Like I said before, free.
“I needed that,” I murmured, grabbing his hand. He brought my hand to his lips, kissing softly. “Thank you for going in with me.”
“Walked out without another black eye. I’d call that winning.”
I broke out laughing as he showed off a full, boyish smile. “Yep. That’s a big win. You think he’ll come around to the idea of us?”
“Yeah, baby.” He kissed my hand one more time, and as if he were deep in thought, he looked through the windshield, toward the setting sun and said, “He will.”
Part III
WINNING
Chapter Thirty-Two
KANDY
One Year Later
Bliss.
That’s what the next year was like.
There were no threats. No drama. No lies. No pop-ups from El Jefe. Everything was smooth sailing. I got into UNCC and was studying, and of course Cane still worked. Mom called every single day to check on me and had even visited our house twice when she had the free time. Miss Cane cooked for her, and she really got to know Lora in all her foul-mouthed ways. She loved them both just as much as I did. To be honest, they were the kind of people who were hard not to love. They had flaws—we all did—but Miss Cane had a sweet, sweet soul, and Lora had a kindred spirit—one that made you wish you were best friends with her if you didn’t know her. But even though they were fun, lovely people, I couldn’t help feeling like they were both hiding something.
For starters, Miss Cane used her cell phone a lot more than she had before, and I could have sworn one night when Cane wasn’t in town, I heard her arguing with someone on the phone. I wasn’t sure whether or not to tell Cane at first, but eventually I caved, and he said he was going to look into it. I don’t think he ever did. He’d probably forgotten, and I refused to bring it back up twice. She was a grown woman, after all, and it could have been anyone she was arguing with. My biggest worry was that she’d gotten in touch with Buck somehow.
Lora? She was another mystery. Being on her phone was nothing new, but I noticed she’d go long periods of time without being home, and it was always when Cane wasn’t around. When I asked her what she was up to, she’d tell me she needed some time to herself, or a moment to breathe, but I didn’t really believe it. It wasn’t my business, though. I just hoped she was being safe.
Despite all of it, everyone seemed happy. We lived our lives the way we’d always wanted. Cane had his family and me, and I had him. I talked to Dad several times a week, through text or call, and even talked to Frankie more often to fill her in on everyday stuff, but not so much lately. She was still having a hard time with the whole Clay thing. Not only that, but Aria’s health was only getting worse.
And then New Year’s Eve arrived, and our peace became chaos all over again.
Miss Cane was making spiked hot cocoa and cookies, and Lora was on the deck in the backyard, in front of the fire pit, bundled under a thick blanket, probably scrolling through Pinterest or Instagram like she always did. Cane was in his downstairs office, wrapping up on emails, and I was studying the diamond necklace he’d given to me for Christmas. It was beautiful, but I couldn’t wear something like this for just any occasion. Wearing it to school would have made my peers wonder exactly where I came from, and I was already a quiet soul there.
I didn’t bother making new friends at my new school. After my last experience with Brody, it just wasn’t worth it, although I did take up recreational softball again. I practiced at a park with a few other women who practiced their swings and pitches. They were good people and all minded their own business, which I loved.
Cane came around the corner, watching me as I ran my fingers over the diamonds while looking in the mirror. “I think it’s about time you give your neck a rest.” He came up behind me, wrapping his arms around me. He reeled me into him, and my ass settled into his groin.
“Never. I love it too much. I’ve never worn something so expensive.”
He chuckled low and deep, burying his nose into the crook of my neck. Just as he was about to kiss me there too, someone rang the doorbell.
He pulled away to look at it. “That might be Cora. I told her she could come watch the ball drop with us and share some drinks, since she didn’t go out of town with her family this year.”
“I hope you’ve given that woman a raise with all the shit she’s had to deal with for you,” I teased as he walked to the door.
“I’m sure if she felt she wasn’t getting paid enough, she’d have quit already.” He smiled over his shoulder and without checking the peephole or asking who it was, he swung the door right open.
