Protecting Braden (Custos Securities Series Book 2)

by Luna, David

  A nurse passed by them and entered Braden’s room. She checked on him, and using a glucometer, tested his blood. Nodding her head, she showed Braden the results. Cade saw Braden relax and knew that the results must be close to normal. The nurse drew insulin into a syringe, and passed it to Braden who injected and passed it back.

  When the nurse left, Cade leaned over and kissed the top of Braden’s head, his hair still damp from the shower. “How about you rest for a bit. I’ll be right here with you. I might get up after you fall asleep to get some work done on my laptop, but I won’t leave the room.”

  Braden nodded, but Cade could tell he was struggling with something. “Do you think they’re mad at me?”

  Cade’s brows drew together perplexed. “Who, Bray?”

  Braden looked down at his hands, back up into Cade’s eyes, and then down again. “Nana and Maya. I didn’t… I don’t feel comfortable being touched right now. I don’t even know why. I just don’t want them to be upset. It’s probably stupid… I just….”

  Cade clasped Braden’s chin and raised it up so Braden had to look at him. “None of what you’re feeling is stupid. You’ve been traumatized, Braden. Everyone deals with that differently. Right now, you don’t want me to leave your side and you don’t want to be touched by anyone but me. Do you think those of us who love you most are going to fault you for being affected by what happened to you? All we want to do is help you, and right now, I want you to switch off your thoughts for a bit, relax and get some rest alright?”

  Braden looked more at ease when he nodded this time. He settled back and used the remote to lower the bed. He turned on his right side, and hugged a pillow, while Cade settled behind him and wrapped his arm around Braden’s upper chest, clasping Braden’s hand in his. Braden sighed and snuggled back into him. “I’m sorry that I’m feeling so unsteady and scared. Thank you for being patient.”

  Cade kissed the back of Braden’s head. “Considering all the shit you’ve been through in the last several days, you’re coping remarkably well. Please, baby, close your eyes and rest.”

  Braden went to sleep almost immediately and didn’t stir when Cade got up to sit in the recliner next to the bed. He settled in, his laptop on the lowered rolling table, and got to work.

  He’d been in California for several weeks now. Between managing this case and spending every waking minute with Braden, he’d neglected much of what he was usually in charge of for Custos. Cooper was picking up a lot of his slack, not to mention Olivia, who was keeping everything office management related running like clockwork. And then there was Micah, managing caseload allocation and anything else that they would have overseen themselves.

  He worked for several hours, purposely avoiding searching for updates on Eric, even though he was damn curious if anything else had been found or if he was still in the wind. He caught up on emails and checked on the latest batch of After Action Reviews uploaded to their private server. On the last day of every month, Cade and Cooper would gather the guardians for a monthly meeting to review their closed cases. He wasn’t physically there, but wanted to ensure he was up to date on all the AARs that had come in.

  When they’d first started out, he and Cooper discussed the merits of the debriefings they’d been trained to carry out after each operation during their military days. Formal and informal AARs had been par for the course. Those debriefings had saved their lives on numerous occasions, so they’d carried the tradition forward to their business. They were beneficial as a component of their risk management, record keeping, safety policies and procedures management, and tracking best known methods for future ops. He sent Micah a quick email asking how the team meeting had gone and decided he’d played enough catch up.

  He was just shutting down his laptop when Braden started to wake with a bad dream. He got in bed and gathered Braden in, talking to him in a soothing voice, settling him right down. They both fell asleep feeling comfort from the other. Several hours later, Sam came in. She apologized for waking them and asked if Braden would like a little late lunch, but Cade assured her they had food brought in. On her way out the door she told them that the doctor would be in a little later to check on him. She smiled widely when she mentioned that he may be able to leave if his blood sugar remained stable, especially since Braden was used to managing it at home.

  Cade loved the sound of getting Braden out of the hospital. He didn’t know what to expect, as Braden had literally just come out of a coma the night before, but if they were going to release him, Cade couldn’t be happier. When Sam left, he helped Braden to the bathroom and left him to his business, while he went to see what Cooper had brought to eat. Inside the bag, a couple place settings sat atop a thermal heater bag and a cooler was tucked underneath. He placed the food on the rolling table and helped Braden back into bed.

