by April Hunt
Cade had him. He knew he did.
“There was a lot that you don’t get.”
“I don’t need to get you, Hogan, because I get it. You fathered two kids with a woman your family didn’t approve of, and instead of fighting for the family you claimed to care about, you left.”
“I did what I thought was best.”
“And after Mom died you thought leaving Zoey in the child care system—with her condition—was the best thing?” Cade shook his head, disgusted. “Fuck-and-you.”
Wilcox’s face reddened. “Now wait a second, son.”
Hands balled at his sides, Cade jumped the sidewalk and got within an inch of his father’s face. “I am not your son. You gave up that title years ago.”
“If I hadn’t left, things could’ve been a hell of a lot worse for you and your sister.”
“So you’re sticking to that whole my-family-didn’t-approve story, huh?”
“It’s not a story. I was a pissant in the Army. Without my family’s money, I had nothing to give any of you. I had no choice but to fall in line.”
“Like a good little soldier, right?” Cade scoffed. “Count your blessings that you might be able to salvage something with Zoey, but I don’t have the slightest urge to repair anything with you.”
Wilcox followed him to his truck. “For God’s sake, Cade, it’s not like I left you and Zoey in the lurch. Gretchen took good care of the two of you. I made sure of it. And Zoey got the best—”
“Mention your little benefactor shit and I will lay you out right here. Paying her medical bills doesn’t make up for being MIA.” He climbed in his truck, not trusting himself with his sperm donor another second.
Once he’d pulled onto the road, he snuck a glance in his rearview mirror to see Hogan Wilcox staring after him.
Cade refused to feel sorry for the man who’d left them without a thought. It didn’t matter that they’d lucked out with Gretchen adopting them. It didn’t matter that Wilcox, from behind the curtain, paid for Zoey’s mountains of hospital bills…or that he believed he’d done right by them.
He left.
No discussion. No warning.
As anger coursed through Cade’s veins, his mind rewound time and swapped people and situations. It was suddenly like reliving what he’d done to Grace all those years ago: made a decision that affected everyone around him.
The realization only made Cade drive faster.
* * *
People hustled from store to store, some bogged down with so many bags Grace wasn’t sure how they didn’t collapse to the ground or roll down the escalator. Evidently the entire DC Metro Area had gotten bit by the holiday bug.
“What I wouldn’t give to see Roman out here shopping with the masses,” Grace joked as she and Zoey navigated the busy center aisle of Tysons.
“Yeah but you never will, because according to him that’s what I’m for. And the internet. And gift card centers at the grocery store.” Zoey grinned. “Now Liam on the other hand? I’ve seen the way he stops and stares at that bear-building commercial whenever it comes on. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he shows up to make his own stuffed unicorn.”
Grace laughed, easily imagining her cousin doing it. Unlike Roman, Liam wasn’t deterred by large crowds, and Tysons drew people from everywhere, so many that the barely controlled chaos unnerved even her a bit.
A cold tingle creeped down her spine and sent her head in a slow swivel. It first happened when they’d stepped off the escalator, and it had come and gone for two hours since.
Zoey gently pulled her to a stop. “You need to spill it already. What’s up?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Grace lied, feigning innocence. She didn’t want to put a damper on their girls’ afternoon for nothing.
“Are you forgetting that I’m related to Cade, and virtually related to you and all your cousins? I can tell when you guys are scoping a place out without moving your heads. It’s creepy as heck. And I’ve let you talk me into buying two outfits, and you haven’t yet cracked a single smile.”
“I just have a feeling. I’m not so sure that tail split off when we got to the parking lot.”
When she and Zoey had driven into the parking garage, Grace had let out a sigh of relief that their tail had gone straight. Cade had taken center stage in her headspace ever since last night. There wasn’t much room left for New Dawn stalkers.
“Okay.” Zoey headed toward the food court.
“Okay? That’s all you have to say?” She followed, setting her bags on the nearby table.
“Pretty much. If you have a feeling there’s probably a reason for it, so sit your rear end down and do your creepy observer thing while I go get us pretzels.”
“You want pretzels?”
“No, I want you be stationary in a sea of moving bodies so you can pick out another stationary body who seems a bit too preoccupied by two hot friends doing a little holiday shopping.” Zoey’s grin made Grace laugh.
“The guys really have taught you a thing or two, haven’t they?”
“Yep. Now, cheese or no cheese?”
“Cheese, of course.”
As Zoey left for the pretzel stand, Grace slowly eyed the crowd. There were a lot of interesting characters, but no one screamed ogler to her.
She was still casually people-watching when Zoey returned, innocently turning her body to look at the passing people. “Anything yet?”
Grace almost shook her head when she spotted him.
About fifteen yards away standing at a perfume kiosk, a broad-shouldered man in a brown leather jacket and black jeans quickly averted his gaze. The sales clerk approached him, and they talked briefly, the shopper shaking his head, and yet he remained in front of the perfumes.
“Perfume stand,” Grace murmured to Zoey. “What do you think?”
Zoey casually fiddled with her purse on the back of her chair, slyly glancing up. “I think I’ve seen him before…when we were in the bookstore and then again standing outside the bathrooms.”
