Cupcake Explosion (Cupcakes 4)

She shrugged.

Just then, we heard the locks being disengaged.

Cade looked at each of us and said, “Get against the wall.”

I wanted to argue, but figured it best to follow Cade’s direction, so Bran, Carmen, and I put our backs up against the wall and waited to see what happened yet.

Cueball, Trot, and Scam walked in. Seriously, these guys needed to up their street names, cause the ones they had kinda sucked.

One second, I was watching them warily, wondering what they were going to do, then all hell broke loose.

Cade let out a long rumble, followed by a shout. His biceps bulged and he yanked his arms, hard. The chains broke free from the wall and he rushed forward, taking Cueball by surprise and head-butting him so hard, I got a headache.

Trot tried to circle behind Cade, but Cade’s leg shot out and he kicked him into the wall.

Carmen and I gasped, then watched as Bran intercepted Scam before he could join the fray. We huddled together as we watched Cade and Bran kick Diablo ass. It was over within minutes and the men were grabbing us and pulling us out of the room.

Cade shut the door behind us and engaged the locks, leaving the three men inside, then turned to us and said, “Let’s go.”

“Wait, we have to get Bubba,” I said, pointing at the old man in the corner.

Cade gave me a frustrated look, then hurried to check the old man’s restraints, his own chains hanging off of his wrists.

Bubba looked at all of us, eyes wide, then his gaze landed on me and recognition registered on his face.

“I’m handcuffed to the chair and the guy with the key is in there,” he said, nodding toward the room we’d just left. “Go on without me, I’ll be fine.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “We can’t just leave you here.”

“Lean to the side,” Cade said, and when Bubba listened, he put his foot on the seat of the chair and gripped the arm with his hands, then yanked it repeatedly until it came off.

Cade slid the cuff off of the arm and helped Bubba stand.

“Now, let’s go,” my man said, and we happily complied.

Cade led the way up the stairs, with me, Carmen, and Bubba following, and Bran bringing up the rear.

He paused at the top of the stairs and held up his hand, indicating we should wait, then he peered around the corner and waved his hand, giving us the all clear.

We ran down a back hallway, leading away from the common rooms that we had been in before, and out a side door. Once outside, Cade did his hand gestures again, and once he was sure there was no one around, we darted out to the fence.

This time, I took the lead and led us to the gate and out to where the van was parked and waiting.

I was so happy to see it, I wanted to give her a kiss, but settled for patting her lovingly as I opened the door.

We all got in and as we were driving away, Cade said, “I can’t believe you thought I was pussy enough to get taken by a bunch of second-rate bikers.”

I LOOKED OVER at him, distracted by the sound of his still-hanging chain hitting the steering wheel, because, of course, he had to drive.

“What are you saying? That that was your mission, to have your bike hit, get taken and chained to a wall in the basement?” I asked, my eye starting to twitch.

“Basically, although, not necessarily getting hit. The rest played out right, though,” Cade replied, then shot me a look. “What did you say about an explosion?”

“They blew up the car and your bike.”

“Mother fuckers!” he yelled, slapping the wheel and causing the chains to rattle.

“So, you’re saying I went through all of this work investigating, worrying over you, thinking you could be dead, and it had all been part of your grand plan?”