Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
September 5 th
8:32 A.M.
Cade was getting bored.
He was ready to do something.
Ready to start working on a way to get some intel that he would hopefully be able to take home to his family so they could end this mess once and for all.
Sitting around in this basement for hours had given him plenty of time to hone the anger that had raged inside him since these men took his daughter from him. Straightening it out so it was no longer a tangled and useless mess, and turning it into something productive, something that would power him through.
Knowing it likely wasn't going to make it through a screening process, his watch, which had a tracking device inside it, had been taken when he’d been hit with the tranquilizer dart and knocked out. So he also had to assume there was a good possibility that the small tracking device he’d had taped to his skin had also been found.
That meant there was virtually zero chance that his brothers were coming for him, but right now, he was way too wired to give that thought a chance to fester. This had always been a risk and one he’d been willing and fully prepared to take.
These men were trained and paid well to do their boss’ bidding. This wasn't the same as just abducting him, he’d made a trade which meant they would know to be careful that he wasn't trying to double cross them.
But double crossing them was what he had every intention of doing as soon as an opportunity presented itself.
When the door at the top of the stairs finally opened, energy surged through his bloodstream.
This was it.
The chance he’d been waiting for.
A chance to actually do something other than just sitting there and conjuring up in his mind all the ways he’d loved to punish the men for abducting his girls and for hurting Gabriella. Thinking about the bruises littering her body added fuel to the fires of his fury, and he had to work to ensure he channeled that fury the right way. It had to be helpful and not a hindrance if he wanted to stand a real shot at getting home to his girls.
“Morning,” he drawled lazily before any of the five men who had entered the basement could say anything.
From the way they faltered slightly, he could tell his nonchalant attitude had gotten to them. They expected him to be afraid and cowering, begging and pleading for his life. It wasn't only the rigorous training he’d gone through to become a pararescueman that had him feeling calm and in control, it was that there was nothing in the world more terrifying than knowing your helpless child and the woman who did things to you that you believed you were no longer capable of feeling were in the hands of psychopaths.
In comparison to that fear, this was nothing.
Each strike he took, any blood he shed, it was all in the place of Essie and Gabriella and that would dull any pain.
“Boss wants some answers,” one of the men informed him as the five of them made their way down the stairs.
Cade studied the man carefully, paying attention to the way he moved, analyzing his body size and shape.
“You're the one who kissed her,” he growled, causing the man to stumble. He would have been sure of it even without the man’s shocked expression. One thing he was good at was paying attention to the details other people didn't take the time to notice.
“How could you know that? We were all wearing masks, could have been any one of us,” the man said with false bravado, but Cade just grinned back, enjoying throwing them off their game.
“Your gait is slightly off, like an old injury shortened one of your legs marginally. And you keep your left shoulder higher than your right. You should work on that if you want to put your hands on women without their permission while you have an audience.” Cade smirked when the man frowned at him.
Another of the men laughed and punched the guy in the shoulder. “Dude, he’s got you.”
“No, he doesn’t,” the other snapped like they were bickering preschoolers. “And even if he does, so what? What's he going to do about it? Not like he’s in any position to do anything about it, and even if he was, it was only his kid’s nanny, not like it was his girlfriend or anything.”
Those words might be true, but they hurt.
Stuck into him like a thousand tiny darts.
The only reason Gabriella was nothing more than Essie’s nanny was because he’d been too stuck in the past to do anything about what was right in front of him.
If there was one thing he knew for certain it was that Gretel would have wanted him to move on and would have loved Gabriella. The fact that Gabby could love Essie like she was her own child would have forever earned her a place in Gretel’s heart. His wife had been open, outgoing, and full of love for everybody, and she loved both him and their daughter wholeheartedly.
Before her death, when she knew she wasn't going to survive, Gretel had told him she wanted him to grab hold of happiness if a second chance at love presented itself. She’d wanted him to be happy, to still experience all the things that they wouldn't get to share together, and Gabriella might have given him that chance.
But he hadn't taken it.
Because despite her words and assurances that it was what she wanted, moving on felt like cheating on his wife.
“You kissed her?” one of the men asked, strolling over somewhat cautiously like they still believed he might be a threat even though they had him chained up. “She more than the nanny?”
Deciding to get a little of his power back, the man who he’d identified as the kisser in the video also strolled over. “She’s hot, man, it wasn't like we didn't get a perfect view of her body with her in that swimsuit. And she tasted sweet, like honey or something. Maybe we should have taken her for a ride before we handed her back.”
