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I can’t imagine…
But I’ve been deceived in the past and really, only time will tell.
“We need to get going,” I say.
He seems reluctant, but there’s nothing he can do about it as I pull back and head out of the room.
* * *
The job goes smoother than I even planned and as I head back to my car, rifle in hand, I shoot a text to Kade that I’m heading to the casino and am still alive to pester him and make him play something else dreadful this evening.
He isn’t always the most eager to reply to me, but after last night, I thought his response would come sooner. Hell, by the time I make it to the casino, I still haven’t gotten a reply.
I pull around to the back, since the front parking lot is already busy, even at this early hour. The employees park around back, but I doubt anyone’s going to bitch about my car, seeing as I’m taking Kade with me for the evening. I already have all the ways I will torture him planned out and fully intend to force him to sleep on the couch again unless he proves to me that he’s changed.
When I reach the side door, I don’t even have to pull out my ID, the guy at it is all smiles. “Hey, buddy! Don’t remember your name but come in, come in,” he says. “Did you bring your Switch again?”
“I did. Kade in the back?”
“Nah, he’s not here. Said he had some business to take care of and left about an hour ago,” he says. “A guard got killed last night and Kade didn’t take it well. He was pretty pissed.”
That makes me hesitate. Of course Norn would start picking at what he could reach if he couldn’t tear Kade apart. “How’d he get killed?”
“I don’t know. We didn’t find the body in his car out back until this morning. He was a real nice guy. It’s really too bad. I didn’t know him very well, but he always greeted everyone with a smile.”
“So Kade left with guards, I hope?” I ask, hoping he at least had half a brain.
“Not a single one. He fucking waltzed out without telling anyone and sent a text that he was going out,” he says before shrugging. “We have no idea where he went, so I guess we just have to wait for him to return.”
“Can you double-check that he’s gone?” I ask. “And call me if you hear anything.”
“Yeah, I can do that,” he says, and after getting my number, he heads off. I hurry back to my car and call Kade, but of course he doesn’t answer because that’d be too easy. Then I call Harker.
“Hey, Len,” he answers.
“Do you know where Kade is?”
“Not right now. He stopped in about an hour ago. Said he needed some paperwork and then was headed back to the casino… why?”
“His guards haven’t seen him since he left and he’s currently alone. What did he get?”
“I… he said he wanted an income report from last month. I told him where to grab it since I was too busy to get it for him. Let me look,” he says as I impatiently sit in my car, unsure of what to do now. What if Norn’s men took him? He’s pretty useless when it comes to fighting. They could have finished off what they started last night, and they’re not going to be happy about what happened to their men.
Fuck. Why didn’t I keep him with me? Force him to stay with me at all times so something like this didn’t happen?
“Oh, you little shit, Kade…” Harker says. “I think he’s going to make Norn a deal.”
“What?” I ask in disbelief. “No… he’s… why would he?”
“Fuck if I know. The Kade I know is stubborn as hell and would rather die than willingly hand something over.”
But is that the Kade I’ve been dealing with? The man who I’ve forced to face his own insecurities? The Kade of last week wouldn’t have budged, but I literally forced him to see that others have feelings and lives, and that if he was planning to continue down this road he was on, it was going to be a lonely one.
Fuck… he can’t do this. He can’t walk right into Norn’s domain and believe that even if he gives Norn everything he wants, Norn will happily take it and allow him to leave. It’s all a game to Norn, one that he’s so far not won. And while he’ll enjoy Kade willingly handing things over, it wouldn’t be as fun as tantalizing him and forcing them from him because Norn prefers watching others suffer.
What does Kade think he’s doing?
* * *
