So how did he go from feeling like a million dollars to feeling like loose change? As soon as Jade woke up, he could sense something was amiss. That sparkle that stayed in her eyes, seemingly just for him, that glittering look that kept him alive was gone. In its place there was something hollow and fake. Her smile looked like her normal one, but Gideon could see that it never quite reached her eyes. Her chipper good morning wasn't filled with the buttery warmth it usually contained, instead, it felt brittle. But the most frustrating thing was that the farce was well crafted. Gideon could not find one single thing to call her out on to force her into a corner to make her tell him what the fuck was going on, and he tried heaven help him. Every time he asked her if she was ok, or did she sleep all right, all he got was that fucking bland smile and brittle response.
Was it his dick?! Did seeing his dick cause all of this?
Scrubbing a hand over his face in agitation, he forced himself to pay attention to the road.
A chime from his phone went off. The phone was sitting in one of the lower cubby holes between their seats.
"Can you look at that?" he asked. It was probably a notification for tomorrow's shipment in Vegas. Since they had just dropped off their last trailer in Boulder City, Nevada, they were riding free for the moment.
Picking up his phone, Jade tapped the screen and read the message aloud. "Cindy Dorthenger says she misses your sexy buns," Jade repeated merrily.
Gideon nearly choked. Glancing at her, his heart dropped, and anger began to simmer at Jade's too cheery expression.
"Did you want me to reply back or anything?" she asked helpfully.
Normally, Gideon couldn’t even look at another girl without Jade sulking or running off to pout. Any other time she probably would have deleted the message or tried to block the girl. He loved those moments of petty jealousy. It was pathetic, yes, he knew that, but for fuck's sake, they were all he had.
Gideon could feel his temperature rise, and his hands go clammy around the steering wheel's grip. Don't get angry, he told himself over and over again.
"No," he grumbled. And then a petty part of himself added. "I'll reply to her later," he lied.
He held his breath as he stared at the traffic ahead of him, waiting and hoping for her response. Dear God, let her respond like normal. He rather soothe jealousy any day than deal with indifference.
"Ok," she replied brightly, setting down his phone.
Dear God, just kill him then and there. Breaking the truck, as other's slowed down in front of him, he turned to Jade hotly, unable to keep this pretense up any longer.
"What the fuck, Jade? What the hell-"
Jade pointed out the window suddenly, her face a mask of horror. "Gideon look out!" she cried.
He did not see the large cement block sitting in the middle of the lane in time.
Chapter 9
"So off sight, it only looks like the spindle on your driver's side got damaged, but if you take a closer look here," the mechanic pointed a greasy finger to the tablet where a photo was pulled up. "You will see that the axel and plate are all out of whack too."
Gideon closed his eyes. Standing with both fists balled on either side of his hips, he tried to reign in his anger. Hitting that fucking cement block felt like they had hit another vehicle. Jade's scream had echoed throughout the cabin, and all Gideon could do was pray that they didn't wreck, pray that nothing happened to Jade. Thankfully, at least, God came through on the second part of that prayer, he thought bitterly. The truck, however, was a different story.
Right away, Gideon could feel the change in the truck as he took the next exit. He could hear the terrible grind in his tire and could feel the displacement of the alignment. He cursed like a black storm as they limped the truck along. Jade immediately called Toby, who was currently hauling a load to New Mexico, and like a man donning a hero's cape for the women he pined for, Toby thankfully directed them to a garage he had used in the past.
"You’re looking at about three thousand for the axel, spider plate, and spindle replacement as well at the alignment," the man said, running that same grimy hand thoughtfully through his shaggy greying beard.
"Tell me that includes labor?" Gideon asked darkly.
He was prepared to strangle the man if he gave him even one additional piece of shit news. All that scrimping and saving only for this to happen. Without even thinking, his gaze shifted to the glass window at the other end of the garage, looking out into the waiting room. Sitting on the old, tattered chair, Jade sat holding up the phone to her ear and biting her nail as she presumably listened to Toby on the other end. Gideon wanted to roll his eyes, the man was probably trying to reassure her and give her comforting words. And as pathetic as that was, all that fucking did was piss Gideon off more.
"Oh yeah," the mechanic laughed. "It includes it. I even gave you a bit of a discount being Toby's friend and all."
Gideon couldn’t stop the annoyed grunt from slipping past. "So, Toby's a good customer, I take it?" he asked, though he didn't give not one shit.
