Kaden Read online

For the next ten minutes, we talked about what had been going on here while he’d been away, mostly focusing on Linc’s fights and how well he was doing. We were interrupted midsentence when we heard a familiar voice.

  “Where’s my little brother at?” Zoe strolled out of the house, her red hair blowing in the breeze as she rushed toward Ryder, who had come out to join the rest of us soon after I did. She gave him a big hug. “Hi, Dad.”

  “Hi, honey.” He kissed her cheek before releasing her. “How was your trip?”

  “It was fine. Nothing exciting, which is a good thing.” Zoe smiled and I didn’t think I’d ever seen a bigger grin. She looked happy, exuberant even. “Where’s Roman?” she asked, making her way toward the bar and greeting all the guys. I’d been told things shifted in the club when Zoe was about twelve. This was when she started visiting her dad here, in California, more often. Before then, he’d travel to Illinois twice a year where she lived with her mother.

  While she knew her dad’s friends well, she hadn’t met Ace or Brick yet. The last time she was home was a year ago, but her trip had been a short one, only visiting with her family.

  “He was out here a bit ago.” Ryder looked around, but his son, Zoe’s half brother, wasn’t anywhere to be found. “Maybe he’s in the house. Did you see Braylen yet?”

  “Yes, and I hear congratulations are in order.” Zoe gave Ryder another quick hug. “Startin’ all over again. God love ya.”

  “What’s she talkin’ about?” Marek asked. It seemed like Ryder hadn’t told anyone he was going to be a father again.

  “You didn’t tell them?” Zoe clapped her hands together, holding her tongue for several seconds, but when Ryder just shrugged, she spilled the beans.

  “Braylen’s pregnant.”

  Silence descended over everyone, and I had no doubt shock was the reason.

  “Are you serious?” Jagger finally asked, rising from his seat. He slapped Ryder on the back. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

  “I didn’t get around to it yet. Besides, we didn’t want anything to take away from Roman’s party.”

  “Oh, sorry.” Zoe bit her lip, but her smile never disappeared. “But he’s not out here right now, so there’s no harm.” She continued to talk to Ryder and the guys for a few minutes more before seeing me and Luke by the grill.

  After she wandered over to us, she wrapped us in a big hug. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even see you two over here.”

  “No biggie. Gotta say hi to the fam first.” Luke gave her a wink before sprinkling some sort of seasoning on the hamburgers.

  “How’s work going?” I asked, interested in hearing all about the exciting world of fashion. Zoe was a buyer for one of the top fashion houses, and her job took her all over the world. For now, she was in London, living the most fabulous life, as was evident from her social media posts.

  “It’s good.” Her smile fell a little. “Great. I’m living the dream, right?” Her tone bordered on sarcastic, and picking up on her subtle facial expressions, I wasn’t gonna press her to explain or ask her what was wrong. Another time, perhaps. Maybe she’s not as happy as I initially thought.

  “I love your outfit, by the way.” Zoe’s smile came back to life. While she may be having an issue with work, talk of all things fashion was the right way to go. She wore an emerald green, sleeveless, mock turtleneck dress with a fitted bodice. The skirt flared out, the hemline hitting a couple inches above her knees. Paired with nude red-bottomed heels, she looked like she’d just gotten off the runway. Her hairstyle had changed since the last time I saw her. While her strands were still the same shade of gorgeous dark red, the style hit right below her collarbone, thick and wavy, her bangs something I wish I could pull off.

  “Thanks.” She brushed a piece of lint from the side of her dress. “I didn’t have time to change before getting here.” She looked down at herself, then back at me. “I’m a little overdressed.”

  “You look awesome.”

  “Yeah, you look beautiful, Zo,” Luke added, leaning over and kissing her cheek.

  “Speaking of looking good.” She waved her hand between Luke and me. “You two don’t look too shabby yourselves. Any love interests I should know about?” She wiggled her shoulders, making me laugh.

  Both of us took a second before answering, but when we did, our response was the same. “No.”

