Page 44 of Summer Heat
Kade read Lexie’s vague text with no explanation as to why, after spending most of their free time together, she suddenly just couldn’t make it.
He settled in to eat meatloaf that Helen had prepared for him, wondering what she was doing tonight that was so important. More important than him. Not exactly the kind of thoughts he was used to having.
He frowned and rose from his seat, rinsing his plate off in the sink and placing it in the dishwasher.
His cell rang, and, figuring it was a good distraction from everything circling in his brain obsessively, he answered without checking who it was.
“Hello?”
“It’s Evan Mann.” The investigator Kade had left a message for after finishing lunch with Ian Dare. “Got your message, but I was tied up until now, and I have pictures you’re going to want to see.”
Kade raised an eyebrow. “What kind of pictures?”
“Your ex-partner and some chick. You and your partners said you wanted anything I could dig up. Well, this woman seems to be important to him. I sent them over to your email.”
“Thanks. Does this woman have a name?” Kade asked, picking up his plate and carrying it to the sink.
“Working on that. More soon.” Mann disconnected the call.
“Nice bedside manner,” Kade muttered. He leaned against the counter and switched apps on his phone, opening his email.
Mann’s message came through. Kade tapped the email, and a photograph loaded onto the screen.
A photo of Lexie and Julian.
He blinked, but the view on the screen stayed the same.
Lexie and Julian.
What. The. Fuck.
What was she doing with that bastard? Kade didn’t want to believe she could betray him that way, but the proof was in his hands. He glanced down once more, taking in the delicate features he’d memorized, her small nose, full lips, and the hand he’d often held. That Julian was now holding.
Dammit!
He opened a cabinet and grabbed a scotch, taking a long swig straight from the bottle. Lexie. Sweet, caring, sexy Lexie. The woman he’d opened himself up to. The woman he’d showed his greatest weakness and to whom he’d revealed his flaws had played him.
He thought about texting her, but he wasn’t about to put himself out there again, not even for an explanation there was no way he’d believe. He’d invited her tonight and she’d said no. Now he knew why.
End of story.
End of them.
His hands began to shake as reality set in. From their intimate position, it was clear they were close, physically and emotionally. She’d stabbed him in the back, and she wasn’t the first female to do so.
He could make himself crazy, thinking about his long string of failures with women. He took another pull, letting the liquid burn down his throat. His mother. Another mouthful of whiskey. Angela, the woman who’d stolen things from him and pawned them for cash. He chugged again. Lila, who’d accused him of date rape. He’d sworn never again, but his organized, gutsy assistant who’d held her own with him and played Mario Party like a champ had betrayed him.
He carried the bottle into his bedroom, and that was the last thing he remembered until the sun streamed through the window, waking him.
He rolled over and his head began to pound. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton. And the memory of the photograph on his phone flashed through his mind, an unwanted memory and a painful fact he didn’t want to think about. Unfortunately, it was all he could do. Visualize Lexie and Julian.
Nausea rose, and somehow he managed not to lose all the alcohol he’d consumed last night. He reached for his watch on the nightstand and didn’t find it. He sat up and, ignoring the throbbing in his head, looked at the empty place where he always kept his Patek Phillipe. The watch that soothed him. The same one he’d touched yesterday before he’d left the apartment to meet with Ian.
Before his entire life had gone to shit.
Where was it? Kade was ridiculously organized, and if there was one thing he wouldn’t misplace, it was this particular timepiece.
He headed into the bathroom to brush his teeth, recounting yesterday in his head while he did so. He’d placed the watch on the nightstand and left to have lunch. Saturday was Helen’s day off, but it was dry cleaning day, which meant … Lexie had been to his apartment.
