Kade's Game (23 page)

Our eyes lock, and we hold each other's gaze when no words come.  I want to wrap her up and tell her I'm sorry, and then let her be here for me while I fall apart, but it all seems so selfish.  Then again, screw it.  If she'll be here with me, I'll be a selfish ass, and I'll spend forever making it up to her.

Then her eyes flick to Courtney, and that cold glaze comes back, darkening her blue eyes as she fights off a wave of hurt.  Shit.  This has to look bad.  Surely she doesn't think I'm with Courtney.

Her eyes come back to rest on mine, but that uncertainty she had is gone.  She's found her resolve, and I don't think it's one I can live with.  She turns to leave when I fail to form words, but that's the fire I need lit under my ass to do something.

"Raya, wait," I say, jumping up and slinging Courtney's hand off me.

She turns with tears in her eyes.  "I—"

Loud yelling interrupts what she was going to say, and I step by her, making sure to get as close as possible, and I let my hand run down her arm, hoping that's enough to keep her here until I figure out what's going on.

"You can't be serious," Dad yells, pointing his finger accusingly in the face of Leonard Mars.

What the hell is going on?  And who is the woman with dark blond hair that is beside him?  She looks older, holding an air of refined elegance, but I have no idea what she's doing here.  Now's not the time for drama.  What's Leonard up to?

I make my way toward him as I hear the most preposterous allegation ever.

"He's married, Paul.  Henrietta is Thomas's wife, and she has control of the vineyard right now.  I'm sorry, Paul.  I really am," Leonard says, seeming exhausted.

Married?  Control of the vineyard?  What the hell?!

Dad lets a string of curses fly, and my jaw ticks as my teeth grind together.  This is crazy.  I was already close to losing it.  The calm that Raya gave me has vanished.

"He'd never do that!" I snap, pointing back toward my granddad's room.  "My grandfather only ever loved one woman.  He hasn't even dated anyone since my grandmother died, let alone got married.  This is bullshit."

They can't convince me that he suddenly changed his mind about dating after all these years.  He swore he could only ever love one woman the way he did my grandmother, and that it wouldn't be fair to any woman who came after her.  Now they're claiming he's married?

The woman doesn't even flinch.  Her supposed
husband
is lying in a hospital bed and this is the first time she's shown up?  Not likely.

"It's true, Kade," Leonard says, sounding exasperated.  "I was there six months ago when they went to the courthouse.  So was Harry.  We both served as witnesses.  Thomas didn't want you to know.  I'm sorry.  And he had me nullify his will, which now leaves everything to Henrietta. I know this is hard, but it's true.

"With him in an induced coma, he's unable to handle his estate.  Essentially, since she's deeded everything, she has almost the same rights as someone with power of attorney.  The vineyard is hers, the winery is hers, and the farm is hers."

This is all crazy.  Power of attorney?  The vineyard is hers?  It's not possible.

"That's bullshit, because my father just had his will redone not long ago.  My lawyers handled it because I felt it was too important to leave in your hands," Dad barks.  "Kade is the
only
one who is supposed to get anything.  She has
no
rights, and she'd better stay the hell off my father's property."

He had his will redone just for me?

"Do you have the will?" Leonard asks, seeming a little pale.

"No.  My father kept it, but I'm sure my lawyers can send you a copy real damn soon," Dad growls, before walking away.

I follow, desperate to get some answers.  At least this part of the problem is solved.  But is Granddad really married?  How could he do this without telling me?

"This is Paul Colton, and I need a copy of my father's will sent to my email now... Yes ... I don't give a damn how busy you are ... Fine.  Two hours.  That's all you have."

He hangs up as Henrietta and Leonard make an exit, and I watch her dab tears away.  Shit.  She's crying?  Is this real?

I look around, needing to find Raya as Dad makes a few other phone calls.  But she's gone.  My heart sinks to the ground as I stare around me at the vacancy.  I shouldn't expect her to be here when I need her, but I thought...  Well, it doesn't matter.  I don't deserve her to give a damn right now.