Knowing they were only trying to get a rise out of him, Cade kept his face impassive. Better for them to believe that Gabriella was nothing more than the nanny, it would keep her safer. Just because they’d made this deal didn't mean that the men he and his family were hunting wouldn't make another attempt to go after her or Essie, or any of the others.
“If your boss wants answers,” Cade said, directing the conversation back where he wanted it. This was an intel- gathering op, and he couldn’t afford to let these men mess with his head by talking crudely about Gabriella. “Then maybe he should come down here himself and get some.”
“Don’t think he likes to get his hands dirty,” one of the other men said.
“Doesn’t need to, he’s got us,” the kisser said.
“Your boss is a coward, that’s what he is. Raping an innocent woman, and then when he found out she had his child trying to take her out so she couldn’t turn on him. Then instead of being a man about it and coming after me and my brothers, he targets innocent women and then a helpless child. Working for a man like him tells me everything I need to know about your character.”
One shrugged. “The money’s good.”
“Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” kisser said as he cracked his knuckles. Everything about him screamed that he wanted Cade to pick the hard way, and lucky for him this time they were on the same page.
“Boss needs to know if you have a name,” another said, stepping closer and somewhat cautiously bending down to unlock the chains that kept him attached to the floor.
Even though a part of him wanted to pounce on these me, teach them a lesson for touching Essie and Gabriella, kill as many of them as he could before they took him down, he couldn’t do that.
Well, not yet.
If he held out long enough, he hoped the boss would eventually show up in person. There were still three of his mom’s rapists they needed to identify, and if he could get the name of this one, then hopefully, that would be the domino that sent the others tumbling.
When he gave no response, two of them grabbed his arms and hauled him to his feet.
“You choosing the hard way?” kisser asked, excitement dancing in his dark eyes.
Keeping silent gave them the answer they needed.
And their return answer was to start raining down blows on him.
Every one he wore like a badge of honor. Standing in the place of Essie and Gabriella made the pain of each strike more than worth it.
September 5 th
1:33 P.M.
“I don’t understand,” Gabriella said to the middle-aged woman sitting across the table from her.
None of this made any sense.
Why?
Why would Cade do all of this?
When he’d told her to take care of his daughter, she hadn't truly comprehended what exactly that meant.
Continue to love and look after Essie, sure. Make sure she stayed part of her life, absolutely. Be there for her until he came home, yes.
But not this.
It seemed in the few hours between getting a lead on where she and Essie were being held and rescuing them, he’d done more than just come up with a plan.
A lot more.
Including calling a lawyer.
The woman standing in front of her in the living room of Cade’s house had just spoken words that had rocked her world, yet none of Cade’s brothers or their partners seemed to be the least bit surprised.
They’d all known.
She got that.
What she didn't get was why they weren't more upset about Cade’s decisions.
While they’d all treated her with nothing but the utmost respect, embracing her into their family and easing the loneliness inside her, that didn't change the fact that she was an outsider. It was one thing to be nice to her, to include her, to make her feel welcome, because she worked for their brother caring for their niece.
This was a whole other thing.
One that she couldn’t believe they were okay with.
Maybe they were just pretending, and they were going to tell her they would challenge it in court if Cade didn't come home.
No.
That couldn’t be it.
They’d known this was coming, which meant Cade had told them, and they obviously hadn't issued any challenge to him. Could that be just because they didn't want to add to his stress when he was so worried about his daughter?
“It’s very simple, Ms. Sadler,” the lawyer said patiently. They’d already gone through this several times, but it wasn't sinking in. “Mr. Charleston has named you the legal guardian of his daughter, Esther Charleston. He’s also transferred the title of his house into your name. All you need to do is sign these papers and everything is official.”
His daughter?
His house?
The home he’d shared with his wife, the only woman she knew he would ever truly love.
Why had he given her both?
He had three biological brothers standing right there in the living room with her, and all three were in serious relationships. He could have given custody of Essie to any of them. Or if he hadn't wanted to put on them such a heavy responsibility while they were in the beginnings of a relationship, he could have given guardianship to either of his stepbrothers.
They were family.
She wasn't.
“Sign the papers, Gabs,” Cooper said gently.
“But—”
“No, buts,” Connor told her when she tried to protest. “This is what Cade wanted.”
