Page 23 of The Sinner’s Touch (Manwhore #2)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Kade slipped off the bed after he was sure she’d fallen asleep. Exhaustion had finally claimed her after she’d cried enough to fill a river. He’d never seen Angel cry like that. It did something to him, and he didn’t like how he felt. He knew her tears were because of him, and he hated it.

Maybe he should tell her the truth. Would she even believe him after all these years? As much anger as she had bottled up, he doubted hearing the truth would make any difference. There was no point in waking up sleeping dogs that might only hurt her worse.

He opened the closet and sidestepped Nikoli’s freaky shit and found a blanket on the top shelf. He covered her up then left the room, closing the door behind him. Sleep was the best medicine for her right now.

He found a note from Nikoli downstairs. He and Lily probably left when they figured out he wasn’t coming back downstairs.

Food’s in the fridge. Call me.

His stomach growled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten all day. The clock on the microwave told him it was 11:19. Wow. He’d been upstairs with Angel since a little after four.

A raid of the fridge yielded a pan of lasagna and a plate of garlic bread.

He cut himself a very large chunk and took a couple pieces of the bread, which he consumed while he waited on the microwave to nuke his late supper.

It smelled divine. Had to be Lily’s. The boy couldn’t boil water.

He’d seen Nikoli burn a pan once trying to do just that.

He’d forgotten he’d put water on and scorched the pan when it boiled dry.

Once he had his food in hand, he grabbed a beer out of the fridge and settled himself on the living room couch. Nikoli’s white cushions be damned. He was tired, cranky, and would pay for the cleaning if he spilled anything.

He fished out his phone and opened the FaceTime app. He needed to talk to his brother. Dimitri shouldn’t be asleep. It wasn’t that late in L.A. Kade had come to a decision holding Angel while she slept, and he needed advice. Dimitri was the one person who might be able to help him.

“What’s up, brah?”

Kade shook his head at his brother, who had his arm wrapped around a very pretty brunette.

“Brah? Has California finally given you brain rot?”

Dimitri laughed. “You know what they say, do as the Romans do. So, again, what’s up, brah?”

“You busy?”

“Nah. Babe, go find us some drinks. I’ll be back in a few.”

The image shook as Dimitri walked into what looked like his bedroom. The soft sounds of a radio played in the background. Booty call music, his babushka called it. Where an eighty-year-old woman heard that phrase, he did not want to know. It always cracked them up when she said it, though.

His brother’s face popped back up on the screen.

Dimitri was the only Kincaid brother to look more like their mother than their father.

He even had her white blond hair and sky blue eyes.

The odd man out in photos. He used to tease Dimitri mercilessly about that, telling him he was adopted.

Until D got old enough to beat Kade’s ass.

“You look like shit, motherfucker.”

“Good to see you too, D.” Kade rubbed his chin. It was a fair assessment. He probably did look like shit.

“What’s going on?” Dimitri sat, giving Kade a view of the headboard. “You don’t look good. Is it the case you’re working on?”

“I fucked up. Big time.” He ran a hand through his hair. “You remember that undercover case I worked in Miami?”

“Yeah.” Dimitri nodded, his eyes crinkling with concern. “You were fucked up when you got home. I’ve never seen you like that, brat , before or since. You refused to talk about it, even when I threated to beat it out of you.”

“I made a bad decision down there, and it’s fucked up everything since.” He leaned back against the couch, not caring that the plate of lasagna was sliding off his knee onto Nik’s pearly white fabric. “I don’t know what to do.”

“First, slow down and calm down. Tell me what happened.”

“I met a girl while I was there.”

“A girl?” Dimitri looked away from the phone. “No, I’m busy. I’ll be down when I’m done.”

“Real smooth, there. If Mama heard you talk to a girl like that…”

“She never will.” Dimitri grinned, reminding him so much of Nikoli. “Besides, she’s lucky I didn’t tell her to get the fuck out. She’s being clingy. I can’t stand a clingy woman.”

“You’re starting to sound like me and Nik. I thought we were the only two assholes in the family when it came to women.”

“I guess I’m just bored with women who see a pretty face and fat wallet and think ‘goldmine.’”

“They’re not all like that, you know.” Angel certainly wasn’t. Neither was Lily.

“I know. I just haven’t met one yet who looks past the face and expensive car and sees me.”

