Cade laid in bed staring at Fiona’s phone number on his phone. It would be so easy to text her, to call her. He already wanted to see her again, but he wasn’t sure what he should do.
He tossed and turned, trying to fall asleep, but it didn’t come until much later in the night and when he awoke early the next morning he was groggy and a fuzzy dream of Fiona’s face fizzled behind his eyelids. He longed to touch her delicate skin again, and couldn’t keep his mind from picturing his hand on her pointy breasts.
In his apartment he started to go stir crazy. He needed to get out and talk to someone he could trust. Who better than his best friend, Devon Delaney?
Cade shot a text to Devon asking to meet up and his friend immediately invited Cade over.
When Cade arrived at Devon’s apartment, he walked right in to find that Devon was on the phone with someone.
Devon acted like he’d almost been caught doing something sinful. He muttered something hurried and imperceptible into the phone and hung up quickly.
“Who was that?” Cade asked, intrigued.
“She’s nobody...” Devon jumped, shoving his phone into his pocket. “Besides, shouldn’t you be more excited to see me??”
Cade chuckled, “She, huh?” He went over to his friend to give him a slap on the back, the typical greeting for two best friends who were a bit too into their masculinity to give a real hug. “Who knew you could be a softie?”
“You know, I’m still a fighter, right?” Devon grinned before continuing, “I’m glad to finally see you. I thought we’d get to hang out yesterday but I never heard from you.”
“Right,” Cade said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. “I kinda took the day to myself... I needed to disconnect.”
Devon gave him a questionable look. “Are you okay, man? Is the search for the cure off to a bad start?”
“Hah. It’s not even started. I’ve gotten a bit... sidetracked.”
There was something about a friendly, knowing glare that made a person want to divulge their greatest secrets. “Okay, okay,” Cade said, putting his hands in the air. He retreated to the couch and plopped down. Devon sat down next to him. “There’s this girl... Her name is—”
Suddenly the doorbell rang. Devon grinned smugly and jumped up to answer the door. Without even hesitating he swung it open wide. “Come on in,” Devon said. “Your brother Cade’s in love.”
Cade was surprised to find his little brother standing there in the threshold with a case of drinks in one hand and a bag of Chinese takeout in the other. But what the heck was Kieran doing here?
He was supposed to be back in Colorado taking care of their father.
“A girl? Bro, that’s the last thing you need to be focusing on right now!” Kieran declared, marching frustratingly through the house.
He dropped the drinks and food on the coffee table with a thud and crossed his arms. “I knew I shoulda tracked you down yesterday. Why are you being so irresponsible?”
Cade rose slowly from the couch. He wasn’t too thrilled to be lectured by his little brother.
“Uh uh,” Cade said, shaking his head. He went over to his brother and towered over him. “You think I’M being irresponsible? Who left Dad all alone?”
Kieran narrowed his eyes and took a step closer to Cade. Devon was watching with an amused look on his face. That irked Cade as well. Clearly, Devon knew that Kieran was in NYC this whole time. Cade looked around the room and spotted a duffle bag next to the chair. How long had he been there?
“You gonna tell us about this chick or what?” Kieran asked, pushing past his brother to sit on the couch. He tore open the Chinese food and set a box to the side. “I got your favorite, General Tso’s chicken, so eat up.”
“Whatever,” Cade mumbled to himself.
“So I think you were about to tell me her name,” Devon said. He sat on the floor on the other side of the coffee table and pulled out a pair of chopsticks.
Cade looked at the Chinese food that smelled so delicious, remembering he hadn’t eaten anything all day. He gave in to their questions.
“Her name is Fiona Lewis. She owns the Half Moon Bar.”
Devon slurped up his noodles angrily and scowled. “Really? Of all the people in New York it had to be her?”
“You know her?” Cade asked, taken aback.
“I know everybody,” Devon said, leaning back on his hands. “I’m not sure she’s good news. She’s the Alpha’s daughter...”
“I know that.”
“Wow, the Alpha’s daughter? I didn’t think you were cool enough to land a chick like that. Is she ugly or something?” Kieran joked.
Cade’s eyes pierced lasers at his annoying, younger brother who knew nothing about women. It was no use feeding his brother’s immaturity, so he let the comment go.
Devon frowned. “She’s a beauty indeed, but I don’t know, man. I just think you need to focus on the reason you came here. She’s going to be a distraction. Maybe you should just go back to Colorado with Kier—”
“No!” Cade snapped. “I came here for a reason and I’m not leaving until I find out more about this curse. C’mon, dude. You should know how badly I want this to be over.”
Devon stared down at his food. “Yeah, I get it, but just remember your father suffering all alone in Colorado. You’re here for him, not this…woman.”
“Ooh sounds like you don’t have the best bud’s approval on this one,” Kieran spouted.
Cade whacked him hard on the leg. “Stop being a little sh*t or I’ll knock you back to Colorado with one punch.” Kieran rubbed his thigh from the impact of his brother’s smack.
“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this right now,” Devon huffed, picking up the chopsticks again.
Cade clenched his teeth together. He was dissatisfied with how things were panning out. The ecstasy that he felt with Fiona a few night’s before had been dampened by his friend’s reaction.
“Then I want to know why my little brother showed up in NYC all of a sudden when he was supposed to be home taking care of our ill father...” Cade probed disgruntledly.
Kieran gulped his food down, unbothered, and picked up some crab rangoon. Years of tough brotherly love made him immune to Cade’s gruff voice and he was no longer scared of Cade’s warning glares.
“Dad wanted me to give you a name: Reign. I guess he’s somewhere here in New York. He might know about the curse.”
Cade stared at his little brother with dead eyes. “You couldn’t have called to tell me that?”
Kieran shrugged nonchalantly. “He wanted me to make sure you were doing okay. I wanted to make sure the culture shock didn’t overwhelm you. I guess it’s a good thing I came considering—”
“Oh, and your naive little a*s was going to help me out. I can take care of myself. I’m the older one here.”
“Older doesn’t always mean smarter,” Kieran mumbled under his breath.
Devon coughed, almost choking on his food with laughter.
“Don’t worry, bro, I’m going back home in a couple of days anyway.”
Cade let out a big huff of air and resisted the temptation to smack the crab rangoon out of his brother’s hand. He came to New York to find himself and a cure for his father, he didn't come thousands of miles to be stalked by his pesky little brother.
“At least tell me about this Reign guy then.”
“No,” Kieran huffed. “If you’re going to treat me like a child then I’ll act like one.” Then he continued and pressured, “Ask father yourself.”
Father. The name alone caused Cade’s eyes to seethe.