“Well, I’m not just asking anyone, I’m asking you, in the comfort of my own home. And anyway, after everything that happened that night at Kade’s, I did my own research online. I think I have a pretty good idea what it is you guys do. The Sopranos was one of my favorite shows.” I smiled.
He shook his head and laughed. “I shouldn’t be laughing because this is not a laughing matter, but you really are something else.”
I was guessing, but I was pretty sure I hit the nail on the head with that comment because he didn’t deny it. My phone started to vibrate on the table. I leaned down to see that Jules was calling me. I looked over at Bryce as I picked up my phone. “Hang on just a sec,” I said to Bryce as I answered the phone.
“Hey.”
“Hey, what are you doing?” She sounded like she was in a good mood. That was a good sign.
“Uhh … just sitting here having a Bourne marathon,” I said as I looked over at Bryce. I didn’t want to tell her that Bryce showed up. Not yet anyway.
“Okay, so that means you aren’t doing anything,” she laughed. “Do you want to meet us out to get some pizza? We are headed over to Rocco’s.”
“Are you sure you want me to come along? Maybe you guys should go by yourselves.”
“Letti, if I didn’t want you to come, I wouldn’t have asked. Plus, it’s laundry, movie, junk food day and I’m sure you’ve only watched movies today. We at least need to get some junk food in you.”
I laughed, “You’re right. I actually haven’t eaten anything yet today. When are you guys going?”
“We’ll be there in about thirty minutes. It’s only ten minutes from the apartment. So you’ll come?”
“Yeah, I need to get dressed and I’ll be on the way.”
“Yay, okay, see you soon.”
The call ended and I looked over at Bryce as he stood up from the couch. “Well, I guess I’ll be going.”
“Yeah, I’m going to go meet Jules and Brent. Why don’t you wait just a sec? I’m going to go put on some jeans and I’ll walk out with you.”
“Okay, take your time,” he smiled at me.
I walked to my room and closed the door. I hated that I had to cut our visit short, but Jules didn’t invite me out with her and Brent often so I knew something was up.
I switched out my yoga pants for a pair of Buckle jeans and slipped on my flip-flops. I didn’t worry about putting any make-up on or doing my hair because all we were going to do was eat. Plus, I just really didn’t feel like putting much effort into it. It was my lazy day.
I made my way back toward the living room to see Bryce standing in the foyer by the door.
“You ready?” he asked.
“Yeah, let me grab my purse.” I walked toward the kitchen to grab my purse off the counter, and then we both headed out the door. We didn’t talk as we walked down the two flights of stairs.
He stopped on the sidewalk in front of all the parked cars. “Well, I guess I’ll be talking to you soon. Don’t be a stranger now that you live so close.”
“I won’t,” I said as I leaned in to give him a hug.
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in tight. I know I told him nothing could happen between us, but I couldn’t help thinking of how good he smelled as he held me close to his chest. I pulled back from the hug as he lifted his hand up to my face and leaned in to give me a kiss on the forehead.
“I’ll talk to you soon,” he said as he pulled away, right before someone came running out of nowhere and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground.
I was jolted to the side and yelled out as I saw Bryce hit the ground. “Oh my God, Bryce are you okay?” I ran over to him and knelt down beside him, not even thinking I should look up to see who his assailant was. He moaned on the ground with his hand up by his face. “Bryce, look at me. Let’s get you up.”
“What the fuck, man?” he said as he moved his hand away from his face. Then his eyes widened in shock as he looked past me.
I slowly turned around and looked into the dark brown eyes of a pissed off Kade Evans.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he said to Bryce. “And why the fuck do you keep calling him Bryce?” he asked, looking at me.
Oh, shit!
I clenched my hands at my side before I was tempted to punch Kevin in the face again. I felt bad for pushing Scarlett out of the way to get to him, but I couldn’t stand seeing his hands on her. I kept my gaze on Scarlett’s shocked expression as she looked down at Kevin again and started helping him up.
This was not how I envisioned this meeting to play out. I came up with a plan last night. I would follow her home from the club to find out where she lived, and then I would come back the next day and attempt to knock on her door and talk to her. What I didn’t expect was to arrive and see Kevin walking into her apartment building.
And she called him Bryce twice. I intended to find out what was going on and why the fuck he was here. If he was using her in any way, I would put him in the hospital.
“I asked you what the fuck you were doing here, and you better fucking answer me, Kevin?” I asked through clenched teeth. I tried to relax the pissed-off look on my face, but seeing Scarlett standing there with her hands on him wasn’t doing good things to my emotions.
Kevin looked up at me, letting out a heavy breath, as he wiped down his clothes. “Can we take this behind closed doors?” he requested, looking side to side.
I hadn’t noticed, but we’d attracted an audience, which was not something I wanted to do. I looked over at Scarlett, in a way to ask her if we could head inside. Without saying a word, she grabbed Kevin’s arm and walked to the door, which only seemed to fuel my anger more. She touched him freely as if they’ve known each other for a while. The question I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer to was, how well did they know each other? I had worked with Kevin for months, and not once did I ever think he would make a move on her. I was just hoping I was right.
