Infamous (NeXt Book 2) Read online

  INFAMOUS

  K.M. SCOTT

  Contents

  INFAMOUS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  INFAMOUS EXTRAS

  About the Author

  Books by K.M. Scott:

  Books by K.M. Scott writing as Gabrielle Bisset:

  INFAMOUS

  The emotional conclusion to Cade and Hailey’s story that began in Notorious!

  We tend to hurt the ones we love the most, even if we don’t mean to. Cade March knows that all too well, and now Hailey does too.

  For the first time in his life, he loves a woman enough to make things right. Whatever it takes, Hailey’s worth it.

  And for the first time in too long, she’s willing to take a chance because what she feels when she’s with Cade makes her truly happy.

  But what happens if his past never goes away?

  Infamous is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to events, locations, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  2021 Copper Key Media LLC

  Copyright © 2021 Copper Key Media LLC

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

  Published in the United States

  ISBN: 978-1-7346645-8-4

  Chapter One

  Cade

  I look down in horror at Kylie doing her whatever the fuck she’s doing right near my zipper and see Taryn and her camera guy getting the whole thing to spread across social media. No, this can’t happen. I don’t know what Kylie’s going for with this faux fellatio act she’s got going on, but she needs to get the fuck up off my crotch right now.

  “Enough!” I yell at her, but the crowd’s too loud for her to hear anything.

  Behind me, her sister tries to get her attention, begging her to stop. “Kylie! What are you doing? Stop this!”

  Nothing seems to faze her, so I grab her ponytail and yank her head back roughly. She looks up at me with confusion written all over her face, like she can’t understand why I’d be unhappy at this moment.

  “Up. The show is over,” I bark.

  She doesn’t fight me, and a second later, she’s up on her feet taking a bow to the delight of the crowd in front of us that cheers and hollers for more. Taryn’s right there when Kylie climbs down off the bar to interview her, although I can’t imagine what she needs to ask her.

  Maybe why, exactly, was she acting like pretend blowjobs are part of our job here? That sounds like a good question to start off with.

  I glance out at the crowd and see Hailey staring up at me. What the fuck is she doing here? She’s far enough away that she can’t read my lips when I try to tell her this isn’t what she thinks. What it is I’ll need a hell of a lot more than a few mouthed words to explain, but I see in her eyes she can’t believe what she’s just watched.

  Fuck!

  Jumping down off the bar, I turn to look for Katelyn. She shakes her head like she’s in shock at what her sister just pulled in front of the entire fucking crowd, but I don’t have time to discuss that.

  “I have to leave for a few minutes. Pry your sister away from the camera and you two handle things here,” I snap, not interested in having any discussion with her.

  “I’m so sorry, Cade. Kylie’s been trying to get an audition—” she says, her eyes filling with tears as she attempts to give me an explanation for what her sister just did.

  Pushing past her, I shake my head. “Not interested. Just take care of things and don’t let it get to be a shitshow while I’m gone. I’ll be back in a couple minutes.”

  My eyes dart left and right as I scan the crowd for any sign of Hailey. Too many people get in the way, and when I come around the corner of the bar where Taryn has been talking to Kylie, I feel someone’s hand clamp down on my forearm.

  “Cade, come talk to all my fans at Tampa Scene. After that show you two put on, I’m sure people want to know more about you,” Taryn coos, like there’s anything to fucking say about what just happened.

  I tear my arm from her hold and flash Kylie a look that says I’m barely containing the rage inside me at this moment. “There’s nothing to tell. It was all her.”

  She doesn’t get a chance to say another word before I plow into the mob of people all jacked up from our little show. The music slams into me with every step I take, but I don’t see Hailey anywhere. Damnit! I’m losing precious time to find her and explain everything.

  Assuming she’s even willing to give me a chance and listen to a goddamned word I have to say.

  Right before I reach the door, someone grabs my arm to stop me, and I turn to see it’s Alex. With a smile, he asks, “Hey, what the fuck was that all about up there?”

  I throw him a look like I just gave to Kylie. “What the fuck was that all about? A better fucking question is why the fuck Hailey was here, Alex. I didn’t tell her about this tonight. Did you?”

  Before he can answer my question, the sheepish look that comes over his face does it for him. I shove him away from me and force my way through more people to finally get to the door.

  The warm night air hits me before I even step outside, and I run into the street to see if I can find her. She wouldn’t have come alone, but she might drive her own car. I look for it, my gaze darting up and down the road searching for that white car of hers.

  But I don’t see it.

  “Cade, she’s gone by now,” Alex says as he comes up behind me.

  I spin around, livid and barely able to see straight as I stare at the person I know is responsible for this mess. “What the fuck was she doing here in the first place?”

