I frowned as I picked up my fork and stabbed the plain omelet. I was starting to really hate these things. All I ever ate were eggs and more eggs.
“Really?” Cade asked, his eyes alert and hopeful. “I can come work here again?”
Wait. Had I missed something?
Sal shrugged and picked up his burger. “Yeah.” And that was the end of that because then he was stuffing his face, and no one talked to Sal while he was eating. He was like a dog with a bone, not letting up until every piece of food was gone off his plate. And apparently, now I had to work with the son of the person who I was in love with, who also happened to be his married dad. Crap. Today was going from bad to worse.
We all ate in silence, and I couldn’t help but wonder if that was better than being out there with an arguing Brody and Moira. The silence allowed thoughts to come forth that needed to stay hidden. Things like, did Cade really mean he wanted his mom and dad to break up? Were they breaking up? My hopes peaked and then dashed again as I remembered what Brody had said to me.
I was becoming one of those girls. The ones who waited around for any scraps that the person they loved would throw at them, and I hated it. Something had to change, something had to give, but then his voice rang out again. Why was he everywhere my thoughts were?
“Cade?”
“Dad.” Cade wiped his mouth, all of his burger having been demolished and the fries mostly gone.
“Sorry about that, son.” He flicked his gaze over to Sal but refused to look at me. I wasn’t sure if I was glad he didn’t or sad. “Sal,” he greeted.
“Brody.”
A silent conversation took place between them, and it wasn’t until I stood, the legs of my chair scraping against the floor, that either of them looked away.
“Head out front to your mom, Cade,” Brody said, finally looking at me. I hated being the center of his attention, but god, I couldn’t deny I craved it too.
“Thanks for the burger, Lola.” Cade placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. “You’re the best.”
My cheeks heated, and I shuffled on the spot. It wasn’t that I was embarrassed with what Cade had said, but that Brody had witnessed it, and he was Brody’s son, which meant he was my baby’s big brother.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
I blinked several times, my hand twitching by my side, but I managed to keep it there and not move it to my stomach. That one move would have been all Brody needed to see, and there was no way I was going to tell him right now. Not when his wife and son were in the diner, and not when I wasn’t sure what was happening with anything else in my life.
“Lola,” Brody started, but Sal stood, blocking me.
“No.” Sal shook his head. “You’re not doing this. Walk out of this room right now and go back to your wife and kid.”
“Sal,” Brody ground out, and I felt him rather than saw him move closer. “Stay out of my business. This has nothing to do with—”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Sal stepped forward, and I moved to the side, hating that they were face-to-face with only a few inches separating them. “Lola is my business, and she’s on the clock, which means you leave her alone.”
The atmosphere was so tense even I squirmed. I didn’t want any of this to happen. All I had wanted was to get out from Hut and start a new life. That new life wasn’t meant to cause me more stress than my old one.
I was meant to start fresh.
Brody focused on me, his gaze flicking over my entire face and finally stopping on my eyes. There was so much shining inside of them, but he concealed it all just as quickly as he’d shown me. “I only wanted to say thank you for bringing Cade back here.”
“You’re welcome,” I croaked out, gripping my hands in front of me.
“You can go now,” Sal growled. “And tell Cade his first shift starts at twelve tomorrow.”
Brody didn’t move for a beat, his feet planted to the floor, and part of me wanted him to fight what Sal said, to tell Sal he didn’t get to command what he did and he was sorry for lying, that I was enough for him. But the other part of me—the part that told myself I didn’t need a man—stood up taller and took over. That part wouldn’t stay in this room while the testosterone was rife. That part had my feet moving around the table and past Brody, not giving him a second glance.
Too bad that part only stayed for a few minutes, because as soon as Brody walked back into the diner, and toward Moira and Cade who were standing by the front door, it withered away, and left me more confused than I was before Brody had come in here.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
BRODY
“What the hell do you mean he got bail?” I pushed my hand into my hair and gripped it as hard as I could. The burn of my scalp didn’t help though. It just aggravated me even more.
“It means,” Aaron said, “that the judge let him out on bail. He’s free to run the streets until his court date.”
My office had all the guys in it, as well as Aaron as he delivered the news we didn’t think we’d hear. That wasn’t what was meant to happen. We’d pulled way too much cocaine off the streets and had enough evidence that he shouldn’t have been let out at all.
“He must have connections inside,” Ryan growled from his position on the sofa. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. If he doesn’t, then he’s one lucky fucker.”
Aaron winced but didn’t deny the theory. “His bail was set at a million, and he met it.”
“Of course he did.” I stood and planted my fists on my desk. “They let him use drug money so he could get out onto the streets again.”
My mind was working overtime. We’d been able to get everything we needed to put him away for good, and he’d still managed to squirm his way out of it. It shouldn't have been possible—no way in hell. And yet he was practically a free man walking.
“What do we do now?” Jord asked from where he was leaning against my closed door. We’d all put way too much time into this case for Hut to just walk away. There was no way we were going to let it go. And from the way Aaron’s jaw tensed, he agreed. It was too personal for him to surrender at the first sign of trouble.
