Chapter 27 Cade
Chapter Twenty-Seven
CADE
Vi clings to me, and there’s a shake to her under the surface that, combined with the look she gave me, like she doesn’t quite trust me, or maybe it was more she didn’t quite trust herself, that brings a slight unease to my equilibrium. Not that I blame her.
“Okay?” I whisper.
She nods against me, and says into my shirt, “What if I can’t trust my own judgement?” Vi gives a small laugh. “Jack, Isaac, and now Walsh?”
She doesn’t say ‘you’. But it’s there. Unsaid, but I hear it like a whisper on the wind.
I know she trusts me. Violet’s young, but she’s brave and incredibly ambitious. She’s not afraid to go for what she wants, even in the face of adversary. And I know enough about her past to know she’s pretty much brought herself up.
Things like that demand someone be savvy enough to navigate the world at a too-young an age. They demand a person learn how to read people.
And she does that well.
She’s got an edge to her that wants to trust, and that’s not a bad thing.
But right now, her foundation is being rocked.
She wanted to believe in Walsh.
“You can, Vi.”
“I didn’t clock Jack would cheat or just do what he did. And Isaac…”
I swallow and just stroke a hand over her hair.
“Look, as much as I hate to say it, Jack’s not bad.
You outgrew him, that’s all. I know he’s my brother, but…
Jack regrets what happened, and I think somewhere, deep down, it was his own wake up call.
Jack needed some hard-learned lessons, but he’s not a bad guy. When you got together, it was right.”
As much as I hate to say it, I know I’m correct.
“As for Isaac?” I kiss the top of her head. “You knew. Sometimes, though, with people like Walsh, if we’re right, they hide it well. How the fuck do you think some of these psychopaths get away with shit for so long?”
She gives a watery laugh. “I’m pathetic.”
“No. You’re a good person, Violet. Better than most. And you want to believe in others. I don’t think that’s a bad trait, I don’t think that at all.”
I kiss the top of her head again, and I can’t help thinking that something bad is coming, and I might not be able to stop it.
“Thanks,” she whispers as I reluctantly let her go. “I’ll meet you out there.”
It’s still early enough that she’d be getting up to ready herself for the internship, which she’s got today. And I’m not thrilled by that. Not since she insisted on coming along.
The traits that make her a good person, one of the best, are traits that might just get her into big trouble.
If Walsh is bad enough to sell his own daughter for whatever the fuck his reasons are and were, then he’s in a different class to Isaac.
She clocked Isaac…
Or maybe she just clocked he was slime because of how he treated her.
Shit.
I take a breath as I put my hand on the lock. “I don’t think you should go to work today.”
“I’m not going to storm into his office, if that’s what you think. And I won’t be there alone.”
“I think you should call in sick. Think about it, okay?”
“I will.”
Then I nod, and unlock the door, rejoining Enzo.
“Your little plaything going to be a problem?” he asks.
I glare. “Don’t call her that.”
He smirks. “I’m betting you do.”
“What? You feeling left out? Because, I hate to tell you, you’re not my type.”
“Lies. I’m everyone’s type. Gay, straight, queer, and ACE. I turn them all on.”
I shake my head and laugh. “Your fantasy land knows no bounds.”
“And your being smitten by your brother’s ex makes you blind.”
The coffee mug’s halfway to my mouth when I freeze. “I’m not blind.”
“She’s a wildcard, and you know it. A little too smart, way too na?ve, and someone was heavy handed sprinkling on do-gooder when she was made.”
He’s got a point, but he doesn’t need to frame it so cynically. “Maybe she just makes us better people.”
“Dude, we wouldn’t be wading into this without her.”
“We wouldn’t be in this if that job at the engagement party didn’t go a little south.” I sip the coffee. “Look, it happens, it’s our job, but—”
“It went south as jobs do, but the fact her Isaac was the link, and your act of heroism the loud shout. She makes you a better person? Not going to argue, but I think she makes you a worse player.”
“We had some bad luck. And I find that last comment offensive.”
“Dude, you’ve got me asking Uncle Gino for favors.”
He’s got a point. But I can’t change my actions. Just like I can’t pretend I don’t have feelings for Vi. Major fucking feelings. And life is messy.
“Let’s concentrate on what we can do and where we are.
” I look at him. “We can handle it, and I know we can use something when this is done, for some of our clients. We know enough of them who’d love to see the downfall of the congressman, as well as those who’d like their hands on the kind of money coming into Allistair’s holdings.
And from what we’ve seen, The Dungeon seems to be the center of the questionable parts of his wealth. ”
“Agreed. But you need to keep your girl away. If you can.”
