Trusting Cade (Custos Securities Series Book 1) Page 5

  “You didn’t get yourself into anything, Braden. This isn’t something that you can blame on yourself. Here, come on, let me pour you some juice. Go test your levels and we’ll see what else you need besides what I’ve already made.”

  He grabbed his testing kit and headed off to the bathroom to test his blood, away from the kitchen, not to mention the prying eyes of the peanut gallery. He gathered himself, pricked his finger, tested the strip and let out a relieved sigh that his levels weren’t too far off track. He prepped the needle. After a small injection, some juice and a sandwich, he’d be back on track.

  He was exhausted all of a sudden and knew that the stress of the fan mail had finally caught up with him. He’d known he couldn’t go much longer without talking to Maya and probably the cops as well, but he wasn’t looking forward to dealing with any of it. He yanked his hair out of its leather thong, ran his hands through it and tucked it behind his ears.

  Maya was sitting on his stool and picking at her food when he walked back into the kitchen. She hopped down and brought him his food and juice, a worried look in her eyes.

  “Just a small injection, My, I’m OK. Thanks for the food.” He guided her back to her seat and stood next to her, which just happened to be right in front of the pile of fan mail. He grunted as he took his first bite, his mouth full. “So what’s the consensus on the fan mail?”

  Braden watched Maya and Cooper glance up at Cade. “Braden, right? My name is Zavier McCade. I go by McCade, or just Cade most of the time.”

  Braden met gigantor’s eyes--Christ, the man was huge--and rolled his name around in his head. He liked his name; it suited him and had a distinctly sexy ring to it, so he decided to use it. “Braden Cross. It’s nice to meet you, Zavier, though I wish it was under better circumstances.”

  Braden smiled to himself as Cade raised a brow at his choice to call him by his first name rather than his proffered nicknames. Cade’s soft smile of approval had Braden’s cheeks heating and his heart beating a bit faster. His eyes slid down to Cade’s soft, full lips when the huge man spoke. “So, Braden, this ‘fan mail’, as you call it, is more than just a mild annoyance. I think you know that deep down, if you’ve been paying attention to the words he’s written to you. I’m assuming you have, because it seems that you numbered the notes in chronological order, which was a smart move on your part, as the guy seems to be quite prolific, in addition to being bat shit crazy. We’re all assuming you’d like this harassment to stop, so I guess my question is; are you going to let us do what needs to be done to make sure you’re safe and this psycho--and I don’t mean that word lightly--is caught and dealt with?”

  Braden was mildly taken aback by Cade’s vehemence. He’d begun to take the notes more seriously, just in the last several weeks, as the quantity of the notes increased and the implied threats worsened. However, Cade seemed to think he was in imminent danger, which gave him pause.

  He obviously needed to admit that he’d been a bit of a wreck as a result of the messages, and he’d been in denial for too long. He’d internalized most of it in the hopes that it would just go away, but obviously, that wasn’t happening. He rubbed both hands over his eyes and pushed them back through his hair.

  “Obviously, I’d hoped that the problem would just go away. I have a feeling I’m not going to like whatever it is that you guys have planned, but I will have to admit that it’s not exactly my area of expertise. I’m having a hard time understanding exactly why this guy has latched on to me. I’m nobody. I’m just a baker. My daily life pretty much consists of waking up, eating, baking, running, showering, baking, eating, baking, eating, running, showering and sleeping. As pathetic as that sounds, it’s as close to the truth as an oversimplification can get.”

  Maya huffed out a laugh and looked at him pointedly. “Bray, you’re not just a baker, you’re the best baker in town and your desserts have won awards. Not to mention, you don’t just run; you run marathons and ultra-marathons. You volunteer for the local Diabetes Advocacy and Awareness Group. You bake cookies for our neighbors, and don’t think I don’t know about your visits to Mrs. Newton and a couple other little old ladies in the neighborhood, helping with little things around their houses or just sitting and chatting with them. This guy, though a total and absolute nutter, obviously sees what others have seen in you. Not to mention Braden, you’re friggin beautiful, and you have all of the hot babes in the area mourning your sexual orientation on a daily basis.”

