I took one last glance in the mirror and sighed.
Time to fake being the person I was, until I could come back to my room and fall apart all over again.
********
Chapter 5
Slider
“Have you seen Demon?”
I looked up from the TV I was blankly staring at and found Paige looking down at me. I hadn’t even noticed her walk in front of the TV. “Ah, I think he’s out in the shop.” King and Demon were working on getting their bikes ready for the first warm day of spring that would be here any day now.
Paige cocked her head to the side. “You’re not getting your bike ready?”
Honestly, I didn’t give a fuck about my bike. Hell, I didn’t give a flying fuck about anything. “I’ll work on it next week.”
She flopped down on the couch next to me. “I thought all of you were motorcycle die-hards who wait for the first thaw and you were out on your bikes even if it was only forty degrees.”
She was right. At least, she was right about how I used to be. “I’ve got time,” I mumbled.
Paige sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Have you heard anything new about Fayth?”
“No.”
“Is she still not talking?”
“Yes.”
“Did Leo say when we can go and visit her?”
“No.”
“Am I going to get an answer that is more than one word out of you?” She didn’t bother to try to hide her annoyance at my shortness.
“Not today.”
“You haven’t said more than ten words to anyone all week, Slider.”
I shrugged and picked up the remote. I didn’t want to have this conversation. It had been a week since I had last spoken to Leo. I couldn’t keep torturing myself, calling him each day and getting the same answer. I was in a shit mood, and I had no plans of shaking it. “I ain’t got nothing to say, Paige.” I turned the volume up on the TV and started flipping through the channels.
“Good. You can sit here and listen to what I have to say then.”
I turned the volume up even louder but Paige snatched the remote out of my hand, turned down the volume, and shoved the remote under her ass. “What the hell?”
“Be glad I didn’t put it down my shirt.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s the same as shoving it under your ass.”
Paige rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you ready to listen?”
“I don’t really have much of a choice. I’m shit at reading lips, so the TV is useless until you give me back the damn remote.” I crossed my arms over my chest and waited to hear what Paige had to preach at me.
Paige smirked, pleased with herself. “Why won’t you just go see Fayth?”
“Because I’m pretty sure Leo would kill me if I showed up. He’s threatened bodily harm if I drive down there without letting him know.”
Paige rolled her eyes. “And why is that stopping you?”
“Paige, I’m going to assume that you have no idea who Leo Banachi is.”
“Demon told me who he is, and I still don’t understand why you’re here, when you clearly want to be there.”
“Even if Leo wasn’t threatening to kill me, I’m not entirely sure that Fayth would even want me there.”
Paige grabbed the remote from under her ass and stood up. “Why wouldn’t she want you there? You saved her life, Slider.”
“No, I didn’t. I fucked up and let her traipse around the woods and couldn’t manage to find her before Big A put a bullet in her.” If I would have been five seconds longer, Fayth wouldn’t be here at all.
“Oh Jesus. Now I see what’s going on. You feel guilty that she got hurt.”
I looked up at Paige. “I liked you a lot more when I thought you were some quiet and shy chick with her nose in a book.”
Paige shrugged. “I am shy and quiet.”
“You sure aren’t acting like it right now.”
“I’m only saying something because all those books I’ve had my nose in help me see what is going on with you and Fayth.”
“Oh geez, this is going to be good. Why don’t you tell me what is going on with Fayth and me? I’d love to hear what you think you know.”
Paige grinned and laid into me, “I think you’re terrified of Fayth, because she represents everything you want but don’t think you can have.”
“I take whatever I want, Paige.”
“Normally, but not when it comes to Fayth. I know you say that you don’t want to go there because of Leo, but I think that’s just an excuse. I think if you go there, you have to face all the emotions and feelings that you don’t want to have to deal with.”
I scoffed. “I don’t have feelings or emotions when it comes to Fayth.”
“Then, why are you walking around like a grumpy bear who can’t find his picnic basket?”
“Picnic basket?” I asked, confused as hell.
“Sorry, Meg was watching Yogi Bear in her room when I walked by. I digress,” Paige said, waving her hand. “If you don’t have feelings for Fayth, then why are you so pissed off?”
“Because I didn’t do the job that King asked me to do.”
“Has he yelled at you? Asked you what the hell you were thinking letting Fayth go out alone?”
“No.” King has surprisingly said nothing about it.
She pointed the remote in my face. “Then, why are you beating yourself up about it.”
I didn’t have an answer to that. I just knew that I had fucked up and it was driving me crazy. “Are you done, Paige?”
“No. Not yet. I think the reason you are beating yourself up about it is because you have feelings for Fayth that you can’t and won’t admit to.”
“I don’t hav—”
Paige wagged the remote in my face. “You’re lying to yourself, Slider. If you didn’t have feelings, you should have been over this two months ago.”
“There isn’t anything to get over,” I growled.
Paige rolled her eyes. “Then, stop being so pissed. Man up and go see Fayth, or get the hell over it and stop biting people’s heads off.”
“And what if I don’t?”
