“So what is Big A trying to do now?”
“Big A was the head of the Assassins, a gang that ran drugs and whatever they could get their hands on. We didn’t start out on the right foot with them when we moved to Rockton, and then when all the bullshit with Asshat went down, Big A and the Assassins vowed revenge on us. Thankfully they haven’t been successful, but now they are getting desperate. Big A especially.”
Paige sat back on her butt and crossed her legs under her Indian style. “Did something happen back in Rockton?”
I rubbed my hand down my face, deciding if I could tell Paige what I knew. King had said that it was up to me on how much I told her. I just didn’t know how much she could handle. “There’s some things going on.”
Paige rolled her eyes and rested her hand on my stomach. “What about Fayth? Where does she fit in all of this? And by the way, you’re not off the hook on the last question,” she winked at me.
I really didn’t think she was going to let me off that easy. “Fayth is the sister to Leo Banachi. Infamous mob boss and all around bad guy.” I gathered Paige in my arms and pulled her on top of me. “You’re too far away,” I whispered against her lips.
“Stop,” she said, pressing a finger to my lips. “Finish the story, and don’t leave out any details.”
“It’s a damn good thing I love you, baby,” I growled. I pressed a hard kiss against her lips and wrapped my arms around her.
“I love you, too,” she whispered. “Now back to Fayth.”
I laid my head back down, and Paige kept her eyes trained on me, waiting. “So, while Big A was trying to seek revenge, he enlisted the help of Leo Banachi, and it would have worked if Big A hadn’t screwed over Leo.”
“This is like a soap opera,” Paige gasped.
“So Leo decided that helping the Assassins and Big A were not in his best interest and realized that King and the Knights were more the type of people he wanted to deal with. Leo asked a favor of us to keep an eye on his sister and nephew. The nephew was causing problems in Chicago, so Leo thought Rockton would be a good place for them until all the shit that the kid had kicked up, settled down.”
“So why is Slider always with her?”
“King put Slider on her to keep her safe. Everyone that is connected to us isn’t safe against Big A. Although, Big A would have to be the biggest idiot if he decides to mess with Leo’s sister.”
“So, back to my question from earlier. What happened that Meg and Fayth had to come here?”
“Baby, you need to understand that there are somethings that I’m not going to be able to tell you. What’s going on is club business, and you just need to know that the club and I are going to do everything we can to keep you safe.”
Paige tilted her head back and looked at me. “I don’t like that answer, Demon.”
“That’s an answer you’re going to have to get used to if you want to be with me. You know I’ll tell you anything, but it if has to do with the club, I can’t tell you.”
“You do know you just totally contradicted yourself, right?”
“It is what it is.”
“Does Meg know what’s going on?” she asked.
“I highly doubt that Meg knows more than you do. King and all the guys know that whatever is going on with the club, needs to stay with the club.”
Paige laid her head down and sighed. “You have to know that I don’t like that, Demon. I really don’t think that you having secrets from me is going to help our relationship.”
“Paige, I’m not keeping secrets from you. Just think of it as my job. Would you expect to know everything that happens when I’m at work?”
“Well, no. But this is different. It’s way more than a job. It’s your life, Demon.”
“And you're ninety-nine point nine percent of my life. I’ll tell you most things that happen in the club, but there will be times where I can’t tell you what is going on.”
“Like now,” she mumbled.
“Yes, baby. Like now.”
She wrapped her arms around me, and I waited to see if she was going to keep arguing. “I love you, Demon, and I hate the fact that you have secrets from me, but as long as you promise that those secrets won’t hurt me or upset me, I guess I’ll have to be OK with it.”
“Baby, I promise to tell you everything I can.”
“Hmm, I guess I’m OK with that.” She yawned loudly, and her body relaxed into me. “I’ll just have to find a secret to keep from you so we’re even,” she teased.
“So that’s how it’s going to be, huh?”
