Page 49 of Dangerously Yours

“My ex-husband, Cade.”

The detective exhaled sharply. “And how had he taken the news?”

I hated to even suggest that they look at him, but it was so clear to me now, even though I wish it had been weeks earlier. I could be accusing an innocent man, but that adjective would never be able to accurately describe the cheating louse of a husband I gave the best years of my life to.

“He wanted us to reconcile, and I refused. After, he said a few things, but I took them with a grain of salt.”

“What kind of things?”

I gave a rundown of the conversation I had with Cade that morning in my bedroom. After I was finished, I could see the way the detective was looking, and I knew he had to see what I now did. It was hard to imagine that a man so revered in the community could do something so heinous. After all, this detective and Cade had even played a few rounds of golf together in the past. All Titans were newsworthy in their own right, but not for this type of thing.

“How had he been after that day?”

“To be honest, he went back to acting like his normal self. There were no more confrontations, threats, or anything else. I had actually thought that perhaps my threat of hauling him back into court had worked its magic. I’m now seeing that I was wrong. You see, something else happened that I didn’t report, but I have a witness who was on the scene.”

“On the scene?”

I then launched into the events that had happened that one night when walking home from work. If he wanted to go back and look, I could likely find the exact day and time by simply reviewing past credit card statements. I offered to send him that information, and I even gave him John’s contact information. Finally, I knew I had to tell him what Noah had told me before his seizure.

“Noah had told me a little while ago that the shooter was also in a silver sports car. Do you think these two encounters might be connected? I mean, I guess Noah could have been wrong about the color?—”

“He wasn’t,” the detective told me, then he pulled a picture up on his phone.

My face paled when I saw the car. It was definitely the same one that had nearly run me off the road. “That is the same car.”

“We’ve run the plates on it, and the tag was registered to a stolen sedan in Peoria. It was not for the Maserati. In fact, the only Maserati that matched make, model, and color is owned by Rita Berman. If I’m not mistaken, she seemed to have an intimate relationship at one point with Cade.”

“It wasn’t her, though. The one in the car the night of my roadside mishap was definitely a man. I know Rita and she is petite. The driver that night was not.”

“We followed the car through the city via different security cameras. You are right because when the car finally stopped just outside of town, the masked gunmen exited that car, then got into a lime green Corvette Stingray.”

“Cade had just gotten one those. Amanda saw it in his garage after her last overnight with him. She told me that he planned to teach her how to drive in it.”

“We’ve got some men on the way to his office to pick him up. I thank you for talking with me, and confirming the things we were already able to piece together. With that said, I wanted to let you know so that you could shield the kids if needed from the media. Once he is brought down to the station, we intend to book him on attempted murder charges, among others.”

“Thanks for letting me know,” I told him.

He then got up and as he left the room, I called Olga who was still at the house. I asked her to get the children ready and to have them meet me downstairs. I then left the hospital so I could go and pick them up. Once the news broke of Cade’s arrest, their cell phones would be ringing off the hook. They deserved to hear this all from me and not some reporter who was just trying to attach their name to a hot story.

God, they were going to be devastated. Despite the issues I had with their father, he loved them very much. They had never been mistreated or neglected when with him, so they would take this all so hard. I finished the bottle of water in the elevator, then tossed the empty bottle away as I hurried to my rental car in the parking garage. These structures now gave me anxiety, so I checked all around the vehicle before getting inside. I didn’t have time to waste, so I started the ignition, then headed to the penthouse where the children would be waiting for me in the lobby. This was going to be a very difficult, but much-needed conversation to have with them. I only hoped they didn’t blame me like I was already doing to myself.

NOAH

A few weeks had passed since I was released from Northwestern Memorial and the physical trauma I’d endured was healing up nicely. Not only did I have the best medical staff at my disposal, but I was also using a former trainer from my team during my rehab.

Cade Davis had been arrested for the attempt on my life, and thankfully not even his Titan status could get him out on bail. He was rotting away in a cell where he should stay the rest of his natural life, although I knew that was doubtful. His title and resources would ensure he received a much more lenient sentence than someone outside of our ranks. That was one of the things that scared me the most.

Lulu had been overcompensating for everything because she truly did believe herself to be at fault. So, she had thought the initial attempt on her life had been an accident. I don’t know that I would have thought anything differently about it at the time. It was so much easier to point fingers and fall down the ‘what if’ categories, but I wouldn’t allow myself to do it, and I had no intention of entertaining her as she did it, either.

She also never anticipated that her ex-husband would become so unhinged. I had known of the man my entire life, and I never thought that he would either. No one really knew what another was capable of until they were pushed too hard or too much. My relationship with Lulu had evidently been what triggered Cade to do what he did to me, and I was still thankful to this day that I had been in that car instead of her. Still, as I stared at the screen and watched my team as they took the field, there were also moments where my anger at the other male knew no bounds. I should have been out there with my guys. Instead, I would spend the rest of my life watching them helplessly from my couch.

“You think they might get their first win today?” Daxon asked after the national anthem was sung.

“I hope so. I placed a friendly wager on the game with some staff at UC,” Callum added.

“Why in the hell would you do that?” I asked Cal, and he, along with Gabriel and Daxon, looked over at me.

“I often bet on these games, Noah. You know that.”

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