  Braden’s face settled into a beautiful smile as he leaned in and smelled their lunch. Cade grinned at his obvious happiness and asked what put the smile on his face. Braden told him it was Nana’s eggplant lasagna. Cade couldn’t imagine when Nana had baked it, but he supposed he’d given them enough time that morning. As he set about plating their meal, he listened to Braden as he talked all about his favorite dish. He used to love regular lasagna, but when he was diagnosed with T1D, he explained that she’d started to get creative, in order to give him some of his past favorites in low carb versions. This was one of the ones he loved best.

  They ate in relative quiet, and the no longer hot, but still warm lasagna tasted amazing. The cooler had held small side salads and Nana’s homemade peach tea with agave nectar. Braden ate as much as he could and then passed the remainder to Cade, who tossed it all back with relish. He checked the cooler again to see what else was there, and found two large salads with veggies, chicken breast slices, shredded cheese, strawberries and some almonds. They were set for dinner as well.

  Cade cleaned up their mess from lunch. When he glanced over to see how Braden was doing, he saw him hunched over and looking at his hands, a sure sign that he didn’t like what he had to say, but was going to force himself to spit it out, regardless. Cade waited patiently, crossed the room toward him, and sat on the edge of the bed. He tipped Braden’s chin up with his finger so that their eyes met and realized Braden’s skin had lost its color. Cade moved himself more fully onto the bed, facing Braden. “Talk to me.”

  Braden looked down at his hands again and sighed. “I know that Eric is a master manipulator. I know that, I do, but god, it’s hard not to let some of his poison in to fester here and here.” He knocked his cast against his head and then over his heart. “He just kept hammering home the fact that a man like you would never stay happy with a man like me.”

  Cade opened his mouth to tell Braden just what he’d like to do to Eric for spouting such bullshit, but Braden reached over and squeezed his leg. “Let me finish, please. He said that I needed to realize I didn’t have much to offer a man like you.”

  Braden glanced at Cade’s clenched fists, but continued with a shake of his head. “A man who has fought in war with Special Forces, has a successful business with his family, and started his own security company is pretty likely to get bored with someone like me. Any way you look at it, Zavier, I’m a homebody. At the end of the day, I just want to bake and come home. I can’t offer you what you’re eventually going to want, because I’m not a thrill seeker.”

  Anger was building in Cade, and the more Braden talked, the more Cade felt his legendary control slip away. Braden finally looked up again, and Cade asked him flat out if he was done. When all Cade got in response was a wide-eyed, affirmative nod, he spoke with the deep grit of someone who had lost all patience. “We’re going to have this conversation once, Braden. Once, and then we’re never going to talk about this again. I’m only dignifying all of that with an answer because I see that it’s tied you in knots, and I won’t belittle your feelings and act like they don’t matter. So, once and done, do you understand?”

  Braden met his eyes
, looking a little like he regretted bringing it up, but nodded that he agreed and even managed a timid yes. Cade took a deep breath and let it out. “Braden, he said all that because he knew it would get to you and because he wants you for himself. He doesn’t know what type of person I am, but you do.”

  Cade reached and clasped Braden’s hand in his. “Being near you makes me feel alive, like I’ve never felt before. My heart rate spikes and my breathing quickens when I know I’ll be close enough to touch you. But you’re also my peace, my calm. No matter what chaos is surrounding me, I know I can come home to you, and that makes me feel at ease.”

  Braden looked up, his features pained. “It’s just that—”

  Cade squeezed his hand. “No. Listen to me, Braden. Hear me. When I told my family what you meant to me, my exact words were, ‘he’s become my everything.’ It took that one sentence and the look on my face for them to accept that as the truth and to bring you a gift to welcome you to the family.”

  Cade saw raw emotion slide over Braden’s face. He leaned over and pulled the watch from his bag and handed it to Braden. “That’s an Imperator McCade Watch, which only our immediate family wears. They wanted you to have it because you’re mine. It’s as simple as that. I can’t have you second guessing me. You’re going to be my husband one day and a father to our children. I see all of that with you.” Cade gently squeezed Braden’s shoulders. “Why won’t you believe me? What else do I need to say for you to put the same faith in me?”