“I guess you’ll just have to wait and see. Now let me sleep, Demon. Someone wore me out earlier.”
I chuckled under my breath and closed my eyes. “I love you, Paige. And whoever got to wear you out earlier is one lucky son of a bitch.”
“We both are,” she whispered.
I had to agree. We were both fucking lucky to have found our way back to each other.
________
Chapter 24
Paige
“Holy hell, now this is a cabin.”
“I know, right? I called Lo this morning and told him I was never coming home. This place is the bomb dot com.”
Fayth choked on her coffee and slammed her cup down on the counter. “You did not just say bomb dot com. Did we just flashback to the nineties?” she asked.
“Sure did.” Meg winked at Fayth and refilled her cup. “And FYI, Lo said no to moving here. He went on and on about all the things we would miss about Rockton because he didn’t realize I was joking. At least a little bit,” Meg giggled.
“So, did either of you find out what in the hell is going on?” Fayth asked.
“No, Demon said he can’t tell me,” I pouted.
“Same here, Lo’s lips are sealed for the time being. He just kept telling me that it was for the best.”
“Ugh, you two are no help. I’ll have to call Leo and see if he’ll tell me anything.” Fayth grabbed her phone and headed out onto the front porch, and I grabbed a cup down from the cabinet.
I had tried this morning to get more info out of Demon, but that man was locked down like Fort Knox. I had even woken him up with a way he used to love and still nothing. I wondered if my blow skills had wavered in the past seven years. Although Demon’s growling and moaning had me thinking that wasn’t the case.
“You talk to Gwen yet?” Meg asked as she pulled the stool out from under the island and plopped down on it.
I held my cup up to my mouth and blew on the hot chocolate. “No. Demon said I needed to call her, but I don’t know if I’m ready for that. I know she has a million and one questions, and she has every right to have those questions, but I don’t think I’m up to answering them.”
“You can’t blame her, Paige. I mean we were all blown away when we found out that you and Demon were once a thing. I swear Gwen shit a brick when she found out.”
I pushed off the counter and wandered over to the big patio door. “It was something in my past that I thought was going to firmly stay there. Hell, when I had first seen Demon again, I prayed that the past would stay there and not come back.”
“But now you’re happy that he’s back, right?”
A smile spread across my lips, and I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of me. “I think happy might be an understatement.”
“Alright, now that’s what I’m talking about,” Meg laughed.
“But…”
“Uh oh. A but is never good unless, ya know, it’s Lo’s naked ass.”
I looked over my shoulder at her and shook my head. “You really are a trip, Meg.”
“I know. Gotta have fun,” she winked. “Now, tell me what this but is all about.”
I sighed and leaned against the cold glass. “He’s not telling me anything about what is going on. I feel like I’m wandering around, knowing that something bad is happening, but I don’t know what it is.”
“Girl, I felt the same way right before Lo and I got
married. He’s so secretive with everything with the club that it scared me that he was keeping everything from me.”
I sighed and turned around to look at Meg. “That’s exactly how I feel, and with us just getting back together and having to get over all the things that happened before, I just don’t know if I can handle this.”
“Paige, there really isn’t a lot I can say. The only person that made me feel better was Lo. I believe and trust in him, and that means I have to blindly believe that he is doing everything he can to keep me safe.”
“But, Meg, I plan everything. I thrive on knowing what is going on and structure. I know being with Demon means he doesn’t plan, and he flies by the seat of his pants. I remember from when we were together before that is how he operates. But now I feel like I have the club making decisions for me, and I have no idea what is going on. I feel like I’m one breath away from having a panic attack and heading for the hills.”
“I know this seems like a lot, but you have to just trust him, Paige. There is so much going on that it is for the best that we don’t know. Did Demon tell you anything?” Meg asked.
“He told me about Big A, the assassins, and everything that happened with Cyn. Which by the way, I need to make sure I give her a big ol’ hug the next time I see her.”