  “Well, that’s a shame, but you’re both still young. Don’t rush into anything. Trust me. The drama and bullshit aren’t worth it sometimes.”

  “How much longer before we eat?”

  When Brick approached our group of three, Zoe turned to see who’d asked the question, gasping when her eyes landed on the large man in front of her. She was several inches taller than my five-foot-five frame, even taller with her heels on, and still she had to lift her head in order to look into his eyes. She looked tiny next to the mammoth of the guy. Hell, most people did. He was bigger than Tripp, who I thought was enormous at six four.

  Brick tried to play it cool, but he stared back at her, the two of them locked in some sort of silent conversation for the next several seconds.

  “Should be all done in five,” Luke answered, but no one paid attention to what he said, Zoe and Brick matched in a staring contest while I observed them.

  Finally, when their encounter became a touch uncomfortable for me, I nudged her shoulder with mine, deciding that introductions were needed just so one of them would say something.

  Zoe tore her eyes from Brick’s and looked at me, her brows raised high.

  “This is Brick. He’s one of the guys in the club.” I didn’t need to add the last part because he wore a cut, clearly telling anyone who could see he belonged to the Knights Corruption. “And, Brick, this is Zoe.” I took a step toward him and it was only then he looked at me. “Ryder’s daughter.”

  “I caught that,” he responded, ignoring the warning in my tone and reaching out his hand to her. “Hi.”

  Zoe’s palm slid into his, and I could’ve been mistaken, but I thought he pulled her closer, although I didn’t notice her feet move forward.

  “Nice to meet you.” Zoe licked her lips before pulling her hand from his grip. “That’s some ink you have there,” she said, pointing at the center of his neck. The tattoo she referred to was a skull with some sort of design on each side of it. The center of the image was what drew the eye because it looked like it was on fire.

  While Brick looked like a mean sonofabitch, he was rather sweet, or at least, he was toward me whenever I talked to him. On top of his demeanor, he was nice to look at. He kept his dark hair short, almost too short, but it worked on him, and his beard trimmed. With his beautiful brown eyes and full lips adding to his allure, I could see why Zoe was captivated right now.

  “Thanks.” His fingertips glided over the image on his neck, but when he opened his mouth to say something else, Ryder appeared next to him. He stepped in front of Brick, and although he didn’t block the view of his daughter, his presence was enough to make Brick take a step to the side.

  “I don’t think so.” Ryder continued to look at Zoe. “Why don’t you go find Roman and wish him a happy birthday?” The sternness of his voice didn’t leave any room for argument.

  “Really, Dad? I’m thirty-two.”

  “I don’t care how old you are. You’re not messin’ with anyone in the club and that’s final.”

  Zoe huffed, her pale green eyes narrowing into slits. “Don’t be so dramatic. We were just talking.” She smiled at Brick, but her father’s insistence sliced right through her attention on the man standing slightly behind her father.

  “Now, Zoe. Go find your brother.” Ryder turned to glare at Brick once she walked away. “And you.” He pointed in his face. “Stay away from her. You hear me?” Brick didn’t answer, but he backed up a step and threw his hands up in front of him, showing Ryder his palms. “And finish the goddamn food, Luke,” he shouted before heading toward the house.

  “Why you yellin’ at
me?” Luke shouted after him, looking offended, but when he caught my eye, he winked. I doubted he’d joke if Ryder was still standing behind him.

  I took comfort in realizing I wasn’t the only one who had an overprotective father. My dad was worse, however, and I didn’t know if that was because I was ten years younger or just because he had a hotter temper than Ryder. I would’ve never made it past the initial introduction to a guy before my dad rushed over, acting like a crazy man.

  Luke kicked my foot with his. “Do you think you can grab me another beer? If I ruin the food, I think everyone is gonna kill me.”

  “Sure. Be right back.” I had no idea why none of the guys thought to bring a cooler outside instead of having to constantly run back into the house. I looked toward the men. “Anyone want another beer?” I heard too many yeses to count, but it wasn’t their barrage of answers that made me tense. Seeing Kaden jump up from his seat, his attention on me laser-focused, was what made my next breath stutter.

