by Luna, David
They walked back to Braden’s place and Braden said he wanted to rest a bit before they went to dinner. Cade watched while Braden got undressed down to his boxers and crawled, exhausted, into bed. He did the same and tucked Braden against him. “I think you’re feeling like things are out of control and you don’t know what to do or how to make things better. Does that sound about right?”
Braden sighed. He wanted to be annoyed with Cade for bringing it up, but he couldn’t be. One, he didn’t have the energy, and two, he’d hit the nail on the head. “That’s about it, yeah.”
“I have a couple of suggestions, and if you don’t like either of them, I’ll think of others.”
Braden smiled at that, his man’s ‘fixer’ tendencies running amok. “Shoot.”
“Cooper let me know that he’s teaching one of Vaughn’s pro-bono self-defense classes tomorrow night. Why don’t we both attend? You won’t be able to do all of the moves with your broken wrist, but you can learn a lot. Later in the week, I’ll take the other class, if Vaughn still needs a teacher, and you can attend again and learn more. We can go to his gym anytime and practice together as well. I’ll teach you how to take care of yourself, against Eric, or any other attacker. It may not feel like much, but I think you’ll feel like you’re taking your control back. What do you think?”
Braden thought about it for a couple minutes and then realized that just doing that much made him feel better. He realized that he wouldn’t be able to fight Eric off overnight, but just taking the steps to learn would fill him with a bit more confidence. “Do you really think I could ever defend myself against someone as big as him?”
“Braden, he’s not that big. He just seems big because he’s constantly done his best to intimidate you. But the answer is yes. I can teach you to defend yourself against someone as big as me and I have confidence that you’ll be damn good at it. You’re extremely athletic and strong. I think you’d be the perfect student.”
“OK, yeah. I think I’d really like that. Even if I can’t do much for the first several weeks, I still want to push myself to learn as much as I can. Just thinking about it makes me feel better. What was the other suggestion?”
“The other suggestion is to see the psychologist that Dr. Himmel suggested, or one of your choosing. My guess is that you’re suffering from PTSD. I think it might help you come up with some coping mechanisms that I can’t provide. I don’t want to push you into anything, but I think it’s important.”
“You’re trying to figure out a way to make things better for me, which I appreciate. I can’t wrap my mind around my own reactions to things ever since I woke from the coma, let alone focus on figuring out what steps I need to take to be myself again. I think it’s probably a good idea.”
They chatted for a few minutes until Braden’s eyes began to droop and he fell asleep. Cade left Braden to rest and headed to the living room to get some work done. He dug through his old and new mail, double checking to ensure he hadn’t missed anything. There was nothing pressing from a client standpoint and from what he could tell, everything in his inbox was currently being managed by their other guys back at headquarters.
He sent several emails, asking that anyone who needed help contact him directly and that everything that had come in during the last several weeks was being filed as managed. He got several responses that everything was being handled and a couple of his people even asked for an update on Braden. They’d obviously been informed of his relationship, and that was just fine with him. It was going to greatly impact their headquarters very soon, so he responded, providing updates and some more information that might clue them into what was to come.
He opened the reports from his local crew regarding the real estate report he’d had them check on and read through each of their thorough findings. The last several lines of text from each of them was precisely what he needed to hear: ‘they are exactly what we need for a seamless transition,’ ‘it’s a go,’ and ‘perfect for our needs.’ He got Cooper on the line and asked him to get things started with the realtor. There was no reason for any type of delay and the sooner they got started, the better.
He spent about thirty minutes getting in some high-intensity interval training and then headed back into Braden’s room just as he was rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He sat down beside him and smoothed the hair from his face. Braden gave him a sleepy smile. “Mmm, you’re all sweaty and sexy. HIIT workout?”
Cade murmured an affirmative and kissed his temple. Braden yawned and then groaned. “God, will I be able to get through a day soon without taking a nap? I feel like I’m eighty.”