“Then you basically know everything I do. And, you’ll have to get around Rigid to give her a hug,” Meg tsked. “With each passing day, that man gets more and more protective of her and the baby.”
“How far along is she?”
“Six months.”
“Only three months to go. Do they know what they are having?”
Meg rolled her eyes and kicked her feet up on the stool next to her. “No. They both decided they want to wait till the baby comes to know, but they are driving me insane. Cyn wants a boy and Rigid wants a girl. I swear I hear at least three times a day them arguing about what the baby is. I tried telling them if they would just find out, they could put a sock in it.”
“I think I would want it to be a surprise, too.”
Meg rolled her eyes and held her cup out to me. “You’re just as crazy as her. Fill me up?”
I grabbed the pot of coffee and topped off her mug. “Eh, I say that now, but when I get pregnant again, I might change my mind.”
Meg’s eyes bugged out, and she slapped her hand over her mouth. “Again?! You were pregnant before?” she gasped.
Shit. Double shit. How in the hell was I going to talk my way out of this one? “Uh…” Jesus, I sound like a regular genius. “I was… we were… Demon and…”
I didn’t think it was possible, but Meg’s eyes bugged out even more. “Demon,” she gasped.
I think we were up to triple shit now. Why the hell did I say Demon’s name? I could have played it off that it was, I don’t know, a one night stand or something and lead her off the trail of Demon and I. But no, I was an idiot. “You can’t tell anyone,” I ordered as I pointed my finger at her.
“Oh my God! Gwen doesn’t know, does she? Holy hell, she is going to flip when she finds out!” Meg reached for her phone, but I snatched it out of her hand as I dove at the counter.
“You will not tell anyone this, Meg. You have to swear on King’s life.”
“Paige, this is huge. Why the hell wouldn’t you want your sister to know?”
I shoved her phone in my pocket and leaned against the counter. “Because it was a long time ago, Meg. Demon and I are both trying to move on and telling everyone won’t really help.”
“But, Paige, that must have been awful. Is that why you and Demon broke up? Did he really cheat on you or was that all a cover?”
“He didn’t cheat on me really…”
“What the hell does that mean?”
I ran my fingers through my hair and closed my eyes. Jesus, I was going to have to tell her everything. “It means I was pregnant, and Demon and I were so happy that we were walking on air. I lost the baby three weeks later, and Demon and I lost each other not much longer after that. We both stopped talking to each other, Demon blaming me for losing the baby, and I felt like he didn’t want me anymore. We had a big fight, Demon went to the clubhouse, and I walked in on him with two girls. He wasn’t touching, just watching, but it still hurt like hell.” I opened my eyes and looked at Meg. “I can’t believe I told you all that.”
“I… I don’t…” She shook her head and planted her hands on the counter. “How in the hell did you just condense that down to six sentences? That is like a damn soap opera right there,” Meg laughed. “But for the record, if that was King, and I walked in on him whacking his tallywacker to two chicks, I can tell you he wouldn’t have a tallywacker to whack anymore.”
“Yeah, well, that is the really condensed version and believe me, it took all my willpower not to snatch his tallywacker off,” I laughed. “So, do you now see why I don’t want to tell Gwen? It’s a whole lot of drama that is over, and I don’t want to talk about anymore.”
“I get it, but, wow, that is a lot, Paige. Are you sure you’re even over what happened back then? Losing a baby is hard, but losing a baby and then losing the one person you love on top of that is crazy. I don’t know how you made it through that without telling anyone.”
“Trust me, it wasn’t easy. I moved back home, and it tore me apart, but I just couldn’t tell Gwen or my aunt.”
“And now you really don’t want to tell Gwen, because you know she’ll kill Demon and get Gambler to help hide the body.”
“There could be that, too,” I mumbled.
Meg threw her head back, laughing. “I don’t envy you at all. Gwen is going to be all over you like white on rice wanting to know what is going on with you and Demon.”
