by Hart, Eve R.
“You have such little toes,” he said as he pinched my pinky toe lightly between his big fingers. “They’re cute.”
No one had told me I had cute toes before. I wasn’t a big foot person but it was still sweet.
When he was done, he screwed the top back on the bottle and set it on the coffee table.
I flexed my feet so I could see.
“I think I managed to get the nails,” he said with a slightly nervous laugh.
“It’s perfect,” I said with a smile.
Oh, he got the nails alright.
And like half of my toes.
But did I care?
Nope!
Because he had painted my toenails.
He did it even though he had no clue how to do it.
He did it even though he was unsure about it.
He did it just to see me smile.
The rest of the movie went by in silence and I didn’t move my feet from his lap. And it seemed like he didn’t mind at all. I was only guessing from the way he kept his warm hand wrapped around my ankle.
Sure enough, I smiled all through the rest of the movie.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Cable
The movie was done.
Her toes had been painted… poorly, but I wasn’t going to dwell on that.
Now it was time for pizza if I remembered correctly.
“What do you like on your pizza?” I asked as I pulled out my phone and clicked on the order app for my favorite place.
“Oh, I’m not picky,” she replied and went to pull her feet off my lap.
I calmly but quickly wrapped my hand back around her ankle to let her know she could keep them there. Maybe it was a little more forceful than just letting her know. But I didn’t want her to move and I didn’t want to scare her, so I tried to be as gentle as possible.
“Neither am I, so tell me what you want, woman,” I said in a playful tone. The laughter that spilled from her lips was the sweetest sound I’d ever heard.
“Okay, you big brute. Don’t judge me. Green peppers, olives, Italian sausage, and pineapple. And extra sauce, please.” She covered her face with her hands, peeking through her fingers at me. “When Lavinia and I order pizza, we always have to get separate ones. She says my combo is so gross that she can’t even go halfsies with me.”
I looked up as I cocked my head to the side like I was trying to process what she had said.
“Alright,” I said and looked back down at my phone so I could type it in. “Drinks?”
“I have water, juice, and sweet tea.”
“That works,” I replied and hit order after typing in her address.
I put my phone back in my pocket then gave her my full attention. I was going to get to know this woman and I hoped she was alright with that.
“You live here alone?” I asked figuring that was a good place to start.
“No.” She shook her head. “Lavinia is my roommate. We also work at the same diner. She was actually there the day you came to see me. And she was also…”
“One of the girls there that night?” I asked though I was pretty sure I knew that. I’d heard her name a time or two right after shit went down. It was kind of a crazy time but I tried to hold onto the good things. Like how the girl that had been badly beaten lived to walk out of the hospital on her own. Destiny, I believed her name was.
“Right,” she said and there was a sadness that visibly washed over her. “Thank you, for that night. I honestly have no clue how you got there but I’m grateful for it. And the words you said.” Her fingers moved to rub over the tattoo on her wrist. “Obviously.”
“Can I be creepily honest with you?” I asked and was ready to bare my soul for some crazy reason.
She let out a nervous chuckle.
“I guess… I mean it can’t be any worse than some of the shit I’ve been through… right?”
I hoped not.
“I knew about you before I went into that house,” I admitted. I didn’t know how much Sketch told her but I had a feeling it wasn’t much beyond what she needed to know to feel safe. “I’m kind of the guy that everyone at the club comes to if they need something looked into.”
“Yeah, that’s what Sketch told me.”
“Well, he ran into… Monty?” I wasn’t sure what the guy’s name was or how well they knew each other. But her nod was confirmation enough that she knew who I was talking about. “Well, basically, I think he mentioned to Sketch that you were missing again or something. So Sketch asked me to track you down.”
“Oh,” she said and I lost her eyes for a moment. I wondered if maybe Sketch was sort of a sore subject for her even though I knew they were pretty tight right now. He would sometimes talk about her and I got the sense that he came over here a lot.
“He was worried about you,” I quickly added. “We had no idea that you were connected to Keften. It wasn’t until we found out about Andrew that we were able to find him.”
“Let me guess, you found Andrew through the Gilded Rose?” There was a bite to her tone and I suspected it was to cover up something else. Embarrassment? Shame? I wasn’t sure. But whatever it was, I wanted to take it away.
“Yeah.” I didn’t even know how to explain the connection between the club and Petra. “Hey, look at me.”
Her eyes slowly scanned up my body like she was having to force them to meet my own.
“I feel like you know so much about me. You know that I worked at the Gilded Rose and I’m sure you’re not blind to what that place is. And you know Sketch, so I’m sure you know all about the things I did on the streets.”
She was on the verge of tears and I wouldn’t stand for it.
“Claire,” I said softly and reached for her hand. My thumb rubbed back and forth in a soothing motion over her knuckles. “That stuff doesn’t matter to me. I mean that. I want to get to know you, past and all.”
I held back a little because I didn’t want to scare her.