Cade chuckled and shook his head. “Give yourself a break. You were kidnapped, beat to shit, and just came out of a coma less than seventy two hours ago. I think resting is exactly what you need.”
Braden smiled softly, clasped Cade’s hand and started fiddling with it, tracing the scars. “You’re so good to me, and I’m lucky to have you. But, what about what you need? It seems to always be about what I need. I feel like I don’t know you as well as I should in order to know what you need. I see how you treat me and how you treat others. I’ve heard your men talk about you, tell stories about serving under you.”
“Exaggerations.”
“Bullshit, Z. You didn’t think I was listening to them when they were talking about you after the breakin, telling stories about your unit. I was listening to every word. You’re so quiet about your service to your country, about your job. It’s like you don’t want that part of you to touch me, but I want to know those things. I think it’s important that I know them.”
Cade shook his head. “You don’t need that kinda shit in your head.”
Braden tilted his head. “That kinda shit is what you’ve lived. You know practically everything there is to know about me. Not only because of everything that’s going on, but because you demand to know everything about me so that you can understand my needs. You think I don’t know that? I do. But I want that from you as well.”
Cade got up to pace. “I just don’t want the things I’ve done to color your perception of me. I’ve done some awful shit. Yes, it’s been part of my job, and orders were passed down, but at the end of the day, I did the worst of it, so that my men didn’t have to. I was proud to serve my country, but I wasn’t always proud of the things I had to do as a result.”
Braden shook his head. “But there’s not much of a choice for you as a soldier, right? I mean, admittedly, I don’t know anything about being in the military, but I know a lot of it is following orders. Don’t carry that burden. I’ve seen your capacity to care for others, not just me. You are different with me than you are with your men, but that doesn’t mean you don’t love them.”
Cade sighed. “With my men, it’s different. I served with them, and they’re my brothers in every way but blood. But in past relationships, I wasn’t like this. I never cared enough to let my own guard down and give myself fully to anyone and expect the same in return. I can guarantee you won’t always like seeing the other side of me, when it does happen. I’m sure I made you a bit uneasy today, when I talked to Miller, and I wasn’t even mad at the guy.”
“You didn’t make me uneasy at all, but I was glad I wasn’t on the tail end of it.”
Cade gave a rueful smile. “Never, baby. He wasn’t going to get by treating you like that.”
Braden held his hand out for Cade to come back and sit beside him. “I turned around to stick up for myself, but one look at you and I knew I wouldn’t have to stress out about defending my choices. I was happy that I finally got to see a side of you that you rarely let me see. It doesn’t bother me that you behave differently with me, but it will bother me if you keep from sharing the other side of you. What if I was keeping you from knowing the real me?”
Cade looked at him, an irritable scowl on his face. “That would kill me.”
Braden raised a brow and then gave him a sad smile. “Right?”
Cade heaved a heavy sigh and
rubbed his hands over his face. “OK, Bray. You can ask me anything. I won’t try to hide that portion of my life from you, but I won’t share everything with you either. There are some things I can’t talk about, with anyone.”
“I understand that. Thank you.”
“There’s not much I won’t do for you, but we’ll have to talk about it later. It’s getting late and we’ve got about an hour before we need to be at my parents’ house. I need to take a shower and get ready.”
Braden nodded and rubbed his hands over his thighs. “OK, I’ll get dressed and put the pastries in the box.”
“Braden….”
“What?”
“Don’t be nervous.”
“I’m not.”
“You are. But you needn’t be. They already love you.”
“They couldn’t possibly. They don’t know me.”
“They know that I’m deeply in love with you. That’s enough.”
Braden’s heart melted and he found he couldn’t argue with that; he’d just have to see for himself. He pulled Cade down for a mouthwatering kiss, took some pain meds to get him through the night, and began to get dressed as Cade showered. He just hoped that by the end of the night, he’d make a good impression.
