Page 46 of The Piece You Stole

We all ignore the waitress, who, after huffing loudly, stalks back the way she came.

How long has it been since I’ve seen Kade focused on anything but getting his fill of pussy?

Too long. That’s how long. Too fucking long.

We all agreed the woman who would be ours would belong to all of us. There’s no doubt in my mind Aden views Saige as his. I see the same certainty reflected in Kade’s eyes. More than that. I see something that I didn’t expect.

He won’t stop until he gets her back…even if he kills himself in the process.

What is it about Saige that makes him so certain?

I should have asked Aden how he knew. I could ask Kade. But I don’t. One question and they’d know I was starting to lean that same way.

I’m not.

“Not enough,” I say, sitting back in my seat. “But he’s…unpleasant.”

And that’s putting it mildly.

Kade raises one eyebrow. “That’s all you have to say? The guy who—”

“This might not be a good place to get into this,” Aden interrupts, darting a glance at the few occupied booths.

“It isn’t,” I agree. And especially not about a phone call Kade needs to make to give us a head start in finding Saige. “But we’re not here to talk. We’re here so you can sober up, and Kade can’t—”

“Attack you because we’re in a public place?” Kade offers with a lazy smile. “Because I have to tell you, that hasn’t stopped me before.”

“I thought your only concern was getting Saige back,” I remind him.

“And I thought yours was getting rid of her. So how about we talk about that?”

“Who is this mysterious Saige?” Leandro asks.

We ignore him.

Coming here was a bad idea.

In the silence, short angry steps beat a harsh tempo toward us, bringing with it the scent of sweet pancakes, buttery eggs, salty bacon, and maple syrup. Laurel thumps four heaving plates down, spins on her heel, and leaves without a word.

“Was there a reason you couldn’t have just told her you weren’t interested?” Aden asks, prodding his bacon with his fork. “Because I have serious concerns about eating this.”

“She’s the persistent sort,” Kade says, eyes still locked on my face. “The type who will follow you home, wearing a coat and nothing else. We should be going after Saige, not wasting our time here.”

“Aden needs to sober up,” I say, glancing over to find he’s bent his head and is surreptitiously sniffing his breakfast. “There’s nothing wrong with it. Eat.”

He peeks up at me and raises one brow. “She could have spat in it or dumped it on the floor. Would you be able to sniff that?”

“And me?” Kade interrupts, a dangerous note creeping into his voice. “What do I need to do?”

“You need to start using your brain.” I study him for a beat. “And you need to make a call.”

Kade shoots Aden a glance. Thankfully, Aden is too busy eyeing his plate, brow furrowed in suspicion, that he misses Kade’s attention. “I thought you said those weren’t the sort of friends we should have anything to do with anymore.”

He’s right.

“I did.” I give him a long look because this isn’t something we should be talking about in front of Aden, much less in public, and Kade knows it. “But Rylan is not a drunk you can take to the back of an alley and threaten into wetting himself. He’s not someone you threaten at all. You find his weakness, you exploit it, and you hope you don’t leave him alive because if you don’t get him the first time, you better believe you won’t survive it when he comes after you.”

“He has no enemies, brother,” Leandro had told me between sucking gulps of wine on our long drive into the city. “So, obviously, that means he’s everyone’s best friend or…”

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