by Luna, David
Braden had gotten closer with Rowan and Siobhan during his recovery at the hospital. He felt a strong kinship with them and knew the feeling was mutual. He was also happy he got to know Cooper, Sawyer and Jackson during his stay. They’d visited on a daily basis and had even started joking with him and treating him like one of their own. Finn was a regular because he was still managing his care, but he would often stop by while the other guys were there and challenge them to a game of poker. He’d win every single time, and Braden would do his best to keep from laughing at Jackson’s incredulous expressions and Cade’s shouts to stop counting cards.
Everyone else had been busy while they’d been stuck in the hospital. Cooper had moved over to Vaughn’s place with Jackson and Sawyer. Maya had insisted that Nana come stay with her while she helped cover the baking at the Café, so that Cade and Braden had some privacy.
Braden couldn’t thank Nana enough and when he was talking with Cade about thanking her properly, he realized he needed to thank everyone in their circle for helping him. They both agreed that in several months, when everything settled down, they’d be sending Nana on an all-expense paid cruise to the Bahamas. He’d also told Cade he wanted to have their friends and family over to thank them for everything they’d done to help him with the stalker situation.
Braden didn’t want to wait, so they were doing it on Friday, a mere three days after he was released from the hospital. Cade had pushed back and asked him to delay, but Braden turned imploring eyes up to him and he caved. He didn’t want Braden to overtax himself or to push too hard. That was precisely why Cade had made Braden promise not to bake a thing and to let him take care of the details. He’d asked Braden to treat the party like he’d treated their date: to just be there and enjoy it.
At first, Braden had pushed back. Cade had looked at him sternly and his voice had deepened when he admonished Braden. “Don’t fight me on this. You just got out of the hospital. I’m making this decision for you and you’re not going to stress about it.”
That voice and those firm words had eased something in him immediately, and he’d acquiesced, knowing that Cade would worry about him overdoing it if he didn’t heed Cade’s demand.
Cade’s whole family was there, along with Cooper, Jackson, Sawyer, and Vaughn. Maya and Nana were obviously there, and Zoe and Layla had also been invited, as well as Gabe, who, even though he was Braden’s psychologist, had become a friend as well. Their place was packed and Cade had actually moved furniture around and made Braden’s great room area into the perfect gathering spot.
Once everyone had arrived and had the chance to get some appetizers and a drink, Braden dinged a spoon against his glass. “I’d like to say a few things, but bear with me, as I haven’t planned anything specific. So many of you here tonight are new to my life, but I feel as if I’ve known some of you for years. As much as this experience with Eric has been an awful one, I don’t think I’d change the fact that it brought many of you into my life. I feel so fortunate. I don’t know how it happened. Whether it was the universe aligning the stars just right, or good karma coming my way, something out there brought me my very own warrior, in Z, to fight for me, protect me and love me.
He also did something remarkable. He brought me you, a veritable army standing for me, my own personal band of warriors, protecting me. And whether you’ve been physically protecting me or emotionally protecting me, or both, the result is the same. I’m here today because of all of you. I don’t know if I’m deserving of such an army, but I do know that I am so humbled by your support, your generosity and kindness. I have a bit of a long road of recovery ahead of me, physically, emotionally, and psychologically. But I know that with my own band of warriors here to fight with me, I’m not alone in this. So I’m raising my glass in a toast to all of you for your unfailing support and love. I’m truly blessed to have you all in my life.”
Several people called out, “Hear, Hear!” and everyone raised their glasses in salute. Cade stepped behind Braden, wrapped his strong arms loosely around Braden’s waist, and whispered, “You’re deserving, Braden. I don’t think I know anyone who is more deserving than you are. I love you, baby.”
Braden turned in his arms. “I love you too, Z.”
They kissed, holding each other and then broke apart and made their rounds to ensure that everyone was enjoying themselves and getting everything they needed. Braden was hugged many times over. He spent time talking to everyone who had come and enjoyed chatting with his guests and watching them pair up with new acquaintances and mingle together.