  Braden rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair again in exasperation. “Baby girl, I love you, and if I ever need a pep talk, I know where to go. Thank you for your, shall we say, laundry list of my stellar virtues, but that’s not what I meant. I wasn’t trying to belittle myself, just point out the reality. I’m not in the public eye much. You’re the face of our business, and that’s the way I like it. My daily life is boring, and routine. You know me; you know most people give me a rash. I just don’t understand how this dude latched onto me. I’m having a hard time grasping the fact that someone has gone crazy on my ass without any prompting by me. I haven’t been in a relationship in over a year. I don’t go out to the clubs. I just don’t get it.”

  Cade stepped close to Braden, placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and slowly caressed his collarbone with his thumb. The casual, yet tender touch puzzled and soothed him at once. He lifted his gaze to Cade’s and listened closely to his words. “Be that as it may, something triggered this guy and it’s you who he’s latched on to. It may be someone you don’t know but you’ve met, or it may be an ex-boyfriend. We’ll be looking at all of the possibilities. We’ll also be calling the cops to report the situation, so that we’re keeping everything on the up and up. However, what we’re also going to do is keep you safe. This is the part that you’re probably not going to like. I’m gonna be your shadow 24/7 until we figure this shit out. What you can take to the bank is that I’ll always be completely honest with you. Our investigation will be transparent, as will all of my dealings with you. I want you to be as comfortable with my presence as possible, so that you can go about your normal routines. When you, how did you put it…. wake up, eat, bake, run, shower, bake, eat, bake, eat, run, shower and sleep, I’m going to be doing those things with you.” He smirked, and wiggled his eyebrows. “For now, a few of those things you’ll get to do on your own, with me not too far away. However, that’s negotiable, so we can get back to that later.”

  Utter shock hit Braden, quickly followed by a lightning bolt of heated desire that flashed through him, and then complete disbelief and annoyance that this giant of a man was making fun of him. Such a range of emotions in the span of a few seconds threw him off and he didn’t know whether to let any of those emotions spew forth. He was just about to slap the guy back a few steps, verbally, for being such an ass, when Cooper spoke up, an amused and mischievous look in his eyes.

  “On that note, I think I’ll call the local PD and see who they can send out to look at your fan mail. I’ll make the call from the office.”

  Maya had a huge smile on her face and looked back and forth between him and Cade. To Braden, it seemed misplaced and ill timed, but at this point he was flat out of energy and just wanted to finish his meal and get this day over with. He took the last half of his sandwich in hand, stood up and went to the back door. “I’m going home to finish eating, get a shower and change. I’ll be back to deal with the cops in 30 minutes.”

  Cade made a move to follow him, which snapped the tenuous hold that Braden had on his temper. “Listen gigantor, stay right where you are. I haven’t agreed to all of this yet. I know I’ll eventually have to give in, but for right now give me a fucking break and the illusion that I don’t have a shit storm of complications coming my way. I’m going home for 30 minutes, alone. If anyone follows me, I swear to Christ, I’ll lose my shit. Got it?”

  A broad, sexy as sin grin flashed across Cade’s face as he gave a two fingered salute to Braden and a deep rumble came from his chest. “
Mmhmm. Got it, boss.”

  Braden rolled his eyes and threw his hands in the air, muttering about sexy giants that thought they could control everything, and cursing himself internally for his physical reaction to the huge man. His hands were sweating and he had goosebumps all over his body from that deep sexy voice. He walked out of his kitchen to cross the street to his and Maya’s split row house, all the while trying desperately not to think about the man’s alluring smile, his beautiful body, and his gorgeous face.

  Maya had a speculative gleam in her eyes, and Cade guessed it would be less than ten seconds before she started talking about what was on her mind, so he jumped in first. “Hit me with it, gorgeous. What you got brewing in that brain of yours? I can see the hamsters spinning in their wheels.”