Coincidences were possible, but in a mall the size of Tysons, it wasn’t likely.
“Do you want to call the guys?” Zoey sipped on her lemonade.
Grace shook her head. “They’ll draw needless attention. He’s just surveilling, making sure Cade and I are who we say we are. We can keep shopping…maybe hit up Lacey’s Lingerie.”
“This is good, right? The sooner you get in, the sooner you can get the job done.”
“Definitely.”
Zoey’s blue eyes narrowed behind her glasses. “Then why don’t you look relieved? Are you nervous about going back? That’s understandable, you know that, right? Those people stole years of your life, and don’t get me started on that mother of yours.”
Grace chuckled as her friend’s disgust. She’d almost pay money to see her best friend go up against Rebecca Steele. Mother Dearest wouldn’t stand a chance. “It’s not even that. Not really.”
At least that hadn’t been what kept her up all night after Cade walked out of the bedroom.
“If it’s not the job, then that means…” Zoey’s eyes lit up. “It’s my brother.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Grace’s eye twitched, and Zoey, being herself, immediately caught it. “You tall, gorgeous liar, you. It is. I see it all over your face, and don’t give me that crap about training having erased all your ‘looks.’ Knox says that too, and yet I can tell when he’s horny.”
“He’s always horny. You guys are like rabbits.”
Zoey smirked, pink flooding her cheeks. “I’m not going to deny that, but we both know I’m right. Was it the Scandalous Desires game? Did you guys play it?”
“The scandalous what?” Grace asked, confused.
“Never mind. But you can’t sit there and tell me that your broodiness this morning isn’t about Cade. Did you guys ‘fall back on bad habits’?” Zoey asked, smirking as she used Grace’s own words.
“I knew I shouldn’t have told you what happened
six months ago.”
“Technically, you didn’t. I guessed. So is that it?”
“Nope. Definitely not.”
“So he wanted to, and you dashed his hopes?” Zoey studied her carefully before choking on her drink. “Oh, my God. He was the one who cock-blocked you, wasn’t he?”
A few people from nearby tables glanced their way. Grace grimaced, apologizing for her way too exuberant best friend.
“He did not cock-block me,” Grace hissed.
“He turned you down, and you’re sulking.”
“I’m not…” Grace sighed. “Okay, yeah, maybe I am. I still don’t see what the big deal was. It’s just sex.”
Zoey shook her head, laughing. “Sex is never just sex between exes. There’s history too. Looks. Touches. Moments of time that will always be engrained in your mind. No matter how much time passes or distance there is, history will always be there. Especially during sex.”
“They teach you that when you become a CSI?” Grace joked, ripping apart her pretzel. “He claims he wants…more.”
“Such as…?”
Grace shrugged.
“Does he want to put a ring on it?”
Grace snorted. “No.”
“Is he asking you to be the incubator for his children?”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“Then what is he asking for in exchange for sexy naked times?”
Grace shoved a large piece of pretzel in her mouth. “A second chance. Or something like that.”
Zoey waited a beat, then two. “That’s it? And you can’t give that to him?”
She could, in theory. Heck, she’d thought about it a million times since that day he left her apartment, but she always came around to the same problem. “I’m afraid of what will happen if I do.”
Zoey flashed her a wan smile. “You guys were so happy for so long, Grace. Would it really be so bad to have that again?”
“It’s not the good times that make me nervous, Zo. It’s what would happen if it all goes sideways…again.”
She’d barely survived losing Cade the first time.
She didn’t know if she could handle it again.
Chapter
Eight
Thirty-six hours ago, Grace had been happily chugging along in life, working her stack of cases and avoiding the creepy agent three cubicles down from her own. She’d had her routine, her own space. Now, thanks to her cousins and their earlier game of Prepare the Undercovers, all she had was a blossoming headache and the lump of dread coiling her stomach.
With Liam as their ringleader, they’d grilled her and Cade for two hours—questions about their backgrounds, their current lives, and any possible curiosities that could pop up in social situations like the one they were about to step into.
Grace stood outside the nondescript brick building in Southeast and waited for Cade to come around the truck. He slipped an arm around her waist and leaned in to take a peek at the address written on the piece of paper.
“They definitely like keeping things low-key, don’t they? Guess that’s how they fly under the radar.” He scanned the block, but there wasn’t much to see.
It looked like any other DC street. Private residences intermixed with small neighborhood businesses, and yet Grace half expected the earth to open up and swallow her whole. A person-size sinkhole, or better yet, DC’s very own Hellmouth.
Cade’s fingers squeezed her hip. “What the hell put that look on your face?”
“Wondering if Rossbach’s really the Master in disguise,” she muttered.
“What?”
Grace pulled herself out of her self-imposed fantasy. “Huh?”
“The Master?” He waited expectantly for her to explain herself.
“Oh. Buffy reference. Sorry. Zoey and I binged the first season my first night here.” She hiked her purse on her shoulder. “Let’s do this.”
“One second there.” Cade eased her back. “Far be it for me to tell you how to do your job, but if that’s your impersonation of a woman in love, we’re going to have a problem, sweetheart. If you’ve changed your mind—”
“I haven’t changed my mind.”