After quite a lot of circulating, he made his way over to Aiden, Cade’s youngest brother who was on leave from his SEAL unit for the next week. He’d come to visit Braden in the hospital a couple times, and Braden had liked him immediately. Of all the McCade siblings, he was closest in age to Aiden. Cade’s youngest brother was fun-loving and gregarious.
Aiden turned to face him as he approached. With a huge smile on his face he pulled Braden into a huge but gentle hug. Braden, reveling in the enthusiasm of it, realized something that made him laugh. Aiden pulled back and looked down at Braden. “What’s so funny?”
Braden smiled and shook his head, “Nothing, just amusing myself.”
“Nope, not the right answer. Spill it.”
Braden blushed. “I love your family and I love their hugs, but each of you hugs completely differently and it makes me laugh.”
Aiden looked confused. “How can we all hug differently?”
“Well, let’s see. You hug with a lot of exuberance, which I think is a lot like you are in life, enthusiastic. Your mom hugs with so much love and comfort wrapped up in her embrace that you just want to keep hugging her. Your sister, well, your sister hugs eagerly, but quickly, because she needs to keep talking to you and doesn’t want the hug to get in the way of the discussion. Your dad’s hugs are automatic, almost perfunctory, but that sounds too cold, which he isn’t. I think his hugs are just a part of who he is. He hugs because that’s what family does and that’s that. And Gideon, hmm, Gideon hugs with restraint. I think Gideon holds a lot back, emotionally and physically, so I always feel like he’s keeping himself apart in some way. Finn, now Finn hugs me gingerly, most likely because he’s my doctor and doesn’t want to hurt me, but also because I think he believes that I’m more fragile than I really am. Does that answer your question?”
Aiden looked dumbfounded and then recovered himself. “And Cade?”
Arms wrapped around his chest from behind and Braden knew without even looking that they were Cade’s. Then a low rumble sounded in his ear. “Yeah, what about my hugs?”
Braden avoided the question, asking instead, “You call him Cade? I thought his family all called him Zavier.”
“I used to call him Zavier, until I joined the SEALS. Turns out he’s pretty well-known within military Spec Ops, and his nickname is Cade within their ranks, so I just started calling him what he usually asks people to call him.”
Braden nodded and looked behind him, up into Cade’s eyes, but Aiden wasn’t finished. “So, you never answered me.”
Braden turned and looked up at Aiden. “Hmm?”
“What about Cade’s hugs.”
Braden blushed and felt Cade’s arms tighten around him. “Well, Z’s my own personal warrior, so his hugs are full of protection and strength, but what it really comes down to is Z’s hugs are like coming home.”
Aiden smiled wide and slugged Cade in the arm. “How the hell did you get so lucky to find someone that loves you that much?”
“I don’t know, but if I ever figure it out, I’ll let you know.”
Aiden turned when someone tapped him on the shoulder and Cade whispered in Braden’s ear. “You’re getting tired of standing, I can see it in the way you’re holding yourself. I need you to come sit with me for a bit.”
Braden shook his head. “I’m fine. Really.”
Cade growled. “You’ve been on your feet for over an hour and a half, chattin
g with everyone who’s here. You come sit with me, or I tell everyone how tired you are and ask them to leave.”
Braden smacked one of Cade’s forearms that was holding him against his chest. “You’re so bossy. You wouldn’t dare.”
Cade slowly turned him so that they were facing each other. “Braden, your recovery is the only thing that matters to me at the moment. Don’t push me.”
He sighed and relented. “OK, fine. I’ll come sit for a few minutes.”
“You’ll sit for thirty minutes at least, or I’ll have Finn come check on you.”
Braden scowled. “There’s no need for that. He’s much too careful of me.”
“He’s your doctor and my brother. He’s as careful as I need him to be.”
“OK, don’t get all growly. I’ll come sit.”
“You love it when I’m growly.”