  She shook her head and laughed, despite herself. “So, my question for you is, do you know that you’re sex on legs, or is that news to you? You have the walk of a man that’s very confident and I have to wonder if that confidence slides on over towards arrogance. I guess I’ll have to figure that out for myself. I have to admit I’m surprised though, I didn’t know you were gay, and you’re such a macho tough guy, that I would never have guessed. Then again, I suppose the same could be said about Cooper and now I’m stereotyping, which I hate. It’s just that Cooper never mentioned it, which surprises me. I mean, he knew that my best friend was gay, Coop’s bi, so I don’t know why he wouldn’t have told me that you’re gay.”

  “Well, it’s not a secret. Never has been, but us military types, and that’s what we’ll always be, tend to keep that type of information as need to know, even now that DADT is dead. My closest friends in my unit all knew. It was never an issue and I was never ashamed to discuss it. It probably helped that I was always the biggest and strongest of the lot. That’s not me bragging, it’s the truth. I’m 6’6”, so I’m bigger, and stronger just comes with the territory when you’re this size, I guess. I don’t think I’ve ever been called sex on legs before, but I suppose, in a roundabout way, it’s a compliment. The thing is you’re not really seeing me; you see my height, you see the muscles, you see my tattoos, and god knows what else. All I know is that I’m not responsible for what you see before you. My mom’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met and my dad; well let’s just say he’s a big strong man like me. It was the luck of the gene pool.”

  Maya tilted her head as if contemplating his response. “So, are you truly interested in Braden, or were you just teasing him, to get a reaction?”

  Cade knew she wasn’t going to give up this line of questioning. He also knew that she was Braden’s best friend and that was reason enough to lay his cards on the table, such as they were. He took a deep breath and put it all out there.

  “I’ve never believed in love at first sight. To be completely honest, I’m still not sure I do. All I know is I walked in and you were both arguing and my focus narrowed in on him and the rest of the room became a blur and murmured voices. I didn’t know if he was gay, but I knew that I’d never been so physically attracted to anyone in my life. As soon as I learned what was going on, I knew I’d be the one ensuring his safety and that I’d put my life on the line for him, if need be. However, keep in mind that in my line of work, putting my life on the line is par for the course. This feels different to me, though. This feels…. more. I don’t know if that’s what you want to hear or not, but just know that it’s the truth.”

  “I think I’m going to like you Cade,” Maya said. “I may end up even loving you. But know this; that man you’re so attracted to is one of the most important people in my life. I’m very protective of him, and he’s had some really shitty luck with men. If you’re being truthful with me and your feelings for him grow, for your sake, and for his, I hope you’re able to gain his trust. I trust my brother’s judgment, so I guess that means I’m putting my trust in you until you prove otherwise. I know that you’ll appreciate the sentiment when I say that if you hurt him, I’ll kill you in your sleep.”

  Enjoying her feistiness, Cade laughed and winked at her. “I think we’ll get along just fine, Maya. However, I think I’ll sleep with one eye open, until I get your nod of approval.”

  Braden headed back across the street, realizing by the oncoming darkness, that it was later than he had thought and that the cafe would already be closed. Earlier, on the walk from the cafe to his place he’d felt the beginning of one of his migraines. The doctors called them migraines with aura. Simply put, he started having vision problems, seeing spots, blurring around the edges and other strange visual cues that messed with his eyesight before the pain of the migraines actually hit. Strangely enough, he considered himself lucky, as these symptoms always hit him about 30 minutes before the pain came, usually allowing him enough time to get his migraine meds down and working before the pain became debilitating.

  He only had himself to blame, and he could only hope that the meds would kick in and work so that he could get through this discussion with the cops. With all the drama, he’d taken off on a run and skipped his scheduled meal.

