Fat Louise (17 page)

“What happened?” Jane asked, startled by the change in her father’s finances.
 

“Bailey didn’t take Raul’s name off her accounts and emails. Raul has managed to steal almost every dime of my money. He gained access through her accounts.”
 

“Don’t blame me. I forgot. You should have reminded me.” Bailey, as always, deflected the blame to someone else.
 

“I didn’t realize anything was wrong until I bought our new house and the sale couldn’t go through, because there was a lack of funds,” their father continued, ignoring Bailey.
 

“I’m sorry.” Jane didn’t know what else to say. “What are you going to do?”
 

“The banks are trying to find a way to get my money back, but with Raul and the money both in Mexico, it’s going to be impossible. I’ll have to go back to work fulltime, obviously, and
Bailey will have to find a job. I won’t be able to give you an allowance any longer, either.”
 

“That’s all right. I just gave it to Bailey and Mom, anyway. I’ve been supporting myself for years.”
 

“Why would you give it to Bailey? She had her own allowance, and your mother is more than able to get a job.”
 

“Bailey always spent her allowance before the middle of the month, and Mom doesn’t want to work. I guess now she’ll have to.” Jane dreaded telling her mother that piece of news.
 

“I can’t get a job. What would I do?” Bailey looked at her father frantically.
 

“Yes, you can, and you will. You have no choice; neither do I. I’ll be starting over from scratch, and I’m not young anymore. Thank God this house is paid for, or we would be homeless.”
 

“You wouldn’t be homeless. You could have stayed with me and Crazy Bitch.”
 

From his expression, Jane was sure he would rather be homeless.
 

“I’m not qualified for anything,” Bailey protested.
 

“Popeye’s is hiring, and they’ll train you,” Jane suggested.
 

Bailey stared at her angrily. “I wouldn’t work at a fast food restaurant.”
 

“Good luck finding something in Jamestown, then. It took me over a year to get hired at the hospital.”
 

“I’ll call some friends of mine. Maybe they’ll have some suggestions.” Bailey flounced out of the room, leaving Jane and her father alone.
 

“Is there anything I can do?” she offered.
 

“No, but thanks for offering instead of yelling at me.” Jane could only imagine her sister’s reaction when she had been told. “The only bright spot is that your stepmother’s not going to get
the large settlement she thought she was out of our divorce.”
 

Jane felt bad for her father. Not knowing what else to do, she fixed them both lunch and sat talking with him until he told her he needed to make his own phone calls to work on getting his fulltime job back.
 

She went upstairs in search of her sister, finding her in her bedroom, sprawled on a chaise lounge. She was talking on her cell phone, which she hung up when she saw Jane enter the room.
 

“Next time, knock,” Bailey snapped.
 

Surprisingly, she didn’t look upset any longer; instead, she appeared to have been put in a better frame of mind by whomever she had been on the phone with.
 

“I want to talk to you.” Jane hesitated, but she wanted answers badly enough to put up with her sister’s caustic attitude.
 

“So talk.”
 

“Why did you act like you had slept with Cade that night at the hotel?”
 

Bailey gave an unconcerned shrug at being caught in the lie. “Because I knew you wanted him,” she said truthfully. “I knew you were about to make a fool of yourself over him, so I stopped you.”
 

“So you did it to save me from myself?” Jane said doubtfully.
 

“Of course. What other reason could there be?” Bailey stood, hugging Jane. “You’re my sister; it’s my job to watch out for you.”
 

“It wasn’t because you wanted him?” Jane had been around her sister too long to believe in her sincerity.
 

“Maybe I was a little attracted. He took my mind off Raul, but then he disappeared the next day, so it really doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”
 

“I guess not.” Jane couldn’t explain why she didn’t want Bailey to know Cade was in Jamestown, only that she didn’t.
 

“Good. No hard feelings?”
 

“Of course not,” Jane lied. She had learned a lesson about her sister: there was no length to the deception she would go to in order to get what she wanted. It was a lesson that couldn’t be unlearned.
 

She said goodbye to Bailey and headed back downstairs to see her father had finished making his calls.
 

Jane kissed him on his cheek as she was about to leave.
 

“Call me if you need me for anything.” She went to the door, hearing Killyama blowing her horn.
 

“Jane…” He seemed about to say something, but then only said, “I’ll see you soon.”
 

She left, feeling bad for her dad and wishing there was something she could do. Then an idea came to her on the ride home.
 

“Could you take me somewhere else first?”
 

*  *  *
 

Cade leaned against the bar, looking around the room. He saw Crazy Bitch and T.A., but he didn’t see Jane. He had tried calling her several times during the day, but she hadn’t answered.
 

Stud took a seat on the stool next to him. “Who are you looking for?”
 

“Jane. I thought she was coming in with Crazy Bitch tonight,” Cade told him, still watching the door.
 

“Not tonight. She’s in Treepoint with Killyama and Sex Piston. They’re having dinner with a friend of theirs.”
 

“Oh.” Jane hadn’t mentioned that when he had taken her home this morning.
 

“She might stop by when they come back.” Stud shot him a calculating look. “You know Sex Piston and Fat Louise are close.”
 

“That would be hard to miss,” Cade remarked.
 

Stud gave him a warning look. “Fat Louise isn’t like the rest of the bitches. Her friends usually close ranks around her to keep her safe. I would really hate it if Sex Piston starts busting my balls about how you’re treating her.”
 

“Are you warning me to stay away from her?” Cade stiffened, preparing himself for an argument. He liked Stud, respected him as a leader of his men, but he wasn’t going to quit seeing Jane on his say so.
 

“Fuck no. What I’m saying is to play fair with her. If you just want her as a fuck toy, she needs to know that up front. If you plan on her becoming your old lady, then be honest about that, too. What I don’t want is to hear my wife bitching at me that you broke Fat Louise’s heart. I wouldn’t be happy about that. I kinda like her. She’s good to my kids.”
 

