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Kade nodded, drank his coffee, and then put it in the sink.
“Then go,” he said before turning around. “You have my permission.”
Micah smiled and clapped his hands on the table.
“Thanks, bro. You should take a break too.” He said this while putting his hand on Kade’s shoulder. “It would be good for you.”
Kade nodded, but not very hard. He liked the idea of going on vacation, but he knew he couldn’t do that until he got his business in order.
He walked Micah to the door and waved goodbye as soon as he left.
He turned around when he heard hesitant steps coming down the stairs. When he saw a lot of blonde hair, he smiled.
“I’m sorry about that. He’s gone now,” he said as he walked up to her.
Isla laughed and shook her head before going towards the kitchen.
“It’s fine. It was scary at the time, but he’s not dangerous,” she said.
Kade watched eagerly as she took some pots and eggs out of the fridge.
“I want to make breakfast. Is that okay?” she asked as she whisked the eggs.
“Of course I love your cooking,” he said softly, putting his hands on her waist.
When his phone rang from upstairs, he groaned and backed away from the little girl, but not before giving her a soft squeeze on the back.
“I have to get that,” he said in a tone that showed he didn’t want to.
“I’m fine over here,” she said, not paying attention.
Kade walked to the stairs and took them two at a time, just in time to grab his phone.
“What is it?” he asked.
“We have a place.”
Kade’s eyes got big, and he went to his closet to get a black long-sleeve shirt and a pair of ripped black jeans.
“I’m on my way,” he said before hanging up.
He ran to the bathroom, took a quick shower, and then put on his clothes, letting his hair dry naturally.
As he jogged down the stairs, his big feet made noise, and he heard Isla call his name as he went to get his gun from his office.
“Just a second!” he yelled as he opened his drawer and saw the black gun.
Kade was halfway through putting his gun in his pants when he heard someone knock on the door. He groaned loudly in annoyance.
“Goddamn it, can I get a break? I swear to God.” He said this as he walked up to the door.
He opened it and pulled the gun out right away, then pushed it into the man’s chest in front of him.
He was furious and said, “I don’t have time for this.”
Kade pushed harder on the gun, making the man on the other end back up. This gave Kade the chance to leave his house and shut the door behind him.
“Please listen to me for a second,” the man begged, his eyes full of guilt.
Kade was shocked by how emotional his so-called brother was. He was usually like a stone, hard to read and not very talkative. He didn’t want to say it, but he had learned that from him.
“What business could you possibly have with me? You came to my house, and I see that as a threat.”
“I’m here to say I’m sorry.”
Kade’s hold on the gun slipped, and he lost his balance.
“W-what?”
At one point, he let slip how much his brother bothered him. Four words had caught him off guard. He had put himself in danger.
He realised this and tightened his grip on the gun before turning off the safety.
“So you came here to mess with me? Great.” He laughed in a sarcastic way. “Get off my property now, or I’ll shoot you in the chest. I have things to do.”
“I mean it, Kade. We hadn’t seen each other in years before the farm. I know that’s my fault, so I’m here to talk it out with you. We deserve that.”
Kade’s jaw twitched when he heard what he said, and he stepped forward, letting the gun fall to his side.
“You don’t deserve anything,” he said.
“I didn’t stop Dad all those years ago because I didn’t want to seem weak. I was the heir to his empire, and I needed to be strong. Helping the person he hated the most would have ruined the love he had for me and the plans he had for me. I was selfish and cared more about the power than my own brother.”
Kade was now biting his jaw to keep himself from hitting him in the face. He wanted to hurt him so badly, but a small part of him needed to hear what he was saying.
Vincent took his silence as a sign to keep going, so he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“I didn’t know what to do after you killed him. I had this big title and all this power.” He turned away from Kade and stared off into space. “And I wanted to take it all.”
Kade couldn’t stop himself from hitting his brother in the jaw with his fist.
Vincent swore and touched his bottom lip, which was bleeding from the punch.
“I know that sounds bad, but that’s what it was. I didn’t realise how much it messed you up until I heard that you got into this business on purpose and were my competition in no time.”
Kade’s face stayed straight, but his eyes drifted to the window on his right, where he saw the curtains pulled back and a pair of blue eyes watching what was going on.
He wanted so badly to get her out of that spot, but his brother was still there and he didn’t want him to see her.
“I guess I was mad at you for that. I just got all this money and power, and then out of nowhere, you were catching up to me and ready to take it away. But after seeing you, I realised how messed up I am and how much you really hate me.” He laughed painfully at the end.
“I’m not asking for forgiveness; I’m just saying I’m done with this.” He waved his hands back and forth. “This fight we have going on.”
Kade gave him a strange look and then looked down at his phone when it buzzed.
“Listen, I have to go—”
Vincent cut in, “You can have it.”
Kade looked confused and furrowed his brows.
“What?”
“You can have everything. I’m leaving to clear my head, and I don’t know when I’ll be back. There won’t be any more competition. Nothing.”
Kade didn’t know what to think. He liked to earn what he had. He didn’t like being in debt to people.
“Thanks, but no thanks. You can do what you want, but please don’t bother me.”
He turned around and walked back into his house, looking forward instead of back.
Isla asked, “What happened?” in a worried voice.
As soon as Kade shut the door, she ran up to him and brushed some hair out of his eyes with her hands.
Kade sighed and looked away from her. Instead, he walked around her and put his hands on the kitchen island.
“Nothing.” He wasn’t telling the truth.
He was breathing heavily and bit his tongue to keep his emotions in check, but a tear that he didn’t want to show broke through.
He angrily swiped it away and hit the hard surface with his fist, which made Isla jump.
“I have to leave.”
Isla scrunched her eyebrows in confusion as she tried to read his body language.
She didn’t want to go up to him and make him feel like he had to do something. At that moment, it looked like he needed some time alone. That didn’t give her much reason to help him. She had no idea what to do.
He kept his head down and walked around her again, this time towards the front door.
“Wait, Kade”
Isla’s words went unheard as she tried to get his attention. When she heard a bang, her eyes shut tight, and she had to press her tongue to the roof of her mouth to keep herself from crying.