Going Down Easy (Billionaire Bad Boys 1)
“Thanks. Does this woman have a name?” Kade asked, picking up his plate and carrying it to the sink.
“Working on that. More soon.” Mann disconnected the call.
“Nice bedside manner,” Kade muttered. He leaned against the counter and switched apps on his phone, opening his email.
Mann’s message came through. Kade tapped the email, and a photograph loaded onto the screen.
A photo of Lexie and Julian.
He blinked, but the view on the screen stayed the same.
Lexie and Julian.
What. The. Fuck.
What was she doing with that bastard? Kade didn’t want to believe she could betray him that way, but the proof was in his hands. He glanced down once more, taking in the delicate features he’d memorized, her small nose, full lips, and the hand he’d often held. That Julian was now holding.
Dammit!
He opened a cabinet and grabbed a scotch, taking a long swig straight from the bottle. Lexie. Sweet, caring, sexy Lexie. The woman he’d opened himself up to. The woman he’d showed his greatest weakness and to whom he’d revealed his flaws had played him.
He thought about texting her, but he wasn’t about to put himself out there again, not even for an explanation there was no way he’d believe. He’d invited her tonight and she’d said no. Now he knew why.
End of story.
End of them.
His hands began to shake as reality set in. From their intimate position, it was clear they were close, physically and emotionally. She’d stabbed him in the back, and she wasn’t the first female to do so.
He could make himself crazy, thinking about his long string of failures with women. He took another pull, letting the liquid burn down his throat. His mother. Another mouthful of whiskey. Angela, the woman who’d stolen things from him and pawned them for cash. He chugged again. Lila, who’d accused him of date rape. He’d sworn never again, but his organized, gutsy assistant who’d held her own with him and played Mario Party like a champ had betrayed him.
He carried the bottle into his bedroom, and that was the last thing he remembered until the sun streamed through the window, waking him.
He rolled over and his head began to pound. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton. And the memory of the photograph on his phone flashed through his mind, an unwanted memory and a painful fact he didn’t want to think about. Unfortunately, it was all he could do. Visualize Lexie and Julian.
Nausea rose, and somehow he managed not to lose all the alcohol he’d consumed last night. He reached for his watch on the nightstand and didn’t find it. He sat up and, ignoring the throbbing in his head, looked at the empty place where he always kept his Patek Phillipe. The watch that soothed him. The same one he’d touched yesterday before he’d left the apartment to meet with Ian.
Before his entire life had gone to shit.
Where was it? Kade was ridiculously or
ganized, and if there was one thing he wouldn’t misplace, it was this particular timepiece.
He headed into the bathroom to brush his teeth, recounting yesterday in his head while he did so. He’d placed the watch on the nightstand and left to have lunch. Saturday was Helen’s day off, but it was dry cleaning day, which meant … Lexie had been to his apartment.
No, he thought, rinsing the toothbrush and replacing it in the holder. History would not fucking repeat itself. Lexie hadn’t taken something that belonged to him. Not for any reason. But she’d been with Julian … and he hadn’t thought her capable of that either.
He returned to the bedroom and picked up the phone, dialing the doorman downstairs. “Joseph, this is Kaden Barnes. Penthouse. I was wondering if you could tell me who signed in yesterday?”
“Just Ms. Parker and she’s on your approved list.”
“Helen wasn’t in?” But he felt guilty even asking. Helen had been with him for over two years, and she’d been an exemplary employee. She’d taken good care of him and had proven herself trustworthy.
“No sir.”
“Thank you,” Kade said, everything inside him withering even more.
How could he consistently choose wrong and pick women who stole from him and had no problem hurting him to get what they wanted? Did his money make him that much of an easy target? Or was he just that fucking stupid?