Going Down Easy (Billionaire Bad Boys) (18 page)

“Nice to meet you,” Kade said, stepping up beside Lexie.

Her twin’s eyes popped open wide. “Oh. Hi. Well, then, I’ll just leave you two alone.” She spun around with the obvious intention of closing herself back in her room.

“Kendall, we need to talk to you,” Lexie said.

Her sister’s steps slowed. “I’m not feeling well,” she mumbled without turning back to face them.

“I’m sure you’re not,” Lexie murmured.

Kade put a hand on her shoulder, and despite the absurdity of the entire situation, she appreciated his attempt to support her.

“Come on, Kendall. Let’s all sit down,” Lexie insisted.

Shoulders slumped, Kendall followed them over to the couch, and they all settled in, Kade in the big club chair in the corner.

“Kade, really, I can talk to her alone,” Lexie tried once more.

“No.” He remained in his seat, but he didn’t attempt to lead the conversation, allowing Lexie to jump in.

“Kendall, what do you know about your boyfriend?” Lexie opted to start with a broad question and not an accusation. She’d get there. Somehow.

“Jay?” Kendall asked, clearly startled by the subject. “I told you. We met at the gym. He’s been good to me. Well, until yesterday,” she muttered. “Haven’t heard from him since I saw him on Saturday, and he hasn’t replied to my texts about being in the hospital on Saturday night,” she said, obviously hurt by his neglect.

Lexie shot Kade a concerned glance.

“What’s Jay’s last name?” Kade asked her.

“Dane. Why?”

“I’ll explain in a minute.” Lexie closed her eyes and shook her head, wishing she’d asked that question sooner. Still, there was no telling whether she’d have made the connection.

Now for the tougher question. “Did you steal—take—Kade’s watch off his dresser yesterday?” Lexie asked.

“What? How could you even ask me that?” Kendall jumped up from her seat, hurt in her eyes. “Lexie, really? You’re accusing me of stealing?”

“Sit down,” Kade said, speaking up for the first time. “And have some respect for your sister by telling the truth. If you don’t want me to call the cops, you’ll talk to us.”

“Kade!” Lexie didn’t want him attacking her twin.

“Pussyfooting around isn’t going to solve anything. Kendall, did you take the watch?” he asked her.

Her sister’s shoulders slumped again. “Yes, okay? I overspent on a credit card and—”

“I thought you cut up all your cards,” Lexie interrupted.

“Yeah, well, I got another one,” Kendall said without meeting Lexie’s gaze. “And things got out of control. You won’t give me more than the bare necessities to live. Dad wouldn’t help me out. I was desperate. Jay said you wouldn’t miss it if I took a little something,” Kendall said, shaking as she spoke.

She lowered herself back into her seat, head hung low.

“How did Jay know anything about Kade at all?” Lexie asked.

“He asked a lot of questions about you,” Kendall said to Lexie. “He wanted to get to know me better and was interested in my family. Why is that a problem?” she asked defensively.

“When?” Kade asked. “When did he start asking questions?”

Kendall met his gaze. “After your picture showed up on Page Six with Lexie.”

“Fuck,” Kade muttered.

“What?” Kendall asked.

Lexie glanced at him, waiting for him to explain.

Kade rubbed his finger over the casing of his watch. “I’m going to assume Julian had someone watching me. Someone who knew about us before the gala. Probably after you spent the night that first time after my accident.” He held up his injured hand. “I’m sure he looked into you,” he said to Lexie. “It’s what I would have done. Hell, it’s what I was doing and how I found out about Julian and Kendall,” Kade muttered. “And Julian probably introduced himself to your sister right after the PI gave him the info.”

“Who is this Julian?” Kendall asked, perplexed and wary.

Lexie slid closer to her sister and put an arm around her shoulder. Because no matter what Kendall had done, she was her twin, and this news was going to hurt. “Julian is Jay’s real name. And Julian is suing Kade for a piece of his company. I’m sorry, honey, but he was using you to get to Kade through me.”

