The Secret Angel

CADEN

I start to turn away but wink at the little guy because, damn, he’s a cute kid. I walk back over to Jack’s porch and sit down.

“Looks like she put in your number. Do you think she will text you?”

“Dunno, but I hope she does.” I see her stand back up and I raise my beer.

Damn, I hope she texts me because she’s gorgeous and doesn’t deserve this. I talk for about thirty more minutes, then I see her asshole boyfriend show up.

I take my leave from Jack’s, telling the boys to hang around for about an hour to see if she texts. So, we park at the end of the block and wait.

“Boss, do you think she will call?”

“Dunno, Tank, but we will see. I can’t imagine she loves the situation.”

We sit in silence until my phone rings, and I see Jack’s name show up.

“Shit, man, he’s screaming at her, and I can hear him beating on her.” I hear him stop and go quiet.

“Jack, man, what’s going on?”

“Dunno, man, but I hear the kid screaming.”

“He better not touch that kid, or he won’t survive the evening.”

While I’m talking to him, I feel a buzz from the phone and pull it away to look at the screen. I see what I have been waiting to see: 911

“Jack, I’m on my way. She texted.”

I quickly hang up and a smile crosses my face.

“Let’s go, boys, it’s showtime! Her angel is on his way!”

We go flying over to the house and park in the front yard because I don’t give a fuck. I jump out, run up to the door, and start banging on the front door.

I hear “Who the fuck are you?” as I cock my gun and point it at his head.

“Your worst fucking nightmare!”

This piece of shit slowly backs up with his hands in the air. I tell my boys to tie his ass up to a chair. They grab him as I go running up the stairs and see my goddess lying on the floor. Fuck, did he do a number on her. I slowly sit her up, and she’s looking at me with tears falling.

“My baby. He took my baby.”

“Where did he take him?”

“Downstairs somewhere…”

I quickly put my gun in my holster, pick her up, and carry her downstairs. I set her on the couch, kissing her forehead, and she looks up at me, confused.

“You’re okay now. Just relax.”

I walk over to Scott, who’s tied up, getting my gun back out and pointing it at his head.

“Where’s the kid?”

He just stares but doesn’t give me an answer. So I push my gun against his head, making sure he understands who is in charge.

“Where is the fucking kid!” I see my baby flinch on the couch as I yell…

“The closet.”

I look behind me and there’s a door that leads to somewhere under the stairs. I walk over and throw open the door.

“Hey, little guy, are you in here? It’s Angel.”

I hear crying then a scared little kid comes crawling out slowly. I fall to my knees and hold my arms outstretched, and he crawls up into my lap. I stand up, holding him, and take him over to his mom.

I tell Tank to go turn the car around and back up to the porch. We are going to take care of this trash. Frankie takes Scott off the chair and reties him up as Tank comes back in to take him to the trunk of the SUV.

I sit down with Eva and Nate and wait till they calm down.

“Have you eaten dinner yet?”

“No, we haven’t.”

“Okay, let’s go get you guys some food.”

I call the local restaurant I own and ask for a private table and arrange for us to come through the back. I hang up. When I stand up, Eva tries to stand up with Nate but just doesn’t have the strength.

“Come here, little man. I’ll carry you while your mama leans on me while we walk.”

I move Nate to one arm and extend my other for Eva to grab. She hangs onto me as we slowly make our way out to the car. Frankie opens the door to the back seat while Tank locks up the house.

Eva slowly climbs in and I slide in next her with Nate. I set him in between us and tell the boys to go to the restaurant, and as we slowly pull away, Eva silently breaks down.

I can’t imagine what is going through her head right now. Being so vulnerable and having to trust some stranger that she met an hour ago.

Nate looks up at me with tears in his eyes. “Thank you, Angel, sir, for helping us.”

“Hey, little man, don’t worry about it! I hope you’re hungry. We are going to a special restaurant, and the cook will make you anything you want.

“Tank, drop us off at the restaurant and take care of the trash. Have Tony and Niko bring the other car so they are here by the time we are done.”

“You got it, boss!”

“Your name is boss?”