  That sheepish look from a minute ago is now full of regret as he winces like my goddamned question hurts him. When he doesn’t answer me, I snap.

  Pushing my hands against his shoulders, I send him flying back away from me. “What did you do? Why was she here tonight? Tell me!”

  “I gave her friend Meadow V.I.P. tickets. I was hoping she’d swing by so she and I could have a drink and get to know each other more. I didn’t think she’d invite Hailey. I swear, Cade. This isn’t Hailey’s kind of thing. I never thought she’d come with Meadow.”

  Every word just enrages me more, but when he gets to the part where he seems to think he knows anything about Hailey, I practically explode. “Why the hell do you think you know what Hailey’s kind of thing is? You don’t know her. You talked to her a couple times for like ten minutes tops. So that makes you some kind of goddamned expert on the woman I’ve been spending all my free time with? Don’t act like you know what Hailey likes or what she’s into because you don’t know her.”

  Cash and Liam walk out of the club and come up behind Alex, stopping just as I finish barking at him. The two of them seem confused and look at one another and then me.

  “What happened?” Cash asks in his calm way that at this moment makes me want to kill him.

  I
point at Alex in disgust. “Ask your fucking brother. He can tell you.”

  He and Liam focus on Alex, but he doesn’t seem to have anything to say. I don’t have the time to do what I want to do with him, so I push past all three of them and head back into the bar.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Liam asks as I walk by. “Does this have to do with the girl on the bar? Is that the one you were talking about, Alex?”

  “No, it doesn’t, but he can have her,” I bark back at the three of them. “Feel free, Alex. She’s ripe for the picking. Maybe then you can keep your nose out of my fucking business.”

  By the time I get back inside, I can barely keep my anger at bay. I should have stayed outside to cool down for another minute, but even a few more seconds being anywhere near Alex and I would have pounded the fuck out of him.

  I see my father coming toward me through the crowd and know for damn sure the last thing I want to do is deal with him right now. Looking around for some escape, I head toward the back bar but see Maya standing there giving me a smug smile like she knows something terrible has happened to me tonight.

  “Cade, where are you going? Why aren’t you up at the front bar like you’re supposed to be?” my father asks, yelling over the music and the ten or so people that separate us.

  Fuck, I need some peace and quiet to think. Where the hell can I find that in this place? I see his office door, and as much as I don’t want to have to talk to him, at least I’ll be able to hear myself think for a moment or two before he comes charging in with his hundreds of questions I have no intention of answering.

  I slip in and slam the door behind me, shutting out all that noise and all those people I can’t handle right now. I need to find a way to talk to Hailey and explain what happened. I’d rather do it in person, but since I don’t seem to have that option open to me at the moment, I’ll have to take the next best thing and call her.

  Her phone rings twice and then goes to voicemail. She’s avoiding me. I try again and the same thing happens. A third time the call goes directly to voicemail.

  Things are getting worse, not better. I could text her, but what I have to say doesn’t belong in some bullshit message she’ll probably delete as soon as she sees it’s from me.

  The office door opens, and the pounding music outside in the bar intrudes on my silence. I turn my head to look over at the door and see my father walk through, smiling like it’s the best night of his life.

  Good for him. My life is falling apart, but at least he’s had a nice cash haul from the hundreds of drunks in attendance tonight.

  “What a night, huh?” he says as he heads toward his desk. “That was some show you and Kylie put on. She’s a real go-getter, that one.”

  “Yeah, real go-getter. Dad, I have something I have to deal with, so is it possible we could talk some other time?”

  He looks up from the papers he’s been shuffling around the top of his desk and nods. “Yeah, sure. Everything okay? Why aren’t you out behind the bar?”

  Always the job with him. Can’t he tell I’m going through something right now? I just fucking told him I have something I have to deal with. Do I have to give him chapter and verse to find a little damn peace and quiet?

  “Because I just said I have to handle something. Don’t worry. I’ll get back out there and pimp myself out for all the drunk women in a minute. In the meantime, the twins can manage the bar just fine. It’s obvious Kylie has a grip on things tonight.”

  My father’s expression morphs into one I rarely see from him. Concern. The usual look I get from him is a mixture of irritation and disappointment. Sometimes he mixes in disgust, for good measure.

  But the way he looks now doesn’t happen often with me. Ava gets that look, but that’s because she’s his little girl, the apple of his eye he’s worried might be harmed by some jackass guy.

  Someone like me. Or him.

  “What’s going on, Cade? You look like you’re going to be sick. Are you okay?”

  I look away because I can’t explain that the last thing I am at this moment is okay. “I’ll be fine. Just have something I need to figure out.”