  Braden eyes teared. “Nothing.” He looked down, blinking the tears out of his eyes so he could see the gleaming watch in his hand and whispered, brokenly, “Nothing. Zavier, it’s so beautiful. You can’t possibly imagine what it means to me.”

  He climbed onto Cade’s lap and wrapped his legs around his waist and hugged him for dear life, ignoring the twinge of pain from his bruised ribs. “You don’t have to say anything more. You’ve said everything. I needed your words in my head, pushing his out. I’m so sorry I doubted you. I know you love me and I do have faith in you. You’re my everything too, Z.”

  Just then, Sam walked in the room and quickly shut the door behind her. She smiled widely, obviously enjoying watching them and not embarrassed in the slightest upon catching them in their compromising position. “OK, I probably shouldn’t think this situation is so hot, but you guys are really sexy together. Umm, what was I…” She tapped her finger to her lips. “Oh, yeah. So I just came in to check your glucose levels, but I also wanted you to know that there’s a cop out there, asking if you’ve come out of your coma. I didn’t know if you wanted to talk to him yet, so I wanted to warn you.”

  They thanked her and Braden reluctantly crawled off of Cade and back onto the bed. Sam checked Braden’s levels and gave him an insulin dose. When she left, Cade leaned forward and kissed Braden softly on the lips. “I don’t think we’re ready for you to talk to the cops yet, so I’m going to tell him you’re asleep right now and that he can come back tomorrow. Are you OK with that?”

  Braden nodded, feeling relieved. “Yeah. I don’t really want to rehash everything with a stranger right now, when I haven’t even talked to you about it yet. And I’m exhausted again and would like to rest until the doctor gets here.”

  “Will you be alright if I step out of the room to talk to him? If you yell, I’ll be able to hear you. I won’t go far, Braden, and the door won’t be out of my sight.”

  As much as Braden didn’t want Cade to see it, he knew that his fear came through. He figured if he was going to get over his panic at being left alone, he needed to start now. “I’ll be fine, since I know you’re leaving and won’t be far.”

  Cade left immediately and Braden kept his speeding heart and panicked reaction at being alone to himself. He distracted himself by looking at the watch that was still clutched in his hand. He watched the minutes tick by and felt a small measure of calm as a result of focusing on that, rather than the emptiness of the room. Cade was back in less than five minutes. He sat down beside Braden on the bed and admitted that Detective Miller was frustrated, but he understood he wasn’t going to make it past Cade to get to Braden. He’d left with a promise to return in the morning. The doctor was only a minute or two behind Cade and entered with a smile on his face. “Braden, your glucose levels look great. How is your migraine?”

  “The pain is gone, but the hangover still has me exhausted and weak.”

  Dr. Himmel made a sound of sympathy. “Just when you think the worst of it is over, it drags on and on, doesn’t it? I’m sorry about that. Is it alright with you if I check your other injuries while I’m here?”

  Braden tensed, still feeling raw at the thought of anyone other than Cade touching him, but he braced himself and gave a reluctant nod. Dr. Himmel stepped closer and did a thorough exam. “Other than recovering from your injuries, and getting more rest for your migraine, I’d say you’re pretty darn healthy, considering you were in a coma last night. Yesterday, while you were still out, we did several brain scans to check for any damage as a result of the diabetic coma. We’d like to do the same scans this afternoon, now that you’re awake, to be sure that there is no permanent damage prior to sending you home. I’ve scheduled the scans and your first one is in about an hour and a half. Maybe you can get some rest beforehand. Do you have any questions?”

  Braden tensed and placed his hand on Cade’s thigh. “You think I have brain damage?”

  Dr. Himmel shook his head. “I don’t, Braden. You seem to have recovered from the ordeal, but it’s best for us to double check to be sure there’s nothing we missed that could cause any issues down the road. I feel confident that after your external injuries heal, you’ll be as good as new, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t dot all the I’s and cross all the T’s. Any further questions?”