We made it up to her apartment and she stood at the door waiting for me to walk through. I made sure to look her over completely before I walked past. She was so fucking beautiful. I wanted so badly to throw her over my shoulder like a cave man and have my way with her. It was this primal feeling in the pit of my stomach and I had no idea where it came from. But it was there every time I was around her.
As I slowly walked past her, I could see her chest moving up and down rapidly. I knew I had an effect on her. I just didn’t know if it was good or bad, after everything that happened. I gave her one of the smiles I knew she loved as I walked past. She bit her lip and looked away, but not before I saw the blush creep up her neck and onto her cheeks. I was hoping that was a good sign.
I walked through the foyer and into the living room. They were still getting things organized. The walls were bare, expect for the flat screen on the far wall, and they had a couple of boxes stacked up in the corner.
Scarlett walked past me, typing away on her phone, and took a seat next to Kevin on the couch. I took that as my cue to take a seat. As I sat down on the love seat, I stared Kevin down.
“What are you doing here?” I tried to keep my voice calm, even, but it didn’t work out very well.
Kevin sat up on the couch putting his elbows on his knees. “I think the better question is, what are you doing here?”
He stared me down, challenging me. “No, Kevin, I think the better question is what the fuck are you doing here and why was she calling you Bryce?”
I looked over at Scarlett to gage her expression. Since I’d been hanging out with Frank’s entourage, I’d learned to read people’s emotions. Or at least gage how they were feeling, and right then, Scarlett looked nervous, and I planned to find out why.
Kevin and I were both silent as we looked each other over. I tried to think of some reason as to why he would be here, and only two things came to mind. Either something was going on behind the scenes with Frank and he was going to use Scarlett against me, or he was trying to have
a relationship with her himself. Neither of those scenarios sat well with me.
He finally broke eye contact and leaned back on the couch, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked over at Scarlett then back to me. “We’ve spent a lot of time together since you first got back to California. You consistently said you didn’t want any part of Frank’s business. Is that still accurate?”
I was confused as to why he was asking this question. “What does that have to do with you being here?”
“It has everything to do with why I am here, Kade. Just answer the question.”
I was quiet for a moment before I answered. “No, I don’t want any part of it, but what choice do I have?” I said frustrated. “I’m fucked until I can find a way out.” I glanced over at Scarlett who had her eyes diverted to the floor. She was playing with her fingers on her lap, which she only ever did when she was nervous or in deep thought.
“What if you were to get your hands on something that could take Frank’s whole operation down, would you do it?”
What the fuck? “What are you getting at, Kevin?”
“Just answer the damn question and I’ll tell you.”
I looked over at Scarlett who was staring directly at me. “Why don’t we take this conversation somewhere else?” I said looking back at Kevin. “She doesn’t need to be involved in this any more than she already is. We’ve had this conversation before or have you forgotten?”
He had the nerve to laugh at me. I wanted to get up and punch him in the face again.
“She already knows what I’m about to tell you, and I’m pretty sure I already know your answer, but I want to hear you say it.”
I glanced back at Scarlett and she had her eyes diverted again.
Sitting up on the loveseat, I ran my hands down my face, and then stared back at Kevin. There could be any number of reasons why he’d be asking me these questions. I’d worked with him on small jobs up until Frank set me up with Paul. I knew him. Did I think he would sell me out to Frank? No. Did I think he had an ulterior motive? Yes. The only way to find out what that might be was to play his little game.
“Would I take Frank down if I could to get my life back the way it was? Yes, I would.”
He was silent as we stared each other down, like he was processing what I had said, trying to figure out his next play.
“My name isn’t Kevin,” he finally said.
I stared at him blankly waiting for him to continue.
“My name is Bryce Daniels and I’m an undercover agent with the FBI. I’ve been trying to take Frank down for almost two years, and you, my friend, are the one that’s going to help me do it.”
I sat back on the couch again and tried to absorb what he had just told me. How the fuck could Frank not know that he was an uncover agent. I know how extensive of a background check Frank does on his people.
“Undercover agent?” I scoffed.
He nodded.
“How did you pass Frank’s background checks? I know he’s got connections and probably even connections in the bureau.” I didn’t conceal the disbelief in my voice.
“We have people too, Kade. Don’t worry about how I got by, all that matters, is that I did. Now, I need your help to get me what I need. This will benefit us both.”
“How have you been working this for two years and not come up with something to take him down?”
“Frank’s a smart man. He doesn’t use technology for his business. And only the ones he trusts the most are entrusted with his paper trail. Believe me, I know how the man works, I just don’t know the insides of the business. That’s what I’ve been working toward. Paul was always his main man though. But now you are in the picture. You are the one he will eventually entrust with this information. I need his files. That is the proof that will finally shut down his operation.”
I shook my head. I didn’t feel right talking about this in front of Scarlett. This was too much for her to hear. She could end up a liability and get hurt. Then I remembered he didn’t answer my other question.
