Page 28 of Piece You Saved
He snorts. “Angel, that is not the sort of whiskey you knock back. This is a whiskey you savor.”
Another pained moan drifts down the stairs.
I forget all about my roiling belly. “What’s happening to him, Kade?”
He gives me a probing look and takes a long draw from his glass before closing his laptop lid. “This might not be the best time to talk about this.”
A pain-laced growl has me clenching my hands into fists. “Talk to me, Kade.Please.” I search his blank expression. “Was it like this for you?”
His lips curve into something that could be a smile if his eyes weren’t suddenly so bleak. “I didn’t have Dariel to hold my hand.”
“So you suffered through it alone?” Why does the thought of him in pain make me want to crawl into his lap, hug him, and never let go? “I thought Dariel bit you.”
After returning his glass to the table, he scratches his shaved head. “There are some things in this world you don’t need to know and don’t want to know. This is one of them.”
“But there are some things I should know.” I give him a pointed look. “Tell me.”
He regards me in silence.
I reach for the glass of whiskey, more to provoke him than because I’m eager to burn my throat again.
Kade snatches it away.
“It wasn’t all that long ago you were handing me a bottle, Kade,” I remind him.
When he knocks back the contents, despite what he told me about this being the type of whiskey you savor, I have a feeling it’s because he doesn’t want me to get my hands on it.
“Yes. That was before I discovered you can’t drink worth a damn.”
But that’s not the reason he won’t give me the whiskey.
“And before you cared about me?” I ask quietly.
Something in his expression softens. It’s so subtle that I almost miss it, but I catch it. Just. “That too, angel.”
“And I care about Aden. So please tell me what’s going on. Not knowing is the worst. How long will he go through it?”
He studies me for another long moment, sits back in his seat, and after another probing stare, seems to come to some decision. “The first shift is… difficult.”
For the longest time, he stares at me, but his eyes aren’t focused. Maybe he’s in the past thinking about his first shift. I’m about to ask him when he pushes his chair back from the table and holds a hand out. “Come here, angel.”
I don’t hesitate.
I take his palm, ignoring the pull on my belly, and let him tug me to my feet with his strong, warm grip. He guides me around the table and onto his lap, so I’m straddling him.
We’re mirroring the way we sat in his room before Rylan and his pack forced themselves into the house hours ago. Rylan might attack again. Yet, Kade’s calmness reassures me I’m okay, and I’m safe.
Slowly, he strokes the tips of his fingers up and down my back as I rest my palms on the warm strength of his shoulders and meet his gunmetal gray eyes.
He’s looking at me, but it feels like he’s looking right through me.
Maybe into a memory? Whatever he’s looking at, from the tightness around his eyes and the tension around his nose and mouth, it isn’t anything good.
“He’s fighting a battle, angel,” Kade murmurs. “There are suddenly snarls in his head. He senses that he isn’t alone, and he probably thinks he’s gone fucking insane.”
I search his expression. “Is that what happened to you?”
Kade blinks, and he’s back with me again. He flashes me a grin. It’s a Kade grin that’s confident and carefree, as if nothing matters. I know differently. It’s as much of a mask as the smile Aden wore. Realistic enough to convince everyone that life was good when it was a burning wreck. I recognized it because I wore one just like it. For years.