Chapter 54
CADE
Bella and Zeke’s Penthouse
Morning has finally decided to claim Manhattan. Beyond our wall of windows, the first ribbons of gold spill between the skyscrapers and paint the glass towers in a warm amber light. And for one fleeting, peaceful moment, it’s like the city almost forgot it doesn’t sleep.
The smell of fresh coffee, sizzling strips of crisp bacon, butter melting over pancakes, and maple syrup warming on the stove fills Bella and Zeke’s penthouse.
It’s become a morning ritual for us over the last few days.
Breakfast. Check in on Zeke. Convince everyone in this madhouse to eat something.
Steal an hour in the studio—if I’m lucky. Then wake up and do it all over again.
However, this morning, the peacefulness doesn’t last long.
“How did this happen? When did this happen?” Bella grills Tex and Sabine, pointing a spatula at them like she’s conducting an interrogation instead of helping me make breakfast.
“Sweetheart,” I say, flipping another pancake onto a plate. “Let them talk.”
Lex leans back in his barstool, laughing under his breath as if he didn’t single handedly cause this morning’s drama.
“Hell, let them breathe, baby.”
The entire house had been awakened by Lex’s, holy fucking shit balls moment earlier. I’d barely opened my eyes before our bedroom door slammed against the wall hard enough to make my Midnight Rain painting—the one I did of Bella and Josh on the rain stage—rattle against the drywall.
“Cade! Baby! Get the fuck out here!” Lex had roared, sounding somewhere between a man witnessing a murder and a kid who just found a dinosaur in his backyard.
Naturally with everything going on, we’d assumed the worst. Bella practically launched herself out of bed, ready to go snap Zeke out of another nightmare. I’d nearly face-planted over my own feet while yanking up my sweatpants just trying to follow her into the hall.
Only to find Sabine standing outside Tex’s bedroom with her heels in one hand, her braids a glorious disaster, and Tex leaning against the doorframe with his dark eyes blown wide.
Sabine glared at Lex, mumbling something under her breath in a French Creole I couldn’t catch but am certain had to be a curse on his lineage.
And if that wasn’t bad enough for her, Zeke, Marisol, and Nate all popped their heads out of their rooms a few seconds later. Marisol and Bella both squealed in unison when the scene registered.
Now, Bella’s trying to piece together this timeline as if she’s solving a homicide.
Tex folds his heavy arms across his chest. “It just happened, Bells.”
“Absolutely not,” Bella shoots back, tapping the silicon spatula against the counter for emphasis. “Dating Sabine doesn’t just happen. I want details.”
“Me too,” Marisol chips in, completely invested from where she’s perched on Zeke’s lap over on the couch.
Zeke just looks amused, which I’m damn glad to see. He could use this distraction after everything he’s been through.
“Just tell her, mon n’amour,” Sabine says far too quickly to Tex. “Before they all start writin’ their own versions of it in their minds.”
“Oh believe me, the story’s already in here,” Lex snickers, tapping his temple. “You. Tex. Tangled up in some bayou somewhere…” He grins. “Hell fucking yes.”
“L’ombre,” Sabine snaps, shooting a heated glare in Lex’s direction. “That’s quite enough from you.”
“What’d I do?” he laughs, raising his hands in mock surrender. “Not like I’m the one trying to sneak out of Tex’s room before the sunrise.”
Tex sets his mug down on the counter with a quiet, clink. “Barinov.”
“Just tell them,” Nate mutters, pushing up from the couch before striding toward the kitchen. “That way I can quit pretending like I don’t know.”
Bella gasps, her eyes flying to Nate. “You knew?!”
“Where’s Little Whitmore when you need her?” Lex says, already ripping out his phone. “She’s gonna flip her shit when she hears this.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Tex warns, efficiently snatching the phone right out of Lex’s hand.
“Hey!” Lex protests, reaching back for it.
I laugh to myself, setting a platter piled high with pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs in the center of the table. Steam curls into the morning sunlight, carrying the rich scent of maple and bacon through the room.
“Alright,” I say. “Everyone sit down.”
I glance between Tex and Sabine, both of whom suddenly look like they’d rather face a firing squad than another one of Bella’s questions.
“You two can tell us your story over breakfast.”
Chairs scrape against the hardwood as everyone slowly migrates toward the table. Bella, Lex, and Marisol still tossing loaded glances, smirks, and quiet chuckles across the room. Once everyone is seated and plates are full, Bella lasts all of three bites before breaking the silence.
“So,” she says, pointing her fork between Tex and Sabine. “Start talking.”
Tex swallows hard. “Fine.” He glances sideways at Sabine before looking back at Bella. “What do you want to know?”
Bella and Marisol answer at the exact same time. “Everything!” They both stop, blink at each other, and then point accusing fingers across the table like teenagers. “Jinx!”
