4. Chapter Four
Chapter Four
Cade
Kincade sat across from Fiona who nursed her second bourbon neat in the course of an hour. Considering it was nine o’clock in the morning, Cade thought it quite a feat. “Tell me what you know because some people I know might be able to help Mr. Radcliffe if he needs it.” Cade’s comment brought an ear-splitting cackle from Fiona. It was unexpected to hear something so obnoxious come out of the beautiful woman.
“Oh, Man-child, nobody can help Clary Radcliffe. Insider trading is a mean business in our line of work, and Clary’s so-called psychic premonitions regarding the next great investment opportunities have turned out to be information from the many people he’s bribed over the years to provide corporate secrets illegally. It was information he shouldn’t have had and certainly shouldn’t have passed along to his clients to help them make their millions.
“Clarence allowed his greed to rule his common senses, which is how all giants eventually fall. Hell, this will likely take down the whole fucking empire. Welcome to unemployment, kiddo.” Fiona downed her second glass of bourbon, slamming it on the bar and gasping for breath.
“So, basically, we’re out of jobs?”
It would figure that Cade’s first attempt at being independent from the family name would fall flat. Now he had a whole other name that would likely haunt him his entire professional career.
“Yes, we’re likely out of jobs, but technically, you’re in the clear of any criminal charges. You’d be of no use to the feds unless they need you to show them how to use the copier because you haven’t started yet, but I’m sure they’re looking for me. I’ve worked for Clary for nearly two years, and I know all his contacts, though I didn’t know the level of deceit to which he’d stoop to stay at the top of his game.
“Apparently, Ms. Hill took care of that part of Mr. Radcliffe’s dealings. Based on what I heard when the feds stormed the place, they had a lot of incriminating evidence before they ever walked in the door. After their forensic examination of the records, they’ll have a boatload more. This will look bloody-awful on my resume. Hell, I’m doomed.” It was the first time Cade had noticed the hint of Fiona’s accent.
“Where are you from?” Cade asked as he sipped his iced tea. He had his cute new thermos in his messenger bag because he didn’t want to taint the gift with the new reality—that he was, yet again, unemployed.
“I was born here in Chicago, but I grew up in London. My father was a diplomat during the second Bush administration. He was the deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom after 9/11 and then moved around the diplomatic corps for several years before he took a civilian job in New York.
“I attended Eton Hall a few years after the prince and princess had already graduated. That was before I came back to the States. I went to uni in Boston for my undergrad and was set to take my masters’ courses at UIC to obtain my trader’s license, but that’s fucked now because I’ll probably be subpoenaed in a federal suit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.” Fiona slammed her hand on the bar in frustration.
“What will happen to the firm?” Cade had no idea why he cared. They’d all screwed him over.
“The SEC will put the firm into receivership, and all employees will be locked out while they determine which deals were dirty and how deep the dirty deals go. We won’t even be able to draw state monies, I don’t believe. It wouldn’t make much of a difference, I guess, because it’s not a living wage.”
Cade sighed. “What do you plan to do next?”
Fiona’s expression turned sour. “I don’t have the slightest idea what to do for a job after this shit show, but I have to do something because I don’t have money to make rent next month. I have a mountain of student loans I’m trying to pay off.” She slammed the glass on the bar top and motioned for another.
Cade nodded, understanding her predicament but not from personal experience. Raney was looking at a mountain of debt from law school, and he’d complained about the interest rates available for student loans since he began looking at schools.
Thankfully, due to his mother, Cade didn’t have college debt, but he only had a little bit of money left from his college graduation gifts. His father had cut him off completely, but his mother helped him with things he needed when he was setting up his new place, so he wouldn’t dare ask her to help him financially.
“Now, enough about me. What are we going to do about you, young man?” Fiona skillfully changed the subject. Cade judged her to be late twenties. She had class, much like his mother. Fiona wasn’t one who would be held back, regardless of the little pity party she seemed to be throwing for herself.
Cade chuckled. “I have a few ideas about things to do with my life, Fiona. Are you busy tonight? I have some friends I’d like you to meet.” He had a few thoughts in his head regarding a job for Fiona. He just hoped he wasn’t making assumptions that would get him into trouble.
He remembered having Ford’s business card, so he excused himself to the men’s room and withdrew his phone from his suit jacket. He dialed the number and waited while it rang twice.
“Thomas.”
“Hi, Ford. It’s me, Kincade. I, uh, well. Let’s just say the day’s gone to hell in a handbasket. I guess I lost my job today. I have a friend who lost hers as well, so would it be okay if we both came for dinner?”
“Sweetheart, are you okay?” Ford’s question took him off balance a bit. The man’s question was laced with honest sincerity. He heard noise in the background and then the phone fumbled around for a bit.