Paige tossed the remote on the couch, walked to the door that lead to the shop, and turned to look at me. “Then, all you’re doing is screwing yourself over, Slider.” She opened the door and slammed it behind her.
I grabbed the remote and threw it against the wall. It shattered with the batteries flying all over. “Son of a bitch,” I roared.
I didn’t have feelings for Fayth. I couldn’t.
Being with one woman was not the life I wanted. I saw first-hand how each and every one of these fuckers settle down with one woman and put a collar around their necks so their ol’ ladies could drag them around. I didn’t fucking want that.
I felt guilty she had been hurt because it had been my job to protect her and I hadn’t. There wasn’t any other reason behind it. Paige wanted to sit there and paint some romantic bullshit that deep down I cared for Fayth, but she was wrong.
Fayth Banachi was not the type of woman I wanted.
I didn’t want any woman, and that’s the way it was going to fucking be.
********
Fayth
“Night, mom,” Marco called and closed the door to his room.
I quietly made my way down the end of the hall and slipped into my room.
Marco, Leo, and I had watched two movies and managed to eat four bags of popcorn between the three of us. It had been nice to do something normal, but the fact that I couldn’t speak was still the pink elephant in the corner. Hell, I couldn’t even laugh when something funny happened. All I would do was open my mouth, rock back and forth, and clap my hands like a seal. Whenever I did that, it sent Leo and Marco into a fit a laughter.
Somehow, my muteness had turned into a joke. It was a good thing I loved both of them and knew they weren’t being mean.
I piled my hair on top of my head, tied it into a knot, and hea
ded into the bathroom where I turned on the water and waited for it to warm up. My reflection stared back at me, and I was once again looking myself over, wondering if I actually knew the woman staring back at me anymore.
I turned my head, looking at the scar, and thought about the one man I told myself I shouldn’t think about. He hadn’t called, visited, or anything, and yet, I thought of him more than not.
Slider had been the one man in my life who gave it to me straight and didn’t try to tell me what I wanted to hear. I had hated him those first couple of months. He acted like he wanted to be anywhere but in my house with Marco and me, and we would butt heads at every corner. But things had slowly started to change. Slider and I still disagreed on most things, but it was like we had come to an understanding that we were completely different people, but we could still appreciate each other for what we were.
That day at the cabin, everything had been irritating me, the main thing being Leo. I was sick of being told what to do all of the time, and I was at the end of my rope that day. Marco and I had finally started to settle into Rockton when Leo had called to tell me to pack a bag and that he didn’t know when we would be back in Rockton again.
I shouldn’t have wandered from the cabin, but I hadn’t realized how far away I was until it was too late and Big A was there. Slider had saved my life that day, and I hadn’t seen him since.
I wanted to call him, but what would be the point? It wasn’t like I could talk to him.
The cold sheets greeted me as I slipped into bed and my head touched the pillow. I closed my eyes and reminded myself that I need to forget about Slider. Things had changed once again, and I was right where I had started out, and apparently, this wasn’t where Slider wanted to be.
I still missed him even though I knew I shouldn’t.
Slider was the one man I just couldn’t seem to get off of my mind.
********
Chapter 6
Fayth
I was falling, and I couldn’t catch myself. My body thudded onto the ground, and my head felt like it had been run over by a freight train. The wet earth beneath me soaked through my coat, and I tried to roll over but my body wouldn’t cooperate.
Two gunshots sounded, and I prayed for my eyes to open so I could see if Slider was okay. I tried one last time to open my eyes, but the pain in my head was clouding my mind. I heard Slider and Big A wrestle on the ground, but the darkness that was falling over me settled around me and all I could do was scream “Slider” over and over.
His name ripped from my throat, “Slider!” I jarred awake and screamed his name again. “Slider!” I chanted his name over and over, unable to say anything else.
“Fayth?” Leo called and came skidding into my room. “Fayth, what’s wrong?”
He turned on the light and all I could say was “Slider.”
“Is that Mom?” I heard Marco ask sleepily.
Leo sat on the end of my bed. “Fayth, calm down. What happened?”
“Slider,” I whispered.
“Holy hell, she’s talking,” Marco said, amazed while he rubbed the sleep out of his eye.
“Yeah, but all she’s saying is Slider,” Leo replied. He rested a hand on my arm and looked me in the eye. “What happened, Fayth? Did you have a nightmare or something?”
I nodded and opened my mouth to answer but nothing came out.
“Fayth, you just talked. Say something,” Leo demanded.
I tried. I really fucking tried but nothing came out.
“What did she say before? Just Slider?” Marco asked.
“Yeah, that’s all I’ve heard her say.”
I looked from Leo to Marco and shook my head. I felt like I was about to crawl out of my skin. The words were right on the tip of my tongue, but they wouldn’t come out.
“What are you doing?” Marco asked Leo when he started punching buttons on his phone.
“Making a phone call that’s been a long time coming.”
********
Slider
“I fold.”
“Fucking pussy. Nobody fucking bets against me anymore.” Gambler reached across the table and grabbed the pile of money.
“Deal again,” I said, nodding at King. “I think Gambler’s luck is about to run out.”