“What about Ford?” I asked, an idea starting to form. “Hut doesn’t know he was involved.”
“We promised him he’d get out,” Kyle reminded me.
He was right, we had, but I’d do anything at this stage just so that Hut wouldn’t be on the streets. “Where is he?” I asked. It had only been two weeks since Hut had been arrested, and Ford had been in this office when I told him exactly who I was. He may have already been starting his new life with his cousin, Jenna, but there may have been a chance...
“He’s in the next state over.” Ryan stood. “I took him there myself. I gotta say”—he walked over to the window and looked out of it, a frown on his face—“he reminds me of you.”
“Me?” I pursed my lips.
“Yeah.” Ryan turned to face me. “He has this raw need to not be who he’s always been. He wanted out, and a better life, and he said he’d do anything to have that. It was like I’d gone back a decade and was talking to you.”
I blinked several times, my chest moving on a slow breath. Was this what Aaron thought when he first met me all those years ago? He’d taken a chance on me and watched as my career soared. Maybe it was time I did the same thing for someone else.
“How fast can we get him in here?” I asked.
“Four hours tops.” Ryan moved to stand next to Aaron. “You want me to bring him in?”
“Depends,” Aaron said, tilting his head as he stared at me. “What are you thinking, Brody?”
“I’m thinking we offer him a new life to help us, but not just any new life.” I waited, leaving the rest unsaid, knowing he’d understand where my thoughts were.
Aaron stared at me for several seconds, and then finally gave the go-ahead to Ryan. The guys filed out of my office, and I sat down in my chair, wondering if I was making the right move. Would it backfire on
me? Would he refuse what I wanted to offer him?
There was only one way to find out.
All too soon, Ford was walking into my office, Ryan on his heels. “Ford,” I greeted, standing up and offering my hand.
He raised a brow at it, his gaze flicking from my face to my hand several times. “Brody.” He placed his hand in mine, let go, and stepped back. He widened his stance, and it was on the tip of my tongue to tell him to sit down, but I remembered what I’d felt like all those years ago when Aaron had proposed to me what I was about to offer Ford. I’d been wary, not sure if it was a setup, and with my stance widened just the way Ford’s was, I felt like I had at least a little control.
“Why am I back here?” Ford’s deep voice asked. “We had a deal—”
“Hut made bail.” I moved around to the front of my desk, pushed my hands into the pockets of my slacks, and leaned against it.
“He what?” Ford’s eyes widened. “Fuck!”
“Yep.” I nodded, already knowing what was going through his mind. “I want to offer you a new deal.”
“Wha—”
“Hut doesn’t know you’re our CI. All he knows is that you’ve been AWOL for two weeks.” I shrugged, getting straight to the point. “We want you to go back in.”
“No.” Ford backed up a step, his muscles tensing. “I’m not going back—”
“Let me finish.” I stood. “I was just like you. I grew up on the streets. I did everything and anything to survive. I dealt drugs, I beat people up, I slept in empty houses that weren’t mine.” I paused and cleared my throat. “Everything I told you of my past is true, what I left out was the man who helped me get out of there.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Ford’s eyes narrowed, his nostrils flaring, and I understood. I wasn’t making much sense right now, but I would.
“A man came to me with an offer of a new life. One where I could use the skills I’d gained on the streets and put them to good use. To be one of the good guys instead of another spoke in the wheel of the bad guys.”
“Are you saying you want me to become a fuckin' cop?” Ford growled, and however much his voice denied it, the hope in his eyes couldn’t be covered up.
“If you want.” I tilted my head to the side. “I’m saying you’re only twenty-two, and you could become anything you wanted. I could help you with that if you go back in.”
Ford was silent for several minutes, his gaze not moving off my face. I knew that look. It was the one that said he couldn’t believe someone was offering him this and that he shouldn’t trust me, but a part of him wanted to.
“And if I say no?”
“Then Hut is still free...for now.” I inhaled a breath. “He got out on bail, and we have no idea how the trial is gonna go down. We need more. We need to know what he’s doing and catch him breaching his bail conditions. It’s the only way to get him back off the streets.”
Ford’s shoulders slumped, his hand swiping over his face. “And if I do this, you’ll help me become anything I want?”
“Yeah.”
Ford tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling. “Fuck it.” He looked back at me. “I always wanted to be one of the good guys. I was always the cop when we played cops and robbers as kids.” His lips pulled up on one side. “I do this, and you help me become one of you. Deal?” He pushed his hand out.
I raised a brow and inhaled a breath. I wasn’t sure how this was going to go down, but I’d listened to my instincts. Instincts that had told me the Ford from the crew wasn’t the Ford he’d ever wanted to be.
“Deal.”
LOLA
“I swear, my hands feel like they’re gonna fall off,” Cade groaned as he pulled his bag from his locker.
I chuckled, knowing exactly what it felt like to have to wash pots and pans all day long. It destroyed your hands in a way no one ever knew about. “When you go to bed, lather them in cream, more than you think they need, and it’ll help,” I told him, getting my own bag from my locker.
He grinned. “Yeah?”
“Yep.”