“You sure? It’s not pretty. It’s not great.” She let out a sharp, sarcastic laugh.
“Yes.”
“I don’t know you. Why should I believe you?” she asked and what I got from that question was why she should trust me.
“Because I’m here.” It was a lame answer. I didn’t have anything better that didn’t sound creepy but I hoped to fuck that it worked.
“Okay,” she responded after a long moment of silence. “Go on then. Finish your story.”
So I told her about how I’d come to find her and the other girls that night. I left out a lot of details because she didn’t need to know everything. But I wanted her to know how this whole thing went down.
“I think when I entered that house I was worried most about you. And when I saw you…” How the hell was I supposed to say what went through my mind without sounding like some sick fucker like those men in that room? “I just couldn’t think about anything but getting to you.”
“But why?”
“I don’t really have an answer for that. I just know that when I saw you there, whimpering and laying on that floor, I wanted to do nothing more than to keep you safe.”
Yeah, okay. She was going to kick me out any second now because that shit sounded crazy.
And I started to wonder if I was any better than the men in that room. If I was any better than Andrew and his stalker obsession with her.
“I think I should be freaked out by that,” she said with an odd calm in her tone. Her comment was completely unexpected and caught me a little off guard, but in a good way. And it caused my eyes to snap up to look into hers. “That day you came into the diner, I felt something then. I tried hard to brush it off but I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
“Yeah?” I asked sounding hopeful even to my ears.
“Yeah.” She flashed me a small smile. “Lavinia said I was crazy to let you walk out of that door but I wasn’t ready then. Honestly, I don’t know if I’m ready for anything now either.”
“Tha
t’s okay,” I quickly said. “I’m not asking for anything that you don’t feel like you can give.”
“I’m a mess,” she said sounding sad again.
“You’re beautiful.”
“I have a dark past.”
“I just want to know you,” I said trying to bat her negative thoughts away.
“I feel safe around you.”
“I want nothing more than to protect you.” I was letting my heart run away with my words at this point.
There was a knock at the door, effectively snapping both of us back into reality.
She pulled her feet away from my lap and I didn’t hesitate to jump up and get the pizza.
“Plates?” I asked.
“Left of the stove.”
I walked into the kitchen and smiled as I took in how clean it was. I didn’t know if it was Claire or her roommate that kept it that way but it was nice to see.
I found the plates exactly where she said they’d be. I filled up our plates with pizza. Since they were big slices, that only meant two each.
“Drink?” I called out.
“Water is good. There’s a pitcher in the fridge.”
I grabbed two glasses and filled them up.
It took me a minute how to figure out how to carry everything out there, but eventually, I got it.
As I walked by her dining room table, I notice the laptop sitting there.
Unopened.
Still in the box, cellophane and all.
What?!
I couldn’t understand that. How had she not managed to pull it out and at least touched it?
Okay, I was going to have to say something.
“How long have you had that laptop?” I asked as she took the plates from my hands so I could grab the glasses before I did something clumsy, like drop them.
“Oh, like a month,” she said with a wince.
“A month?!”
“Yeah.”
“And you haven’t even opened it?” I asked not even trying to hide my shock and disappointment.
“Why would I open it when I’m…”
“You’re what?” I took a seat and she handed me one of the plates.
“I’m clueless, okay,” she said with a sigh. “And a little scared. It’s not like that thing was cheap. And sure, I didn’t buy it but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t give a damn.”
“You won’t break it,” I said with a little laugh. I wasn’t laughing at her and I hoped she got that. “I’ll help you. It’s not as scary as you think it is.”
“So you’re like good at that stuff? Sketch said you’re like the club nerd or something.”
I barked out a laugh.
“Yeah. Club nerd. That’s me.” Why try and run from it? It was pretty much my title.
“Is that how you met Sketch?” she asked and then took a big bite of her pizza and moaned. I dug into my own, practically biting off half of one slice at once. “You know, I still haven’t gotten used to how amazing pizza is. It’s a luxury out there and we didn’t get the good kind.”
“This is actually really good,” I said after I swallowed. I was a little skeptical at first but the combination was like an explosion of flavors in my mouth. “Good call with the extra sauce.”
“You really like it? You’re not just fucking with me?”
A sharp, shocked laugh slipped from my throat. I just hadn’t expected her to say something like that.
“Not fuckin’ with you, I promise.”
She smiled like she believed me. Which was good, because I had no plans on lying to her.
“So, the club. Sketch,” she urged again.
“Oh, yeah. That’s where we met.”
“And he’s happy?”
I set my pizza down and gave her my full attention.
“He seems like it,” I answered with a little nod. “He works with Brand, one of our brothers, at the tattoo shop. He’s really good, but I’m sure you know that.”
“I was so mad at him,” she said and her voice got quiet. “I came back and he was gone. I looked for him but I couldn’t find him. I had no idea he was part of that club. No clue he knew how to tattoo. When I searched for him… I just ended up finding out that I didn’t really know him, you know? And I felt abandoned.”
