Chapter 58
CADE
Regional Competition – Manhattan, New York
She walks out like a goddess. Glitter on her cheeks, lipstick slightly smudged, eyes wild from adrenaline.
Hair teased to hell, smile crooked like she just survived war and still won the crown.
Which, she did. I step forward and hand her the bouquet of white daisies that I’ve been holding like a damn security blanket.
Her face softens the second she sees them.
“Awe, Cade!” she breathes. “I love you.” She throws her arms around my neck and pulls me in for a kiss. It’s fast and sweet and still somehow short-circuits my brain.
Lex shows up a second later like he always does, heat and chaos wrapped in leather and spice. He loops an arm around her waist like he’s claiming territory.
“We did it!” she smiles.
Mom’s voice cuts through like a horn at rush hour. “You three! Get together. I need a picture.”
Lex groans. “Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously. This is history.”
Ellie’s already dragging Cal into the next shot while Mom aims her phone at us like a sniper. “Cade, stand a little closer. Lex, less serial killer, more supportive boyfriend. Bella honey, try not to look like you just got railed backstage.”
Lex smirks. “Can’t help it.”
“Lex,” I mutter.
“What? I’m just saying her glow is real, babe.”
Before I can fire back, he grabs Bella by the chin and pulls her into a very deep kiss. Like, unnecessarily deep. Like, Jesus Christ, people are watching deep.
Mom snaps the photo anyway. “Perfect. Looks like a promo for a very sexy HBO show.”
Bella’s cheeks flush but she doesn’t step away.
“Alright, Whitmores, I need all three of you together. Family shot!” Mom calls, already waving her phone like a damn paparazzi.
“Baby, that’s our cue,” Lex says, tugging Bella out of the shot.
I drag my feet behind Ellie and Cal, throwing on my best son-of-the-year smile while we shuffle into place. We’ve taken about twelve photos already, but apparently this is the official one, so Mom’s not playing around.
We’re standing there, grinning like the perfect little family, but all I can focus on is them. The two loves of my life. Lex’s hand on her hip. Bella’s fingers curled in his shirt. Whispering. Laughing.
God, I love them. Even when they’re being ridiculous. Even when they’re driving me insane. Even when I feel like I’m the only one who hasn’t quite figured out how to breathe without them.
I look away and that’s when I see him. Roman Russo.
Striding through the crowd like he owns the damn building, like he built it brick by brick with blood and threats.
Jet-black suit cut razor-sharp across a frame that looks like it could snap a man in half.
Shoulders broad. Hands steady. One gripping a bouquet of red roses like they’re weapons.
The other swinging loose. His steel-gray eyes are locked and loaded on Bella.
It takes everything in me not to step in front of her.
Not to shield her from the man who made her, lost her, and now, God help us, wants her back.
I don’t like the man. Don’t trust him. And I hate that the loves of my life both come from dangerous families who could swallow them whole all while calling it protection.
Bella steps forward to meet him. Their voices blur. He hands her the roses. She hesitates but then takes them. Her smile flickers on, too polite. Too practiced. She’s not okay, not even close.
Lex slides up beside me, silent for a beat, then nods toward them. “You’re staring, babe.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“You want me to go punch him?”
“I want you to move her to another country.”
Lex chuckles under his breath. “Same. He wants to play daddy of the year, but he knows nothing about her. I mean he brought her roses, babe. Roses. Her literal least favorite flower in the world. Fuckers not gonna last.”
I let out a small laugh.
“But hey, at least this is better than dinner at our place. Can you imagine that guy walking through our door?” He makes a disgusted face. “No fucking thanks.”
“It’s not our place yet, babe.”
“Semantics.”
I glance over at Bella again—still talking to Roman, still holding those damn roses—and something tightens in my chest. “What do you think is holding her back, Lex?”
He sighs. Then steps in, wrapping his arms around me from behind like he can shoulder the question for me. “I don’t know, but we’ll get her to move in, Cade.”
I lean back into him, let the weight of us settle. “I love you, Lex.”
Lex presses a kiss to my neck. “I love you too, babe.”
Bella walks back over, arms full of flowers, shoulders tense like she doesn’t know what to do with any of it, herself included.
