Page 11 of Greater than the Heart
“So, Hans Linder got arrested tonight for assault. Apparently, something happened at the club a few weeks ago. I remember Cade telling me Hans was there with his boyfriend, but he didn’tsay anything about a fight. You hear anything about it?” Jax asked as the two of them sat on the bench in the shower, taking a good steam together.
“I’ve been such a prick about all of this. I’ve shoved the club off on Cade and just crawled inside myself, not letting either of you in. I’m so sorry, Jackson. I love you both so much, and I had no idea how to keep myself together through that shit. I just kept thinking of dying and leaving the two of you behind.
“I’ve had this dream a few times, but the first time I had it was when I was under anesthesia. You, me, Sela, Carlotta, and Cade were on a beach somewhere, and Kincade was chasing a cute little boy with red hair named Silas. Sela was pregnant with twins, and she told me she was done having our children. I just can’t get it out of my head,” Ford explained.
Jax chuckled. “So, youdowant children?”
Ford sighed. “I don’t know. Not anytime soon, and if we could talk Sela into being our surrogate, she’d have to be inseminated by you or Cade. It can’t be me.”
Jax thought for a moment before he smiled. “It could be if we had a donor egg. I can research it, but it could work out. I remember a story where this woman in her fifties carried her daughter’s baby for her.”
The more he thought about it, the more Jackson warmed up to the idea. Maybe babieswerein the cards for them?
The bathroom door burst open, revealing Kincade with a look of panic on his face. “How much cash do we have here at the house?” He opened the shower door and stood looking at the two of them as they sat on the bench.
“I’ve got about five grand in the bottom drawer of the desk,” Ford admitted.
“I’ve got a couple hundred in my wallet, why?” Jax asked.
Cade took off his tie and jacket, placing them over his forearm as he unbuttoned his white shirt, looking every bit the executive-about-town. “I need to go bail out a friend. I’m not sure exactly how much it will be, so I’m gonna take it all, okay?”
Jax laughed as he stood up and turned the shower from steam to water. “Whyexactlydid Hans get arrested? Has he been arraigned?” Jax asked, remembering Cade’s own incarceration their first Christmas together.
“Yeah. There’s a night magistrate from what Andy told me. Fifty-grand property bond or ten-percent cash. I don’t know if there are additional fees. I’ll be back,” Cade told them.
“Wait a minute!” Ford yelled, which was a very good sign.
Cade turned around and continued to strip. “Look, I owe the man, okay? I need to… Hey, you look great, Bix. It’s nice to see you naked again and trust me, I’d like to take advantage of it, but I don’t have time. I’ll be back,” Cade told them as he hurried into their large dressing room.
“Don’t let him go without us. I need to wash, actually. I haven’t showered in a few days. How could you even blow me?” Ford asked with a smile for Jax.
“I love you and I love your funk. Hurry up. He might take off without the car.” Jax hurried out of the shower. Things were definitely on the upswing.
An hour later, they were sitting in the Andersonville precinct. A familiar face came out from a locked door and smiled at the three of them. “Don’t tell me someone you know is locked up? Is the Mayor gonna show up again?” Detective Del Torro asked as he approached them, shaking Ford’s hand and then Cade’s.
“Jackson Delacroix, this is Detective Del Torro. He worked Cade’s case before we got it dismissed,” Ford said.
Jax extended his hand. “Hey, man, no hard feelings. You were doin’ your job. Anyway, do you know anything about this shit with Hans Linder? He played with me for Chicago. He’s a good kid.”
“Actually, that’s what I was doin’ here. It’s that asshole, Marcus Drury. You had a permanent restraining order against the idiot, but you didn’t show up for court and the judge dismissed it. Anyway, he says he went lookin’ for you at Fairytails, and this Linder guy took him outside and beat his ass on your orders. That true?” Del Torro directed the question to Cade.
Much to Jax’s surprise, Cade held up his arms and smiled at the cop. “That’s right. Arrest me and cut Hans loose because he was only trying to protect me. It’s my fault.”
The detective jerked Cade aside and moved him over to a less public area, with Jax and Ford following. “Knock that shit off. This is a misdemeanor charge for Linder, but you go in there touting you orchestrated it, and it becomes a much bigger deal for both of you. With the right lawyer, and your testimony this time, Linder will get off, and you get another permanent restraining order against Drury. He’s a steroid-using freak, and I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. Get the kid a lawyer as quickly as possible.”
Cade pulled out his phone as he walked away. “How bad did the kid fuck him up?” Jax asked.
“About as bad as you fucked up that tight end in the game against Seattle your last season,” the cop teased.
“Hey, you bring the smack talk, you get the horns,” Jax joked as Cade came back with a bright smile.
“Mitch isn’t happy withyou, but he’s on his way,” Cade told Jax, who laughed.
“Shoulda known this would fall on me. Fine. My shoulders are still broad,” the redhead gloated.
“Yes, love, they are,” Ford told him, kissing Jax on the cheek and wrapping an arm around his waist. Things were heading back to normal, Jax was sure. It was a relief.
“Man, Cajun, thanks for bailin’ me out,” Hans told Jax as the three of them sat outside the magistrate’s clerk’s office. The derelicts they’d seen come and go made Jax wish the three of them lived on a secluded estate somewhere far away from the city. Raising kids in the city wouldn’t be easy.