“Chère? Where are you?” It was Jax, and Cade felt confused by their concerned voices, but he currently had bigger fish to fry.
“We’re at a place called Bootsey’s down the street from our office building. Fiona, my coworker, needed a drink so we stopped in this bar because she knew the bartender and he let us in. We can take the train back to Edgewater. Fiona’s had a few drinks, so I’m not sure if—well, I guess I’ll bring her home with me. She doesn’t seem to be in any shape to be alone. I wondered if it was okay if I brought her over for dinner tonight.”
Cade heard muffled conversation on the other end of the line, and finally, Ford responded. “Cade, I’ll pick the two of you up. Give me half an hour. If she’s drinking, she probably shouldn’t be on the train. I’d puke if I had to ride the train after I’d been drinking. Please, stay where you are. I’m on my way.”
Suddenly, Jax came on the line again. “What happened?”
“I don’t know for sure, Jax. Seems my new boss got caught with his hand in the cookie jar and the feds arrested him. I’m out of a job. My friend is out of one as well, and she might be in trouble, depending on what information she was privy to when she worked for Radcliffe. It’s a mess,” Cade explained.
“But you are okay?” Jax sounded concerned, his question a bit unclear.
“Sure, Jax. We’ll just wait for Ford. I mean, we can take the train.”
“Stay there. We’ll be there soon.”
Before Cade could respond, the call ended.
Cade wasn’t sure what to make of the conversation, so he hurried back to where Fiona was ordering her third—or maybe fourth—shot of bourbon. He started to take it away from her but thought better of it. If she wanted to get shit-faced at ten o’clock in the morning, it was her right after the bullshit they’d witnessed earlier.
He nursed another glass of iced tea as Fiona flirted with the handsome bartender who laughed when her cute accent came out or she cursed like a sailor. The guy was taller than Cade but not as tall as Ford, and not as tall as Jax. He was cute, in a preppy sort of way, though.
The door of the bar opened, and Theo, the bartender, turned toward the entrance. “Sorry, man, we’re not open yet.”
Two imposing figures stood in the entranceway. He smiled as he slipped off the stool next to Fiona. “It’s okay, Theo. They’re my friends.”
Cade grinned at them. “I thought the two of you didn’t like to be photographed together. You’re downtown. Anyone could have seen you.”
Ford laughed. “I think the paps are busy with your boss and his family right now, so we’re safe. Let’s get your friend and go home. Jax, love, go pick up the young lady. It doesn’t appear she’ll be able to walk.”
Jax walked to the stool where Fiona was barely hanging on, tossed a bill on the bar, and scooped her up. Cade saw Jax grin at the bartender. “I’d appreciate it if this stayed between the five of us?” Jax walked over to where Cade and Ford were waiting.
“Shall we, gentlemen?” Jax carried Fiona out of the bar. Cade scrambled to pick up their belongings and follow behind as Ford held the door for him. Who knew life held so much drama?
Fiona was tucked into Cade’s bed in his studio apartment as he sat at the counter in Jax and Ford’s kitchen. His future prospects weren’t exactly promising, and that had his head aching.
At the thought of losing his job, confusion was the first emotion Cade could identify, but he was pretty sure shock was on the way, and fear couldn’t be far behind. He had no money to live without a job, and how he’d find one without references, he wasn’t sure.
Clarence Radcliffe’s name wouldn’t mean too much after the very public arrest. Jax had shown him the footage on CNN as it played on a loop, so everyone was fully aware of what had gone down unless they lived under a rock.
Large hands picked Cade up from his place at the counter. He landed on a muscular lap on the couch at the far end of the kitchen where the television was playing, and he was surprised it was Ford. Jax was the more physical of the two, or so Cade thought.
“Talk to me, sweetheart. This isn’t the end of the world, okay?”
Cade didn’t even know how to respond. The first thing that came to his mind were the initials on the man’s messenger bag. “What’s BXT stand for?”
Ford pulled him closer and kissed his cheek. “Branford Xavier Thomas. It was the last gift I got from my parents when I graduated from high school. I grew up on Long Island. My parents still have our old house there, though they rent it out. They have a place in Bridgehampton where they summer if they’re not traveling. Winters are spent in Sedona, Arizona, or Australia. We’re not close at all, haven’t been for a long time. I’m Branford Xavier Thomas the second. I was named after my grandfather, not my father. It’s fucked up…”
Ford cut off the sentence, though Cade could tell there was a “but” to follow. He wanted to push it, but he wasn’t sure it was his place.
As far as Cade knew, Ford hadn’t nosed into his background. He hadn’t asked invasive questions, so it wasn’t Cade’s place to press the man for more information than he’d already volunteered. Cade hoped they were slowly learning to trust each other. Ford was owed the respect not to pry into his private business until the man was ready to tell Cade the rest of his story, if ever.