Besides, now we have more drama to deal with than I thought possible.  I don't know how many more blows I can handle.  Thank God there's a will keeping her away from that vineyard.

"The fucking servers crashed, and now they can't retrieve the will," Dad growls, muttering a few curses afterwards.

"What?" I ask, my thoughts all over the place.

"The servers crashed," he repeats.  "They've lost the will, and the physical copies are missing as well.  How the hell is this possible?"

I might as well lie down and let an army stomp on me.  My life just keeps getting crushed.  I've abstained from calling Raya, but I'm getting weaker.  She's the only person who would understand right now.

Since we left the hospital, Dad has been working nonstop on this, but nothing can legally be done without that will.  Fuck my life.

Dad continues to stay on his phone as I pace back and forth around his house, wishing I could do something.  I should be at the hospital with Granddad instead of worrying about this.  But I refuse to let his life's work fall into the hands of some random woman who can't be anything more than a gold digger.

The doorbell rings about two hours later, and Gerard, my dad's butler, walks by us briskly to answer it.  I'm sifting through a mound of meaningless legal jargon when Brody Sparks walks in.  His eyes meet mine briefly before turning to find my father.

"Agent Sparks," my dad says, sounding relieved.  "I was surprised to get your call."

He called?  Why?

Brody's eyes meet mine momentarily again, and then he gives his attention back to my father.

"Raya filled me in on the basics.  I'm running a sting, but I need you to help me find a way in.  You said you had some clients going there?  Can you get them to change the meeting so we can take it?" he asks, making my stomach tighten.

"Who's
we?
" I ask, not hiding the anger lacing my tone.

He turns back to me and shrugs.  "I have a team.  Ray Drivel is one of them.  He can bring down a con quicker than anyone, because he's that damn good.  I'm here to help.  He'll go it alone if I don't act fast, and that wouldn't be good.  He'd end up back in prison."

He's hiding something, but I have no idea what it could possibly be.

"Why would her father help us?" I ask, but my dad frowns as though it's a stupid question.  Even now he manages to look disappointed in me.  What'd I say wrong?

Brody looks just as disappointed in me.

"Because his daughter asked him for help, and he'd do absolutely anything in this world for her.  Including going back to prison to save her boyfriend's vineyard.  Considering I worked my ass off to get him out of there so he could be a father again, I'd like to keep him out.  So, I need details.  Anything at all I can use that I can't find online."

"Marlone is a wine connoisseur," I say quickly, still trying to understand why Raya is getting her father to help.  "You'll need to know a lot about the vineyard if you're planning to pass as him, though I can't imagine how you'll pull that off.  You look nothing like him."

Brody's smirk agitates me.  "I don't, but Ray Drivel is one hell of a master of disguise.  He'll play the part.  And the wine portion won't help.  By the time I get home, Ray will know more about wines than you do.  I told you, he's good.  Which is why I need him outside the prison.  If he goes back in, they won't let him work with me anymore."

Raya sent him to help us.  After the shit I put her through without so much as an apology, she sent help.

"I need to call Raya," I murmur as I stand, but Brody shakes his head.

"You think a phone call is the best course of action?" Dad asks, looking at me with disappointed eyes again.

"I'd like to see her.  I wasn't going to do all this on the phone, but I need her to let me come to her."

Brody shakes his head, waving me off.  "She doesn't know I'm telling you this.  I'm pretty sure she'd flip out on me if she did.  Just wait until after you get your vineyard back, and then call.  I'd rather her not know I told you anything.  I should have kept this between Paul and me."

If I wouldn't go to jail for bitch slapping a federal agent, I might do it right now.

"Just wait," Dad says, sighing when he sees the defiance in my eyes.  "For me?  We need this to run smoothly."

