Corrupted Chaos (Tarnished Empire)(78)

The only person I could think to text was Cade and not for any other reason than to get rid of his goons.

Me: Your men here are unnecessary.

Cade: Look at them as company.

Me: I don’t want company. Lucas wouldn’t either. We need privacy.

Cade: Privacy for what?

Me: He’s fighting for his life in there. Do you even care?

Cade: Well, I sent my men there, didn’t I?





I scoffed. He didn’t understand that sending a stranger to witness someone’s private agony wasn’t helping.

Me: You saw him lying there lifeless and didn’t even come to the hospital.

Cade: His vitals are strong. They’re running bloodwork to see what happened with the drugs. He’ll be fine. The doctor’s charts say so.

Me: Did they call you?

Cade: No.

Me: Then how do you know?





Cade didn’t respond to the question, and he didn’t have to. He’d probably breached the hospital system to find that out. I envied how good he was, and my heart melted a little that he’d checked.

Me: If you want to see how someone is doing, you can come to the hospital to see, Cade. You don’t have to hack the hospital system.

Cade: I’m working.

Me: Fine. I’ll see you at work on Monday, then.





I silenced my phone and shoved it back in my pocket. I needed to be present for my friend.

Not more than an hour later, though, I heard a voice I wasn’t expecting. “Here,” Cade grumbled as he shoved a box of candy canes in my face.

“What?” I whispered, my heart racing even as my eyes started to tear up. “What’s this?”

I knew what it was. It was Cade making a freaking gesture.

It was him bringing what he knew both Lucas and I needed most of the time. He acted like he didn’t watch us, like he didn’t care about others, but there was so much in him that was good, and this was proof of it.

“What’s it look like? They’re candy canes,” he said as if I were the most dense person he’d ever come across. Then he shook them in front of me, an invitation to take them.

I grabbed them and hugged them close. I was still in my black dress and felt ridiculous in that moment. My hair was a wavy mess, and my clothes were utterly wrinkled from a night out and sleeping on a couch.

My jaw dropped when Cade lifted a bag he had in his other hand and pulled out a baggy T-shirt of mine that had Boyz II Men on it, my favorite mom jeans, and flip-flops. “You should go change.”

“How did you get my clothes?” I murmured.

“Do you really want to know?” He rolled his eyes and then rubbed them like he was tired of everything. “Go change, dollface.”

I snatched the clothes and ran to the bathroom before I could burst into tears in front of him.

Cade was quickly becoming the person who wasn’t the enemy and instead the man who saved me from my burning dumpster fire of a day. And as I got changed in the hospital bathroom stall, I realized that my heart squeezed and almost fell apart whenever I saw him. People didn’t break down in tough situations unless someone else was there whom they trusted, whom they could lean on, whom they knew would have their back as they broke. It scared me that my soul trusted him, that I was happy he was here instead of anyone else.

How could I avoid that anymore? I loved him. Wildly. Passionately. Uninhibitedly.

I splashed some water on my face and wiped away as much of the mascara as I could. My hair was a wavy mess, and my face was free of most of my makeup. In flip flops and baggy clothes, I felt comfortable and like maybe I’d be able to get through this without crumbling.

When I returned to the lobby, I found him sitting there, typing away on his phone as always.

I cleared my throat. “Thanks for bringing a change of clothes and candy for me.” Should I tell him? Blurt out my love for him and see if he reciprocated it?

He waved away my thank you. “What do you want to eat?”

“Huh?” I asked.

“You haven’t eaten, have you?” He threw a pointed look at my stomach.

“I’m not very hungry at the moment, Cade.”

He just rolled his eyes and then went back to his phone.

We didn’t talk for a good five minutes as I stared up at the TV, not watching it at all. What could I talk to him about? We didn’t really get along except when we got along much too well without our clothes on.

“You don’t have to stay here, you know? I can send you updates on Lucas when I get them.”

“I don’t need updates,” he grumbled.

“Oh, right. Because you just hack into systems to get all your information.” I grumbled back. Then I ground my teeth together because he’d just been nice enough to bring me clothes. “I’m sorry.”

That got him to put his phone down and peer over at me. As he studied me, I wiggled in the uncomfortable plastic seat next to him. I swear he enjoyed making people sweat because a smile whipped across his face, pure and utter joy filled it, and I was shocked at how young and innocent it made him look. “Izzy, you apologize to me for your anger as if it’s not the thing I like most about you.”

“You like me being a bitch to you?” I curled my lip. “Get real.”