“You okay, sweetheart?” I ask, brushing a strand of hair from her face.
She nods. “Yeah. It’s just… awkward. Talking to him.”
Lex and I both go still.
“I don’t know,” she continues. “It’s weird. He says all the right things, but I still feel like I have to put on a mask around him. Like I can’t be myself. It feels like a weird first date or something.”
Lex groans. “Baby, please don’t talk about dating your dad. It makes me want to punch things.”
She laughs and leans in, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He lets out a soft grunt and slides an arm around her waist, tugging her in as close as the flowers will allow.
“But,” she says, tilting her head, “since he’s trying to win the Dad of the Year Award, he offered to let us use The Obsidian for my birthday. He said what’s his is mine. So, anytime I want to use it, or NOX, I can. Just have to say the word.”
Ellie overhears and shrieks, “Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up! Are you serious?!”
Bella laughs. “Yeah, so… I guess you should probably get planning.”
“AHHHH!” Ellie spins in a full circle like her soul just left her body.
Lex grins. “Careful, Barbie. You’re gonna pull a hamstring.”
“Excuse you,” Ellie gasps, fanning herself dramatically. “This is history in the making, Lex.”
Bella arches a brow, fighting a smile. “So, you’re in?”
“In?” Ellie grabs her phone like it’s a weapon. “I’m already texting Knox. We need lighting, fog machines, stage setups, security, costumes, backup dancers. Oh! And we need strip—
“Whoa.” I lift a hand. “Can we maybe not have strippers at the party my girlfriend is starring in?”
“Ugh,” Ellie shrugs. “Fine. Sexy firemen then.”
Lex snorts. “Better. Less competition.”
“Ah! Bells, we are so going to do some Taylor performances.”
“No, we are not,” Bella says dryly.
“Oh, come on!” Ellie throws her hands up. “You and I both know two things.”
She ticks them off on her fingers. “One, some of your best, and I mean best dances are to Taylor Swift songs. That Midnight Rain contemporary on the rain stage with Josh? Perfection. Literal goosebumps every time. It’s probably going to win you two a world championship one day.”
Then she leans closer, lowering her voice like she’s sharing state secrets. “And two, you are a closet Swiftie. Don’t even try to deny it. I saw your face in New Orleans last October at her concert. The lights, the dancing, the friendship bracelets,” she gasps. “You ate it up, babe. Ate. It. Up.”
“Okay, fine,” Bella says, sighing. “We can do one Taylor song. One. But no, and I mean no, rain stage at my party, El.”
“Ugh! Why not?” Ellie whines.
“Because I’d rather not be dripping wet at my own party,” she shoots back.
Bella catches Lex’s smirk forming. “Don’t say it, Lex. I swear to God, do not fucking say it.”
We all start laughing.
“Aww, baby, you know me so well.”
“Wait, what about The Row’s party that night?” I ask.
Ellie scoffs. “Fuck The Row. This is The Obsidian. And it’s ours for the night for Bella’s twenty-first birthday. On fucking Halloween, Cade!”
Bella’s eyes go wide and I swear even Lex winces. The idea of Ellie Whitmore unleashed with that kind of venue and theme? Yeah, no one’s surviving this.
Cal strolls over, catching the tail end of her screech. “What’s this about The Obsidian?”
Ellie spins on him like a hurricane in heels. “Bella’s birthday. There. Halloween night. Cancel everything. I need your guest list by tomorrow.”
Cal lifts a brow, hands in his pockets like he’s not fazed at all. “Great. We’ll be there.”
Lex mutters beside me, voice low and lethal, “Fucking perfect.” Like the words themselves taste like blood and bile on his tongue. Bella grabs his hand before he can spiral.
“Just like that,” I say, looking at Cal. “What about your big Row party?”
Cal shrugs like it’s no big deal. “I’ll just bring them all to you, Bells.” He winks and strolls off.
Lex blows out a breath and shakes his head. “This is gonna be a goddamn disaster.”
“Costumes!” she screams, dragging Bella away. “We need costumes!”
“If she puts me in tights again, I’m burning the building down,” Lex says as we watch them walk off.
“Think we’ll survive this?”
He huffs. “Only if there’s vodka. A shit-ton of vodka, Cade.”