"I'd rather have Raya than the vineyard," I say, surprising everyone in the room, including myself.

Dad smiles, and for the first time ever, I see a glimmer of pride.

"Then wait until you've thought things through.  Wait until she doesn't think you're calling her because of the vineyard.  It'll seem more sincere when you go after her with nothing at stake.  Don't you think?" Brody asks, his eyes trained on me.

He's right.  If I called right now, it'd look like I was sucking up.  Considering how we left things, Raya would have the right to believe the worst in me.  Just like I believed the worst in her.

"Fine," I say through clenched teeth.  "But I want to know the second this is wrapped up."

Brody snorts as he follows my father to the bar.  "You're welcome," he says under his breath.

It's hard to be appreciative when all I can think about is Raya.  I'm sick of all the games.

"You can't call her right now!" Dad yells, chasing me around the room as I try to dial Raya, feeling my heart beating in panic.

"No one told me she'd be a part of this, or I would never have allowed it.  This is
insane!  She's not a professional!"

I'm tackled to the ground after being blindsided by Tag, and Wren joins him to wrestle my phone out of my hands.  It takes both of them to pin me as my dad takes the phone and exhales in relief.

"Just stop!" Tag yells, but I don't.  In fact, I buck harder to free myself so I can beg Raya not to do this.

"It's fucking dangerous, you assholes!  These
psychos could be armed!  I have to call and stop her."

"It's too late, Kade!  Dammit," Dad groans, dropping to a chair.  "I didn't know she'd be doing this, or I would have stopped it myself."

Two federal agents stand in the living room, looking on with mild amusement, and I snap on them.

"You let a civilian go in there?  What the hell were you thinking?"

One of the guys laughs.  Laughs!

"Raya Capperton has more skills than you're giving her credit for.  I'm damn glad that she's not in the game.  Our hands would be full if she put her talents to use.  She's there to locate the will, since she's familiar with the grounds.  Ray is the distraction.  Brody is an excellent agent, and he's good at not looking like an agent.  Even though Ms. Capperton apparently pegged him early on.  Like I said, though, she's good.  Really good."

I struggle harder to get out from under them, but Wren and Tag combined are too damn strong.

"You're going to have to hold him until this is over," Dad says, looking as exasperated as possible.

"I'm kicking all of your asses after I get up.  You'd better hope nothing happens to her!"

"It should be over soon," one of the agents says with a grin, seeming to really enjoy this damn show I'm putting on.

They waited until it was almost over to tell me Raya's life is in jeopardy.   No wonder that slimy prick didn't want me calling her.

A phone rings, and I look over just as one of the agents answers it.  He walks away, and I hear him laughing from the foyer, the echo of his amusement only grating on my nerves.

These dickheads need to learn appropriate times to laugh.  His words are too muffled to understand, and I curse the jerks holding me down.

After a few minutes pass, he walks back in, putting his phone away.

"Told you it'd be over soon.  Raya found the will, and three men and one woman are being cuffed.  They only encountered a few problems, but Brody handled them.  One being the fact that the notorious Ray Drivel was in the process of being arrested by one of the local detectives who wasn't aware of his involvement with the FBI."

"Raya's okay?" I ask, my voice cracking.

He clears his throat and nods.  I'm not so sure I like the look that crosses over his eyes, but she's okay.  Thank God.

"Let me up!  I need to call her!"

Wren and Tag both release me at the same time, and I shove them both, forcing them to
thud
to the ground just as Dad tosses me my phone.  I'm dialing her the second I catch it, and my stomach swells with anticipation.

Fucking voicemail.

"She's not answering," I growl.  "Are you sure she's okay?" I bark, looking at the agent, who still wears an unaffected grin.

"Perfectly fine.  She may be getting questioned right now.  We should go.  We were only here in case things didn't go well.  We didn't want your family unprotected."

My stomach sinks.  They thought these guys were that dangerous, but they let her go in there?