Kendall met her gaze, identical watery blue eyes staring back at her. “He
used
me? He set me up from the beginning?”

Lexie nodded.

“What happened after he saw the Page Six picture?” Kade asked.

“He started talking about how much money Kade must have, and when I said I had financial problems, he told me if I took something from the apartment, a guy like Kade had so much he would never miss it. He suggested it often, and I was desperate enough to do it.” She pulled at her sweats over and over. “I got myself in deep and I kept spending. I hit my limit but the bill was coming in.” She started to cry. “I didn’t mean to steal. Jay said it wouldn’t hurt anyone, and I wanted to believe it.”

Lexie pulled her twin against her, looking at Kade over her sister’s trembling body. “I’m going to kill him,” she muttered.

“Not if I get to him first. Kendall,” Kade said in a gentler voice, “you said you haven’t heard from him since Saturday. What happened Saturday?”

“I gave him the watch to pawn, and he said he’d get me the money. He hasn’t gotten back to me. He always answers right away, and now it’s like he’s disappeared.” She sniffed and pulled away. “I feel so stupid.”

“Don’t. He set you up and used you. There’s no way you could have known.”

“I’ll find Julian and take care of things,” Kade said, rising from his seat.

“Wait. I stole from you,” Kendall said, her voice rising, as if realizing what she’d done for the first time. “Oh my God. Are you going to call the police?” She jumped up in a panic.

Lexie rose to her feet too. “Kade said he wouldn’t,” she told her sister, looking to him for reassurance.

He nodded, indicating he planned to keep his promise, and she breathed a long sigh of relief. He paused, as if waiting for her to say something more, but she was spent, lost, and hurting. And Kendall was silently sobbing in relief, hanging on to Lexie with everything she had.

Kade gave her one long, lingering look. “I’ll just let myself out,” he finally said.

“Thank you,” she mouthed at him.

One side of his mouth lifted in a small smile before he turned and walked out.

Kendall collapsed then, dissolving into a heap on the floor, consumed by huge, gulping sobs. So Lexie did what she always did; she knelt down and took care of her twin, pushing aside the fact that this whole mess had affected her life too.

She’d lost her job and a guy she really cared about because Kendall had once again spiraled out of control.

Chapter Twelve

K
ade knew he
had to make decisions about a lot of things in his life, starting with Julian. It was unacceptable that he’d go after anyone in Kade’s life, let alone target a woman who’d never done anything to him. Worse, a woman with a mental illness who would never have seen him coming. Kade didn’t just want to stand up for Lexie, he wanted to look out for her sister.

Instead of going to work the next morning, he headed for Julian’s apartment in Midtown. He walked up the stairs of the old brownstone building, his temper rising as he reached the apartment and knocked hard on the door. He timed his visit before nine a.m., hoping to catch Julian at home and, yeah, maybe at a weak moment. Who knew what he’d been doing the night before. For damn sure he hadn’t been with Kendall.

When no one answered, he banged harder. “Julian, open the fucking door.”

Just when he thought he was going to have to turn around and come back later, the door swung open, and his old friend stood in front of him. This was the same guy he’d met freshman year and bonded with from day one. Julian had spent holidays with Kade and his father when his parents couldn’t be bothered. But at some point, drugs had become more important than friendship, and nothing had been the same since.

“Can I help you?” Julian greeted him, arms folded across his chest, dressed for the day in a pair of jeans and a white tee shirt and surprisingly clear-eyed.

Kade brushed past him and walked into his apartment. No way he wanted to have this out in the hall. He waited until Julian shut the door behind him before confronting him.

“I’m here so we can have this out between us. Because only a coward hides behind a woman.”

“You figured that one out, huh? I have to admit it was fun getting one over on you. Did you think I was fucking your girlfriend?”