We’d both been on the same shift today, and I had to admit, having Cade around for the last week or so had been better than I expected. I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like looking at his face nearly every day, but it was the same as it always had been.
Today was the first time we walked out of the diner together, and I just hoped it wasn’t Brody picking him up but Moira instead. The last thing I needed was another awkward exchange and my emotions to be put through the wringer. They were doing enough of that on their own without anyone to help.
Who knew pregnancy was so back and forth? I thought all I’d have to deal with was sickness and nausea, possibly a little heartburn. No one ever told me I’d be crying at puppies as they ran across the park, or that I’d get choked up because I’d forgotten to buy ginger ale.
I was turned completely upside down and back to front.
Cade held the main door open for me, and I smiled in thanks, already making a plan to escape as soon as I walked through it.
“Hey, you want my mom to give you a ride?” I blinked at Cade and looked over at Moira who was waiting in her SUV. Thank god it was her. Cade pulled open the door. “Mom? Give Lola a ride?”
Moira glanced at me, and I opened my mouth to tell her that it was fine, I could walk, but she nodded her head and smiled. “Of course. Hop in.”
I really didn’t want to “hop in” but my feet were begging me, and my back had decided I couldn’t walk another ten steps, so I pulled open the back door and slid into the too cool car. What the hell was I doing? I shouldn’t be sitting in this car.
Crap.
There was no way I could get out of this now. Maybe I could say I forgot something and hide until they were gone? My aching body decided for me, and my arm moved to pull my belt on.
“Thanks, Moira,” I said, shivering at the cool air blasting through the vents.
“No worries.” She fluffed her hair and adjusted her mirror. “Where to?”
I reeled off my address to her, and leaned back in the seat, praying this would all be over in a couple of minutes. Note to self: never walk out of the diner with Cade again.
“So,” Moira started as she pulled out of the lot. “I hear you know my husband.” My breath caught in my throat, and for a second, I thought she’d call me out, but then she continued, “Cade said you met each other at one of his tutoring sessions.”
I frowned. Cade knew that we knew each other before that. He’d been there for the whole exchange. Was this some kind of test? I thought it’d only been Hut who did tests, not normal people too.
“I...yeah.” I shuffled on the seat and looked out the window, cringing at being in such close confines with the woman whose husband I’d had sex with. Crap, it was not time to think about that situation right now. My hand automatically touched my stomach, and I lifted it, my eyes widening. I really had to stop doing that.
“And, of course, you met him the other day in the diner.” She pushed some hair behind her ear and took the turn into the road my apartment was on. Thank god I lived so close because I didn’t know if I could be in this car any longer. She didn’t mention the fact they’d argued in the diner, and neither did I, even though a small part of me was satisfied at the thought that they had.
“Just up here,” I said, and pointed even though she couldn’t see me.
“Is it safe here?” Moira asked, her eyes wide as she pulled her SUV to a stop. Her gaze caught mine in the mirror, and I frowned. Was she being serious?
I tried to look at the apartment building from her eyes. There was a bunch of rowdy teenagers standing on the right side of the main doors, and the security camera that was supposed to point at the door was turned to face the wall. The bottom row of windows had bars on them, but I was pretty sure that was standard in buildings like these. It was the nicest place I’d lived, but maybe Moira wasn’t used to that. I almost scoffed—she probably lived in a mansion.<
br />
“It’s safe,” I said, grabbing my bag and moving to open the door. “I’ve lived in a lot worse.”
“You have?” She worried her bottom lip, and if I wasn’t mistaken, I’d have said she was concerned with that fact.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I only moved here a few weeks ago. Before that, I lived in Cresthill.”
She blinked several times, her face carefully blank of any expression, and then she smiled wide. “Then it really must be safe to you!” Her voice was entirely too loud, and even Cade stared at her like she’d grown an extra head in the last ten seconds.
“Well…” I lifted the door handle and pushed it open. “Thanks so much for the ride.”
“Of course.”
I gave them both a wave, exited the SUV, and didn’t look back once. It wasn’t just awkward being in the same space as them, but I was afraid I’d lose control of my brain and mouth and blurt out that I’d slept with her husband. I’d always been good at keeping secrets, but this was getting harder and harder to do.
I trudged up the stairs because the elevator had a “Do Not Use” sign attached to it again. By the time I got to my floor, I was puffing out breaths and needing my bed like it was the only thing that mattered in this world.
My shoulders sagged as I pushed my key into the lock of my apartment door, and I finally inhaled a tired breath as I stepped inside. I had plans for the rest of the evening, and that involved a shower, my pj’s, and a nap. The prospect was so enticing that I didn’t look up until my door was closed, and my shoes were off my feet.
“Sister,” a deep voice announced.
I squealed, jumping in the air, my hand smacking off my chest to try and calm my racing heart. “What the…”
Hut sat in the middle of the living room on one of my kitchen chairs, leaning back with his legs spread out in front of him. He looked right at home in the middle of my space and even had a grin to match his easygoing attitude.
Fallen Duet: Brody & Lola: Free Fall & Down Fall (Easton Family Duet Boxsets Book 1) Page 29