Zeke snorts into his coffee, the sound turning into an honest laugh that makes all of us look his way for just a brief moment. It still catches me off guard hearing it.
Sabine smiles to herself before intertwining her fingers through Tex’s beneath the table. He doesn’t hesitate to lace them back.
“Well…” she begins, her dark eyes catching the morning sun. “To be honest, we’ve been seeing each other off and on since a little after I had Carlos tied up in my bayou for you, honey.”
Bella nearly inhales a piece of bacon. She coughs once, her steel eyes widening. “Hold on.” She points her fork at them again. “That long?”
“Oui, chérie.” Sabine’s smile grows as she gives Tex’s hand a gentle squeeze. “That long.”
“So what happened?” Bella inquires. “How did everything, well… you know?”
Tex huffs. “After you lit Carlos’s ass on fire, Sabine called me. I was furious at first for not being looped in on killing the bastard, but—”
“But I calmed the storm brewin’ in him,” Sabine cuts in smoothly. “Told him that the vengeance was yours to carry out. That you needed to handle that man on your own.”
“We needed,” Bella corrects, her eyes turning glossy as she glances over the table at her brother.
“We did,” Zeke echoes with a small nod. “And I’ve never been prouder of you, Bells.”
Bella’s brow pinches. “You saw?”
“Luca let me watch,” he admits. “Needed me to see so I could help with those damn poems.”
“Nice work wrecking Carlos’s dick,” I chuckle, shaking my head at the memory. “That line was you, wasn’t it?”
Zeke shrugs. He leans back and takes a slow, effortless sip of his coffee. “I can be poetic when the occasion calls for it.”
Laughter erupts from the table and bounces off the high ceilings.
“So anyway,” Tex continues, clearing his throat. “After the wrecking of Carlos’s dick incident, Sabine and I came up with a plan to get the rest of your revenge for you.”
“Vince?” Lex asks from Bella’s other side, his fork halfway to his mouth.
Tex nods.
“Wait, I thought Mortal Kombat got Vince’s ass for—”
Marisol’s sudden laugh cuts him off. “I still can’t believe you call him that.”
“His full name is Tattooed-Dragon-Dick Mortal Kombat, sweetheart,” Lex says with a wicked smirk. “I just shorten it from time to time.”
“Ooh, Lex!” Marisol shrieks. “Did you know that Laing actually has a tattoo on his d—”
“Babe!” Zeke grits out. His dark eyes go completely wide as he shoves his hand over her mouth to shut her up.
“Wait a damn minute,” Lex says, that feral, chaotic grin I love so much growing wider by the second. “Are you saying that you and Tattooed-Dragon—”
“Yep,” Bella interjects with a pop of the p. “But it’s clearly still a sore subject.”
“Oh please,” Zeke snaps, pulling his hand back. “Like you have any room to—”
“Jesus Christ,” Tex cuts in, shaking his head. “Can I please continue with my story?”
Marisol and Bella exchange laughing, conspiratorial looks, but they finally concede to Tex.
“Go ahead,” Bella giggles.
“Anyway,” Tex continues, his voice low. “Like I said, we worked together with Laing and other Black Books to capture Vince. Long story short, we bonded over our protectiveness and love for you and along the way real feelings started to grow.”
“That is adorable,” Bella beams, her eyes soft as she reaches under the table to squeeze my thigh. “I love this so much.”
“You should,” Nate smirks from down the table. “You’re the reason their entire relationship even exists. I mean if I had to hear one more time that—”
Ring. Ring.
All of our heads turn toward Zeke as he pulls his phone out of his pocket.
“Hello?” he says, his tone switching to business. “No, that’s fine.” He eyes Bella from across the table. “We can be there, that’s no problem… Alright, see you soon, bye.”
“What was that about?” Bella asks.
“Dr. Monroe needed to move our appointment up to noon today.”
“Oh, okay.” She nods, then stops and glances at me quickly. “Wait, don’t you have to be at the studio at noon?”
“Shit,” I mutter, rubbing the back of my neck. “Yeah I do, but that’s alright, sweetheart.” I peer around her and lock eyes with Lex. “Lex can drive you today.”
“A bike ride downtown with our girl on my lap?” Lex practically moans, leaning in to press a firm kiss to her temple. “Fuck yeah, baby.”
“What studio?” Nate asks, leaning back.
“Wexley’s,” I answer.
“He’s got two paintings left before he can finally graduate,” Lex adds, smiling my way.
???
Ashmoor Hall - Wexley University
Ashmoor Hall isn’t just where The Legacy dance studio is tucked away between lecture halls and practice rooms. It’s the heart of Wexley’s elite art program. A place I’ve spent the last four years calling my second home.