Page 143 of Kade

“I can and I will. Mouthing off about bullshit you have no understanding of is one thing, but spreading that false narrative to your kid, who spread it tomykid. I had a teenage daughter come to me, asking me if we’re going to be poor and if that’s the reason my father killed himself. You violated company ethics and because of that, you’re banned from future meetings and social gatherings. I won’t force you to sell what small amount of shares you do have, but it’s so minuscule, you barely get a vote. I do have executive power to pull that vote you might’ve had in the future, which I’m enforcing because frankly, I don’t ever want to see your fucking face. The claim you let your daughter spread wasn’t just false, the thought that you’d be able to purchase enough shares in order to force a title change is beyond false. It’s ludicrous.”

The other members took note, sharing looks.

It was the first time they were witnessing this side of me.

Logan began snickering. “Slow clap for my brother, Mason Fucking Kade.” He leered at them around the table. “We handle things differently than our father. Also, to catch you up on another change in this meeting and future meetings, you’ll have noticed the absence of Phillip Moreaux. It seemed that between when he called for this meeting and now, he decided to sell his portion of shares to my brother.”

That got a ripple of attention. More alarm.

Logan smirked, standing up. “Any future business deals you have with Moreaux, I’d advise you to close. Anyone associated with Kade Enterprises will not be associated with Phillip Moreaux. We don’t do business with anyone that has mafia or cartel connections. That’s just not good for business.”

That also got their attention, and I had a strong feeling Moreaux would be losing partners and investors forallof his companies in the near future.

I shot Logan a look as we left. “Did you need to put it out there that blatantly? The connections you just shared are the very ones who helped us with Moreaux.”

Logan shrugged, chuckling. “Red Demons aren’t mafia or cartel. They’re a group of guys who enjoy riding motorcycles together. A biker club.” He winked. “Also, you had enough fun without me here tonight. I needed to have a little. We need to get to the hospital, but can we stop at the new coffee place? I was too worried about getting here and then too wired listening to what you sent to my phone. Now I've started to slack and we have one more showdown to tackle.”

I could use the coffee myself.

We picked up a bunch.

The decision had been made to keep Maddy away from Sabrina so Max was woken up. When Channing took Max home, Maddy went with them. When we entered that hospital room, I knew that Sam and Heather would be waiting, but so would Steele, Beltraine, and Axel. And by proxy, Garrett and Sharon had been called and notified what happened.

They weren’t able to leave immediately, but once they were able to take care of an item, they’d be on the first plane to California. Logan missed it. We didn’t have just one showdown. We had two. One was just going to be on a later plane.

The first one, three teenage boys that had already gone toe to toe with me.

Logan was jumping on his toes to see what was going to happen. The excitement and restlessness was bouncing off him, ricocheting around the elevator as we took it up to the floor Sabrina was on.

He caught a look from me and asked, “What?”

I hid my grin. “It’s nothing. Just forgot how much you used to live for these types of confrontations.”

He shrugged, a genuine grin appearing. “I’m more excited about these kids. Things changed from the last time I dealt with them. That was when Maddy took two of them to an underground fight club. Now add in a mystery brother, and these two others and yeah, I’m riled up. This is the side of Fallen Crest I always loved.”

I frowned at him, hearing a twinge of… Was that nostalgia? Mixed with something else? “What does that mean?”

He gave me another shoulder shrug, but the elevator stopped. The doors slid open and he smirked at me as he took the lead. “Not saying anything yet. I need to talk to the Missus before I do.”

That had my eyebrows arched all the way up. “Wait. What?”

He laughed, ducking his head.

A few people in the hallway noticed us. Some workers, both women and men. One of the guys started to ask if he could help us, but Logan blasted him with a grin. “We’re good. We know where we’re going. We’re family, after all.”

55

MASON

Ihadn’t been sure what to prepare for, but Sabrina was asleep. She looked peaceful, unlike herself. They’d brought in extra chairs. Steele was sitting in the main visitor’s seat by the bed, holding his sister’s hand. Axel and Beltraine had pulled up some folding chairs so they were beside Steele.

Sam and Heather were also on folding chairs, but toward the wall.

Seeing us, Heather stood. Letting out a tired yawn, she pulled Sam in for a hug before coming over and grabbing one of the coffees from the holder Logan had in his hands. “Your arrival is my cue that I get to go home, and this coffee is my gift. Love you all. Good seeing you again, Logan. Let’s do it again, but later. Much later. Think I’d like to sleep half the day, if only my children would let that happen.” She gave a wave to the other boys. “See you, guys. Your sister will be just fine, I have a feeling. Don’t be strangers.”

Her eyes met mine, holding, and I got a message that there was something extra to her words. She flicked a look in Sam’s direction and I gave her a small nod. I’d be checking in with my wife, finding out what happened before her arrival and ours.

But before I could say anything, Steele shoved up from his chair. Glowering at us, he said hotly, “We all need to fucking talk.” He didn’t let anyone respond, stalking out of the room.

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