“No, buddy, my name is Caden, but I’m their boss, so they call me boss.”

Nate just nods at me, and we sit in silence for the rest of the drive. Eva has slowly calmed down and has looked over at me. I stare at my goddess thinking how amazingly gorgeous she is.

She mouths thank you at me when I smile and lean forward to kiss her forehead. She gives me a smile back and kisses her son on his head, leaning with him against me. I wrap my arm around her, carefully rubbing up and down her arm.

We slowly pull into the parking lot and drive around back as a waiter stands at the back door waiting for us. I unload first, then Nate slides to me, and I set him down next to me.

Eva slowly moves toward me and holds out her arms. I pick her up, with one arm holding her against me, and slowly lower her. As I stand back up, she smiles at me, and I lean down to kiss her head again.

We slowly walk around the back of the SUV and head toward the waiter.

“Good evening, Mr. Maxwell. Your table is ready for you.”

I nod at him and let Nate go first. He grabs my hand to hold while we walk. I place my other hand at the base of Eva’s back as we slowly walk through the kitchen to a private table. I pull out Eva’s chair and help her sit down.

Nate waits to see where I’m going to sit and, as soon as I’m seated, he crawls into my lap. Eva tries to protest, but I just tell her that it’s okay.

We start coloring on activity sheets that were brought in to keep him busy. We order food and I let Nate sit on my lap while we wait. I order a whiskey for myself and a glass of wine for Eva to take the edge off of everything.

“Eva, baby, now I can drop you guys off somewhere safe, if you have any family or somewhere to go, or you can come home with me. I know we just met, but I want you to make an informed decision.

“I am not a dangerous person nor do I live a dangerous life, but I do have enemies. That puts my life in danger, hence all the security. If you want to stay and live with me, I will ask for nothing but will protect you with everything I have.”

Eva just stares at me as tears fall. “I have no family. It’s just Nate and I. If you have room… I don’t want to impose on you. This seems like a dream of sorts.

“I don’t know you, but you came to get us out. Now you want me to go to your place. I should be scared, but for some odd reason I’m not.”

I lean over, kissing her head. “Eva, you will not be imposing. Now, since we have that squared away, I will need to know what size clothes you wear and what kind of stuff Nate is into.”

She shares the info and I get on my phone to relay the info to my assistant. When I hang up, I look at Nate and Eva and think I could get used to this. I don’t care that he’s not my son. I’d take care of him as if he was.

When our food comes out, I let Nate sit on my lap and eat. As we talk, I see Eva slowly relax. I can only imagine when the last time was she could do that.

While we are wrapping up, my phone rings with Niko’s name. He says they are in the back waiting.

I slowly set Nate down so I can help Eva get up out of the chair. It’s slow going as she rises, wincing in pain. She slowly stands up straight and wraps her arms around me in a tight hug.

I wrap my arms around her and start rubbing her back. I lean down, kissing her head, as I look to my side. “Come on, Nate, join our hug!”

He runs toward us and crashes into us, hugging our legs. Eva and I just chuckle as we wrap our arms around him also. We slowly start walking out to the car and slide in so we can head back to the apartment.

I’m taking her to my house first since there are not many people there so she can just relax. While we’re driving, I call my on-call doctor to meet us at the apartment.

When I hang up, I get a text from my assistant saying everything is all set. A smile goes across my face—this little guy is going to be surprised when we get to the house.

When we get into town and park under the building, I see Tank and Frankie waiting for us. I slide out and turn to get Nate. When I set him down on the ground, he stands next to me, holding my leg.

All these huge men standing around... no doubt, they can seem scary, but they will all soon be friends. I slowly lower Eva down as she smiles at me.

“Let’s head upstairs, okay? I have a doctor waiting to visit with you just to make sure your injuries aren’t serious. Then we can get everyone situated.”

We head toward the elevator as Frankie and Tank follow us. When we enter the elevator, I hit the number twenty-nine. While the elevator goes up, Nate clings to my leg, so I rub his back. Eva is holding my hand, leaning against my shoulder.

