Cupcake Overload (Cupcakes 2)

“Sorry,” I mumbled, then turned my attention to Dale the Dick. “When’s the last time you saw Samantha Stacker?”

When Dale didn’t answer right away, Cade tightened his grip, until Dale answered, “I saw her a couple days before she was whacked.”

“What did she want with you?”

“To take care of her dumbass brother’s debt.”

“And, did she?”

“Nah, we couldn’t come to a mutual agreement,” Dale said, and even in his current position, he managed to sneer.

“Why not?”

“Cause she couldn’t afford to pay, and she didn’t want to work it off.”

“So you killed her?”

“Nah, I got no problem with her. If I was gonna whack someone, it’d be Tony.”

Before I could ask anything else, someone busted out of another door and yelled, “What the hell’s going on here? Get inside and buy drinks, or get off my property.”

Cade let Dale loose and pulled me back a couple steps.

“I’ll be back if we have any other questions,?

? Cade said.

“How ‘bout you just fuckin’ call next time?” Dale asked, then righted his clothes and tried to walk away with his head held high, his goons trailing close behind him.

Bea and Carmen walked over to us, and Cade took the three of us in with a shake of his head.

“Let’s get you guys out of here,” he said, and I surmised I was going to be in trouble by the slight anger I heard in his voice.

“My car is at Carmen’s,” I said. “We walked.”

I tried to ignore Cade’s glare when Bea said, “I’ve got my car. I’ll take you both to Carmen’s.”

Cade walked us to Bea’s car, then said,” I’ll see you at the house,” before getting on his bike and driving off.

“Someone’s in trouble…” Carmen said as we loaded up in the car.

I turned in my seat and grinned at her.

“I hope my punishment’s a spanking.”

Carmen’s face fell as she pouted. “Show off.”

“What are you doing?” Cade asked as I dug through my refrigerator.

I’d made a beeline for it as soon as I’d walked in and saw Cade leaning against my counter, waiting for me like I was a teenager sneaking in past curfew.

I ignored him as I pawed through the contents of my fridge, then sighed, “Eureka,” when I found the last cupcake stashed behind a carton of chocolate milk.

“Lila,” Cade said, a hint of smile in his voice.

I turned to him guiltily and asked, “Did you know that desserts is stressed spelled backwards?” Then took a big, satisfying bite.

“That explains a lot,” Cade replied with a grin, then pushed off the counter and strode toward me, his hands going immediately to the wig and pulling it off my head. “Did you get what you needed from the bookie?”