Boxed Set: Intercepted by Love (The Complete Collection): Books One - Book Six (24 page)

“I’m so glad to see you.” Andie trembled inside Cade’s arms as they walked back into the house. If he hadn’t been holding her up, she would have slipped to the ground. “How’s Roxanne and the baby?”

She had to keep her cool, explain everything thoroughly, but only if Roxanne were okay. Cade had enough on his shoulders.

“Found her at Rob’s. She’s fine and still pregnant.” Cade’s voice was tight. “What’s going on here? Are you really married to that guy?”

“It’s all a big misunderstanding.” Andie disengaged from Cade and rushed to her messenger bag. It was lying on the floor at the entry way. She pulled out the worn and well-traveled envelope. “Here, look.”

Cade held his hands up on both sides. “I don’t want to look. All I know is you’re not who you say you are.”

“I’m exactly me. I told you about Declan, that he was my ex.”

“Yes, ex. But I assumed ex-boyfriend. You never told me you were married.”

“I didn’t know when to tell you. It wasn’t like it was important. I thought I was divorced.” Andie shook the papers from the envelope. “Look. I signed it. See?”

Cade’s hands shook as he took the papers, scanning through it. His eyes bulged, and a fierce red burned in his face. “Antoinette Marie Wales. That’s your name?”

She shook his upper arm. “Yes, but I signed it. I thought we were divorced. He was supposed to file the papers. See? He prepared them. This is the cover letter telling me to sign and return them.”

Cade threw the papers, scattering them over the foyer while Red and Gollie took turns sniffing them. Red growled while Gollie wagged her tail.

Andie’s throat thickened, and she fought for control. “I’m sorry, Cade. I didn’t mean for you to find out this way.”

Without looking at her, he strode to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. A vein throbbed in his temple, and his lips were pressed in a thin line. If this were a cartoon, steam would be hissing from his ears.

Andie wrung her hands and followed, her every muscle jittery as adrenaline threaded through her veins.

“Tell me everything’s going to be okay. Cade, please. I know you’re angry. Tell me what you’re thinking. I can’t take this.” She reached to touch him, but withdrew her hand, stiffening herself. He’d already walked away from her and turned his back. His hands gripped the kitchen counter, white knuckled and tense.

“Look, Andie. I have a lot on my mind. Let’s forget about it for now.”

“Sure, yes. I know. Roxanne, the baby. I … will be in my room, maybe not. Do you still want me here?” Andie couldn’t help her tongue from running wild. Inside, her heart was crumbling like a drying sand castle in the wind. Her hopes and dreams blew away, leaving her tumbling into a sinkhole.

“You can stay.” Cade slammed the empty water glass after draining it. “I’m going to my room.”

“Do you still want to talk to me?”

“Not now.” He avoided her gaze.

“Then, should I move out?”

“If you want.” His wide body brushed by her, forcing her to back up against the refrigerator as he swept out of the kitchen, followed by his dog, Red.

Like a lost waif, Andie trailed them through the great room, watching in despair as he and Red disappeared through the double doors to the room he’d been staying at.

She stared after him, tears pooling and finally spilling down her cheeks. Beside her, Gollie licked her fingers.

“Oh, Gollie, what am I going to do?” She hugged her dog and wept into her soft fur. “I love that man. Love him so much.”

“Who do you love?” A hand touched her shoulder. How long had Cade’s mom, Barbara, been lurking?

“Cade. I love Cade,” she spoke into Gollie’s neck.

Barbara rubbed her back. “I found those papers scattered everywhere. The dogs were making a mess of them.”

“Oh, no. I need them.” Andie lifted her face from her dog and wiped her eyes. “I need to get them signed and filed.”

“Well, here they are, a little crumpled.” She packed them into Andie’s hands. “You want to talk?”

“I don’t know. You’re Cade’s mom.” Andie stacked the papers as best she could and shoved them into the now torn envelope. “I barely know you, and now you must think the worst about me.”

“If Cade told you anything about me, what must you think about me?” the older woman drawled. “Why don’t I fix you some hot chocolate, and we’ll watch the city lights from the living room.”

She flashed Andie a smile, her mouth full of eroded, yellowish-brown teeth. The lines under her eyes probably made her appear older than she should, and the skin on her arms was pitted and blotchy, scarred with healed track marks and needle pricks.

Andie couldn’t say ‘no’ and hurt her feelings, especially since she was reaching out to her.

“I don’t think badly about you. I mean, I felt bad for both you and Cade, but I’m glad you’re here for Cade and his baby.”