I lean over and place a kiss on the top of her head, and she squeezes my hand in return. Nate grabs my hand when the doors open, and we walk slowly with Eva.

We enter the main room and both Nate and Eva stop and stare with wide eyes. I turn to Eva, and she just stares at me, looking around in shock. I slowly step forward and wrap my arm around her waist.

“I told you I would take care of you two. My whole name is Caden Maxwell, and I own Maxwell Industries. This is my home while I’m in town. On the weekends, we will go to the mansion outside of town. Now, let’s go into the front room to meet with the doctor.”

She nods at me and after I help her sit down, Nate and I stand by and wait. Once she’s given the all clear, she slowly stands up and walks over to Nate and me.

“Hey, Nate, want to go see which room will be yours? Then we can see which room will be your mom’s.”

He grabs my hand and starts pulling me but soon realizes he doesn’t know where he’s going. I take the lead as we head up the stairs and stop in front of a door. He looks at me, opens the door, and his mouth drops open.

Eva starts grabbing my arm and crying as she covers her mouth in shock. His room has been transformed into a race-car room. Every little boy’s dream. He takes off in his room, looking at everything, so I take Eva down to the next room.

She slowly opens the door, and my assistant is definitely getting a raise. She walks over to her bathroom that is fully stocked with all that smelly shit they like.

She walks over and opens her closet, and it’s completely stocked with clothing: everything from workout clothes to elegant dresses. I walk over and lean down to her ear.

“I do a lot of public appearances and will need a date.”

She turns and smiles, wrapping her arms around my waist. I wrap mine around hers and rest my chin on her head. She slowly tilts her head back and stares into my eyes. I stare down at her and place a kiss on her forehead.

I lean back to look at her again as she places her hands on my cheeks and crashes her lips to mine. She catches me off guard and after a moment, I return the kiss with everything I have. I pull her up against me and after a few moments, slowly pull myself away.

“I told you, I do not expect anything in return. I do not want you to feel pressure on anything. I will be in my room next door if you ever need anything. My office is on the floor below us, and you can visit anytime.

“I will have tutors come in for Nate’s schooling. All I want you to do is relax. I’m going to go jump in the shower and we can get Nate to bed.”

I slowly pull away, go into my room, and jump into the shower. Getting out, I dry off and throw on some pajama bottoms. Looking in the mirror, I see my tattoos and think I need to add more to my back. Gotta get that squared away later.

As I head back out, I see Nate walking into the hallway. He sees me, comes running, and leaps into my arms.

“Caden, my room is so cool! Will you come play with me?”

“Of course, little man. Let’s go.”

I go into Nate’s room with him, and we both sit on the floor as I lean against his bed. He shows me his cars, and we start rolling them around on the floor. We’re laughing and racing the cars when I hear a noise from his doorway.

He must have heard it also. We both look over and there stands my goddess. She looks amazing in her silk pajamas as she comes and sits right between my legs. She leans against my chest, and I instinctively start rubbing her back.

Nate and I keep playing. Time flies by, and he lets out a big yawn.

“Hey, little man, we all need to head to bed. Maybe this week we will go do something fun. How does the zoo sound?”

“Really? The zoo? Mommy, can we go with Caden to the zoo?”

“If he says so.”

Nate starts jumping up and down before he climbs into bed. I lean down, kiss his head, and tell him good night before I head out the door. I stand in the hallway while Eva says goodnight.

She heads out into the hallway, and I kiss her head, telling her good night. I head to my room where I crawl into bed and crash immediately.

At about one in the morning, I hear my door slowly open. I open my eyes and quickly jump up, running over when I see Eva standing there.

“Eva, baby, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“I had a nightmare. Can I stay here?”

“Of course, baby!”

I climb back in bed, and she slowly gets in, snuggling in my arms. I hear her breathing slow as she falls asleep, and I just stare at her. I am just about to fall back asleep when I hear my door open again.

I look over and see Nate and motion him over.

“I had a nightmare.”

“That’s okay, buddy. Come on, climb in here.”

He climbs over me and snuggles in between me and Eva, and we all fall asleep for the rest of the night.