The drive to Cade’s parents’ house took nearly thirty minutes. When Braden realized what area they were driving toward, he got even more nervous, if that was possible. These people were out of his league. “Your parents live in Sea Cliff, don’t they?”
“Braden, you make it sound appalling. I promise you, my family members are not pretentious douchebags.”
“I feel out of my element. This is so beyond what I’m used to, Zavier.”
Cade smirked at him. “You’re really feeling that uncomfortable? Enough to use my full name?”
“Stop teasing me! Seriously, am I even going to use the right fork?”
Cade laughed in disbelief. “The right fork? What is this, Pretty Woman? I promise that there isn’t a dour majordomo named Jeeves waiting to open their door and a French chef named Pierre cooking a seven course meal with five forks! It’s a simple family meal.”
Braden snickered, he couldn’t help it. “You’ve seen Pretty Woman?”
Cade heaved a put upon sigh. “Who hasn’t? I have a sister, don’t I?”
“Ugh, fine! But if I embarrass you or something, don’t blame me!”
“Braden, I love you. I’m going to assume you’re teasing me right now, because if you’re seriously thinking that you could ever embarrass me, you’re going to piss me the fuck off and I don’t want you to meet my family when I’m feeling angry.”
Braden made a frustrated sound and turned in his seat to face Cade. “I’m sorry. I know I’m being ridiculous. I don’t know why I’m so nervous! I just feel like you’re my forever and if I don’t make a good impression on your family tonight, I could lose you.”
Cade had pulled into his parents’ driveway, and Braden, so caught up in his confession, didn’t know they were there. He put the car in park and turned in his seat toward Braden. “Baby, I’m your forever, just as you’re mine. That’s the only thing they’re concerned about. I promise they aren’t the type of people to pass judgement like that. Now, are you ready to do this?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose.”
“Good. Brace yourself.”
Braden looked alarmed and then jumped in his seat when his door was opened behind his back. He turned around to see a gorgeous brunette with long, wavy hair and Cade’s blue eyes smiling at him. Her grin was so big and genuine that he had to smile in return. She winked at him and pouted at Cade. “Zavier, you can’t keep him to yourself all night! Hi, Braden, I’m Rowan, Ro for short. I’ve been dying to meet you! Come on, let’s go inside. We’ve been waiting on you guys forever.”
Rowan grabbed his hand and practically tugged him from the car. Braden stepped out of his seat, glanced back at Cade, giving him a look of horror, his voice rising in panic. “Are we late?”
Rowan laughed. “No, Zavier doesn’t do late. You’re right on time, a few minutes early, in fact, but mom has been fretting and acting all nervous, like she’s meeting a celebrity or the president or something!”
He breathed a sigh of relief and realized that he already felt less anxious, now that he’d met Rowan and she’d said that her mom was nervous. Maybe this night wouldn’t be as bad as he thought it would. Braden was so swept up in her enthusiasm that he almost forgot the dessert and his testing kit. He quickly leaned in to grab his kit and balanced it on top of the pastry box, barely managing to keep them from toppling. He turned toward Rowan, who was still holding his other hand. She gasped dramatically, dropped his hand and grabbed them from him. “Did you bake us something yummy? I shouldn’t indulge, but oh, I love sweets. Is there chocolate? Tell me you baked something with chocolate!”
Cade rounded the car, took the pastry box and kit from his sister before she could lift the lid, and led Braden toward the house with a hand at his lower back. Rowan, having clasped his hand in hers again, continued asking about the dessert he’d brought, but before Braden could answer any of her questions, Cade spoke up. “Cream puffs. You’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven. Don’t worry, you don’t want any, I’ll eat yours.”
Rowan turned to glare at Cade. “Don’t even think about it! I’ll just have to work out that much harder to burn off the extra calories.”
Cade rolled his eyes at his sister. “You’re ridiculous.”