I bite back a comment because he’s right. We know each other too well. “Don’t worry about her.”
And like I’ve said Violet’s name three times and she’s some kind of bewitched creature, she appears.
I’m not a fairy tale guy, but there’s something about her that makes me suddenly think of magic and happy ever afters, things that don’t exist.
I’m no pessimist, but I’m aware that this thing with us could burn out, aware she could move on. After all, she’s at the start of her discovery process, and I know my boundaries and what I like. I know how to get what I need. And I know how rare it is to find a life partner who shares that.
Life partner?
What the fuck am I even thinking?
She’s twenty-one. While I love her and I can see me never getting sick of Vi, I know she could definitely move on. My job is to keep her safe and leave her in a better place when it goes south.
Unlike Jack.
I suck in a breath because my head is going off in tangents it shouldn’t.
Vi’s holding her phone as she sits.
“You called in sick?”
She doesn’t quite look at me. “Nope. I got a message that Walsh is away until Monday, but we have a pile of things to prep. I’m going in.”
Enzo’s gaze burns into me.
“That’s a bad idea. This is the perfect time for you to take a few days.” I look at her.
Still her gaze doesn’t quite meet mine. Does she even get I can check her messages? It’s fucking easy for me. If she’s lying…
Then she finally looks at me. “I don’t think that’s the best thing. Not after my meet up with Macy. It’ll make me look suspicious. Besides—”
“You’re not digging around.” I set my mug down a little harder than I mean to. “It’s fucking dangerous.”
“I’m not. The office is full, remember? I can’t go into his space without suspicion. I want to just go about things like normal.” Her gaze flickers to Enzo and back again. “Besides, if you two need the club, then since Macy works there, it makes sense not to make her suspicious.”
I frown. “Fine. You can go to work, but don’t do anything stupid.”
“I won’t.”
And with that, I check the time. If she’s going to get to work…
Enzo throws some money on the table. “Listen to him, kid. Don’t go and be stupid. But go to work. Cade? I’ll see you in a few hours.”
I throw some money down, too, and try not to take in her uneaten bagel. It makes my chest contract tightly. I don’t like her not eating. I don’t like she’s twisting herself in knots.
And I don’t like I can’t lock her away until all this is over.
“Come on, let’s get you to work on time,” I say, as we head home.
Enzo and I have a lot of last-minute work to do. Most of it easy, and I can do it from home. But he’s got other things on about the information he found out. Another meeting with his uncle Gino. And I want to stay home, to wait for Violet. To make sure she doesn’t go and do something stupid.
Which she just might do.
“How was work?” I ask the moment she comes in the door.
Her eyes hit mine, and it’s impossible to miss the accusation, like I’ve been watching her. Which, I have. Just on the app we share. And she went to work, out to lunch for about ten minutes, and back to work again and then home.
But I can deal with her accusations. I can deal with anything as long as Vi is safe and sound and out of trouble.
“Fine.”
I put my computer down and push up my glasses and get up from the table in the kitchen where the glass of whiskey I poured two hours ago still sits. I take three steps across the open space to where she is before she speaks.
“Cement.”
I stop in my tracks. Heart thumping.
“Vi?” I ask, carefully.
“I just wanted to see if it applied for everything.”
“It does. Whenever you want me to stop, I will.” I don’t move. “Unless you’re actively in danger, then I’m fucking ignoring you.”
She takes a sharp breath, but the accusation fades a little.
“Good. I just…” She shakes her head.
“Talk to me, Vi.”
For a moment, she just stands there, little girl lost, but she shrugs. “I don’t want to be left out. I don’t want to be treated like a child. You wouldn’t have known about her or whatever dark things are going on under the cover of the club if it weren’t for me.”
“The club wasn’t on our radar, workwise.”
“And what about W-Walsh? For The Ghost?”
It’s a punch to the guts, that. Because me finding out Walsh isn’t as clean as he seems, that his whole schtick of the guy who’s had to endure misery and loss because he stood up to the bad guys is totally up my alley. His own fucking daughter…
But I’m also aware this isn’t how it works. There are people out there I’ll never expose, never know about.
And I can hear Vi in my head stating, “Yeah, but now you know.”
“Even as The Ghost, I wouldn’t do a thing,” I say to her. “Yet. There’s more at stake than exposing a bad guy. And I really fucking hate you’re in his office.”
“Where I’m safe.”
I close my eyes for a moment. “We’re talking in circles, Vi. We need to be patient until we’re not. And let me and Enzo handle it.”