Braden chuckled. “I really do.”
He held Cade’s hand and they walked toward the sofa where Vaughn was sitting, chatting with Cooper, who was sitting in the chair opposite. Cade sat a bit away from Vaughn on the couch and pulled Braden down next to him, without an inch to spare. He tucked Braden into the crook of his shoulder and began to talk to Vaughn and Cooper. Braden began to feel the pain in his abdomen increase and knew his pain meds were wearing off, and he’d need to go get another dose soon. Rowan broke into his musings when she sat down on the coffee table in front of him and began to chat as if they’d been in the middle of a conversation, which he loved.
Cade tucked his left hand under Braden’s hip on the couch and gently pulled him closer when he felt him move away while chatting with Rowan. Braden absentmindedly grabbed his hand from under his hip and pulled it around his chest, leaning back into him. A burst of warmth filled Cade’s chest when he realized Braden welcomed his possessive grasp.
He continued to chat with Vaughn and Cooper while Braden chatted with Ro, all the while keeping his arm firmly around Braden’s chest. He enjoyed the fact that Braden’s hand rested on his thigh, stroking it in a soothing, reassuring manner as if he knew Cade was feeling extremely protective. It was as if Braden wanted to send the message that he was alright and understood Cade’s over-the-top, territorial behavior.
After they’d chatted for some time about non-business related things, Cade decided the timing was finally right. “So you’re leasing your building, right? Or do you own it?”
Vaughn groaned a bit. “Leasing and the lease is almost up. The owner is trying to take me for a ride. He knows it’s too expensive and a big pain in the ass to have to move the gym. He’s an asshole.”
“When is the lease over?”
“In about three months.”
“Have you thought about moving?”
“It’s a good location, and it’s so expensive to move all that equipment. If I was to move, there’d be some downtime getting set up in the next location that my customers wouldn’t appreciate. I guess I’ll go ahead and sign the bastard’s paperwork in the next month or so, but the price gouging is really pissing me off.”
“Cooper and I have a proposition for you. Let me say first that everything is negotiable. Let me say second that if this is something that you don’t want and are not interested in, you can tell us that and we’ll have no problems between us.”
Vaughn looked taken aback. “OK, shoot.”
“Our employees need a place to work out 24/7. We will be providing that for them, on site, as part of their benefits package, as it clearly benefits us as well. We want them to have a place to be practicing their fighting skills, in addition to the weapons and tactics training we provide. We want someone we know is the best at what they do. We’ve purchased two warehouses that we’re currently renovating. We’ve left the first floor of the second warehouse alone, until we could talk to you.”
Cooper took up where Cade left off. “We’re proposing you move your gym into the second warehouse. We would own the building, but the gym would be yours. You would meet with the architect to design the gym’s interior. We have a couple of options for payment for you. Option one is you have a lease and pay what you’re paying now at your current building. Option two is you have a lease but pay half of what you are currently paying with the stipulation that our employees and their immediate families have free memberships.”
Vaughn looked completely astonished that they were even having this conversation. He looked like he was about to say something, but Cade cut him off at the pass. “Keep in mind, we want access to the gym 24/7, because we don’t work on a regular schedule. That would mean you’d need to have employees there during off hours, when you haven’t before. It would be up to you if you wanted to only keep the gym open 24/7 to our employees, or if you’d keep the gym open 24/7 for the public as well. There would be an internal and external entrance, so either of those options would work.”
Cooper continued the tag team business proposition. “We would expect that there would be training classes, which you would provide, for our employees only. We would also expect you to bring in other experts from time to time to provide further training for our people. We would also need to use your facilities to have our own classes, where we’d be training them in military fighting techniques. We can negotiate whether those classes would be at an extra cost to us or part of the rental deal.”
Cooper looked at Cade, who continued, “We want this to be a lucrative business decision for both Custos and The Knockout. We’re not looking to make this arrangement so that it only benefits us. We haven’t run the numbers. I’ve had my hands full and I’m usually the one working with our financial advisors, so that portion of it has been waiting.”