Tag has my arms wrapped behind me
, holding me at a painful angle as the two agents leave.  How did he know what I was about to do?

"No sense in going to jail.  You'd never get to talk to her then," he whispers as they leave.

Once the door shuts, he drops his hold on me, and I start dialing her again.  The same disappointment greets me in the form of a recorded voice, but this time I leave a message.

"Raya, please call me as soon as you get this.  I need to know you're safe."

I start to tell her more, but it's not meant for a message.  This is meant to be done in person.

"Where are you going?" Wren calls as I reach the door.

"To talk to the only friend Raya has.  I need to find her."

Ember is useless.  Utterly,
and completely useless.  She screwed someone in Raya's bed, but she's too loyal to tell me where Raya lives or works.  Damn it.

Pulling up in her mother's driveway is already hard enough.  Seeing the Cavalier that promises her brother is home... that's fucking terrifying.

The door to the trailer opens before I even step out, and Josh's menacing eyes meet mine.  Something tells me he'll pull the trigger on my balls this time, and he won't worry about witnesses.

"You've got stones showing up here," he says, already making a reference to my balls.  Damn.

"I need to find her, and no one feels like answering my calls."

He rolls his eyes as he walks toward me, shutting the door behind him.

"No one is thrilled with the fact Raya ran her first con because of you.  That shit is like crack to that family.  Her mother is worried to death that Raya will get hooked.  She's the only one—and I do mean the only one—who has lived her life on the right side of the law.  She broke all her rules to save your sorry ass after you judged her.  After you judged her wrong, I should say.  The thing you condemned her for saved your sorry ass, and until you, she had never done anything other than whip some of our asses at cards and pool.  Big step.  That's too big of a step.  She cracked a safe.  She had a gun held to her head.  And she—"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" I roar
, interrupting him as my body starts to shake.   A gun to her fucking head?  Christ!

He tilts his head, studying me for a second.  "You didn't know?  I assumed the feds would have filled you in.  Ray called us to fill us in, and then he hung up when we all threatened to kill him.  Raya's living with him right now.  I assumed you knew."

Raya's living with her father.  That's a start.

"If I had known she
’d had a gun to her head, I would have flipped out.  Was she hurt?  They kept swearing to me that she was fine, and I can't get her to answer my calls."

He crosses his arms over his chest, his eyes still trained on me as though he's searching for me to falter and give him a reason to strike.

"She's fine.  Nothing happened.  Brody got there in plenty of time," he says slowly, seeming distracted.  "You really do care about her, don't you?" he finally asks, even though my chest is aching from the vicious beat of my heart after hearing Raya was held at gunpoint.  I need a minute.

"Of course I care
!  I've been trying to call her for four days straight.  Nothing.  I have to find her, but no one will point me in the right direction."

He frowns as he purses his lips, and then he breathes out heavily.

"I can't believe I'm doing this instead of killing you.  But Raya still loves you, and I hate seeing her hurting.  If you actually care about her, I'll tell you.  But if you ever—"

"I won't.  I swear I won't.  If she'll give me another chance, I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to her."

He lets out a harsh breath while running his hand through his hair.  After glancing over his shoulder at the trailer, he turns back to me.

"Her dad won't let you get close to her.  He's got the protective bit cranked up to the nth degree right now, since he really hates you.  So I don't recommend going over there.  Raya's working at a place called Silk."

My eyes widen at the mention of the word as visions of girls dancing on poles and doing burlesque comes to mind.

Josh chuckles as though I've done something to entertain him.

"As a waitress.  I take it you know the place, given the terror on your face."

I swallow hard and breathe in a painful bit of air.  I'd kill someone if they were eye-fucking a half naked Raya.

"Yeah.  I need to—"

"Go," he says while turning around.  "Next time it won't be Bud's ass that gets shot.  Last warning," he adds while walking away.

I don't need any more warnings.  I just need Raya.