Throwing down the tablet onto a nearby metal workbench, the mechanic turned to the blue pearlescent truck that was not only Gideon's and Jade's livelihood but their home. It pained him beyond words to see it here like this.
"Heck yeah, he is. Toby likes to gamble like a bird likes to fly. That man goes to Vegas damn near every month and blows big money, so much so the big hotels out there put him up for free," the mechanic laughed as he began flipping through a Volvo parts catalog for Gideon's truck. "And each time he drops his truck off here for any needed maintenance."
Nodding, Gideon spied an open doorway in the back. He wasn't ready to go back to the waiting room yet, not ready to face Jade.
"So, about three days tops, right?" Gideon asked, trying and failing to stamp down the note of warning in his voice. If the man changed his mind and said longer Gideon wasn't sure what he was going to do to him.
Not looking up from the catalog, the man nodded. "Yep, you’re lucky, got a Volvo supplier right up the street."
Lucky his ass, Gideon thought darkly as he trudged his way through the open, shining doorway. Walking through, he took a deep breath of the fresh outside air and leaned against the wall. Fuck! He wanted to yell. To howl out the rage boiling in his veins. Repair costs, losing the nice paying load, and now three nights of hotel costs. His hands were shaking with the need to punch something.
Hearing voices around the building's corner, Gideon opened one eye and looked at the two young grease monkeys talking. They ignored Gideon and continued towards a pair of worn looking chairs further down for their cigarette break.
"Yeah, man, I'm telling you, my buddy Travis just did it the other day," one guy said as he flicked the rolling spark-wheel to his lighter unsuccessfully a few times before finally lighting the cigarette.
"So, what? What did he do? Did he steal anything or trash it?"
"Naw, he didn't fucking trash it. What the fuck, man?" The first guy shook his head and stared at the other guy like he was a savage. "No, he just likes going in and filming them for his anonymous YouTube channel. Here let me show you," the first guy leaned to the side in the battered chair and pulled out his phone from his pocket before typing on it and turning it sideways. "See," he said, offering the phone to the other guy. "He just breaks into those nice ass houses in Henderson or at Lake Las Vegas and films shit he sees."
"So how the fuck does he get in, though?"
"Man, that's the thing," he said excitedly. "Those rich fuckers don't lock all their doors. He usually gets in via a sliding door or an unlocked window. Hell, once the backdoor was unlocked on one of them."
"And they don’t have alarms or anything?" The other guy asked suspiciously, obviously not believing what he was hearing.
"Yeah, man, Travis calls it hubris or something. Man, I don't know, but you can see here it works, though," he added smugly.
Looking back to the phone, the other guy took a drag of his cigarette and nodded,
seemingly convinced by the video. "Yeah, I guess so."
~
"Gideon, where are we going?" Jade whispered to him for the third time.
They were sitting on a bus heading in the direction he looked up on his phone. The Nevada sky was painted in fiery oranges and reds bursting across the pale blue sky from the edge of the skyline like the last angry reaches of a thrashing sun that did not want to go down. In a few minutes, probably less than an hour, the surrounding desert would be dark and much cooler.
Looking from the window, he looked back down at her and stifled a grin. She looked ridiculous holding that damn pressure cooker in her lap. He had told her to pack her bag with everything she would need for a few days. What he did not expect was for her to take the damn Instant Pot she loved with her. Now she sat next to him on a half-empty bus clutching the large black and silver pressure cooker in her lap like any minute someone was going to snatch it away.
"I told you, you'll see when we get there," he whispered back.
Ire sparked to light in her hazel gaze, and he knew she was quite unhappy about his secrecy. But Gideon forced himself to endure it a bit longer. There was no way he could tell her his plans yet.
After a few more minutes, the bus finally stopped at the stop his map app in his phone indicated and helped her up with her stupid pot and exited the bus.
Standing on the sidewalk, they both looked around the quiet neighborhood. The last vestiges of light were quickly fading over the terracotta roofs of the fancy houses around them. Looking at his map once more, Gideon looked to his right and began to walk down the sidewalk.
"Gideon, I'm serious, just what are we doing?" Jade ran up beside him and gave him a desperate look. "Please, talk to me. I know you're angry about the accident, and I know it will push our plans back a little, but—"
"I just want to see if something I heard pans out, that's all," he said, cutting her off.
"Gideon, please," her tone was desperate, and it killed him to hear it. “I'm tired, I want to go lay down, and Toby sent me the vouchers he had for two free night stays in downtown Vegas. This is nowhere near that, I think. I thought we were going there to—"
"No," he snapped, and he could feel her flinch next to him.