Vaughn glanced to Braden, an understanding smile on his face. “Of course. You’ve been busy with more important matters.”
Cade nodded. “We don’t know what your gym membership prices are versus the quantity of our employees and their family compared to rental prices. We’ll need some information from you to pass to our financial advisors. They can look into what will work best and provide you with a specific proposal with multiple options and financial details outlined. You can then pass the proposal to your own financial advisors and have them run the numbers as well. You can take the time to think about the offer—”
“I don’t need to.”
Cade’s eyebrows popped up. “Vaughn, we’d ensure your business didn’t take a hit as a result of—”
“Guys, I trusted you both with my daughter’s life, and you brought her back to me. Nothing in my world means more to me than her and you honored that trust. You’re two of the most successful men I know, and I consider you both friends. I’d be a complete ass not to take you up on this offer.”
Cade grinned and Cooper stood, which prompted Vaughn to stand as well. They shook hands and ended up giving each other a rather enthusiastic bro hug. Cade tilted his head toward Braden, signaling to Vaughn that he wouldn’t be getting up. Vaughn clasped Cade’s hand in a firm grip and leaned in to hug him one-armed. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. I’ll be very happy to get out of that lease and give a hearty ‘fuck you’ to that bastard. I think this is good business for you guys, and it’s definitely going to be great business for me.”
Cade smiled at Vaughn. “Oh, I think we’ll all be happy with the outcome, and we’ll ensure the move is as seamless as possible for your customer base.”
Cade felt Braden’s stare and looked down into his boy’s questioning gaze. Braden leaned his head back on Cade’s shoulder. “What’s got you guys so worked up?”
Cade smiled and kissed him softly. “Just business, baby.”
Braden raised an eyebrow and stared at Cade until he smirked and filled him in.
Braden grinned. “That’s a brilliant idea!”
Cade nodded and Vaughn and Cooper took their seats and began to strategize. Cade looked at Braden. “You’re still hurting. When can you take more pain meds?”
They’d been sitting there chatting for over an hour. He looked up at Cade g
uiltily. “I could have taken them a while ago, but I was too comfortable tucked in beside you to move.”
Cade narrowed his eyes. “So I’m going to have to put your pain medication schedule into my watch, in addition to your insulin schedule?”
Braden rolled his eyes at Cade. “No, I’m going to get them now and make myself some tea.”
Cade grumbled at that. “Don’t roll your eyes when you know I’m right. You don’t want to be chasing the pain, Bray. You want to be staying on top of it, so that the meds kick in before the pain does. I don’t like seeing the strain in your eyes and the fatigue that it brings. Please, for me, take them on time.”
Braden leaned up and gently clasped Cade’s face in his hands. “I’m sorry. I’ll do better, I promise.”
Braden got up to go to his bedroom. He was waylaid several times and chatted a bit longer than intended before he made it to his bathroom to get his pills. Rather than wait for the tea, he tossed them back in his bathroom, so they’d kick in faster. He then went into the kitchen and turned on the electric kettle. He wanted tea, but he figured others might want some coffee, so he got the grounds ready and his large French press set up. While the water heated, he got out mugs and other coffee fixings and set them on the table.
When the water was ready, he poured some in his mug and poured the rest in the French press. After several minutes he removed his teabag and then pushed the press down on the coffee. He did his best to ignore the pain caused by picking up the kettle and pushing down the press, knowing the pain meds would do their job soon. He saw Cade out of the corner of his eye coming his way, and Braden smiled at how overprotective he was being. Cade shook his head as Cooper tried to waylay him, and he could see Cade’s desire to get to him.
They’d have to have a conversation about that later. Braden didn’t want to be treated with kid gloves any longer. He wanted their relationship to be on equal footing as much as possible, as soon as possible. As he was setting the coffee carafe on the kitchen table, he saw Finn approach Cade as well. “How’s your gunshot wound healing?”