  “Are you in trouble?” he asks quietly, like he’s genuinely afraid the answer to his question is yes.

  Shaking my head, even as I know I’m in trouble that I may not be able to get out of with Hailey, I give him my best bullshit smile all those people outside that door get. “Me? No. I’ll be fine. Always am.”

  “Well, if you’re not, let me know,” he says with worry in his eyes.

  I don’t know why that makes me snap, especially since he said that with some genuine sincerity, but suddenly, I can’t stop myself from laughing. “Why? What are you going to do? Ask the other twin to do her little dance behind me while Kylie does a second show for the crowd? Figure out some way I can help make this night the best one in the club’s history?”

  My father’s eyes open wide in shock. “What is wrong with you tonight? It looked like you were having fun up there with Kylie. It’s all a show anyway. Nothing is real about what you guys do out there. Nobody knows that better than you do. It’s why you’re such a natural at this.”

  I storm over to his desk and plant my palms on the top of it, leaning down so we’re eye-to-eye. “I don’t want to be a natural at this. Why can’t you understand that? I didn’t want Kylie doing her little thing, whatever the fuck that was, with me in front of the entire bar. I’m here to serve drinks and pretend I fucking like people as I do it, so I smile and do just that, but I never signed up for that shit she pulled out there.”

  My outburst stuns him for a few seconds. Leaning back in his chair, he nods like he understands and says, “Okay. That’s fair. But honestly, Cade, how is that any different from what you used to do when you bartended last summer?”

  He doesn’t understand how much I hate thinking back to those days, so of course he’d ask that question. I regret nearly everything I did then. If I could blame it on being stupid, I would, but I can’t.

  I knew what I was doing and I loved it. Every fucking minute of it. And now, all I can do is cringe at those memories.

  “It may not be different, but I am. I’m different,” I say, hanging my head as the regret courses through me so hard it makes my body ache.

  “Okay. Then don’t do anything like that. We don’t need any of it.”

  I see in my father’s eyes he has no idea what I’m talking about. How could he? What’s happened with Hailey came out of nowhere and turned my life upside down so fast that I haven’t had a chance to truly understand what’s going on. I can’t blame him for not knowing.

  “Cade, what’s wrong with you tonight? I’m not talking about what happened with Kylie. I mean what’s really going on,” he asks in that softer voice he’s only ever used when I was a little boy and he thought I’d been hurt on the field or lost a big game.

  I look up at him and wish I could tell him about Hailey. For one moment, I’d like not to be fighting my father on everything in my life. I can’t, though. Not yet. I know as soon as I say something to him, he’ll tell my mother and she’ll tell my aunts, which means the rest of the family will know.

  I’m not ready to share Hailey with them yet. I might not even have her to share after tonight, but if I can get her to forgive me for what she saw, I want to keep what we have to ourselves for a few days more.

  “I’m okay, Dad. Thanks for asking. And thanks for letting me use your office for a few minutes to get my head together.”

  He smiles as if we’ve had some breakthrough between us. “Anytime. And Cade, if this is about a girl, the truth never fails. If you haven’t tried being honest yet, see what happens with that.”

  I don’t have a choice now. The truth is all I’ve got. I can only hope Hailey is interested in hearing it.

  Chapter Two

  Cade

  Ten texts over three hours followed by another five when they didn’t get me an answer have me crossing into full-blown stalker territory. The
y also leave me still unsure if Hailey will ever speak to me again.

  I want to tell her what happened and that it meant nothing to me. I tried in the messages, but they didn’t do much other than make me spiral out of control for a few hours as I attempted to tend bar and playact like I was having the time of my life while the whole time all I wanted to do was find Hailey and make her see how sorry I am.

  “Why don’t you go to her house?” Alex suggests as the last of the crowd trails out the doors to end the night.

  “I forgave you for your stupid move, dude. Suggesting I go to her house in the middle of the night tells me you want that ass kicking I threatened to give you earlier,” I say, still pissed off at him.

  “I didn’t mean right now, for God’s sake. I meant tomorrow morning before she goes to work.”

  As I start cleaning up behind the bar, I have to admit I have no idea where she lives. “One problem with that. I’ve never been to her house. I don’t know where that is. So that’s going to make the riding in on my white horse act difficult, don’t you think?”

  “Then go to the restaurant. You know she’ll be there.”

  I nod at that idea, which seems logical, but that shows Alex doesn’t really know Hailey. After what she told me about how she fell apart when she found that asshole boyfriend of hers in bed with another woman, I have no idea if she’ll be at the restaurant in the morning.

  My chest aches at the thought that I hurt her like that guy did. No, I didn’t sleep with another woman, but I know what she went through and I know she hurts easily.