“If it’s his baby …” Barbara’s eyes narrowed. “Come, let’s get that hot chocolate. I’m sober these days, so if you want to spike it, just don’t let me sniff it.”

“Oh, no. No spiking.” Andie said. “I like mine with cinnamon and a pinch of salt.”

“Cool. I take cayenne and vanilla powder, no alcohol in the powder you know.”

She seemed to be trying really hard for Andie to not think badly of her. How sad it must be for her to have hurt Cade when he was small and vulnerable. At least, she was making up for it now.

Tears welled in Andie’s eyes, and she sighed, shuddering. She had also hurt Cade tonight while he was vulnerable—worried about his baby.

“What did you mean if it’s his baby?” Andie asked, pulling up a bar stool to sit, as Barbara measured the cocoa powder and spices.

“When Cade and I went to visit the baby doctor, there was some black guy who’d been there too, apparently asking about Roxanne’s pregnancy.” Barbara raised her eyebrows. “Course it’d be easy to tell once the baby’s born, so I don’t see why Roxanne would insist the baby’s Cade’s. Something’s not right there. I didn’t survive thirty years on the streets and not pick up vibes.”

She heated milk over the stove and wrinkled her brow as if she were figuring out a puzzle.

“Maybe that’s why Roxanne decided not to come live here,” Andie surmised. “Except if the baby isn’t Cade’s, I don’t see what she hopes to gain.”

“Exactly. I don’t know what it is, but I smell a fish, like she has something to hide. I bet it’s nosy me she doesn’t want to be around.”

“Or maybe it’s me,” Andie finished. “Think I should move out? I mean, you heard right? I’m still married to my ex.”

“Yeah, I heard. I was in the living room enjoying the sunset, and I didn’t want to disturb you guys.” She poured the hot chocolate into mugs on a tray. “I suppose I should move out now that Roxanne’s not coming by.”

“No, you stay. Someone’s gotta watch out for Cade.” Andie followed Barbara to the living room, trailed by Gollie. It wasn’t like she wanted to move out, but if Cade wasn’t going to speak to her, it would be awkward and painful. Maybe having his mother, no matter how belated, would be a comfort to him while she figured out how to get rid of Declan.

The three of them made themselves comfortable on the couch. Gollie rested her head on Andie’s lap. Below them, the night lights of downtown Los Angeles glittered like sparkling jewels, along with the mesmerizing red and white opposing ribbons of traffic streaming by.

“I could get used to this,” Barbara said. “But I don’t deserve to be sponging off Cade. He’s bought me a house already. I insisted on a small one in Wilmington, down south where I grew up.”

“Wilmington? Not Delaware, I bet,” Andie mumbled and sipped the chocolate. Why was she always a babbling fool when she was nervous? Of course, not Delaware. Duh.

“It was named for the one in Delaware. I’m descended from one of the founders of the town, or so I’ve been told. I love it down there—the heart of the harbor, and everyone’s so friendly and laid back. It’s a working class neighborhood and doesn’t have the view Cade has up here.” She studied the city lights below, holding her mug in front of her chest. “Anyway, enough about me. What are you going to do about this situation?”

Andie wiped her palms down her face. “I’m trying to get Declan, my ex, to sign the divorce, but he won’t. California’s a community property state, and he probably wants fifty percent of my money.”

“You have a lot?”

“No. I mean, I have some savings in New York, but my father’s very ill, and everything I’m making here goes back home to help with his health care. That’s why Cade’s letting me stay here rent free. I feel like I’m mooching off him, too.”

Barbara set her mug on the coffee table and put her hands behind her head, resting. “He’s always had a soft heart for people in need. I’m surprised there aren’t more hangers-on, but I think his friend Ronaldo investigates a lot of his friends and vets them—keeps him from being taken advantage of.”

Uh oh. Andie’s heart squeezed in on itself. Ronaldo must disapprove of her. Hadn’t he warned her not to hurt Cade?

“You’ve met Ronaldo?” she asked Cade’s mom. “How did he and Cade become friends?”

“Met him and got the third degree. He wanted references from my drug counselors, tax returns showing I could hold a job, background check, no more using, drinking, or even friends who used. The only exceptions were Cade’s brother and sister. They aren’t clean. His sister’s in jail for gambling. Running money for the mob, putting in bets for unnamed guys behind the scene. She almost got Cade banned from football, except the commissioner spoke to the investigator and determined neither she nor Cade had any way of knowing Cade would play in the Super Bowl, since he wasn’t the starting quarterback. That was a close call, but Ronaldo wants to shield Cade from anyone who could hurt him.”