But he shouldn’t have, because when I saw the person, my smile collapsed and my mood went from chipper to glum. I didn’t have to know him, to know he was a threat.
A man stood on the other side, slightly taller than Cane, and with a tad bit more muscle. He had a head full of mop-like brown hair, and his eyes…they were exactly like Cane’s, only much darker and much more threatening. He wore a black jacket over an army-green shirt, dusty jeans, and brown boots.
When Cane realized who he was, he immediately squared his shoulders, then a deep growl ripped right through him as he yelled, “You dumb motherfucker!”
Chapter Thirty-Three
KANDY
Cane didn’t hesitate. I remembered him telling me repeatedly that if he ever saw Buck again, he wouldn’t hold back. I was certain that in that moment, nothing but rage had consumed and swallowed him whole.
Cane took the first swing, and with one punch to the face, Buck stumbled backward, his back slamming into one of the pillars. I couldn’t fight the scream that crawled out of my throat as I watched Cane tackle Buck to the ground. Both of them rolled down the stairs with loud thuds, and then footsteps sounded behind me.
“What the hell is going on!” Lora yelled, pushing past me and rushing to the door.
“Wait—Lora!” I ran after her, but she came to an abrupt halt on her own, watching her brother and the man who was supposed to be a father to her, fighting on the grass. Lora’s entire body froze up, and she literally looked like she was staring at a ghost.
“Should I call the cops?” I asked, panicked.
But Lora didn’t answer.
“Lora!” I wailed.
“Kandy, Lora! What’s wrong?” I looked back, and Miss Cane was rushing our way. She saw Cane and Buck tussling on the walkway, just as Buck rolled on top of him and delivered a mean, solid punch to his face. “Oh my God,” she gasped. She rushed down the steps, going right to them, trying to break it up, almost like she had done this many, many times before. Buck ended up swinging his arm back to push her off, but he ended up hitting her right in the mouth, making her bleed.
Lora finally broke out of her frozen state, gasping as Miss Cane hit the ground with a loud, broken moan. Cane saw it happen—saw the arm of the man he hated swing back and hit his mother—and I don’t think I’d ever seen him get so angry. He shoved Buck off of him and then climbed on top of him, pinning his arms down with his knees and punching his face repeatedly.
“You. Stupid. Mother. Fucker!” Cane roared, still punching.
“Cane! Stop!” his mom yelled, still on the ground, holding her hand out.
I didn’t know what else to do, so I went inside and grabbed my phone. When I rushed back out, about to dial 9-1-1, Lora glared at me. “No, Kandy! Hang it up!” she shouted, and I frowned at her, but she frowned even deeper. I lowered the phone, feeling defeated. Cane was down there, literally fighting like this was life or death, and all I could do was stand there and wait until it was over. I went down the steps to help Lora bring Miss Cane to a stand instead.
“Fuck, Mom! He hit you hard! Your lip is split!” Lora cried out.
A loud grunt sounded in front of us, and Buck shoved Cane off somehow. Cane landed on his back, and Buck was about to return several of the punches Cane had delivered, but then Miss Cane screamed, “Stop this! Now!”
I cup
ped my mouth, looking Cane all over. He was a bloody mess, but most if it was Buck’s. His knuckles were covered with red, the letters for RISE slathered with his father’s blood.
“How the hell did you find out where we lived?” Cane rasped, shoulders hiked, like he was ready to attack all over again.
Buck smiled, a bloody smile that made my skin crawl. He spat the blood out and said, “Boy, you think you were hard to fucking find?”
“Fuck you,” Cane spat.
Buck looked at Miss Cane and then Lora. “Hey, pretty girls.” His smile was sharp and slick, and Lora glared hard at him, nostrils flaring, while Miss Cane physically cringed.
“You’ve got one second to get the fuck off my property before I end your ass,” Cane growled.
“Oh, boy!” Buck cackled. “Oh, shit! So you get yo’ self a little bit of money, and think you runnin’ shit now! Is that it?”
Cane didn’t waver. “You were stupid for coming here.”