  Any change in his insulin routine was not good on his system. His glucose levels spiked and a migraine usually followed. He maintained a strict schedule for eating and exercise. Any undue stressors, and there’d been a shit ton of them lately, always caused unwelcomed responses in his body. It seemed to react negatively whenever things weren’t quite right, and occasionally he was surprised by what could throw his body out of whack. Sometimes he’d have anxiety attacks, come down with a cold, have flu like symptoms, get really bad headaches, and then sometimes he was hit with one of his migraines. He was pretty adept at keeping himself regimented and therefore free of strange bouts of sickness, but when he wasn’t, he was usually able to ignore most of the symptoms and push through. However, when it came to migraines, they hit hard and were completely debilitating. He supposed it was one of the many reasons he was always so careful and disciplined about everything in his life.

  Stepping into his kitchen, he struggled to compose his features so Maya wouldn’t realize he was in pain. The bright lights did a number on his vision, though, and he had to blink a number of times before the spots lessened enough for him to continue forward. Conversation stopped when the others realized he had returned. He stuck his hands in his jeans pockets, and curled a bit more into himself. He hated being the center of attention.

  Maya was next to him in a second. “You don’t look that great, Braden. Do you want to do this another time? I’m sure Detective Miller can take your statement tomorrow.”

  “No, I’m fine. Let’s just get this over with now.” God knows he didn’t want to have to psych himself up for this a second time. Sheepishly he noticed a man with a badge standing with Cooper and Cade.

  “Detective Miller, I presume?” Braden extended his hand as he sat on his kitchen stool. “I’m Braden Cross. Thanks for coming out.”

  “You’re welcome. Seems you’ve been having some trouble with a stalker. Care to tell me when this all started?”

  “Just shy of three months ago. At first the notes were friendly, almost more like a secret admirer, and didn’t worry me in the least. For the first month, I honestly thought it was some kind of joke and one of my friends was going to fess up any second. Then he started to say some stuff that made me realize there really was someone watching me. He would comment on what I was wearing on a specific day. He’d include receipts for someplace on my jogging route, receipts that had dates and time stamps.”

  “I’d like to take all of the notes with me today, if I could.”

  Cade cut into the conversation. “Sorry, Detective, that’s not going to happen. We can make copies for you, but we’re keeping the originals. We’ll be launching our own investigation into the situation and providing Mr. Cross with protection as well, as we discussed several minutes ago.”

  The detective was about to argue, when Cooper did his best to cut the discussion off before it became heated. “Detective Miller, we know how these things work. No insu
lts meant; however, we essentially contacted you so we could lodge the complaint and inform you of what is going on. We know that you all don’t have the manpower to really do anything more than take a cursory glance at the letters and keep an open file. I’ve already created copies of all of the notes and receipts; anything the stalker has left Braden. You can take these copies with you, to keep them on file. We don’t want to step on your toes or insult you for your efforts. We know that you really can’t do anything unless there’s a direct threat, and even then, with no clue who is threatening him, not much would get done. As Cade has mentioned, we’ll be providing protection for Braden and investigating this situation ourselves. If we come up with anything, we’ll keep you informed.”

  The detective asked several more questions, but as Braden didn’t have many answers to provide, as he had no idea who could be doing the stalking, the conversation seemed to wind down pretty quickly, for which he was grateful. He was feeling worse by the minute, and it was obvious he wasn’t really needed here any longer. “I think you have what you need. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get home.”

  He stood up slowly and was hit by a wave of dizziness and nausea all at once. He gripped both hands on the countertop to steady himself. He heard Maya whispering to Cooper, who quickly ushered the police detective out the door.

  Her voice, though a whisper, was full of admonishment. “Braden, why didn’t you tell us about the migraine?”

  “Shit, what’s he even doing here? I…” Cade’s voice was cut off mid-tirade by Maya’s shaking head and raised hand for him to quiet down.

  “You should have told us, Bray. When did the aura symptoms start? How bad is it? Let’s get you home.”

  “I’ll be OK. Aura started about an hour ago, when I went over to take a shower. I took all of my migraine meds and was thinking they’d do the trick, but with my schedule being all sorts of fucked today, I’m guessing now that the meds aren’t going to do more than dull the ache. The worst of it hasn’t hit yet. I’ll go home now.” All this was whispered while his eyes were nearly closed against the dizziness and bright lights. His knuckles were white on the countertop.