Page 17 of Kade

“I’ve told you to call me Angel.” She poured herself a cup of coffee and took a sip. “This is good.”

“I’m a coffee snob. It’s my own personal blend.”

Angel laughed at his hoity-toity expression with his nose in the air. “Is Kade in his office?”

“No, ma’am. He already went to the main office.”

“Really?” She glanced at the clock on the microwave. It was barely after eight. “He was on the phone all night. I hope nothing’s wrong?”

Jasper shrugged. “I don’t know. My assignment is to guard you. We’re only told what we need to know.”

“Well, I hope you don’t mind plundering through my new bar. I’m meeting the contractor there at eleven. We need to swing by the bank, sign the papers, and collect the keys first, though.”

“A busy morning, then.” He looked down at his lonely bowl of cereal. “I should have cooked.”

“Your stomach isn’t nearly the bottomless pit mine is. We’ll order pizza as soon as Saul’s opens. It’s just down the street from my new building.”

“I haven’t tried that place yet.”

“Best pizza around. Kade brought it home, and I thought I’d die of food orgasm right then and there. The stuff is better than sex.”

“I’m not sure I’d go that far…”

She wagged her finger at him. “You just wait until that first burst of flavor hits your tongue. It’s amazing!”

“Uh-huh.” Jasper emptied his bowl and put it in the dishwasher. “How soon do we need to be on the road?”

“Ten minutes or so. They’re expecting us at the bank as early as we can get there.”

“Okay. Give me just a few, and then we’ll roll.”

While Jasper disappeared down the hall, Angel got all her things together and shoved them into her very stylish briefcase Jasmine, a friend from her stripping days, had sent her when Angel shared her news of opening her own bar. She and Jas had remained friends after she moved from Miami to Boston. Even though she’d fled Miami and the awful memories there, she refused to let Jasmine become a part of those memories. She was older than Angel, but she was her best friend. Long distance best friend, but that never mattered to the two of them.

Jasper came back a few minutes later and hustled her out to a black SUV, one of the ones KS&I owned. They’d enhanced it with custom security features, none of which Angel knew, but she got the impression they were many and impressive.

It took them a couple of hours at the bank, and they arrived at the very derelict building that would house her future bar. There were several restaurants and businesses up and down both sides of the street in every direction for blocks. Customers would see the construction, giving her a ton of free advertising. Curiosity would bring them to the bar they’d watched be built almost from the ground up, and the service would keep them coming back. Angel knew how to run a bar. She rubbed her hands together like a little kid contemplating tearing into a present on Christmas morning. It was going to be epic.

Jasper had been extremely quiet since they’d come out of the bank, so when he told her to wait in the car until he secured the location, it startled her. Not enough to keep her in the vehicle, however. She rolled her eyes when he shot her a warning look and told her to sit still. Yes, the cartel scared her, but if she focused on whether they knew where she was, she’d drive herself nuts. That was not the goal today. That was yesterday’s game plan.

Today was a whole new plan.

But she’d give Jasper peace of mind and sit still. For a few minutes, anyway.

Angel checked her phone. Three missed texts from Kade. He knew she was closing today. One said he was sorry for skipping out this morning, the next good luck with the bank, and the third simply said “I love you,moye serdste.” It meant “my heart.” He’d called her that since she was nineteen, and it still melted her heart.

Jasper knocked on the window, and she shrieked. Okay, so maybe she was more worried about the cartel than she let on, even to herself.

Jasper shook his head and opened the door for her. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Kincaid. I didn’t mean to startle you. We’re good to go inside.”

“The contractor should already be here. Have you seen him?” She got out of the SUV and grabbed her briefcase and purse. It was going to be a long afternoon, what with all the meetings she had lined up.

“No, ma’am.”

“I swear to God, if you call me ma’am one more time, Jasper Watkins, I will beat you.”

He ignored her and ushered her into the building. It didn’t look like much…yet. Graffiti covered the outside of the place, which was fine by her. Curb appeal would come after the major renovations inside.

The inside was a total mess. At 4000 square feet, it was a massive building, but she planned on putting in a kitchen. She’d done her research and knew the market here better than she had the audience for Pops’ bar where she worked back in Boston. Her vision for this place was to become the premier spot for the college kids who were only a few blocks away.

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