Cade felt a smile tugging at his lips. “I’ll keep that in mind. To be honest, I don’t know where this is going with Jane. When she left after we were rescued, I missed her. I got used to having her around, didn’t have any desire to fuck my usual women. After a while of that shit, a man can get worried.”
 

“Last night take that worry off your mind?”
 

“Yes, it did,” Cade laughed.
 

“It was the same before I started seeing Sex Piston. Club pussy just didn’t do it for me anymore.”
 

“That’s hard to imagine.” Cade looked at the provocatively dressed women sitting around
the club.
 

“Like I said, make sure Jane doesn’t get hurt. There are a few brothers who feel the same.” With that, Stud took his beer, leaving him standing alone at the bar.
 

Talking with Stud had made Cade even more pissed that Jane was ignoring his calls while he was sitting around like a pussy waiting for her to come around. Fuck that!
 

He began talking to a seductive blond who sidled up close to him. She was curvy, and her tits under her low cut T-shirt drew his eyes several times. When he reached for his drink, his elbow brushed against her breasts. Waiting for a signal from his dick that he was ready to party, he was disappointed when he didn’t feel a stir like he had just by looking at Jane.
 

Just then, his eyes were caught and held by Crazy Bitch. He could tell he had gone down in her estimation. Well, if she already thought less of him, better make it worthwhile.
 

Turning his back to the room, he wrapped his arms around the blond, pulling her close for a kiss, hoping his dick would stand up and take notice.
 

Cade had thought when he fucked Jane he would get her out of his system; instead, he was even worse off than before. He had always been able to fuck women out of his mind. He couldn’t remember ever being with a woman more than a couple of times. As soon as he discovered what they were like in bed, his interest would wane. Then he would be on top of another woman, discovering the delights of a new pussy. Maybe he just needed to fuck her a couple more times, and then the attraction she held for him would disappear.
 

Sometime later, the blonde’s eyes widened as she stared over his shoulder. Cade casually turned his head, coming face-to-face with an angry Sex Piston while Jane stood behind her, trying to tug her away.
 

“You never learn, do you, Demie?” Sex Piston snarled at the woman who was turning a
sickly shade of green.
 

There was no way to miss the hurt look in Jane’s eyes. He felt a small clench in his chest.
 

“I haven’t touched Stud, and Cade doesn’t belong to you.”
 

“No, he doesn’t, but he does to Fat Louise.”
 

“No, he doesn’t. Let’s go, Sex Piston.” Jane tried to pull her friend away.
 

Sex Piston jerked her arm away from Jane, and then Cade heard Demie’s running footsteps behind his back.
 

“Didn’t take you long to start sniffing after the club whores,” Sex Piston snapped.
 

“Maybe, if Fat Louise answered her phone, I wouldn’t have.”
 

While Jane flinched when he called her by her nickname, Cade thought for a second that Sex Piston was going to hit him. Surprisingly, Jane moved to stand in front of Sex Piston, blocking her.
 

“Stop it,” she told her furious friend before turning to Cade. “I left my phone in your room this morning. When you find it, give it to Stud for me.”
 

“Jane…” Cade’s anger evaporated, and he reached out to touch her.
 

“Let me save you the trouble, Cade. We fucked, and now you want something new. No hard feelings.” She turned to a seething Sex Piston. “I’m ready to go home.”
 

Cade watched the group of women leave the club. Demie came sidling back as soon as they left. As her hands curled around his waist, Cade tried to convince himself it was better he hadn’t become more involved with Jane. After a good night’s sleep, he would take off on his bike and leave Jamestown and Jane behind him.
 

Chapter 20
 

Cade walked into the clubroom to make himself a cup of coffee. Usually deserted at this time of morning, the room was filled with the brothers eating from take-out bags Stud was placing on the bar counter.
 

Cade nabbed himself a cup of coffee as he took a seat on one of the stools next to Stud. “What has everyone up so early?” he asked, taking the lid off the coffee that had nearly burned the skin off his tongue.
 

 “My brother Calder gets out of prison today,” Stud answered, reaching for his own coffee then taking a seat next to him. “It’s been awhile since we’ve seen him. He did three months in rehab then had to do some time in prison for breaking his parole. The brothers and I are going to be his welcoming committee.”
 

“That and make sure he doesn’t get himself back in prison before the day’s out,” Rock said as he took one of the take-out bags and then left the two men alone after the hard stare Stud gave him.
 

“You look like shit.”
 

Cade shrugged. “Late night.”
 

“I saw the empty bottle of Tequila when you went to your room with Gina. Between you and the bitches, I can’t keep enough Tequila in stock.” Stud studied him out of the corner of his eye.
 

Cade changed the subject, not wanting to give him any information he could give his wife. He had never been one to confide and didn’t see the need to now, especially when he would come out looking like a dumbass to the woman he wasn’t getting over as easily as he had thought he would.
 

“Mind if I tag along?”
 

Stud stood up, slapping him on his back so hard he nearly knocked him off the stool.
 

“Not at all. I was going to ask if you wanted to ride. Let’s hit the road!”
 

The men left the bar with Cade hoping his piece of shit bike made it. He was going to have to do something about it soon because it was becoming more trouble to hang on to than his bike was worth. It had too many miles and repairs needed to make it through another ride across the country.
 

Cade climbed onto the old Victory and started the reluctant motor.
 

“Try to keep up,” Rock jibed as they rode out.
 

Cade’s hands tightened on his handlebars, wanting to reach his booted foot out to kick Rock’s bike. However, he knew the insult would start a fight, and he didn’t want to hold Stud up from being there when his brother was released.