“One and the same,” Cade confirms.
“Does Kingston know?” I probe for more information.
Cade leans back in his chair and sighs. “His father, being a suspect of his mother’s murder who got off by a technicality, is common knowledge. Whether he knows more beyond the rumors, or of his illegal dealings in general, I have no idea.”
I furrow my brow at the news. I’ve seen enough instances where kids in families like these are ordered into submission. It begs the question of whether Kingston is an active participant, an unwilling participant, or completely unaware of any of these things.
“Well, we’d like to know,” I say conclusively, bringing the conversation around to why we called Cade in the first place.
Cade looks completely unsurprised, but there’s something in his face that tells me he’s sizing us up before he agrees to give us anything more.
“Why?”
“Does it matter?” Tristan asks, and I know he’s hesitating on revealing anything about Qiang, since that’s the reason we’re really here.
I’m on the same boat as Tristan. As much as I want to find something on Kingston to get him the hell away from Qiang permanently, it doesn’t mean I want to achieve that in a way that’s going to hurt Qiang more.
Cade’s hard gaze locks with Tristan’s. “It does, because I know your name, but I don’t know whoyouare. The only reason I’m really entertaining this at all is because Gio and Holt speak so highly of you, and of course, you’re a Donovan and a Bauer. I have a sneaky suspicion that you wanting to know, and you calling me here means you’re about to ask me to dig into the Adairs for you, and before I agree to any such expenditure, I need to at least know why.”
“Well, for one, I think he just unfairly bought himself onto the football team,” I point out.
Cade snorts at that with amusement. “It amazes me how football players are so convinced that life ceases to exist off the field. Gio and Holt sometimes drive me up the wall with how deeply football is embedded in them. However, regardless of how immoral buying his way onto the team is, it’s not altogether evil, just grossly nepotistic. I do apologize, but I don’t think this is something I wish to be involved in.”
“How about, years ago, he hurt someone I care about rather badly, and the first thing he did when he got here was go after them?” I ask, realizing that nothing of what I said makes him evil either, just altogether shitty, but also hoping Cade understands the personal stakes of wanting to protect someone I care about.
Something soft and almostconcernedpasses through Cade’s eyes for a moment before he shrugs it off and throws his mask of disdain back on. “That’s a bit ick, but what kind of hurt are we talking about? Like, did he step on their foot, or something more drastic?” he asks, with something flickering in his eyes that looks an awful lot like amusement.
“I was told you don’t get into details,” Tristan points out, his lips turning down just slightly enough for me to know he’s unhappy with the turn the conversation is going. But he’s missing the little telltales I’m seeing in Cade.
Cade isn’t resisting because he’s going to say no; he’s playing the game to see how much we’ll give up. He’s feeling us out, a tactic to pick up as much as he can about us to file away in case he ever needs it.
Cade’s eyes meet Tristan’s, the two of them staring each other down with those expressionless, impossible-to-read gazes, but something tells me Cade’s picking up a hell of a lot more from Tristan than vice versa.
“I don’t need to know who your friend is, or even details really, but once again, if something happens and I get caught under fire, I need to know what I’m getting myself into, and if it’s worth getting into it,” Cade says.
“The guy used my friend and then publicly outed them in a humiliating way,” I tell him, pulling his attention from Tristan back to me.
Cade’s mouth turns into a devilish smile. “Well, then, let’s burn them all to the ground, shall we?” he says in a voice that makes it clear he means the words, even if they sound a bit sarcastic.
Tristan looks at me, a little confused at Cade’s about-face.
“Just like that?” he asks, turning back to Cade.
Cade shrugs and leans back towards the table. “Look, man, it’s the twenty-first century; if Neanderthals are still camping out being homophobic, then they need to be booted off the island. The world’s got bigger problems than to cater to homophobic pricks’ continuous efforts to gatekeep love, especially when most of them don’t do it right themselves. Besides, it takes a real shitbag to use and out Qiang as he did,” he tacks on at the end.
It takes a beat of silence for it to process before I narrow my eyes at him.
“Wait…” Tristan murmurs with surprise.
Cade barks out an almost derisive laugh. “You called me because I have a reputation for knowing something about everyone. What makes you think that wouldn’t include Qiang as well? I know what Kingston did to them; I’ve seen the video. I know how Qi reacted to what Kingston did; I’ve seen that video too. I also know about the fight in the locker rooms, although there’s obviously no video footageof that. So, even though I didn’t expect your call, I wasn’t surprised when I got it.”
“So, you knew what we were going to ask for before we even got started?” I verify, realizing this guy has been playing with us the whole time.
“Of course I knew,” he says without a trace of remorse or shame on his face.
“Then why?” Tristan asks, trying to catch up with the game, too.
We’re used to navigating our way out of situations, not going head-to-head with someone used to playing these games, so going from feeling like we were getting somewhere to realizing we were being toyed with all along is a bit of a shock.
