Page 133 of Family Affair

She believed him, God bless her. She believed.

He saw it in her eyes. Suddenly his face changed, and an expression of awe swept across his stern features before he took her mouth in a tender kiss.

“Please don’t lose your faith,” he begged against her lips. “Please. Whatever comes, stand by me. That’s all that matters to me. It’s all that keeps me going.”

She clutched handfuls of his shirt, inhaling that male smell of his that was now so familiar. “I promise.”

“No, don’t promise. Not now. Not yet.”

“Okay,” she said. His essence enveloped her, and she felt like she’d come home at last.

Cade nodded and stepped away. They got back to the car and she started driving.

“Why would Ross think such a terrible thing about you?” she returned to the topic.

“Remember the puzzle? Ross holds one piece. Meaning, he has information but he doesn’t have the context for it. His piece doesn’t fit with anything else that’s available to him.”

“You speak in riddles,” she accused him. “Can you tell what is going on?”

“No, love, I can’t. I promise to tell you everything, but it’s too soon now. You have to trust me.”

Coco fell quiet, thinking that she, like Ross, held a piece of the puzzle in her hands, the Pollock drawing. And, like Ross, she probably operated way out of context. She would share the drawing with Cade, but not now. Not yet.

“Will you at least tell me what you know about Stevie Stark?”

“About what happened?”

She nodded.

“Stevie Stark was a damn good investigative reporter. He was also a major sleazeball. He had uncovered solid dirt on Frank, purchased the Pollock drawing, got access to some other works of his, made some people talk - good stuff.” Coco felt his chest expand as he took in a breath. “He published his story. Frank was indicted. Shit hit the fan. To divert suspicions from himself, my father gave an interview to Stevie where he blamed Ward for generating forgery ideas and forcing Frank to act on them. A little way from the truth, but not entirely off track. Frank wasn’t kosher with it. Remember, Frank and Ward were close. Frank… was trying to bribe Stevie into shelving the publication.”

“Bribe him? I’m sure it didn’t work.” Coco was appalled.

Cade scoffed. “Actually, it was working just fine, except Stevie wanted more money. Frank went to his apartment to work out a deal. You know what happened there.”

Coco’s heart pinched. Despite everything, she hurt for Frank, for how his young life had gone in such a wrong direction.

“Do you know what went wrong?”

“From what my brother told me, Stevie was in a pissed off mood when he got there,” Cade said in a flat tone. “Cussed him out, called him names, like rich cocksucker, lily-livered dipshit – which wasn’t unusual for Stevie. He hated rich people. Frank was loaded that day, under stress. His fuse was shorter than normal. He swung at Stevie and connected. Stevie staggered backwards, tripped on the rug and fell, and never got back up. My brother hadn’t realized he died, he never thought to even check. He left, thinking the sleazy fuck deserved a good knockout. Outside, he got sick and threw up on Stevie’s neighbor’s car. The owner saw it happen and they got into a screaming match over it. I don’t know how he managed to drive himself home. The next morning he called me from the jail.”

“That’s quite a story.” Coco drove with hands firmly on the wheel, her attention on the road. Her head was a jumble of facts. “I’m sorry.” And she was. For everything. “What a life.”

“What a waste, you mean.” His eyes cut to her with a look that was almost helpless. “I hate telling you all this. I wish I could undo the past, but I can’t, and it’s killing me.”

Coco took one hand off the steering wheel and sought his. Finding it, she gripped his fingers tightly. “It will all work out in the end.”

She felt his warm hand in her grip, so much larger that hers, capable, strong, just like the rest of him. It tore at her that Cade had to live with the choices someone else made.

“I don’t want your pity.”

“It isn't a pity, Cade. I care.”

He looked at her, and his eyes flashed with resolve. “Then I have no choice but to keep fighting.”

Coco smiled. “That’s the spirit. And speaking of fighting, I’m disappointed our visit to Virgil was for nothing. He’s just a crazy old man.”

“On the contrary, we learned something,” Cade said confidently. “The lady Virgil saw coming to Ward’s house? It was my mother.”