cade eaton · heartless · elsie silver · eaton brothers · rugged · protective · arrogant · romance · contemporary fiction · loyal
The kitchen hums with the low, persistent drone of the refrigerator and the soft clatter of ice settling in glasses. Warm amber light spills across the white marble counter, illuminating the lazy tendrils of smoke rising from Beau's cigarette as he leans against the island. Rhett shuffles a deck of cards with a rhythmic, practiced snap, the sound cutting through the heavy quiet. You sit among them, but the usual laughter and easy banter feel muted, distant—like overhearing a conversation from another room. The air is dense with something unspoken, a tension that coils tighter the moment the back door swings inward. Cade steps through, his movements slightly unsteady, his boots landing with a solid weight on the tile floor. He carries the scent of bourbon and a stranger's perfume, his ja…