  28

  “I’ll help you.”

  He jogged up next to me, flashing me his megawatt smile before briefly touching my hand. Instinctively, I looked back toward my dad, but he was laughing about something with Jagger and hadn’t seen the interaction. And even if he had, I wasn’t sure he’d think anything of it, so used to me and Kaden together. Or at least, we’d been in the past.

  We crossed the grassy area, but before we made it back inside, my mom opened the kitchen window.

  “Lincoln!”

  Both my dad and brother looked. “Which one? Young or old?” Because of the sun’s glare on the glass, I couldn’t see my mom’s expression, but if I had to guess I would’ve said she smiled.

  “Young,” she replied.

  Linc got up from his seat and pointed at our dad. “Oh, that’s gotta sting, ol’ man.” My brother loved to instigate, referring to our family’s patriarch as ol’ man or pops, both of which he didn’t care for. But instead of his usual scowling because of the reference, the only reaction the guy had to his son’s ribbing was to smile.

  “You’ll wish you look this good when you’re my age,” our dad replied.

  Wow! The news of his wife not working with Dr. Weber after this month had really put him in an awesome mood, not even the jab of being called old riling him.

  As Kaden and I made our way into the house, he stood close. So close, in fact, his warm breath hit the back of my neck, eliciting goose bumps to sprinkle across my skin.

  Once we were in the kitchen, I distanced myself from him, enough to not feel like he watched every damn move I made.

  “Where’s Evan and Harrison? I haven’t seen them yet,” I asked.

  Kena picked up her hands, her movements fluid and quick. I think they’re down in the rec room watching a movie or playing a game.

  “Speaking of, you two should make your way downstairs and check it out.” Braylen took a bite of her potato salad, the sight of the food making my stomach growl.

  Not responding to her comment, I threw a question at her instead. “When were we told we could eat?”

  “Special circumstances,” she replied, her hand resting over her belly. “I’m eating for two now.” She laughed. “I’m still not used to saying that.”

  It’s weird to hear, but in a good way, of course. Kena gave her sister a half hug from behind, kissing her cheek.

  My mom moved closer to me and Kaden. “What do you two need?”

  “More beer,” Kaden said, moving around me and toward the fridge. “For everyone out there.”

  “Hold on. I think I have something you can use to carry them out.” Braylen put her fork down and rounded the corner at the far end of the kitchen before disappearing into her pantry. There were some loud clanking noises followed by a string of expletives before she reappeared, holding an oval tin bucket. After filling it halfway with ice, she placed the bottles of beer inside, opened the same window that my mom had used to call Lincoln inside, and yelled for Ryder and Jagger.

  “You two go downstairs and check out the rec room.” She practically pushed us out of the kitchen and down the hall toward the door to the newly renovated room of the house.

  “Where ya goin’?” Linc asked when he finally came into the house.

  “You better get in the kitchen before your mommy comes lookin’ for you,” Kaden teased. My brother flipped him off right before he hustled into the other room, our mother shouting for him once again.

  We only took a few more steps before Kaden spoke behind me. “You know they essentially pushed us to be alone together.” Since I was walking in front of him, I couldn’t see his expression, but from his tone, I could tell he was egging me on. Did he want me to tell him I was thankful for the quiet time with him or did he expect me to have a snarky comeback? A week ago, it would’ve been the latter but not so much anymore.

  Once we cleared the stairs, I saw Jagger and Kena’s boys lounging on the leather sofa, their eyes glued to some action movie. They were both so cute I just wanted to ruffle their hair and kiss their cheeks, but something told me they wouldn’t be as enthusiastic to receive that kind of attention at their ages.

  “Hey, guys,” I greeted, walking up in front of them and blocking the television. “Why aren’t you upstairs with the rest of us?”

  Instead of answering me, Harrison reached for my hand and pulled me to sit between them. “We can’t see through you, Riley.” He bumped my shoulder with his, flashed me a quick grin, then returned his attention to the movie. He looked more like Jagger than his brother, his blond hair the exact shade as his dad’s. He’d filled out since the last time I saw him, which was only a few months ago.

