Chapter 4 Joe Doesn’t Trust Kane
ADALINE
“You’re leaving for New York next Friday?” Joe blurted out, his eyes wide. “I leave you for just one week and you agree to move down to New York?!”
“Can you bring your voice down?” I murmured to Joe. We are seated in a café, trying to have coffee like two normal people, but his shouting makes me want to shrink into the ground and never come back up. “People are staring.”
“As they always do,” he muttered.
I shot him a look.
He dropped his cup onto the table with a loud clink and leaned forward. “You think I give a fuck about people who don’t even care about the price of their coffee?”
Joe has a thing about rich people. It’s fair to say he hates them.
After all, they adopted him, raised him with so much care and love, only to chuck him out the moment heaven blessed them with a biological child. Then, because they didn’t want to look bad in the eyes of the social workers, they planted drugs on him, got him arrested, and landed him in jail for three years.
Just when he got out, I met him, and we instantly clicked.
Maybe it was because we were both survivors in our own ways. Maybe it was because we understood what it felt like to be discarded.
Whatever the reason, we stuck.
He seems perfectly satisfied with the idea of taking money from the rich and wealthy, and honestly? I can’t exactly blame him.
So here we are.
Sighing, he rubbed a hand down his face. “What is his name?”
I drew in a breath. “Kane.”
He blinked slowly, clearly waiting for me to continue. When I didn’t, his eyes narrowed.
“Please don’t tell me you agreed to go to New York with a man whose last name you don’t even know.”
To my defense, he isn’t the first.
“Our other clients usually offer only their first names.”
He froze, blinking rapidly at me, probably wondering if I had lost my mind.
“That’s because I end up searching for them online, finding out more information than they give, and making sure they’re not some dude after your organs!”
“Kane is not after my organs.” If he keeps shouting, I might actually walk out on him.
“You can’t be so sure, Ada!” Sucking in a deep breath, he forced his voice down, though I could still hear the panic beneath it. “I’m your manager, Adaline. Manager of Bloom & Co. You could have at least waited for me to get back before signing any contract!”
“We’ve not signed the official contract yet.” I took another sip of my coffee. “The one we signed in my office was just a confidentiality agreement.”
Joe exhaled in relief, his head jerking in a slow nod.
“Good.” He pointed a finger at me. “Don’t agree to sign anything until I find out who this dude really is.”
“He offered fifty thousand dollars for the consultation alone.” Besides I already said yes to the job. I won’t go back on my words twice.
His jaw dropped. “He offered what?”
I nodded. “We’ve always wanted to build a free e-learning platform for kids around the world who can’t really afford an education, Joe, and this client might be the breakthrough we need.”
He might even be willing to invest if I play my cards right.
A big if, by the way.
Joe stared at me for a long second before dragging a hand over his face again. “You’re using the charity card now?”
“I’m using the opportunity card.”
“They’re the same thing when it comes to you.”
I smiled into my coffee but said nothing.
“That doesn’t mean we should be blinded by it,” he argued, clearing his throat.
Kane shouldn’t even be a topic of argument.
“I know going to New York is crazy, but it’s a large city. The chances of running into my father or the man he’s forcing me to marry are very slim.”
“Can you at least find out his last name so I can look him up?” The resigned look on his face tells me I should take his worry seriously.
“Fine. I’ll look into it and get back to you.”
Nodding in satisfaction, he reached for his coffee. “Are your ground rules ready?”
“I told him about them, but I’m yet to write them out and have him sign the document.”
“So that means you aren’t leaving for New York next Friday.”
“She is.” A deep, husky voice deadpanned from behind Joe.
My gaze lifted at the same time Joe turned around, and while I found myself marveling at how a man could make something as simple as a black shirt look that good, Joe looked thoroughly offended.
Speak of the devil.
“And who the hell are you for butting your tight ass into our conversation?” Joe demanded, arching a brow.
A few people around us shot Joe disapproving looks for using that kind of language around their children.
For someone like Joe, though, he doesn’t give a fuck.
If anything, the attention only seems to amuse him.
Kane pulled out the chair next to Joe but didn’t make a move to sit.
Joe blinked rapidly at him before turning to me. “Is this dude okay? Do we have to call security?”
“That’s him,” I mumbled, unable to meet Kane’s gaze. He looks rather pissed.
What crawled up his ass?
“That’s the Kane who paid fifty thousand dollars for a consultation?” Joe asked skeptically, his eyes slowly sweeping over him from his polished shoes to his face. “Why is he holding out that chair for so long, though?” His head cocked to the side. “Is he waiting for permission to sit?”
“It’s for you.” Kane pulled the chair out even farther. “I won’t have you sitting that close to my fiancée in my presence.”
Joe snickered. “Is he insane?” He turned to look at me. “He is insane.”
Kane’s brows twitched, making him look even more irritated than he had been a few seconds ago.
“You want to see how insane I can be?”
I don’t think so.
Kane doesn’t look like someone who backs down.
Neither does Joe.
“Move over, Joe.”
Joe snorted as he reluctantly pushed his chair back. “You’re taking your fiancé’s side already?”
The sarcasm in his voice didn’t go unnoticed by either me or Kane.
“You’re a fast learner,” Kane acknowledged sarcastically. “I like that for you. It’s the kind of behavior that can save you from a lot of problems in the future.”
Joe slowly rose to his feet instead of taking the offered seat.
The table fell eerily silent.
He looked at me, then at Kane, then back at me again.
“What is this man on about?”
“Just move, Joe.” He is a client, so for now, we should do what he wants.
Rolling his eyes, Joe got off his chair and plopped down on the one Kane had pulled out for him.
“There.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Happy?”
“You should be thankful to Nora,” Kane rasped as he settled into the chair Joe had just vacated. “I’m not like that with everyone.”
Joe let out a short laugh.
“You mean going around looking intimidating and scaring people with your glare?”
“Pulling out chairs.” Kane slid Joe’s coffee cup toward him before turning his attention to me. “Who is your friend?”
“Friend?” Joe scoffed. “I’m her boyfriend.”
Oh, for the love of_
Kane’s gaze slowly shifted from me to Joe, his expression unreadable.
Joe, on the other hand, looked far too pleased with himself.
He definitely did that on purpose.
