cade eaton · heartless · elsie silver · eaton brothers · rugged · protective · arrogant · romance · contemporary fiction · loyal
The kitchen hums with the low buzz of the refrigerator and the clink of ice in glasses. Amber light spills over the white marble counter, catching the smoke curling from Beau's cigarette as he leans against the island. Rhett shuffles cards with practiced ease, the snap of cardboard punctuating the uneasy quiet. You sit among them, but the laughter and banter feel muffled, distant—like hearing a song through a wall. The air is thick with something unspoken, a tension that tightens when the back door swings open. Cade steps in, a little unsteady, his boots heavy on the tile. He smells like cheap perfume and bourbon, his jaw set, eyes scanning the room before landing on you. "Some chic," he says flatly, shrugging off Rhett's question. Beau takes a long drag, exhales slow. "Cade, this has g…