  I glanced over at Evan, and while he was also engrossed in the film, he turned to look at me, his hazel colored eyes shining when he smiled. Even though he was only a year younger than Harrison, he had more of a baby face than his older brother. He’d taken after his mom with his hair color, although the shade was a lighter shade of brown than hers.

  “Come on, Ry. Let them finish watching the movie,” Kaden said, nudging my shoulder from behind. When I stood up I made sure to quickly move out of the way so as not to block the screen again, but I hadn’t taken two steps before Kaden grabbed my hand and pulled me into the bathroom around the corner, closing and locking the door behind him. His presence ate up the generous space, and the more I backed away from him, the more he moved toward me.

  “Why are you tryin’ to get away from me?”

  I didn’t answer, pointing at his face instead. “Does that still hurt?” The darkness of the bruise had faded, but the area still appeared tender.

  “It’s fine.” He lightly touched the skin below his eye.

  We stared at each other for what seemed like an hour, our eyes roving over each other in silence. I didn’t know how to be this close to him, alone, locked away in a small room without thinking of our past. A past that harbored a different version of myself.

  One who was hopeful for the future.

  One who was head over heels in love.

  One who lived in a sort of bubble, never believing anything bad could happen, not as long as Kaden loved me.

  When I finally couldn’t take the quiet any longer, I leaned my hip against the vanity and crossed my arms, my nerves rattled with uncertainty.

  “Why did you pull me in here?”

  “Because I need to talk to you.”

  “About what?”

  “Us.”

  “Kaden… I told you there is nothing to talk about when it comes to us.”

  He took a single step toward me. “I disagree.”

  I held steady. “You can disagree all you want. If you want to be friends again, I think I can manage that, but there can’t be anything more between us.” Even as the words left my mouth, I hated hearing them. There was too much history between us for just a friendship, but for the sake of this conversation, and possibly my heart, I would give our renewed friendship an honest try.

  “I don’t wanna just be y
our friend, Ry. I want you back… as mine.”

  “I’m not a piece of property.”

  “That’s not what I meant.” He advanced another step, and that time I retreated, not much more room to go before my back would hit the wall.

  Cocking my head to the side and pursing my lips, I contemplated my next string of words. “Answer me this. Why, after all these years, are you coming back after me? We haven’t stayed in the same room longer than minutes for the past three years, so why now? What changed?”

  There was no hesitation on his part to answer. It was like he’d been waiting for me to ask that exact question, like he had the response all planned out.

  “About a month ago, I had a terrible dream that you died. The way you stared at me… from inside the casket…” His voice broke. “When I woke up, I knew I had to stop fucking around and get you back by any means necessary.” Kaden was on me before I realized his feet had moved forward. He grabbed my upper arms and pulled me close, so close I had to look up at him to see his face.

  “A dream?”

  I kept my eyes pinned to his. I thought he was gonna say that he had some sort of epiphany one night and realized that he couldn’t go on without me. Or that at the very least he’d tell me he thought about me every day for the past three years and wanted to do something, say something, but never had the courage to apologize for how he treated me toward the end of our relationship, and for…

  “A dream?” I repeated.

  “Yes. But it wasn’t just the dream, although that was what finally prompted me to make a move.”

  I wanted to ask him a million questions, but the truth was I didn’t trust he wouldn’t break my heart again. Then there was the little issue with my dad, and even though we were both adults now, he’d still go ballistic, and while I realized he had a temper, I didn’t truly know what he was capable of. Would he try and shoot Kaden like Uncle Trigger shot him when he revealed he’d been seeing my mom?

  “I’ll do whatever it takes to make things right. I just want the chance, Ry.”

  It’d been a long time since I saw desperation behind his blue eyes, and while I wanted to agree, to wrap my arms around him and lose myself to him, I recalled how hurt I’d been when he started distancing himself from me. I remembered crying myself to sleep and thinking the worst when he canceled plans with me for the fourth time in a row.