“Your worry face says differently.”
“I’m worried, just not about me.” She gave him a pointed look.
He laughed. “Me? Hon, I didn’t take on a leadership role with the 75th Ranger Regiment because I can’t handle myself.”
“That’s what makes me nervous.”
“Afraid you lost me.”
“You’re used to taking the lead, but this isn’t an extraction in hostile-occupied territory—at least not yet. We’re not rappelling off the face of a building or jumping out of a plane. What we need to do in there”—she pointed toward New Beginnings—“is a matter of the mind. This is my territory.”
“Is this your way of telling me that I’m not tactful?”
“When was the last time you played anything subtle, or took the back seat and let someone else drive?”
He nodded. “Point taken. I’ll follow your lead. But you got to do me a favor.”
“What?”
He captured her chin between his fingers and tilted her face up toward him. Her breath caught as she automatically dropped her gaze to his mouth in time to see his lips twitch. Heat spread throughout her body, warming body parts that had previously been cold.
In all their preparation for tonight’s assignment, one thing they hadn’t mentioned was what happened the other night at his place. The memory of what she’d offered and what he’d turned down came flooding back—along with his little addendum.
“That little flush in your cheeks will do.” Cade brushed his lips across the corner of her mouth before winding his fingers through hers.
“Was that really necessary?” She tried to sound annoyed but couldn’t seem to find the heat.
“Yeah, it kind of was.” Cade chuckled.
“Follow my lead, and don’t go too far off script. I know how these people think.”
It was how Grace avoided being sent to the Reconditioning Center more times than she’d been sent there. She hadn’t magically disobeyed rules when she hit thirteen. She’d had a lifetime to study the best tactics to get herself out of tight jams, and she had that talent to this day.
Hopefully.
Grace led the way through the front door.
People decked out in sporty casual filled the room, their conversations at odds with the soft music filtered in from corner speakers. Small white lights wrapped around potted trees and plants gave the old bar a very comfortable and homey feel.
At first glance everything looked normal—including the people.
Cade eyed a couple who passed them, their heads bowed as they whispered.
“Doesn’t this look cozy?” His mouth brushed against her cheek as he murmured in her ear. “There’s an awful lot of people here for an informal recruitment drive. How are two people supposed to ferret through the horde and dole out golden tickets?”
“I don’t think they are.”
Cade’s blue eyes lasered in on her. “You don’t think Bethany and Thomas are the only recruiters here?”
“I think we’d be stupid to assume that they haven’t planted current Order members in the crowd of hopefuls. People are more likely to talk without filters to people they think are on the same level. Even as hosts, Bethany and Thomas are one up.”
“I never would’ve thought of that.”
She smirked. “I know.”
Chuckling, he looped an arm around her waist and nodded across the room where they’d caught their hosts’ attentions. “Looks like we’re on.”
Bethany grabbed her husband’s hand, and the duo hastily made their way over.
“You came!” Bethany leaned in, hugging Grace. “I was telling Thomas that I hadn’t seen you two. I’d hoped you hadn’t changed your minds.”
Grace returned the embrace before stepping back to Cade’s side. “We wouldn’t miss this. It’s not often t
hat you meet another couple who thinks the same way that you do.”
Bethany swept a hand over the busy room. “You’ll definitely meet more like-minded people here. We couldn’t have asked for a better turnout.”
Cade put on an impressed face. “Where did you guys meet all these people?”
Thomas chuckled. “Bethany doesn’t have a problem introducing herself to strangers…as you found out for yourself. We can’t even go for a walk without her stopping to chat someone up. It’s how we met our current dry cleaner and our future nanny—if we ever choose to have children down the line.”
Bethany smacked him playfully. “I happen to think that people aren’t kind enough to one another. It’s been scientifically proven that a single smile can not only improve a person’s mood, but their overall health. I consider it among my civic duties.”
“I agree with that wholeheartedly.” Grace nodded. “I once had an English teacher who was a perpetual grump, and I think he called out sick more times than he came to work.”
“See! Proof!” Bethany linked arms with Grace and guided them deeper into the room, Thomas and Cade following close behind. “This really is the place for you to be, Grace. Everyone here has faced something in their past, a trial, or obstacle, and they’ve committed themselves to finding their new happy place.”
Bile rose in Grace’s throat, reading between the lines. Obstacles. Trials.
If she and Cade had already been accepted into the Order, the other woman would’ve called that happy place a New Dawn. It was Rossbach speak for the start-over. The fresh start. A new freakin’ chapter.
“That sounds wonderful.” Grace forced herself not to choke on the words. “You have no idea how incredible it is to hear that there are others who want the same things.”
Bethany’s smile couldn’t have gotten any wider. “It is, isn’t it? And our community grows every day. You just need to know where to look for us.”
“Stephanie. James.” Bethany stepped up to a tall, lithe blonde and a broad-shouldered man who oozed what Grace called the GI Joe gene from every pore. “I want to introduce you to Grace Steele and Cade Wright.”
Stephanie gifted them a friendly smile and held out a well-manicured hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I don’t think we’ve seen you around here before, have we?”
