11. Cade
Chapter eleven
Cade
The date didn’t go quite according to plan. I thought that if I could show Sloane all the luxuries I could offer, maybe she’d… honestly, I don’t know what I was thinking. I spent all this time attempting to date after Laura, I never took the time to realize that every woman is different.
Sloane would have been fine with a dinner and art gallery date, but did it have to be in Denver? For some other women, maybe, but for Sloane, no. She made her views quite clear. She doesn’t care for the flashiness that money has to offer. To be honest, based on what Liam told me, creating the art room for her felt more special than jet-setting to Denver and eating at a fancy restaurant.
What transpired after that wasn’t necessarily planned, either. I think I can speak for both of us when I say that the sexual tension between us is and has been intense since Sloane came back to Rose Valley. What happened on the plane was the first time we had sex since O’Malley’s. And just like that time, it was animalistic sex fueled by frustration and anger. We aren’t always at each other’s throats, but it feels like every time we start taking off each other’s clothes, it’s because we’re pissed at each other.
Is it just sexual frustration, or is there something more underlying our dynamic?
Whatever the reason, the sex was fantastic. Everything about Sloane screams desire for me. Ever since I had her at the bar and have spent more time with her, I want her in more ways than one, but my heart won’t allow me to have her except for just one way. I want to tell her more about me, especially Liam, but I promised myself I wouldn’t get caught up. I’m not the only one who stands to get hurt if she doesn’t want anything more with me.
Unfortunately, I think it’s too late for that.
As we arrive at the Bennett house later that evening, I get out of the car with Sloane. She doesn’t look at me as she walks toward the house. After we hooked up, she’s been giving me the silent treatment. We haven’t spoken about us hooking up again or the fight leading up to it.
I know she’s right—I haven’t been fair to her. I tell myself I’ll finally let my walls down, and when I do, they start to build right back up. Even when she hasn’t done anything wrong.
Maybe I’m just not ready to let someone in again.
Sloane stops at the family mailbox before she walks up the porch. She pulls out a letter addressed to her on top of the stack, which clearly confuses her since she doesn’t live here. She opens it and begins to read it. In a second, she gasps, setting off alarm bells in me.
“What is it?” I ask as I step closer, but she just hands the letter to me like she doesn’t want to be near me. It hurts, I won’t lie, but I know deserve it.
I open the letter and begin to read it.
Miss Bennett,
Is art indeed just a feeling, or is it raw talent?
How is this for inspiration? Allow your past to fuel your future.
Signed,
Your Biggest Fan
At face value, the letter doesn’t seem so bad; just strange and cryptic. But why is she so rattled by it? Is something in her past making her react this way?
Instead of asking her what’s wrong, I can’t shake off my hurt that she won’t even look at me. So I decide to act like a jerk again. “Well, it seems we all have skeletons in our closet,” I remark.
Sloane looks up, glaring harshly at me and shaking her head. “Goodnight, Cade,” she says before walking away.
I step in front of her before she goes inside, the letter still in my hand. “It was probably just a prank,” I say.
She attempts to walk around me again, but I hold my arm up to stop her.
“I think Mike would want to know about it, prank or not,” she says, moving under my arm before closing the door behind her, signaling she doesn’t want my help.
I mentally curse myself, but am I wrong? Why am I being questioned about my own past, but she can’t tell me about hers? Especially when I haven’t even asked her about her past?
I groan, frustrated with myself despite the double standard taking place here. I feel bad for upsetting her. It doesn’t matter if I believe she should reciprocate with me. The point is, this letter was written to scare her. The question is, why? What would this person have to gain if they revealed secrets from her past?
That’s something I’m going to have to figure out. Regardless of this thing seeming to be over between us before it even began, Sloane’s still my best friend’s sister at the end of the day. And if that means I need to protect her, I’ll do it.
I walk back to my car and immediately drive away from the Bennett residence. If I’m going to help Sloane, I need to grab a few things and head back to the rental property for a while. I’m no use to her staying at the estate while this stalker continues trespassing on the Bennett property.
Upon getting to my estate, I collect my laptop and other belongings, like a change of clothes and any other items could prove useful for this situation. She made it quite clear she doesn’t want my help, if slamming the door in my face was anything to go by, but I’m not one to give up so easily. If I was, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’ve never once accepted defeat or failure as being an option in my life.
I know things are complicated between Sloane and me, but despite that, I refuse to give up on us. I see the potential of what could be and what could happen from it, but it will take some time. I need to grow in other ways before I let someone in that deeply. It’s complicated, and I know that if I was more open, Sloane would be more understanding than if I didn’t reveal everything.
But right now is not the time to think about my potential relationship with Sloane. Right now is about digging for clues about this potential stalker.