Rowan returned Cade’s eye roll with one of her own. “Says the guy that can eat anything and everything and not gain a friggin pound! All I’ll have to do is look at one of those cream puffs and I’ll gain five pounds. And that’s five pounds my hips and ass can’t afford to gain.”
Cade growled and Braden looked at her in shock. “That’s absurd! You’re stunning! All Sophia Loren gorgeous curves, flawless skin, thick, wavy dark hair, beautiful blue eyes!”
Rowan clasped her hands together in supplication. “Oh, Zavier, I love him. Can I keep him?”
Cade smirked and shook his head. “No, squirt, I’m keeping him.”
Rowan pouted prettily at her brother, something Braden knew she must do often, and probably with a high success rate at getting what she wanted. Braden smiled at them both, knowing just from their back and forth banter that they loved each other dearly. They walked up the steps to the front door of Cade’s parents’ beautiful home and walked in. Braden still held onto Rowan’s hand, as she seemed rather intent on getting them inside quickly, and didn’t relinquish her hold until they were through the door.
The house had a rather large foyer that welcomed visitors, with a ceiling that was two full stories with a huge wrought iron chandelier that more closely resembled a piece of beautiful artwork than a light fixture. The curving staircase leading upstairs on the left side of the entryway displayed the same wrought iron artistry, capped by a dark wood handrail that matched the variegated dark hardwoods of the foyer floor. Braden was in awe of the beautiful entryway and would have kept gawking had he not heard footsteps.
He turned toward the back of the house to see an older version of Cade coming toward them from the hallway underneath the balcony. He had a welcoming smile that Braden returned and held his hand out. “Braden, so nice to finally meet you. Welcome to our home, son. I’m Duncan, Zavier’s dad.”
Braden’s hand was fully engulfed by Duncan’s and he smiled at the familiar feeling. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
“Oh, we don’t stand on ceremony around here. Please, call me Duncan for now, Dad when you’re comfortable.”
“You’re ruining my strategy of convincing Braden we’re condescending elitists. I already told him that our majordomo and French chef have the night off.”
Duncan’s eyes sparkled with humor. “Ah, yes, Jeeves and Pierre. We’re on our own tonight, such a trial.”
Braden chuckled and shook his head. He realized that Cade’s sense of humor was a family trait. Duncan turned
toward the back of the house and called out, “Siobhan?”
Braden couldn’t help but smile when he heard a woman react like she’d been poked. “Oh! Are they here? Where’s my boy?”
Cade chuckled and set the pastry box down on the ornate console table in the foyer. “I’m here, Ma.”
A beautiful, older version of Rowan came from where Duncan had only moments before. She wore an apron and wiped her hands on it. She rushed toward them and gave Cade a quick hug and kiss. “Hello, sweetheart, it’s nice to see you, but I was talking about Braden.”
Cade smirked and shook his head. “So that’s how it is, relegated to second fiddle.”
She pinched his stomach. “Oh hush, you know I love you.”
With that, she turned to Braden and, with teary eyes, wrapped her arms around him. “Oh, my boy. You are so brave! We were all so worried about you! How are you feeling, darling?”
She released her hold on him and cupped his face in her hands. Her tears had fallen and she smiled through them. Braden glanced to his right when he saw a movement and saw Rowan, swiping a tear away with her finger while smiling at him. Braden was practically holding his breath, not wanting to ruin the moment in any way. He felt warmth flood him when he realized that Cade had been exactly right. His family already loved him and he realized that it wouldn’t take much for him to love them back.
He smiled. “I’m doing fine, Ma’am. Better every day.”
“No, no. That won’t do. You’re family. Call me Siobhan, and eventually, when you feel comfortable, Mom.”
Braden blushed; he could hardly believe her generosity and warmth. He smiled, nodding shyly. “Siobhan. It’s a beautiful name.”
“Oh, aren’t you sweet! My goodness, it’s so great to finally meet you. I feel like I’ve known you for years after working at your café, helping Maya and Clara.”