  Braden cleared his throat. “Can Zavier come with me?”

  Dr. Himmel gave Braden a kind smile and nodded. “Of course. As he’s your protection detail, it’s permitted, though he’ll have to be with the technicians while you’re in the scanning bays.”

  Braden, looking uncertain, glanced over at Cade, who tucked his arm behind Braden and kissed the top of his head. “I’ll be there with you.”

  Cade rested his head on Braden’s and felt him nod at the doctor, who said his goodbyes and left them. Braden settled back and curled into him for a rest. He smiled as Braden murmured a few words he couldn’t decipher and was out seconds later. He got more comfortable reclining the bed a bit further, turned on the TV and muted it to watch sports while Braden rested. He picked up his phone and responded to all the texts from his family and his team, checking up on Braden. When Sam came over an hour later to wheel Braden to the first of several brain scans, she had to wake them both.

  It was several hours later, the scans having been completed, nurses having come and gone for continued blood tests and injections, when Cade and Braden settled down to eat their dinner. They were both tense, waiting for the scan results, so neither of them were feeling particularly chatty. When they were done eating, Cade cleaned up the mess from dinner and was about to sit in the recliner when Dr. Himmel made an appearance. Cade sat beside Braden and took his hand, and together they waited for the doctor to share his findings.

  Dr. Himmel brought up the scan results on his iPad and smiled. “So, Braden, how do you feel about going home tomorrow morning?”

  Braden’s shoulders sagged in relief and he grinned up at Cade, who was beaming down at him. “Very agreeable.”

  Dr. Himmel chuckled. “I figured as much. Your scans are clear of any permanent damage that could have been caused by the diabetic coma or the concussion. I think you were brought in just in time, and as much as it doesn’t feel like it, things could have gone much worse. Since it’s already late in the day, I’d like to keep you for observation overnight so we can monitor your glucose, and check your injuries one more time before you leave.”

  Dr. Himmel tapped a few things into Braden’s file and then glanced
back up, meeting Braden’s gaze. “With the coma and the concussion, I want you to take it easy and rest for five or six days, more if you experience any dizziness, headaches, or confusion. Your body is recuperating from quite an ordeal and the more you take care of yourself and rest, the better you’ll be. Cade mentioned that you’re a serious runner, but I want you to wait at least ten days from your release date before you do that, and again, only if you’ve had no symptoms. However, any stretches or yoga you do regularly can be done as soon as you feel up to it. Do you have any questions?”

  Braden’s face reflected his frustration. “I can’t work for five days?”

  Dr. Himmel was about to respond when Cade cut in. “Six.”

  Braden frowned. “I’ve had a concussion before. I went to work a few days later. It’s not that big a deal.”

  Dr. Himmel raised a brow. “Braden, a brain injury is a big deal. Tell me, how did you feel, working eight hours on your feet, a few days after that?”

  Braden huffed. “I felt awful, but that’s not the point. It’s not that simple. I can’t put the cafe out like that. I don’t have anyone trained, and we would take too big a hit.”

  Cade clasped Braden’s hand that he’d clenched into a fist, gently unfurled his fingers, and entwined theirs together. “The only day the café was closed was the day you left. Do you think Nana would hear of it closing when she could lend a hand?”

  Braden’s jaw dropped. “She… What?”

  Cade smiled reassuringly. “She’s having a blast, baby. Maya is making sure she’s taking plenty of breaks and is even helping her out when needed.”

  Braden’s eyes popped at that. “Maya’s in my kitchen?”

  Cade nodded. “When it’s needed, so Nana doesn’t get overtired. But more often than not, Nana’s just fine and shooing everyone out.”

  Dr. Himmel cleared his throat. “Sounds like you’ve got the help you need while you recuperate. So let me bring up my final point and then leave you to rest. You’ve been through quite an ordeal, mentally and emotionally. I have the contact information for a really great psychologist who helps people who are suffering from trauma and PTSD, which I’ll include in your discharge papers. You can think about whether or not you want to talk to someone, but I can assure you, he’s very good at what he does and is someone I trust implicitly. Now, can I get your word that you’ll give yourself time to rest?”