“Yeah, yeah. You fuckers always think you can beat me.” Gambler shook head and leaned back in his chair. “Even Gwen can’t beat me. Although, she sure does like to try.”
“I heard that,” Gwen called from over by the bar. “Don’t be so cocky. One day, you’ll lose, and I’ll be there to collect my winnings.”
Everyone was gathered at the clubhouse tonight, the guys playing poker and all the chicks were gathered around the bar, looking at some kind of bags while drinking wine.
“Is this what we’ve come to?” Hammer asked. “Poker while the chicks cackle over by the bar? I wouldn’t fucking mind if one of those chicks belonged to me, but they don’t, so this sucks.”
King patted him on the back and picked up the cards Rigid had dealt. “One day, you’ll understand it, Ham. You just gotta find the right chick to trade in one-night stands and drunken nights for.”
“Hey. Don’t knock one-night stands,” Troy said, tipping his beer at King. “My one-night stand is standing next to your wife.”
“True that, brother.” King tapped his bottle against Troy’s beer.
“So, the moral of the story, Hammer, is keep up the one-night stands, one of them will pan out eventually,” I said, laughing.
Troy flipped me off and chugged the rest of his beer.
“Hey!” Meg called. “Someone’s phone if going off under the bar.” Meg held up my phone and waved it in the air. “My mom always said a phone call after midnight is never a good one.”
“Not in the life of a biker, babe,” King replied.
“Mine.” I walked over to the bar and grabbed the phone out of her hand. The ringing had stopped before I had been able to answer it.
Within seconds, it was ringing again, and Leo’s name flashed on the screen. “Oh shit.” I swiped right and put the phone to my ear. “Leo?”
“Slider.”
“What’s going on? Is Fayth okay?”
“I don’t know. You need to get here. Now.”
“What the hell does that mean?” She was fine the last time I talked to him. How the hell had things changed? I knew with it being in the middle of the night, it couldn’t be good.
“It means you need to be here right away in the morning. Things have changed, and you need to be here.”
I looked up at King who had his eyes trained on me. I was going to have to clear it with him before I could go running of to Chicago for God knows what. “I’ll be there by eight.” I still didn’t know what the hell I was going to do when I saw Fayth again, but I knew this was going to be my only chance to see her.
“Make it seven.” Leo hung up, and I shoved my phone in my pocket.
“Everything okay?” Meg asked.
I huge smile spread across my face. I may not know what the hell was going on, but I knew this time tomorrow, I would see Fayth, and all the shit swirling around in my head should be figured out. “Never better.”
********
Chapter 7
Fayth
I didn’t sleep the rest of the night. I couldn’t.
I had finally spoken, but it was only one damn word. “Slider,” I whispered to my empty room.
It still worked.
Dog. I opened my mouth to say the word, but nothing came out. Son of a bitch.
I was lying flat on my back, looking up at the ceiling, trying to say any word besides Slider.
No luck.
The last time I had looked at the bedside clock, it was only five forty-five and I knew the minutes were sliding by like molasses.
“Slider,” I whispered again. As much as I hated the fact it was the only word I could say, I still said it so I wouldn’t lose it.
“Mom?”
I turned my he
ad and saw Marco standing in the doorway. I sat up and turned on the lamp.
“He’s been sitting out there for an hour. Should I let him in?”
He? Who was he? Was it Slider? I looked at the clock as saw that it was six-thirty. He was early. Leo had told me Slider was coming, but that he wouldn’t arrive until late morning. I grabbed the pad of paper that had been sitting beside my bed for a week. I hadn’t ever used it, but now I needed to ask a question, and this was the only way for me to get my answer.
Who is it? I scribbled down. I knew it was Slider, but I was back to not wanting to say his name. I was a complete nutcase at this point. I held up the pad of paper to Marco, and he nodded.
“Yeah. He’s sitting in his truck, just staring at the house.”
Slider knowing where I lived also blew my mind. The house we shared with Leo was completely different from the two-bedroom bungalow Marco and I had lived in back in Rockton.
Tell your uncle, I wrote.
Marco nodded, read my words, and disappeared down the hallway to Leo’s room.
I laid back down and closed my eyes. Slider was sitting in my driveway, and I had no idea what the hell was going to happen next.
********
Slider
Six forty-one. My hands were gripping the steering wheel, and I stared at the front door to Fayth’s house.
The mother fucker was huge.
The thing wasn’t even a house. It was more like a fucking mansion.
“What in the fuck am I doing here?”
No one answered because I was fucking talk to myself and even I didn’t have the answer to that.
Six forty-three.
I should knock on the door, get it over with, and stop torturing myself wondering what had changed with Fayth. It couldn’t be bad. It had to be something good. Maybe she was talking now. Maybe she had asked to see me.
“Maybe you should just get out of the truck and find out what the hell is going on, asshole,” I murmured to myself.
Before I had the chance to get out, the front door opened, and Leo stepped outside. He closed the door behind him and headed over to my truck. “I see you can’t tell time,” Leo said through my open window.
Unraveling Fayth (Devil's Knights Book 8) Page 3