then trust it. Hold onto that. Somehow it all works out in the end.”

“I hope you’re right.” Cade smacked his brother’s knee. “God, I’ve missed you.”

“Missed you too, little brother.” Trey stood. “Listen, why don’t you clean yourself up, finish whatever you’re working on today, and come over this afternoon to meet the kiddos.”

Excitement coursed through Cade, but he asked cautiously, “It’s not too soon?”

Trey rolled his eyes. “No time like the present. By then, baby Lily will need a nap, Devon won’t be far behind, and you and I can chase the two hellions around the yard.”

“Count me in.” Cade lumbered up from the couch and walked his brother to the door. “Thanks for coming by.”

Trey clasped Cade’s shoulder and sent him a fond
look of compassion. “Anything for my kid brother.”

For the first time in a week, Cade had something to look forward to, even if it wasn’t Kylie walking through his door. He almost felt human again. Almost.

*

Kylie glanced up from her law book to see her sister struggling to enter the door of their second floor apartment. She sprang off the couch and tossed the book aside, offering to lend a hand.

Propping the door open with her elbow, Lindsey
shoved a fresh bouquet of flowers into Kylie’s arms. “Delivery number one thousand,” her sister said, rolling her eyes. “Would you call the guy already? I’m sick of hauling bushels of these things up all those steps. I’m about to stand out in front of our house and sell tickets to our own botanical garden.”

With a sheepish shrug, Kylie glanced around their apartment wondering where to put the latest arrangement of stunning blossoms. Bouquets covered every available surface in their place. She had no choice but to set the vase on the floor beside her book.

“Why don’t I just buy some bags of dirt and patio stones from the hardware store and we’ll make a garden path?”

Kylie sighed. “It is a bit…much.”

“A
bit
much?
He’s spent a fortune on you in roses alone. He might as well have purchased a floral shop. Probably would’ve been cheaper.”

Kylie sent her a wry smile. “Cade doesn’t do anything halfway.”

“Except he offered to meet you halfway. So?” Lindsey set her hands on her hips. “Where do you stand on the option? Have you purged the logic from your system yet, so you can run into his arms and go live happily ever after?”

“I’m getting there.”

Lindsey released a long suffering sigh. “If you don’t get there soon,
I’ll
go meet the poor man halfway and ride off into the sunset with him.”

Kylie shot her sister a withering glare.

Erupting in giggles, Lindsey nodded with satisfaction. “That’s what I thought.” Her sister plopped down on the cushion beside her. “It’s been a week. That man is clearly in love with you. What’s the problem?”

“Flowers don’t mean he’s in love with me,” Kylie said, stunned by the thrill that tingled inside her at the possibility.

“That’s not enough proof? Okay, how about the chocolates? And the sappy greeting cards? Oh, and don’t forget the gushy texts he’s sent.” Lindsey grabbed Kylie’s phone and scrolled through the lengthy list of messages.

“Give it back,” Kylie demanded, chasing her sister through the apartment.

“‘Thinking of you.’
‘Missing you.’ ‘Wish I was holding you.’ Oomph!”

Kylie tackled Lindsey on the kitchen floor and took her phone away from her meddling sister. “I know, okay! Cade is wonderful. Amazing.
Perfect.
Too
perfect.”

As Lindsey
dusted off her knees, she paused. “Oh.
Ooooh.
I get it now.”

“What?”

“He’s perfect. And you’re not.”

Kylie frowned. “You don’t have to rub it in.”

“I’m not,” Lindsey
said. “I think you’re fabulous. Clearly, he does too. Why don’t you believe you deserve him?” Her sister sighed. “A classic case of low self-esteem, coupled with deep-seated denial.”

“Do you have to make it sound so clinical?” Kylie snapped.

“Oh, sweetie.” Lindsey grabbed her hand and led her back to the sofa. “He’s crazy about you. He wants to be with you, and the only thing standing in the way of your own happiness is yourself.”