Page 5 of Kade

“Boss.” The deep voice rumbled through the phone.

“Jasper. I have a new assignment for you.” He rolled his head from side to side, trying to relieve the pressure in the stiff muscles of his neck.

“I haven’t finished this one yet.” Jasper yawned. His client kept late hours, and Kade knew the man napped when and where he could.

“I’m sending Sawyer to relieve you. This is more important.”

“More important than an ambassador’s daughter?”

“It’s for Angel.”

The long pause on the other end was a testament to how the statement had shocked Jasper. “What happened? The bastard get out on bail?”

Angel’s stalker, the deadliest serial killer to ever prey upon Boston, was thankfully locked away in a maximum-security prison until his trial in a few months. Angel would have to testify, and every time she thought about it, she was plagued by nightmares. He wished to God he could take those awful memories from her, but he couldn’t. Instead, he worked hard to help her make new ones she could rely on to help her through the worst of them.

“No, the fucker is still locked up.” Kade’s hands fisted just thinking about him. All he wanted was to beat the bastard who’d violated her. He hadn’t raped her, but he’d come damn close. He’d put his hands on her, his mouth. Rage froze him. If he could get five minutes alone with the bastard…

“Then, what?” Jasper’s question cleared some of the rage, at least enough to let him answer.

“Miami’s deadliest drug cartel. I’ll fill you in when you get here. And, Jasper, as soon as Sawyer shows up, you haul ass to my apartment.”

After assuring Kade he would, Jasper hung up on him.

Now all he had to do was tell Angel.

Angel glanced at her phone. Two texts and three missed calls from Kade. If she looked at the texts, she’d feel obligated to respond. If she did that, her shopping trip would be cut short. Kade’s birthday was next week, and she was currently browsing at Macy’s for his present.

What to get him, though? The man claimed he didn’t need or want anything but her. Which warmed her heart, but it didn’t help her at all right now. He never had been very good at accepting presents. Secretly, Angel thought he tried to ignore his birthday because it meant he got a little older. She laughed as she browsed the suits section of the store.

Clothes were boring presents, though. No one liked getting clothes on their birthday. Birthdays and Christmas were special holidays that required special gifts. Gifts that meant something. She’d been agonizing over this for almost a month now and still had no idea what to get him.

Sighing, she gave up and strolled outside. Spring in New York was a little chilly, but nothing like Boston, at least. She buttoned up her coat and tried to grab the attention of a cabbie. Angel refused to take her car out in this traffic. It was awful. She lived only about ten minutes away from downtown, anyway. Why would she subject her car to crazy drivers? Cabs were easier.

A black SUV pulled up to the hotel across the street, and a man and a little boy got out. The woman who staggered out caught her attention. She wasn’t dressed like either of the previous two. In fact, if Angel hazarded a guess, the woman might be a hooker. Who in their right mind exposed a little kid to that? Not that she had anything against hookers. People had to eat and put a roof over their heads, after all. Angel didn’t think they should be shamed for doing what needed to be done to survive, but children didn’t need to see it either.

Her phone buzzed again, and she glanced at it. The image of Lily Holmes, Nikoli’s fiancée, stared at her. This one she answered as she watched the people across the street. “Hey, Lily. What’s up?”

“Nikoli is being an ass, that’s what’s up.” The irritation in the girl’s voice pulled a chuckle out of Angel. She and Lily had become very good friends over the last few months. Enough so that Lily or Angel would call each other when the brothers upset them and devise their punishments.

“What did he do this time?” Angel almost yelled when she saw the little boy step closer to the curb. What the hell was wrong with people that they didn’t watch their kids on a busy street?

“Called out of the blue, all growly, and told me to keep my ass in the apartment and not to go anywhere. Normally, I don’t mind when he wants to stay in. We have lots of fun, but it was the way he said it this time. Like I was some kind of trained animal who would obey without question. He’s never spoken to me like that before.”

“Maybe something’s wrong?” Angel took several steps toward the little boy, some instinct bubbling up. He was too close to the edge of the sidewalk. Did his father not see him? “I’ve never heard him speak to a woman that way, even his one-night stands. He was never cold with them, just matter-of-fact.”

“He’s a stupid ass, is what he is.” Lily paused and answered a question.

“Where are you?”

“At work. When the ass called and demanded I stay home, I went to work, even though I don’t need to be here today.”

A car whizzed by so fast, she saw the wind of it ruffle the kid’s clothes. That was it. She sprinted across the street, prepared to give the little boy’s father a good tongue-lashing. She made it just as he stepped down off the curb and a car came barreling toward him. Angel grabbed him and dived toward the sidewalk, landing on her back to keep him from getting hurt.

Green eyes stared down at her solemnly, his dark hair falling down to hide one. She gasped as she studied him just as intently. Strong jaw, eyes the shape of Kade’s, and Peter’s nose. She shook her head. No. She was only seeing what she wanted to see because he looked so much like Kade. It was what she imagined Matthew would look like, the baby she’d miscarried the day the police burst in and arrested her brother, Peter. Kade had been the arresting officer.

This little boy was not Matthew. Her gut twisted at the words, and her body protested. The similarity to Kade was uncanny, and he had her eyes. The exact shade. But he wasn’t her baby. Her baby died before he was even born. Twenty weeks. Fetuses that small did not survive.

He was not her baby.

---