I return to the rental property, parking my Porsche behind the house so it’s out of sight from the road. I get inside and set up my laptop in front of the window adjacent to the Bennetts’ house, giving me a clear view should anything nefarious take place.
Uneasiness sets in as I keep my eyes peeled on the house. I can already tell it will be a long night. It isn’t that I expect the stalker to return, especially not tonight, but you can never rule anything out.
When I look down at my computer, I begin to research the most basic of clues, like stalking incidents in Rose Valley and crimes in Rose Valley. Really, anything that would elicit a result. But nothing solid comes up. Rose Valley is safe, for the most part, unless you count teenagers committing petty theft because they’re too bored to do anything else.
I sigh long and hard, racking my brain for every other possible lead, but I keep drawing a blank. Truthfully, I don’t think this has anything to do with my ability to strategize, but more like I can’t think anything clearly when other things are going on inside my head. Staying focused on the task at hand is going to be a problem.
“What the hell am I doing?” I ask the mostly empty room. This is insane, and not because I feel this inherent need to protect Sloane with every ounce of me, but because I’m literally doing a stakeout from my rental property. Despite how efficient that would be, I can’t stay here when I have Liam to think about.
Conflicting feelings loom over me, and I have no choice but to sit in silence as they eat at me like carnivores. The silence becomes deafening, saying all that it needs to. I miss Sloane. I miss her like air in my lungs. I know I just saw her, but I’d be lying to myself if I thought I’d be okay if I didn’t give this relationship a real fighting chance.
I sigh deeply as I take my phone out, my thumb hovering over Sloane’s number. If I call her, she could view my checking up on her, despite that she shut the door in my face, as proof that I truly care about her. That isn’t something that just goes away, especially when I’ve known her so long. Still, she doesn’t want my help, and most likely doesn’t even want to talk to me. If I hover or contact her when she isn’t ready, it’d only push her away further.
I put my phone down on the table, resolving that I’ll try again later. In the meantime, I look over the short letter to her, expecting to find any clues that would point me in the right direction. But unfortunately, nothing of use manages to turn up.
My phone vibrates, and I pick it up to see Mike’s name flash on the screen. Liam is still over at his house hanging with Landon, so I hope everything is okay.
“Hey, Mike, is everything alright with Liam?” I ask as I try another random search on the laptop, with no results.
“Oh, yeah, he’s great,” Mike answers. “He and Landon are having a Nerf war before they go to bed, but I actually wanted to talk to you about something important.”
Suddenly, I feel this sinking feeling inside me. Does he know about Sloane and me? What we’ve done? My stomach does flips as my nerves go into hyperdrive. Sloane’s a grown woman, but Mike will probably always see her as his baby sister.
I let out a shaky breath. “What’s going on?” Yes, that’s good. Keep him off the trail and ask the most mundane and basic questions to keep him from getting too close.
“Sloane called me and told me she came across a strange note in the family mailbox.”
I close my eyes, preparing for him to bring me into the middle of it, but the verbal beating never comes. She must have kept me scrubbed from the story, which I’m grateful for. I’m not ready to have to hash all that out with Mike. Not when we have more important matters to attend to, like dealing with this potential stalker.
“Seriously?” I ask, feigning surprise as I continue to keep Mike off my tail.
“Yeah, I’m going to need your help with this,” he says.
My help could mean one or two things: first, it could mean using my financial resources to secure her safety, but this is a stalker. Something tells me this person isn’t here to kill her. I think if they were, they probably would have tried by now.
No, this person is calculated. They’re hoping if Sloane is scared enough, she will do what they want. Whatever that is, I don’t know, but Sloane might.
The second thing is my connections. We don’t ask questions about where these connections come from; we just know that they exist and are at my disposal should I need them. Something tells me that they will be helpful for this particular operation.
“What do you need?” I ask Mike as I sit up straighter.
He sighs. “I’ll need you to keep an eye on Sloane for me. I don’t want her to be alone, so if for any reason she’s going to be, have her notify you so you can keep her company.”
I look around where I’m sitting, as if reminding myself that I am already looking over her. “Of course. What else can I do?”
He clears his throat. I listen to the screen door slam as he steps outside to finish our conversation. “I need you on standby,” he answers. “I know you’ve been out a long time, but—”
I make a noise and cut him off because I don’t even have to think about this. If I have to resort back to the various techniques I learned in the past, I’ll do it. It doesn’t matter that it screwed me and my family over long ago. It doesn’t matter that I walked away years ago.
Like a ghost, that part of my past will haunt me well into the afterlife.
I sigh. “Mike, I’ll do whatever is necessary to protect her.”
I listen to him breathe a sigh of relief as if he thought I’d say no, but these are the Bennetts we’re talking about.
And this is Sloane, and I would do anything to keep her safe.
I promise, Sloane.