A Kade Christmas

My kid.

They’re both like that.

But we arrived at Malinda’s house, and David greeted me at the door with a beer.

I now loved Sam’s father because the dude understood. Or maybe it was me who understood.

Three kids. Fucking nuts.

“David!” Sam went in for the hug.

She did the hug. I took the beer.

I shook my head because that right there showcased us as a couple.

“You look pissed?”

Sam was heading inside, going to find Malinda. The twins ran after her. I had no idea where Maddie was. We’d been here ten seconds, and she was already gone.

David added, “I mean, pissier than normal.”

I raked him over, taking a long drag. “You look like you should be pissier than normal.” I narrowed my eyes. “Bet you’d be pissy if I told you we brought Analise with us.”

He paled.

I was wrong.

He didn’t get pissier. On the contrary, he looked ready to crap his pants.

And I was a dick.

“I’m sorry. We didn’t. That was uncalled for. I like you, and I don’t know why I was just a dick to you.” But I did know because we traveled non-stop, going commercial, and Sam was happy the entire time. She always got like this coming here.

Logan was here.

Nate was in Seattle.

My fucking father. I’d had time off. When I started playing in the NFL, everything changed.

All my old bullshit stopped. It had to, and Logan handled a lot of the drama that popped up for us regarding our family. He’d been almost on-call when Nate’s stuff was going on. There was shit with Matteo that went down, and Logan went to help him with that.

Taylor called me, telling me what she told me. She was right to do that. Logan needed time with his family. That was precious and a very new time for them.

It was my turn to handle this.

Goddamn James Kade and whatever stupid shit he got himself into.

I hated my dad. I thought it’d gotten better, but it hadn’t. I’d just been out of the game. Logan had been shielding me, but now here we were. Another drama because of James.

I growled, “You think shit changes, but it doesn’t. Nothing fucking changes.”

Maddie appeared, like magic, and had been walking past me into the house. She froze, her eyes big and turning to me. “Dad!”

Shit.

I clenched my jaw. “Sorry, kiddo.”

She continued staring at me. Hard.

I growled but dug into my pocket and gave her a five-dollar bill. “Don’t tell your mom.”

She plucked it out of my hands and gave me a bright smile. Then, tipping up on her toes, she kissed me on my cheek. “Thanks, Pops.” She turned, hugging David. “Heya, Grandpa!”

David’s look was rueful when she ran inside. “You should just give her your entire wallet. I remember how you boys used to curse, and you haven’t even seen your father today yet.”

I didn’t need the reminder because I wanted to let loose with all the swearing once again.

David helped me unload the rest of the vehicle, and when we got inside, he gave me a nod to follow him.

I followed, going into his office.

He went to the liquor cabinet, pouring a bourbon for both of us. “So. What’s the plan?”

“I got briefed a little. Mark’s woman is saying Tate’s whole thing is a scam?”

His head got hard, and his chin moved up and down, real slow. “Those boys are both born and here. Four and six.”

I cursed. Again.

Then glanced around to make sure Maddie couldn’t hear.

The office door was closed, but that wouldn’t deter her. If she thought this was a moneymaking trip, she’d have microphones placed in vents by now.

“You’ve seen them?”

His face was still hard as it moved left to right. “She’s got ‘em locked down, wherever they are. Malinda’s been putting out the feelers around town. No one’s seen ’em.”

Which boded for the scam theory.

I tipped my head back, drinking the entire glass in one go.

Fuck.

Shit.

That stuff burned, but I needed it.

“Do I need to worry about Logan?” His eyes shifted to the door, which was still closed. “Can’t help but notice his absence when I know he’s in town. You two good?”

I threw him a frown, not expecting that one. “Yeah. He’s got stuff going on right now, but I don’t think he’ll miss this. He just needs some time for a bit.”

There was a brief knock before Sam stuck her head inside.

She smiled brightly at her dad. “Hey, Dad!” Her eyes were brimming. She was sparkling. She was so alive being here. Her gaze swung to me. “We’re staying here for Christmas. I made the decision.”

“I have a football game.”

“You’ll have to fly back for that. We’re staying. Heather and I decided. You can take the red-eye back or book a charter, and we’ll do an entire party this year. We’re going to make Logan propose to Taylor in front of us because no way is he getting out of that tradition.”