Open Doors (Suncoast Society #27)(27)

But he’d promised.

And he would honor his promise to Kaden.

He unlocked the door and headed inside to get the air conditioner and lights turned on. The club already had a large-screen TV and DVD player, and Ed would bring the DVD that Kaden wanted played.

Tony considered it odd that Kaden would do this when Seth and Leah couldn’t be here, but this had been his wish.

Ed had tried to explain that Kaden didn’t want Leah subjected to another memorial when she’d already had to go through the public one. But that Kaden had also wanted his friends—the friends who’d known him best, all the sides of him—to have their chance to say good-bye in their own way.

The word had been spread, and people were invited to wear whatever they wanted for this. From street clothes, to full formal fetish or leather garb, to naked, if they preferred.

Maybe I should have brought a flask to get me through today.

Yes, the small wedding service yesterday had been touching and memorable, for sure. While it wasn’t something that likely would make any record books, Tony was betting Kaden was the first man to not only arrange his widow’s next marriage, but also technically perform the wedding ceremony post-mortem.

There hadn’t been a dry eye in the house as the DVD had played and Kaden “officiated” the ceremony. Their friend and deeply closeted kinkster, Judge Pat Donnelly, had made the official proclamation declaring Seth and Leah wed.

No, not much could top that.

Then again, they had this afternoon to get through.

Seth was aware it was happening, but hadn’t been given a say in it by Kaden. Kaden had wanted Seth focused totally on Leah and keeping her going in the immediate aftermath of his death.

Tony wouldn’t deny that he was glad Seth had stepped up to the plate to learn everything he’d needed to take over Leah’s care from Kaden.

While Tony had agreed to Kaden’s back-up plan to step in as Leah’s Master and Top if Seth hadn’t been able to do that for her, it wasn’t a role he’d been completely looking forward to fulfilling. Not when he knew Leah’s heart wouldn’t have been in it. She already loved Seth and had for years.

He was going through the refrigerator and putting two-liter bottles of soda inside it to chill when he heard the door from the office open.

“Tony?”

“In here.” He turned. Ed looked about the way he felt, like he’d been run through a garbage disposal, heart first, after someone dumped fifty gallons of vinegar on his soul and then shoved him through the disposal unit a second time.

Ed walked over to the table closest to Tony. He carried the picture of Kaden, Leah, and Seth that had been displayed at the public memorial, as well as a messenger bag, and set them both on the table. Today, Ed wore jeans, black leather boots, and a black button-up shirt. He looked nothing like an attorney. Yesterday, Ed had been dressed in a suit and tie, despite the circumstances and the fact that the wedding guests had all been involved in, or at least aware of, the kinky side of Kaden’s life.

“What fresh hell have you brought for us today?” Tony asked, letting the fridge door swing shut and forcing his tone to remain light despite the inky blackness clouding his soul.

Ed shook his head as he pulled out a chair and heavily sat. “I didn’t watch it. I only follow instructions. Frankly, I don’t want to watch it ahead of time. I haven’t watched any of them, and I won’t.”

“I know Kaden was a control freak…but…” Tony leaned against the fridge. “Yesterday? That was beyond the pale.”

Ed smiled. “Try being his friend and business partner for nearly two decades.”

“I can only imagine.”

Ed laced his fingers behind his head. “I don’t even mean that in a bad way. It was good, in most ways. Made him good at what he did. He thought of everything.”

He extended his arms. “Look at this place. Case in point. He thought about everything when he set up the paperwork for Derrick and Marcia. He went overboard to make sure they were personally protected from liability.”

Tony crossed his arms over his chest. “What are we going to do without him?” he quietly asked. “I mean, I know he hasn’t been around here lately, but he was still here, in spirit. Now he’s gone. Gone gone.”

“I don’t know.” Ed laced his fingers behind his head again. “I really don’t know. Hope is nearly beside herself. She barely made it through yesterday. We got home and she cried herself to sleep in my arms. I didn’t think about how hard this would be on her, seeing what Leah was going through. Reminded her of my mortality, I think.”

“I thought Hope handled the public memorial really well.”

“Xanax,” he said. “I made her take some. I knew I wouldn’t be able to deal with Seth and Leah, and Hope, as horrible and cold as that might sound. Much less my own emotions. It was all I could do to drag myself out of bed for it.”

“Where is she now?”

“Home. Ross and Loren will bring her. She’ll ride home with me, but I needed to get my thoughts together, alone, without worrying about her for a little while.”

“I don’t know how you’ve done all this without losing your mind. How you’ve managed to get through it all.”

“Kaden planned everything. Oh, and with a little help from my new best friend, Xanax,” he said, smiling. “It’s a hell of a good thing, let me tell you what. I highly recommend it. That reminds me.”