“I don’t understand why,” she said, fighting back a wave of tears. She was physically and mentally exhausted, she still hadn't been able to sleep well in the hospital last night, and her brain was not quite able to comprehend the fact that she was safe. Trying to figure out what Cade had been thinking when he’d made this decision was too hard. All she wanted was for him to come home. To be safe. To not die in her place. Essie needed him and … she did too.
Even if he could never really be hers, she still wanted him in her life. Wanted things to go back to how they’d been before. Before he confused her by going to her room, finding her doll, carrying it around with him, and then dropping the bombshell that she was his daughter’s guardian and the new owner of his house.
“Because he knows you love Essie more than anyone else and that the best place for her is with you,” Cole said gently.
“Better than with all of you?” she protested.
“We love that kid with every fiber of our beings. She’s family, blood, part of us. But this doesn’t change anything,” Connor said. “We still get to love her, and we were all in agreement when Cade told us he wanted to do this before we made the exchange. You love Essie like your own and you're the only mom figure she’s ever had. She belongs with you.”
“But I'm an outsider, not really one of you.” Gabriella hated saying the words, but they were true. They were always true. She was always on the outside looking in. No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t seem to find her place in the world. “Like you said, you're Essie’s blood, her family. I'm just the nanny.”
“You're not just the nanny, and you know it,” Jake barked at her, startling her from her decline into a deep pit of self-pity.
“You're part of this family,” Jax reminded her.
“You know that, don’t you?” Cooper asked.
When she shrugged in response, she got five glares from the guys, and three sympathetic smiles from the girls.
Taking a seat at the table, Susanna reached over and placed a hand over one of hers. “I get it, Gabriella. I really do. I've always felt alone like I never had anyone at my back. Until Cole it was true. I know we haven’t known each other for very long but you and Essie were the first people to make me feel like I was important, like I was part of something. That note and the donuts you left outside my apartment after I was raped, they meant everything to me.”
“How can you go out of your way to make sure Susanna felt included, and not know that every single one of us consider you a part of this family?” Cole asked, then dragged his fingers through his dark hair.
“I know you all care about me, I do. You're the first people to make me feel like I was a part of a family, but the reality is I'm not. I'm just Essie’s nanny, I work for Cade, I'm an employee not a relative.” It wasn't that she was ungrateful for everything they’d done for her, making her feel like one of them, but she felt emotionally drained and completely raw right now.
This was just too much to handle.
Too much potential for failure.
What if she failed Essie like she had all the babies she’d lost?
The universe had decided for her that she shouldn’t be a mother, yet Cade was trying to thrust it on her and she was so overwhelmed.
“I don’t want to hear you say that again,” Jake snapped.
“Honey, I think there’s something you're missing. Something important,” Willow said as she took a seat on Gabriella’s other side.
“What?” she asked, desperately, but she needed someone to help her make sense of this.
“Everything the guys said is true. You are a part of this family, everyone cares about you. You are the only mother figure Essie knows, and you absolutely should be the one to have guardianship of her. But none of that is why Cade chose you when he could have picked one of his brothers if that was what he wanted.”
“Then why?” she whispered.
“Because he cares about you,” Willow answered.
“Cade … doesn’t see me as anything other than the nanny,” she said the words, had one hundred percent believed them up until yesterday.
Only it was the doll that changed everything.
By all accounts, he had been clinging to it like a security blanket since she and Essie were abducted along with his daughter’s teddy bear.
Why would he do that if he didn't care?
“Cade sees you as everything he’s afraid to have in case he loses it all over again,” Jax corrected.
The tears that had been building burst free and tumbled in earnest down her cheeks. Having Cade return her feelings was everything she’d wanted after about the first six months of working for him.
But she didn't want it like this.
Didn't want to find out that maybe he cared about her when he was gone, and she might never get him back. Didn't want his house or custody of his daughter. She wanted to share those things with him as a family, but she didn't want them because she’d lost Cade in the process.
“I just want him back.” She wept softly. “I want him to be home, to be safe, I hate that he’s in danger because of me, but it makes me love him so much more that he would willingly put his life on the line to save his daughter.”
“And you,” Becca added.
“Sign, honey,” Cooper told her. “Sign the papers and make official what Cade wanted. None of us are giving up on him. He has a plan, and we have a lead that they don’t know about. Don’t give up hope just yet.”
With a shaking hand she reached out and picked up the pen.
Her tears dotted the papers as she signed the documents, transferring the house’s title into her name and giving her custody of Cade’s daughter.
Come home, Cade. Please. We need you .