That wasn’t exactly true. There was one woman who they all agreed was perfect for Dimitri. The one he never really saw. If they pointed it out to him, then he might refuse to ever look her way, so they waited and hoped he’d get his head out of his ass and figure it out.

“Well, maybe if you didn’t flaunt said expensive car?”

“Fuck that. I’ve worked too hard to get where I am.”

Dimitri was an author. A romance author, much to his brothers’ astonishment and mock contempt.

They loved to tease him about it, but even they couldn’t dispute the fact he did well.

Kade never realized how much an author had to actually work.

He’d assumed it was all sitting on your ass at the computer, typing.

What really went into a writing career blew his mind when Dimitri had walked him through what he did on a daily basis.

“No lecturing tonight. Tell me what’s going on with you. What about this girl you met? You run into her or something, and she recognized you? You’re not in any danger, are you? I mean, that cartel still has a hard-on for you.”

“How do you know that?”

“I’m omniscient.” He preened until he realized it hadn’t impressed Kade. “I asked Viktor to keep an ear to the ground. Your name still gets mentioned in certain circles, so if this girl made you…”

“No, it’s not that.” Good to know he was still being hunted by Miami’s biggest drug cartel. His handler assured him there weren’t any feelers out. Kade checked in from time to time to be certain. Viktor apparently had better contacts than the cops did in Miami.

“Then what is it?” Dimitri regarded him curiously. “You’re starting to worry me.”

“I married her.”

“The fuck you say!” Disbelief warred with shock as Dimitri struggled to digest Kade’s little bombshell.

“She’s the sister of the guy I was told to get close to.”

“Sounds like you got a little too close, brat .”

“Yeah, you could say that.” Kade laughed, but the sound was hollow, empty. “I could never stay away from that girl.”

“Did you love her?”

“I still do.” That was the problem, wasn’t it? Being away from her, refusing to think about her, dulled the ache to a bearable level. Being this close to her? There was no dulling it. It was an open, bleeding wound. One that couldn’t be patched up. It just bled.

“So, what’s the problem? She married now or something?”

“No.” Kade took a deep breath. “We’re still married.”

“Back up, Romeo. You’re still married? You need to start from the beginning.”

Kade sighed, but he did as Dimitri asked. He told him everything about Miami, the baby, the miscarriage, and then brought him up to date on current events.

“You’re fucked, motherfucker.”

That, right there. In a nutshell.

“I don’t know what to do. She hates me.”

“I’d fucking hate you too, if I were her. You screwed up, Kade. I don’t know if you can fix this.”

“Fucker, you’re the romance expert. I called you for advice, not for you to tell me what I already know.”

“Well, she fell for you once, didn’t she?”

“Yeah.”

“Then make her fall for you again.” Dimitri yawned. “Charm her. I’ve seen you at work. You’re as deadly as Nik when it comes to women. Make her remember why she loved you in the first place.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to do that when she won’t even have a civil conversation with me?”

“You two are holed up together until you catch this psycho, da ?” When Kade nodded, Dimitri continued.

“Use that. Do what you need to. Talk to her, even when she refuses to talk to you. Fill the silence. It’s Christmas, for God’s sake.

Do some holiday stuff. Women love all that Christmas shit.

My point is, stop sulking like a girl feeling sorry for yourself. Man up and go get your woman back.”

Leave it to Dimitri to be blunt.

“Look, I gotta go. Charlene is probably ready to kill me. Do you want me to fly out there? For support and backup? Romance writers are the perfect wingmen in this kind of situation.”

Kade started to say no but changed his mind. Christmas was just around the corner, and with Nik here, it’d be nice to have another brother around. “If you think you can get away, I’d appreciate you coming. You can’t stay here, though.”

Dimitri laughed. “Fuck, no. You need all the alone time you can get with your wife.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Kade laughed.

“Fucker, get lost. I’ll see you when you get here. And, Dimitri, keep this to yourself. No telling the rest of the family. If this all goes to hell, well…”

“I got your back. Don’t worry. See you tomorrow, and good luck. You need it.”

Kade turned off the app and stared up at the ceiling. There was so much he needed to apologize for. So much he wanted to tell her. So much he’d always wanted to tell her, starting with that day in the ER when he found out she was pregnant.

He’d driven like the hounds of hell were on his heels when he’d gotten Peter’s text saying she was hurt and at the ER. That was all his text said. No details, just that she’d had an accident and to get his ass to the emergency room.