Kade was too aware of his already fractured knuckles to haul off and punch his former friend. “I’m really glad that gets you off, buddy. Too bad the woman you hurt has other issues. Good job, asshole.”

Julian flinched, and a telltale muscle twitched near his left eye. A sure sign he hadn’t done his homework on Kendall Parker before he’d seduced her and set her up.

“What are you talking about?” Julian asked.

Kade wasn’t about to give away private information. “Nothing you need to worry about now that you used her, dumped her, and she’s completely aware of what a prick you are.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt her,” Julian said, his voice low, looking and sounding more like the man Kade used to know. “She seemed like she was up for a good time.”

“Yeah, well, you never were the best judge of character. Where’s my watch?”

“Gone. I pawned it.”

No shock there, Kade thought. “And the cash? God knows you didn’t give it to Kendall to help pay her debts.”

Julian didn’t reply. Again, Kade wasn’t surprised. He hadn’t come here expecting to get anything back.

“It was never about the money. I just wanted you to know I could get to you. Mission accomplished,” Julian said, sounding smug and pleased with himself.

“What do you want?” Kade asked. “What’s it going to take for you to go away?”

“Finally, he sees reason.” Julian’s eyes flashed dollar signs. The greedy bastard obviously thought Kade was here to cave. “Given what I’ve got on you, I want one-quarter of Blink’s net worth. I was there when the four of us came up with the idea together, and I’m going to profit like the rest of you.”

Kade shook his head. “You were drunk and high when we came up with the idea. No way are you taking close to that amount.”

“Maybe you’re forgetting I’ve got Lila. I can blow your cushy life sky-high.” Julian’s grin exuded overconfidence, and that would be his downfall. “I own you,” Julian said.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Kade pushed past him, heading for the door. “Nobody owns me but me.” And he knew just what to do to prove it to himself once and for all.

*     *     *

Lexie couldn’t get
out of bed. She wanted to. She needed to pick herself up and move forward, but she decided she needed time to mourn the relationship she’d had, however briefly. Kade had brought something to her life she hadn’t known she needed. She’d spent so much time taking care of her sister and putting her own needs aside she’d almost forgotten she had desires that most women took for granted.

For a short time, she’d enjoyed being the focus of a man’s attention. And not just any man. Kaden Barnes had shown up in her life and turned it upside down. He was unique on so many levels. Intelligent to a degree she couldn’t come close to comprehending. His arrogance was a cover for insecurities over things he couldn’t control. His ADHD, his anxiety, all things that were a part of what made him unique and defined him also set him apart from others.

She was pretty sure he had his mother to thank for making him feel those things made him less than … less than his brother. Less than a man. Ironically, those were the qualities she found his most endearing. He was also generous and giving despite being hurt over and over. He could so easily have pressed charges against her sister. God only knew what that watch cost. But he hadn’t and she’d be forever grateful to him.

Kade deserved a woman who could embrace those things that made him unique, which she did, and be there for him one hundred percent, which she obviously could not. No matter how much she loved him, and she did.

She loved him in a way her younger self couldn’t have imagined, and she wanted to give him everything. But she was pulled in two different directions, the twin she loved, who had no one else by her side, ever present. Always demanding.

As if on cue, a knock sounded on her bedroom door. After Kade had left, she and her sister had both retreated to their own rooms. They’d eaten dinner separately, each alone with their thoughts. Lexie hadn’t been ready to deal with her sister, and she suspected Kendall had been too upset and humiliated by everything Julian had done to face Lexie.

Apparently Kendall was ready now.

“Come in,” Lexie called out, bracing to deal with her sister. She pushed herself upright in bed as Kendall walked in, looking no better than Lexie felt.

She still wore the same sleep clothes she’d been in when she’d met Kade yesterday, her hair was a tangled mess, and her eyes were red-rimmed from crying. Lexie had a feeling she was looking in the mirror.

“Can I sit down?” Kendall asked softly.

Lexie nodded. “Are you okay?” she asked.