Cupcake Explosion (Cupcakes 4)

There was only one person I could think of who would need three locks on one door, even when he was in chains, and the people holding him had weapons.

I looked eagerly into the room as they shoved us inside, my heart pounding painfully as I worried what state I might find Cade in.

I heard the door slam behind us and the locks being engaged, but I didn’t care about that. All I cared about was the large man in the corner who was chained to the wall. His hair was long, stringy and unclean, and he had almost three weeks’ worth of beard, which was actually a full beard.

His eyes opened and he took in the three of us.

I wanted to rush to him and throw my arms around him, but before I could he asked, “Lila, what the fuck are you doing here?”

“WELL, HOW’S THAT for a greeting?” I asked hands on my hips. “No, ‘Hi, Lila, I’ve missed you,’ or ‘Sorry to put you through so much over the last few weeks,’ or, how about, ‘Hey, thanks for coming to save my savage ass’?”

“Kind of hard to save me when you’re locked in the same cell I am, darlin’,” Cade replied wryly. “Now, what are you doing here?”

“Isn’t it obvious? We came here for you!” I shouted, throwing my hands up in the air.

“Why?” Cade asked, and I swear, I was seconds away from pulling his hair.

“Why?” I screeched. I know, not my finest moment, but I could not believe him. “Maybe because we’re getting married in five days. Because I watched a video of you getting hit by a car and saw your motorcycle after it had been blown up.”

“What did I tell you, Lila?” he asked, his tone kinda scary.

“What do you mean?” I asked meekly, even though I knew the answer to that question.

“I told you that I was going to be off the grid, but that I’d be back for the wedding. I told you I was on club business and I wouldn’t be able to talk to you. Do you remember all that?”

I nodded.

“Then, I’ll ask again, what in the fuck are you doing here?”

I really don’t like his tone.

“What was I supposed to do, Cade? Pretend I didn’t see the video? Ignore the explosion? Play wedding planner while you were being kept hostage by a rival MC?”

“Yes, Lila. Yes.” He sounded really exasperated. “What you were not supposed to do was enlist your buddies on a goddamn suicide mission.”

“I wouldn’t call it a suicide mission . . .” I protested weakly.

“And you, Braswell, what the fuck were you thinking? Bringing them out here?” he asked Bran with a glare.

“Hey, I told them to let the cops handle it,” Bran said.

Cade

swore under his breath.

“Of course, you did.”

“Leave Bran out of it,” I said, stepping closer to Cade.

I took in his disheveled and dirty appearance, and how the restraints on his wrists had rubbed his skin raw. My eyes filled and my stomach clenched.

He looked at me, his eyes narrowing on my forehead.

“What the hell is on your face?” he growled.

“There was an incident with chocolate cake,” I muttered.

“And they were pulling her around by her hair,” Carmen offered, and I spun around to give her a what the hell look.