Page 27 of Broken King

It’s already beena shitty Monday morning when my phone rings. Brynlee didn’t want to go to school. Jax called earlier to say he was running late, and there’s a leak in the men’s locker room from the fucking monsoon that’s coming down today.

The phone continues to ring, as I shuffle the papers around my desk.

Searching for the offending object but not finding it.

It takes a minute before I realize it’s in the pocket of the Crucible hoodie I threw on this morning. When I pull it out, Scarlet’s name flashes with an incoming FaceTime.

“Hey.” I run my fingers through my hair, and I’m rewarded with Scarlet’s face forcing back a smile. She used to love to torture me over how much time I spent on my hair.

“Your hair looks fine, Cade.” She smirks.

She also used to love running her fingers through it while I fucked her.

Her dark hair is pulled back. Her blue eyes are framed with long inky lashes. And a pair of black-rimmed glasses sit perched on her nose. “Sorry to bail at the last minute, but can I get a raincheck on dinner tonight? Max just booked me for a late meeting.”

Damn. This woman isn’t gonna make this easy. “You’ve gotta eat, Scarlet. You’re eating for two now.”

“Hate to break it to you, Saint, but the baby is the size of a passion fruit right now. It doesn’t require much sustenance.” A solitary diamond sits on a thin silver chain around her slender neck, with her clavicle peeking out from behind a silky looking white blouse.

I have the sudden urge to drip passion fruit juice all over that neck just so I can lick her clean.

I pull myself back from that thought and adjust my pants. “Seriously? A passion fruit? How big is a passion fruit?” I hold up the orange I brought in this morning. “Bigger or smaller than this?”

“Umm.” Scarlet runs her teeth over her ruby red bottom lip. “Is it bad if I admit I have no idea? I spent the weekend reading all the What to Expect books I could get my hands on, and that was what I remember from my binge. She’s the size of a passion fruit.” Scarlet smiles. “Oh, and I should be eternally grateful that I haven’t spent the last three months vomiting all day.”

“There you go with the ‘she’ again. What if you’re giving our son a complex?” The words leave my mouth on a joke, but Scarlet’s quick intake of breath has me studying her reaction. “You okay?”

She starts nervously playing with the pen in her hand. “You don’t really think I could be screwing her up already, do you?”

“Jesus, duchess. No. I was kidding. She’ll be perfect.” Now she’s got me saying “she.” When Scarlet’s shoulders relax, I push a little more. “Either way, you have to eat. Come to my house tonight. Let me cook you dinner.” I’ve gotten over my anger. She wasn’t hiding this from me. She’s not Daria. I may not trust her completely, but she’s going to be the mother of my child, so I’ve got to try.

“Cade...” Her rejection is coming, but I’m not going to give her that chance.

“I cook every night, Scarlet. It’s not a big deal. Besides, won’t you be more comfortable at my house than at a restaurant?”

She laughs, and it’s light and melodic. Not what you’d expect from this ball-buster of a woman. “Umm... I might actually be more comfortable in a restaurant.”

“Come on, Scarlet. We’ve got to start somewhere.” When she looks off to the side, I fear I’m losing her. “This baby deserves, at the very least, for its parents to be friends.”

“Ohh... That’s not fair, Cade St. James.” Crimson red dots her fair skin. Then I hear a knock in the background and a man’s voice in her office. “Cade, I’ve got to go.”

“I’ll text you my address. Come any time after your meeting.”

She shakes her head. “I didn’t agree to come.”

“You didn’t say no either. See you tonight.” I disconnect the call as Imogen enters my office, shaking off her raincoat.

“That was smooth, big brother. Using the baby to get her to agree to a date.” She hangs her wet coat on the back of my door. “Am I still watching Brynlee tonight, or do you want me out of the house?”

“It’s not a date, Gen. It isn’t any different than when we were going out to dinner.” But it feels like it could be, and I’m not sure what I think about that.

Scarlet Kingston is the only woman I’ve ever let myself love, and she threw that away. Can I seriously be considering starting something with her again?

Imogen takes an elastic band from her wrist and throws her fiery red hair up in a messy knot on top of her head. “Whatever you say.”

“Hey, have you heard from Hudson today?” I stand with my empty coffee mug and walk toward her.

“No. We didn’t talk this weekend. I saw him with Sawyer for a few minutes between sets at Kingdom Saturday night. But it was really crowded.” Gen’s band, Sinners and Saints, has been the Saturday night band at Kingdom for a while now. One of these days, she’s gonna quit Crucible, and I’m gonna be lost without her.

---