That Armanelli man had the audacity to grumble like a little boy as he stomped over to the kitchen island stool and took a seat. “We could go back to being enemies, and I still wouldn’t allow that shit. He’d be a dead man walking.”
31
Izzy
I rolled my eyes, furious but also more alive than I’d been in weeks. Cade was back, we were sparring, and I was feeling so much more like myself that my heart ached at finding what I felt had been lost to me: myself and the love of my life.
I tried not to focus on that, though, and swung open the door. There stood my ex, his hair slicked back, a suit and freaking tie pressed perfectly for whatever show he was about to put on, and a small smile of hope on his face. He pulled me in for a hug, and we both turned as Cade growled from the countertop.
“Izzy, I didn’t know you had company,” Gerald ground out.
“Yes, well, he came unannounced.”
I saw how Gerald’s lips pulled back, how the distaste showed in his face. “I really wanted to speak to you privately.”
I took a deep breath. “Gerald, if it’s important, you can say it here and now, because I’m not quite sure I have any patience left at this point. I was clear when I left you—”
He nodded vigorously and held up his hands. “You’re right. You’re right. I’m sorry for even insinuating I deserve more of your time. I just”—he glanced at Cade and cleared his throat—“I really meant what I said when I called you to tell you I missed you. I’ve done a lot of soul-searching without you. And with my father’s business about to go bankrupt, I’ve really found it hard to cope without you because—”
Cade snorted and strolled over to my fridge like he owned the freaking place. He opened it up and grabbed a water bottle, then lifted a brow at both of us watching him. “Go on. We’re listening, Gerald.”
The way he sneered the man’s name had me wide-eyeing him, but he shrugged like he didn’t care. Quite frankly, I shouldn’t have cared either. Gerald had cheated and then handled it terribly by texting me constantly for a month after. Yet, he’d been silent since Cade threatening him until today’s text. It was a thoughtful one asking for forgiveness and for me to hear his side.
“Look, the only reason I’m here is for you. I know I fucked up, and I’m so thankful you’re letting me come over to tell you that. It shows that we still care about each other, right, baby?” He flicked his gaze to Cade like he wanted Cade to understand that too.
I sighed and combed a hand through my hair. “Honestly, Gerald, no. I’ve recently been left to wonder why a certain relationship of mine ended as well. I didn’t get it. I felt like you, texting that person, bothering them, leaving them voicemails. So I figured I owed you the same courtesy I would have liked.”
Gerald’s cheeks reddened and he started to sweat. I wasn’t sure if it was the suit, Cade staring at him, or if he was just overwhelmed, but it wasn’t even hot in here. Did he love me that much that he’d sweat over this?
“Okay, okay. That’s fair.” Then he did the most ridiculous thing ever. He kneeled down in front of me and pulled a ring out of his pocket. He gripped my hand, and I let him because I was in such shock. “I need you to forgive me. I need a second chance. I’ll be yours forever. No cheating, no straying. You’re it.”
My freaking jaw dropped. And he was so dense, he took it as a sign to shove the diamond ring on my finger.
“Gerald.” I shook my head. I grabbed him by the biceps and yanked him up. “No. What are you even thinking?”
“I love you, and we’re meant to be together. I’ll even tell him. I saw him with you, and I realized I needed to clean up my act. I needed to show you how much I cared.”
“Gerald,” Cade said his name quietly but with a firmness that made us both stop and listen to him as he walked over slowly. That small smile on his face held no happiness as he looked my ex-boyfriend up and down. “I did warn you about coming near Izzy and talking with her again, didn’t I?”
“We-well . . .” he stuttered as Cade took another step toward him. Both men stared at each other. “I-I think it’s best we let Izzy choose what she wants. Even if you’re all businessmen now, we know that you’re really . . .”
Gerald didn’t have the balls to finish that sentence, but Cade waited as he slid his knuckles down the bicep of my outstretched arm which Gerald still held. I couldn’t control how the trail of his skin touching mine left a wake of goose bumps or that I shivered when his hand encircled my wrist to slowly pull my fingers from Gerald’s grip.
Gerald let me go and watched as Cade brought my hand to his mouth. He rubbed my fingertips over his lips as he murmured to us both, “Go on, Gerald. Finish your sentence.”
“I just think she should choose who she wants.”
The man I’d so desperately tried to get over for the last month smiled at me, and my whole body vibrated with need. He didn’t stop there, though. He took his time dipping my ring finger in his mouth and swirled his tongue over every part of my skin before his teeth clenched around the engagement ring. Dragging it centimeter by centimeter off my finger, he held my gaze. I saw every part of Cade in his amber eyes at that moment. The anger at Gerald even considering that we would be apart, the pain that he’d given me the notion we could be, the humor in how I was mad at him right now but the knowledge that I wouldn’t be forever.
“Cade,” I whispered, but it came out a whimper, “what are you doing?”
He held the ring between his teeth, and it was so damn seductive that I had to clench my thighs together. I’d lost all awareness of Gerald at this point. It was me and the love of my life in that room. I wished to God that the damn ring he held between his teeth was from him to me.
“Take it,” Cade commanded, and when I did, he said, “Hand him back the ring before I put it down the garbage disposal.”
I extended my hand with the ring in it and Gerald’s face fell as I shoved it into his hand. Then, Cade snatched my hand fast and threaded his fingers through it, turning to face Gerald like we were a united front against him.
“Gerald, Cade’s right. I don’t want this from you. You need to move on.”
His face curled in disgust. “You want it with him, Izzy? You can’t. I’m the one you need. If you think spreading your legs for a guy in the mob is going to get you a penthouse for the rest of your—”
Cade grabbed Gerald’s neck so quickly, I didn’t have time to stop it. “Should I kill you fast now, or slowly later?”
He lifted my ex off the ground and shoved him back into the wall, showing his strength, his fury, and his lack of hesitation to kill. Cade was a man born from power and he had no problem exerting it.
Some might have been frightened, but I found I wasn’t at all afraid. I sighed and grabbed him by the elbow. “Cade don’t kill him. Please. I like my penthouse, and I don’t want the memory of him dying here.”
Gerald looked at me like I was deranged. Surely, I must have been a little bit. I really didn’t care about him at all. He’d cheated on me. He’d antagonized me for a long time, and he was a virus to women. It showed in the way he lashed out immediately when I turned him down.