“And I’ll tell her. Parts of it. At least what has happened in the past month or so. Look, Demon and I have moved on from that and are trying to just look at the future.”
“Well,” Meg said as she raised her mug. “I wish you luck because you are going to need it. Not with Demon, but with Gwen.”
I clinked my glass against her’s, and I couldn’t help but agree. “Well, how long do you think it’s going to take for the guys to come back with wood for the fireplace?”
“At least a little bit longer. They took Remy along so he could be the muscle,” Meg laughed. “I swear he’s growing like a damn weed lately. He’s going to be taller than Lo soon.”
“You definitely have your hands full with him. What, he’s only seventeen, right?”
“Soon to be eighteen and off to college. He was planning on going to the local tech school, but now he’s thinking about going out of state. I’m trying to not have a panic attack just thinking about it.”
“He’ll be fine. I went to school out of state.”
“You do know you just told me a story of how you got pregnant, lost the baby, and then went home, right?” Meg laughed.
Whoops. “Uh, yeah. But that won’t happen to Remy. He’s got a good head on his shoulders.”
Meg rolled her eyes and took a sip from her mug. “You think Fayth is going to get any info from Leo?”
“I don’t know. I barely know her, but she seems to have an edge to her that I don’t want to cross.”
“That’s probably the mafia coming out of her. She seems real nice, but I have a feeling that Fayth has seen some things that have made her into who she is.”
“You’re right about that.”
“You think I can have my phone back now?” Meg reached her hand out. “Gimme, gimme.”
“Only if you promise not to tell Gwen.”
Meg rolled her eyes but held her hand to her heart. “Scout honor. I promise not to tell Gwen what you should tell Gwen.”
I reached into my pocket and set it in her hand. “I think I agree,” I laughed.
“I’m gonna call Lo and see if I can bribe him into telling me what’s going on with daily bj’s for the rest of the year.” Meg winked and headed up the stairs.
I folded my arms over my chest and gazed out
the patio door. Demon, Slider, and Remy were headed around the side of the house, each of them with their arms full of wood.
I couldn’t believe that I had opened my mouth and told Meg, well, everything. “Gah, stupid,” I whispered. Now I had to tell Demon that I had opened my big mouth because when you talked to Meg, you felt like you could tell her anything. Damn her trusting ways.
“Hey, baby,” Demon called as he peeked his head in the door. “You think you can get a fresh pot of coffee going for us?”
“Um, sure. No problem.” I grabbed the carafe and stuck it under the faucet.
“You OK?” he asked.
“Yeah, just a bit tired.”
“Better get your energy up. I plan on wearing you out again tonight,” Demon winked and closed the door.
I set the coffee pot under the coffee maker and banged my head against the cabinet. Now I had to figure out if I wanted to tell him that Meg knew about the baby, before or after I let him have his way with me.
Definitely after.
________
Chapter 25
Demon
“Head on in and let your mom know that we’re back, Remy.” Remy nodded his head at my words and climbed the steps of the front porch and headed into the house.
“So you think you can finally tell me what the hell you know?” Slider asked as he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and popped it into the corner of his mouth.
“Well, apparently Big A has taken a shine to sending letters to King. Every day for the past two weeks. At first, King brushed them off, but in the past couple of days, Big A has upped his threats big time.”
“Jesus Christ,” Slider said with the cigarette hanging out of his mouth. “You think this fucking clown would get a goddamn clue and just fucking disappear.” I held out my light to him, but he shook his head. “I don’t light it.”
“Then what the hell do you have the damn thing in your mouth for?” I asked.
Slider ripped it out of his mouth and threw it on the ground. “Fucking Fayth,” he growled. “Damn woman had me doing shit I never thought I’d do.”
“Hold on, Fayth has you chewing on an unlit cigarette?” I laughed.
Fighting Demon: Devil's Knights Series Page 15