“Including me.” Andie folded her arms across her chest. “He read me the riot act, and now I’ve gone and hurt him. But I truly didn’t know. I thought I was free. I
am
free in my heart. I’d do anything to fix this. Do you think he’ll forgive me?”

Barbara patted Andie’s shoulder and nodded, her lips tight. “He forgave me, didn’t he?”

Pain lanced Cade’s heart as he scoured the internet for information about “Antoinette Marie Wales.” She’d given him a phony name, well, not exactly, but she’d left out important information. True, she thought she was divorced, but she’d never once mentioned that Declan was an ex-husband and not an ex-boyfriend.

In fact, she’d once mentioned that she almost married a guy who was a man whore. Why had she felt the need to cover up the fact that she
had
married him, unless she still had feelings for him?

It was always the same pattern. He’d get into a foster home, the parents and siblings would treat him with fake kindness at first, and then, he’d fall into a pattern and begin to feel accepted. He’d cling to his foster mother and father and try his best to get them to love him, and then pow! He’d be transferred and no one would tell him why. And despite hoping and praying he’d be adopted, he never once got that magic nod. It was always the other foster kid who outbid him and got taken in, adopted and loved, while he, no matter how hard he’d tried, had been left out. Was it any wonder he’d turned to petty crime and gangs before finding football at one of Dick Davis’s charity football camps? That was where he’d met Ronaldo, who was a counselor, and started to see a way out, channeling his aggression and rage onto the football field.

A larger question. Had Ronaldo known? Cade brought up the Facetime app on his tablet and placed a call to his former tutor. If it hadn’t been for Ronaldo, Cade wouldn’t have known the ins and outs of applying for college, financial aid, filling out a rental application or handling a checking account—things that other people’s parents taught them.

“Hey, bud, what’s up?” Ronaldo’s smiling face popped up on the screen. “You look tired. Baby doing okay?”

“Yeah, Rox is out of the hospital and vegging out at her brother’s house. She’s fine, baby’s fine.” Cade wiped his hand over his five o’clock shadow. Now that he was back in Los Angeles, he’d gone back to the clean-shaven look. His hair had also grown to a decent length, and the beard was long gone. No more ex-convict look for him.

“You still look beat.” Ronaldo’s eyebrows creased as he moved his face closer to the camera. “So … everything really okay? You know …”

Cade cleared his throat and rolled his head to loosen the tightness around his neck. “I found out about Andie and Declan. Did you know?”

“I did, but I wanted to see if she’d come clean. Did she?”

“She didn’t tell me until I found Declan at my door trying to get in to see her. He wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer.”

“If it makes you feel better, she tried to deny Declan the position—recommended against it when he was clearly the best actor for the role.”

Spirals of hope rose in Cade’s heart. “But you still hired him? Now, they’ll be working closely day by day.”

Ronaldo shrugged. “I’ve a film to direct. The two of them are the best people for the job. Declan’s also a big King David fan, and he and Andie used to go to the historical reenactment clubs as David and Michal. They were quite a pair. Unfortunately for Andie, the woman who used to go as Bathsheba hooked up with Declan. After finding out about them, Andie jealously cut him out of her life and retreated into her fantasies.”

Hope curdled into sour clods inside Cade’s gut. Andie had wanted him to role play David, but had admitted he was more like Goliath than David. What if every time they’d been in bed together, she was imagining not just the ancient King David, but the very much alive and present Declan Reed?

Ronaldo snapped his fingers into the camera. “You’re better off without her. Can you honestly picture her in the stadium with the other players’ wives and girlfriends? They’re all into fashion, makeup, and spa treatments, and she’s thinking about the Ark of the Covenant and King David dancing through the streets like a whirling dervish.”

“What should I do?”

“What you’ve always done. Go out, party, have a good time. You don’t need to get tied down to anyone. I’ve got a pair of Dutch twins I met in Amsterdam coming over for Twin Day. Offer you a breakfast sandwich.”

“Uh … no.” Cade rubbed the back of his head. “I’m going to bow out.”

The only sandwich he wanted involved his head between Andie’s legs, and dammit, if he couldn’t enjoy her, he’d turn into a monk first.

“Let me know if you change your mind.” Ronaldo lifted his jaw and smirked. “You were one power hitter back in the day.”

“Well, I’m going to be a daddy soon, late nights changing diapers, that kind of thing.”

“Sounds kinky.” Ronaldo leered. “Nothing like some wet wipe action.”

“You’re nuts.” Cade shook his head and moved his finger to hang up. “Exercise tomorrow?”

“Sure, talk soon.” Ronaldo’s image disappeared.

Talk soon.