Cade woke on the couch, hearing whispers from the other end of the room. Turning his head to see Jax and Ford sitting at the kitchen counter, he quietly rolled on his right side so he could watch them, curious to know what had the two of them so riled up.
“Look, he can work for me at the club. I wish you could have seen him last week working with the dancers. Jax, he’s perfect. You and I went into this with the caveat that if we weren’t in a hundred-percent agreement, we’d stop. We’d walk away. How do you feel about him?” Ford was whispering.
Jax chuckled, which caused Cade to smile because he loved hearing the man’s laugh. “We swore to each other we wouldn’t lie, right? That’s still the deal?”
Cade couldn’t hear Ford respond, but he heard Jax. “You’re right. He’d be perfect for us. It’s unusual, but the three of us? We just seem to click, babe. I think spending more time with him will be great. Maybe he could be my personal assistant so he could come with me sometimes when I travel? I just want to get through this year and go into free agency, Ford. If I can get out of it alive, I can keep my endorsements and hopefully get a better contract with another team to tide me over a few more years so I can pick up some broadcast work after I retire while I figure out the gym.
“I don’t want to get pushed out of football because I’m in love with a wonderful man and on the verge of falling in love with another. It’s like you said, babe. We need someone to smooth our hard edges, and I think he’s… Fuck, Cade’s perfect.”
Jax pulled Ford’s stool over and kissed him softly on the lips. Cade could tell tongue was involved, and he was completely lost as to what their discussion meant. He hated himself for his na?ve nature, and he hated to speculate on the meaning of their conversation but watching them kiss had him rock hard in a nanosecond.
There was a knock on the door, waking Cade from a scorching hot dream where he was in bed with Jax and Ford. The three of them were engaging in some intimate encounters, and Cade’s cock was rigid in his suit slacks.
He wished he’d changed because it was his only suit, and it was wrinkled beyond compare, . He’d have to send it to the cleaners before he started interviewing again.
When Jax opened the door, Cade sat up and listened to the man’s laugh. “I’ve seen those clothes on Cade. Come on in, Miss Porter. I’m Jackson Delacroix.” Jax stepped aside to allow Fiona to enter the apartment.
She was dressed in an old Nike T-shirt and a pair of Cade’s boxers. Her makeup was completely absent from her face, but she was still beautiful. Not beautiful as if he’d like to take her to bed, but her natural beauty was pleasing.
“It’s a pleasure, footballer. Where’s young Kincade?” Fiona strolled into 2D and looked around.
Ford stepped into the hallway, turning as Cade stood from the sofa in the sitting area of the kitchen. “I believe young Kincade just woke from his nap.” Ford walked over to Cade and kissed him gently on the lips, throwing Cade for a loop.
Cade reached down and pinched his leg to ensure he was awake. He wanted to be pissed at the way Ford had teased about his nap, but in all honesty, Cade was mentally exhausted after the fucking day’s events.
He hadn’t gotten drunk with Fiona, but his head felt fuzzy as though he had. The night before, his excitement at starting the new job had kept him awake, but after the adrenaline rush of the day’s activities faded, it left him exhausted.
“Come sit. We need to call a lawyer for you, Fiona.” Jax pulled out a stool from the kitchen counter.
“I’m gonna go change. I’ll be back.” Cade collected his things and went across the hall to his apartment. Thankfully, the door was unlocked, so he let himself inside and went to his dresser, seeing it was a mess. Apparently, Fiona had rifled through his things, and he didn’t like it, but he’d cut her some slack. She’d had a pretty terrible day.
He changed into a pair of khaki shorts and a green T-shirt. He hung up his suit jacket and placed his slacks and white dress shirt in the laundry bag he’d received from the dry cleaners when he signed up for an account. The guy had rainbow flags hanging outside his storefront, so Cade was happy to patronize a gay-friendly establishment.
After he changed, Cade walked across the hall and knocked on the door, surprised when Fiona opened it. “Come in, darling. I’m about to teach Mr. Delacroix how to make shepherd’s pie. I was just making a market list.” There was a sarcastic laugh in her voice.
“Um, okay?” Cade walked inside to see Jax and Ford sitting at the kitchen counter with smirks of their own.
“You still okay?” Jax gave him a sympathetic head tilt.
“Well, I’m poor and have no money to make rent, much like Miss Porter, but I suppose I can find something to tide me over. She didn’t turn you straight, did she?”
Jax and Ford both laughed at Cade’s joke. “No worries on that front, Kincade,” Ford responded. Cade felt relief at his comment, which puzzled him, but he had too many other things to hold his concern. Food and rent seemed pretty fucking important at that moment.