“Oh…you know why I’m here.” He slapped his palm with the back of his other hand. “I need my fucking money, not the shit you put in my commissary, but all of it. That company is mine! I named it! It’s mine!”
“Nothing is yours, so back the fuck off!”
Buck sneered, using the back of his hand to swipe the blood off his mouth. “I bet you’d like to know that I got myself a nice lawyer. Yep. I told her my story, and she’s agreed to help me file a suit against yo’ little company if you don’t start payin’ up.”
Cane glared hard at Buck. “You can make all the threats you want about suing me, but it won’t fucking work and you know it. You don’t have shit to back you up, and even if you did, it would be bullshit.”
Buck laughed even louder, and my ears rang. “Look at you! Thinkin’ you done dropped some balls now!” Buck turned toward us, but his eyes focused on me. “I’ve been watching all of y’all. Especially that little young girl right there.” He pointed directly at me and my eyes widened. “I see her when she goes to school and when she gets home. Seen her come to your office a few times too. You came out one day and was all over her. I figured she must’ve been important to ya.”
Oh my God.
“Funny thing is, she looked real familiar too. I couldn’t place it for a while, but then I woke up one night, and remembered that cop that arrested me. I kept thinkin’ about something he told me when they took me in. He kept saying something like how I was a piece of shit to hit my own kids and girlfriend.” He smirked. “He went on about how he had a daughter of his own and would never lay a hand on his princess—somethin’ like that—so when I got out, I looked into him. Found out his name was sir Derek Jennings. Found out he had a little daughter, and then saw his little daughter was livin’ with you. She must suck your dick real good, huh? There ain’t nothin’ like young pussy—”
Cane had clearly had enough. He lunged forward, wrapping his hands around Buck’s throat. We all gasped.
“Keep talking,” he seethed, squeezing his throat tighter. “I fucking dare you to say another goddamn word about her.” He squeezed more as Buck clawed at his hands.
“Cane!” Lora yelled, but Cane didn’t look back. He kept his hands locked around Buck’s throat, refusing to let up.
So I tried. I took a step forward and called his name, my tears on the verge of falling. “Cane, stop! Don’t let him get to you! This is what he wants!”
He looked through the corner of his eye briefly, and with each passing second, he let up a little more. Buck dragged in a breath and then shoved Cane away by the chest. “Remind me to tell my lawyer that you attacked me first,” Buck wheezed.
“Remind me to tell my lawyer that you went against your fucking restraining order.”
Buck smiled, looking at Miss Cane and Lora. “You mean against those two bitches over there? Don’t nobody want them anymore. They don’t have shit I need, and I’m sure your mama’s pussy ain’t what it used to be. But you got what I want.” He cracked a grin, and Miss Cane dropped her head. He was such an inconsiderate bastard. Now I could see why Cane hated him so much. “So this is how this is gone work. If I don’t get five million of what you got, I’ll hit up my lawyer and tell her to file my suit. And trust me, boy, I’ll make it real ugly. I’ll make everyone wonder why they bothered workin’ with a thief like you in the first place.”
Cane’s jaw flexed, fists clenching again.
“You give me my five mill, and I’ll be out your hair. It’s that simple. And to be clear, I only came here to let you know how dead fucking serious I am. Restraining orders don’t mean shit to me. All they’ll do is give me a warnin’.” He spat on the ground, and it almost landed on Cane’s shoe.
Cane grimaced as Buck walked backward. “What do you say I come back in two days? That’ll give you some time to get that money arranged.”
“You won’t come back to this house,” Cane snarled through clenched teeth. “And it won’t be in two days. You’ll meet me at my office. You’ll be there on Thursday, five days from now. You don’t show up, it’s your fucking loss, because if you come here again, I won’t just beat your ass.” He took a step closer to him. “I’ll end you.”
Buck howled with laughter, clapping his hands. “You are a fucking riot! You know that? I ain’t never realized how funny you was!” Cane’s nostrils flared and reddened, and Buck held his hands up, smirking. “Thursday at five for my five mill.”