“I’m sorry,” I said softly and placed my hand on her knee. A small smile kicked up my lips when she didn’t flinch or pull away. “I can’t speak for him but I’m sure he never meant for you to feel like that.”
“He was always there. I messed up time and time again. Left time and time again. But he was always there when I came crawling back. He told me that he would be there no matter what. But then he wasn’t and I felt so lost and sad.”
“You didn’t know where he went? At all? You didn’t know that he was part of the club?”
“No,” she said with a quick shake of her head. “Funny story, we used to live in those shipping containers sometimes. Before you guys took over the yard, anyway. I went there looking for him and I was so scared because I didn’t know anything about you guys. I was afraid to get caught. I thought you might hurt me. So when I heard something, I got so scared I just took off.”
She let out a little laugh which caused me to smile.
“Wait…” I said and something tickled the back of my mind.
I whipped out my phone and brought up a video I’d had for a while now. It bugged me that I couldn’t ever figure out who was in the container yard that night. That was what made us redo all the security and get better cameras over there.
So as strange as it was, I’d watched that video a few times since then, trying to see if there was something I missed.
“Is this you?” I asked and flipped my phone around so she could see.
She squinted and then her eyes got really wide.
“Yeah. How?”
“We had cameras there,” I answered with a shrug. “Just to keep an eye on the place. Actually, we thought you might have been trouble.” I let out a short laugh because…
“I guess I kind of can be.”
“No,” I said moving to tuck her hair behind her ear. It didn’t stay, but I didn’t really think it would. Maybe I just wanted an excuse to touch it. “You got rid of the blue.” I didn’t mean to say that out loud.
Her hair was still short, but shorter than it was when she’d been caught up in the Keften shit. It was more like it had been in the driver’s license I’d first gotten my glimpse of her from.
I couldn’t remember if she had any color in it when all that Keften stuff was going on. It wasn’t like the blue was all that noticeable since her hair was jet black and all.
“Oh,” she let out a laugh. “I haven’t had blue in it for… how did you know?”
“Sorry,” I mumbled. I hadn’t even thought about it. I hoped what I was about to say didn’t sound too creepy. “I saw the driver’s license picture. From when Sketch was trying to find you. It was the first image I saw of you.”
“I liked the color,” she said not really addressing the fact that I’d looked into her.
“Me too.”
We ate our slices in silence from then on.
As much as I wanted to spend all day with her, I didn’t want to crowd her too much.
“Well, I will let you get back to enjoying your relaxing day off,” I said as I got to my feet.
“Okay.” I was pretty sure there was a hint of disappointment in her tone. “Yeah, sure. Thanks for stopping by and hanging out and all. Oh, and my toes.”
“I had a really good time, Claire. I hope we can do it again, soon. I’ll help you with your laptop next time. Get you all set up.” I flashed her a genuine smile.
“I’d like that. Thank you, Cable.”
“Come on. Up,” I said as I reached out and pulled her to her feet. “Hugs.”
I smiled because she didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around my waist. With one last quick squeeze, I let her go.
“I’ll see you soon,” I said and then made my way t
o the door.
“Bye, Cable,” she said right before she closed the door behind me.
Well, that went a lot better than I thought it would.
Damn. That was pretty fucking awesome.
I liked spending time with her. A fuck of a lot. I couldn’t wait to see her again.
I was trying to take it slow but I really just wanted to wrap her up in my arms and keep her there.
But for now, I’d take little bits at a time and let this thing between us grow.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Cable
“Hey,” Iron said as he walked into my room not even bothering to knock.
It didn’t bother me. If I needed privacy I figured I could lock my door.
“Hey. What’s going on?” I asked but didn’t make a move to get up from my relaxed position on my bed where I was sitting propped up against my headboard.
“Nothin’,” he said and over the top of my book, I could see him lower his body down into the chair in the corner.
“So, you just came in here to hang out?” I eyed him skeptically.
“Yep,” he answered shortly.
Placing the bookmark in between the pages, I snapped my book shut and gave him my full attention.
“I don’t have an answer right now,” he said before I even opened my mouth.
“I didn’t ask a question.” I raised a brow in his direction.
“Well, whatever one you were going to ask, I’m tellin’ you now, that I don’t have an answer for it.” He blew out a long breath as his head fell back against the chair. He stared blindly up at the ceiling.
“Okay,” I said and opened my book again.
I continued to read.
I figured maybe he just needed a quiet place to hide out.
So I wasn’t going to bug him even though I wanted to make sure he was okay.
My mind drifted off as my eyes continued to scan the pages.
Iron was always there for us. Always looking out for us. But who was looking out for him?
Sure, we all had his back and we’d more than likely do anything he ever asked because we trusted him. Was that good enough though? We generally didn’t go around asking if he was doing alright like he did with us. We didn’t stop to check on him. Hell, with as much as I trusted him, I didn’t really know him. I didn’t know much about his background other than what he shared. Which wasn’t a whole lot.