“Why are you here with Scarlett, Kevin?”
Scarlett popped her head up and looked at me then to Kevin. She looked nervous for a second, which got my hand twitchy. He looked at her with a smirk and then looked back at me.
“That’s kind of a funny story actually−” he started to say, but Scarlett cut him off.
“Bryce is my step-brother,” she blurted.
I looked between the both of them. What the fuck?
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said. “It really is true.”
I looked at Kevin for confirmation and he nodded his head.
“How the fuck is that even possible? Do you realize how at risk she is now?” I stood up from the loveseat and started pacing back and forth. “Here I was thinking I was doing the right fucking thing in letting her go so she wouldn’t be in danger. And you’re here, dangling the fucking carrot.” I was pissed. How the fuck could he be so fucking stupid? Even if he did have adequate backup from the FBI, it wasn’t going to protect her.
“Excuse me, but you didn’t let me go … you threw me away!” she spat at me as she stood up from the couch, quickly walking past me and down the hall.
I heard a door slam and I hung my head. I wasn’t thinking about what I was saying. I shouldn’t have even brought that up with her sitting right there.
“Well, that wasn’t a smart move.”
“Shut the fuck up, Kevin!” I yelled. I was pissed and he was only making it worse. “Explain to me how the fuck you’re her step-brother and how it is that you’re all fucking chummy,” I snarled.
He let out a laugh. The fucker is laughing at me.
“Kade, sit down, will ya? You’re going to pop a blood vessel.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm my nerves. This was definitely not how I pictured today going.
I walked back over to the loveseat and sat down.
“Scarlett’s dad married my mother. I’m sure you are aware that she never saw her dad, so I only knew her by the pictures her dad was able to secretly capture. I saw her for the first time at the little concert you put on at that club opening. I knew she looked familiar, but it took me a while to put two and two together. At the time, I had no idea you two were together, not until Paul got that information and we followed her to a bar where Paul threatened her to stay away from you.”
“What?” I stood up from the loveseat again. That motherfucker. “How could you keep all of this from me?”
He rolled his eyes at me. “Sit down and let me finish.”
I walked back and took a seat, running my hands through my hair. The next time I saw Paul, I was going to kick his ass.
“Anyway, the next time I saw her was at my mom’s house in Alabama when she came down for her dad’s funeral.”
Wait a minute. “Her dad’s funeral?” I remember her telling me she had to go to Alabama, but she never gave me the details. Which technically, I don’t blame her for after how I treated her that day. I was such an asshole.
“Yeah, he had cancer. But it was a shock to her more than it was to me when we saw each other. She was freaked out because she thought I was there to hurt her or something,” he laughed. “That’s when I told her about me being undercover. I had to tell her in order for her not to blow my cover.” He let out a sigh and leaned back on the couch. “But then she came to you when she got back to Atlanta, and then you did what you did. So I’ve been trying to look after her ever since.”
I closed my eyes and shook my head at myself. “I’m an asshole. I had no idea about her dad. I’m sure acting the way I did that night only hurt her worse than she was already hurting.” Fuck me, I am a dick.
I looked back up at Kevin to see him looking behind me. I turned to see Scarlett standing there looking at me. She looked like she had been crying and I knew it was my fault.
“Bryce,” she said softly.
He nodded his head as he got up and walked over to her. “Call me if
you need me,” he said before he kissed her on the forehead. He looked at me as he walked toward the door. “I’ll call you tomorrow. We need to talk more.” Then he was gone. Leaving me alone with Scarlett for the first time in eight months.
My stomach was in knots.
After Bryce shut the door, I walked back over to the couch and sat down. I could feel Kade’s penetrating gaze on me the whole way; it caused butterflies to erupt in my stomach.
I still had my phone in my hand so I set it down on the table. When we first came in, I had to text Jules to let her know I wouldn’t be showing up at Rocco’s because Kade had shown up. She asked me if I wanted her to head home, but I told her to wait awhile so I could find out why Kade showed up in the first place.
Clasping my hands together, I finally met Kade’s gaze. I will never understand the pull he had on me, but just looking at him made my stomach flip. I couldn’t think about my attraction to him. He came here for a reason and I wanted to know what that reason was.
“Why are you here, Kade?” I asked in a surprisingly even tone.
He furrowed his eyebrows and diverted his eyes to the floor as if trying to think of what to say. So, I took the opportunity to look him over again. Seeing him in the light, I could see how much his looks had changed in just a matter of months. He looked older. Tired even. I didn’t know what he’d been going through since we last saw each other, but I could tell it was taking its toll. He was still sexy as hell though.
“I was surprised to see you last night,” he finally said, looking at me, avoiding the question.
I smiled slightly. “I was surprised to see you too. I saw the guys the other day. Did they tell you I moved here?” I had a feeling they would have even though I asked them not to.
“One of them might have mentioned it,” he smiled back at me.
I waited for him to say something else, but he just stared at me … with that damn sexy grin of his.
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