The jitters invaded Cade’s bloodstream. He owed it to Andie to hear her explanation. The stricken look on her face when he’d turned away from her gripped his heart like the jaws of a vise. She hadn’t known that the divorce had fallen through, although she should have checked, and she definitely should have come clean about having been a married woman.

Rotating his sore shoulder, he ambled to the door and went looking for Andie. Every inch of him yearned to tuck her in his arms, cradle her to his chest, and rip her away from that punk. He’d claim ownership over her, fill her with his love, his seed, deep into her womb. Except for that damn piece of paper and the fact she’d chosen Declan to be her lawfully wedded husband—till death do they part, no thank you very much.

The story of his life. Rejected before he’d even been met. Reverse karma, no fate. No magic. He’d better control himself around another man’s wife.

# # #

Andie dangled the sparkling ruby red slippers necklace Cade had given her only a few nights ago. How had everything changed so drastically?

Truth to tell, it wasn’t entirely Declan’s fault. He’d never received the papers, but now, what was this bullshit about still being in love with her?

She’d spent two lonely years exorcising him from her hopes and wishes, two years, dateless, to focus on her research and theories. Two years with her father traveling from dig sites to museums, only to end up back in Itasca where she’d gone to school with Declan. Her father now lay bedridden, paralyzed from a stroke, and her mother was exhausted to the bone caring for him.

She came to Hollywood to make money to help them, not to fall in love with a man who was having a baby with someone else, and definitely not to rekindle a relationship with an ex who’d forsaken her for movie starlets and models—the same kind of women Cade hung with before losing the Super Bowl.

There was a soft knocking at her door, and Andie couldn’t help catching her breath in a small gasp. It was probably Cade’s mother bringing her a mug of warm milk or maybe wanting to sit and chat. She seemed to be making up for all the motherly acts she’d missed while Cade was growing up.

“Andie, are you awake?” Cade’s voice was low, almost as if he dreaded waking her if she weren’t.

She rushed to the door, her heart tripping over itself while her nerves sizzled with jitters. Without waiting for him to enter, she threw herself into his arms.

He was stiff and nonresponsive—like a side of beef hanging in the slaughterhouse.

“Cade? Don’t be angry, please.” She buried her face into his hard chest, holding on. “I’m sorry. I screwed up, and I’ll do anything to fix it. I should have told you, but there wasn’t a good time.”

“Don’t blame yourself.” His voice finally rasped from his throat. “You didn’t know.”

“So, this doesn’t change anything?” She scanned his face, anxious for a sign.

His eyes were hooded and expressionless as he tightened his lips and regarded her. “How can it not? You’re a married woman. I can’t carry on with you.”

“But, I didn’t know.”

He exhaled sharply. “You know now.”

She tilted her face up and kissed his chin. “I don’t care. It’s only a technicality, and I’ll be getting a divorce soon.”

His eyes closed, and he huffed through his nose. “Is this what you’d say about me someday? That I’m only a technicality and you don’t care?”

Andie’s head whipped around, and she blinked as if he’d slapped her with a two-by-four. “Why are you comparing yourself to Declan? He’s nothing to me. You’re everything.”

“He’s your husband.” Cade’s voice rose. “You loved him enough to marry him. You’re not someone who takes these things lightly.”

“Apparently he did.” Waves of acid seeped up Andie’s throat. “He didn’t take his vows seriously—slept with every bimbo in Hollywood. Think I didn’t know from the gossip websites? The twitter feeds? He partied like it was the end of the world, and he ate it up—like King David dancing in his underwear in the streets of Jerusalem. People say Michal was jealous—not at all. She thought he degraded himself with the serving maids and the women of the street. Well, she thought too highly of him. He was scum at that point, and later his affair with Bathsheba proved it.”

Cade’s mouth opened wide and his jaw shook. “I don’t give a fuck about David, Michal, or Bathsheba. If this is some kinky threesome you’re fantasizing about, I’m out of here.”

He turned toward the staircase, bumping into Gollie who’d been waiting on the landing.

“No, Cade, don’t.” Andie grabbed his shirt, but it ripped from his back as he ran down the stairs. “Cade, come back. Please, I want to talk to you.”

But his footsteps departed to the other side of the house.

A flashback hit her.

This must have been how King Saul felt when he’d ripped Samuel’s mantle from his shoulders. The old prophet had turned away from him and said that the Lord had torn the kingdom from Saul and given it to a neighbor much more deserving—the neighbor who turned out to be the young and upcoming David.

Andie fell to her knees and squeezed the ruby red slippers charm so hard it dug into her palm, hurting like the inside of her heart—cut and jagged with drops of dark, red blood.

I’ve sinned and am no longer worthy to be called your girlfriend.