"It's been over a week and
I still haven't seen her.  How the hell is she hiding?" I ask Tag as he helps me scour Silk, but still no sign of Raya.

"Maybe all your
mounds of roses scared her.  You've sent bouquet after bouquet.  That's a little creepy, dude.  Just saying," he says while shrugging, not being helpful at all.

"Are you sure she's still working here?" I ask him, considering he and Dane are close.

The second I found out, I had Tag call and confirm it.

"Yeah, but Dane is sick of you loading his place up with flowers.  Raya won't take them home.  Maybe it's time
—"

"
Don't
finish that sentence," I growl, holding my hand up.

Just before he argues, I see a familiar body walking by, her hair tosses over her shoulder, and a forced smile on her face as she makes her way to the bar.

"She's here," I say in a breath, blinking rapidly to make sure I'm not going delirious.

"Then I guess you should follow her.  Looks like she's taking a break."

I don't need another push.  I take off back out the front doors, and head to the back of the building.  When I round the corner, I see her.  Her back is to me as she stares out over the ocean, seeming lost in thought.  And it takes more strength than I care to admit not to launch myself at her.

I wrap my arms around her waist, kiss her neck, and begin nuzzling her, feeling the hole inside me start to heal with just a little touch.  Damn, she smells so good.  Her soft, dark hair grazes my skin, and her body goes stiff.

"I've missed you," I whisper, holding back the storm that has come close to destroying me so many times since I lost her.

She tries pulling away, but I hold her to me, refusing to lose her after working so hard to find her.  I use her weakness against her when I start kissing a trail from her earlobe to her jaw.

"I'm sorry, Raya.  I'm so fucking sorry.  Please forgive me.  Come back," I murmur gently, praying that's enough.

She whimpers, and I know I've made her cry.  I hope those are good, happy tears.

"Kade, you don't really want me back.  You're confused because I saved your vineyard," she says with emotion rattling her voice.  No.  Damn it.  No.

"No the hell I'm not.  Raya, I've wanted you back since you walked out.  I'm a jerk.  I'm an idiot.  I'm every form of stupid there is.  I made the biggest mistake of my life.  Please, please come back.  Let me make it up to you."

She wiggles against me as I hold her.  I'm not above begging.  I finally spin her around so that she's facing me, and my chest tightens when I see the tears I've only heard.  But those tears give me hope, because she wouldn't be crying if this wasn't hard for her.

"Kade," she says softly, trembling in my arms. "You don't... you don't want to be with me.  I'm a conman's daughter.  Your business, your dreams, and your name can't be tainted by a girl
—"

Fuck this.

I interrupt her by kissing her hard, refusing to let her spit out reasons we can't be together, especially nonsensical ones.  I love her too much to hear her tell me she's not good enough.  I can't believe she thinks
she's
not good enough for
me
, considering what an absolute idiot I've been.

I get greedy and too confident when I feel her melting ever so slightly against me, so I push my tongue in to seduce her, hoping it's enough.  But I'm left in a haze of wonder as I taste her and pour too much into the kiss, trying to tell her everything I've felt for these past several weeks without words.

Unfortunately, I get too swept up in the kiss, and she catches me off balance, forcing me off her with more power than I gave her credit for having.  She's at the door before I steady myself, and the resolve in her eyes isn't what I want to see.

"Just go home, Kade.  Please leave me alone."

She takes off running, and I follow through the backdoor, barging past the staff as Raya disappears into the club.  Just as I rush in, I'm slammed into from the side, and someone's hands are holding me steady.

I watch in panic as my one chance slips through my fingers, and then I turn to snarl at... what the hell?  Dane
Sterling?

"What the
hell are you doing?" I ask, cursing myself for not going to the gym lately when he holds me back without help.

"Keeping you from chasing around my waitress."

"She's not
your
anything," I spit, struggling to break free.  "Let me the fuck go.  If she runs now, it could take me weeks to catch her again."