Buck finally turned, laughing one more time before walking away. He climbed into an old, dark green pickup truck and pulled off, tires screeching, but of course he didn’t go peacefully. On his way out, he stuck a middle finger out the window and laughed like it was the funniest thing ever.
Cane watched until he could no longer see him, and then he turned toward us. He pushed Lora away from Miss Cane and grabbed Miss Cane’s wrist, practically dragging her up the stoop and into the house.
“Cane! Stop!” Lora yelled. I rushed after them, shutting the door behind me. When I rounded the corner, Cane had Miss Cane’s upper arms locked in his hands and forced her to sit down, then he crouched down on one knee. “Give me your goddamn phone,” he demanded.
“W-what? Why?” she asked.
“Give it to me! Now!” he barked, and she flinched but dug into her back pocket, handing it to him.
“If I go through this phone, I won’t find any random fucking numbers or text messages from him, will I?”
Miss Cane looked from him to Lora nervously.
“Will I, Ma?” His voice was louder and she put her attention back on him. She didn’t answer, so he turned the screen on and handed the phone to her. “Unlock it.”
“Cane, I didn’t get in touch with Buck, I swear!” she cried.
“So why are you so afraid to open your fucking phone?”
“Cane, ease up, all right?” Lora interrupted.
Cane stood up straight, facing Lora. “No, Lora, I’m not going to ease up! We fucking told her not to get in touch with him, but she did it any fucking way!”
“How do you even know she did? Buck could have easily found us! You’re not invisible, Cane! It was a whole nine months since the last time we heard anything about him, and you’re the one who fired the investigator who was watching him. And you heard him! He was watching Kandy! He could have followed her here one day and saw the house!”
I shivered at the thought, folding my arms and closing my eyes.
Cane turned toward Miss Cane again, but Miss Cane was already standing. She handed her unlocked phone to him, and Cane snatched it away. He scrolled through it maniacally, and when he locked in on something, he turned the phone back around so she could see the screen and asked, “Who’s number is this?”
Miss Cane’s throat bobbed as she studied the number.
“Whose number is it, Ma!” He roared, and she flinched again, squeezing her eyes shut. Two tears slid down her cheeks, and my heart literally felt like it’d been squeezed when I saw them.
“It’s Andy’s,” she confessed.
/> Lora and Cane stared at her, confused.
“Who the hell is Andy?” Lora asked.
Miss Cane looked between her kids briefly before dropping her eyes. “He’s a guy I met when I was going to the meetings.”
After that confession, Cane’s eyes expanded, his hostility rapidly transforming to regret.
“I met him a little over a year ago,” she sniffled. “At first, it wasn’t anything. We just met at the meetings, talked over coffee and donuts, but then he found me on Facebook. We started chatting on there, and then eventually we swapped numbers.” She bit back her tears. “I told you I would never do that to you again, Cane, and I meant that. I haven’t spoken to Buck since that promise I made you while I was in rehab.” Her voice was thick. “He is just as dead to me as he is to you! I’ve learned my lesson, all right? And I love my kids! I love you two to death, and I made a promise to both of you that I was here! I have been here ever since I got out, and I am not going anywhere. Yes, some days were harder than others, but seeing you two so happy pushed me through it because I didn’t want to be the one who did something selfish to ruin everything again.”
“Fuck, Ma,” Cane groaned, swiping his hands over his face. “Why didn’t you just tell me you were seeing somebody?”
“Because I wasn’t ready to tell anyone yet. I’m still getting to know him.”
“Shit.” He handed her phone back, then pulled her in for a hug. “I’m sorry,” he murmured over her shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she cooed, rubbing his back. “It’s all right, son. I understand.” She pulled back, holding his shoulders. “But you and I both know you don’t owe him a thing. You worked your butt off for that company.”
“I know, but what other choice do I have? I’m finally in good standing with my investors and other businesses around the world. If he starts running his mouth—which he will—I know it will make me look bad, and I’ll lose money again. I can’t afford it a second time.”
Loving Mr. Cane: Cane Series #3 Page 20