He was making his way to the large stately house at the end of the lane. Out of all the pictures he saw online, it looked just as good as any to try. Besides, he thought, the local gossip blogs said it was recently bought by some business tycoon bachelor and that most likely meant there was hardly any chance he was there right now.
Glancing down at her, pain jabbed in Gideon's chest at the sight of her hurt expression as she struggled to keep up with his long strides while holding that damn pot. He wanted to grab it from her and carry it himself, but he knew Jade, she would fight him for it. She would redirect her anger into stubborn pride and not let go of the stupid thing.
Sighing, he ran a hand along the back of his neck as he stopped near a couple of trees along the front of the rod iron gate of the mansion.
Gideon gave her a serious look. "I'm tired, Jade," he began. "I'm tired of playing by the rules and keep losing. I should've put Ron into a coma when he first stepped out of line. I should've told mom she was being weak like she always has been, and it was past time to grow the fuck up. I should have never let us run away and—"
Shocked, Jade shook her head with an expression. "No, Gideon," shifting the cooker into one arm, she placed her hand comfortingly against his chest.
Gideon looked down at her hand and placed his on top of it. That day when he kissed her, he shouldn't have stopped, he said only to himself. He was tired of playing it safe with her and life. He needed to take control again to grab it with both hands and not let go. Looking down at her worried face, he gave her a tired smirk. Life would have to be first, and then once he had it back under his control again and going in the right direction, he then was going to have to have a long talk with his sister.
Chapter 10
"Gideon," Jade's hiss echoed off the tall walls of the shadowy grand living room. "We shouldn’t be doing this!"
Overlooking her fearful face, Gideon turned around in place, taking in the massive house. Inside the mansion, it was so quiet every footstep seemed to echo off the marble floors. With just one couch, a rug and no paintings, pictures, or anything else hanging off the towering white walls, the place felt empty.
Feeling the mounting pressure of her stare on the back of his head, Gideon inhaled and exhaled heavily before turning around. Jade was still standing by the sliding glass door that they came through. The pool behind her glowed through the door, eerily outlining her in the dark.
Having got his attention, she gave him a fierce look though it was still lined in fear. "I want to leave right now," she said, pointing to the floor where the pressure cooker sat in front of her feet.
Tired, Gideon leaned on the granite bar counter behind him and gave her a thoughtful look. "You said Toby gave you two free nights at some hotel in Vegas, right?"
"Yes," she waved her phone at him, clearly aggravated. "I've been telling you that since we left the shop. Toby sent me the vouchers in my email."
Something about Toby coming to save the day rankled Gideon, but he knew it was a foolish feeling.
"Yeah, well, that only covers two days, and we need three," he explained and held out his hands. "This can be our third night."
"No, Gideon," Jade stomped. "This is wrong, and we could get caught and go to jail."
He wanted to groan aloud, but he knew she would probably hit him. He wanted to say he had on good authority that they would not get caught, but he doubted a bunch of burnouts and their YouTube buddy would hold up for her. Instead, Gideon simply walked over to her and braced her by each shoulder. It killed him to see the pleading look on her round freckled face silently begging him to understand her.
"Come on, Jade. Let's just for once, just for tonight, do something a little bit reckless in this clearly unlocked and unguarded mansion, and tomorrow we will go back to taking life's balls to the face," he gave her a coaxing grin, but he knew it wasn't his best. He knew she could see the tired stress lining his face.
For a few minutes, she didn't say anything, and he feared she would renew her argument. With a slump to her shoulder, Jade dropped her gaze from his and looked to the ground as she nodded, giving him the softest "ok" he had ever heard. For some reason, that felt a million times worse.
~
Scrubbing both hands up and down his face and back through his hair, he stared at the closed double doors that led to the bedroom. The reckless, throw caution to the wind adventure he had imagined for them when they rode the bus here was not turning out at all as he planned it. Going up the stairs, it had been pretty obvious what room was the master bedroom since all the other doors were single doors. Walking into the master bedroom, he was surprised to find it very bland and empty. There was just a bed inside and absolutely nothing else. A curious part of him wanted to explore the rest of the house together, but when he walked back to the hallway, expecting her to follow, Gideon had found the spot at his side empty.
Standing in the bedroom, Jade slipped off her bag and sat it next to her pressure cooker. Without even looking at him, she just sat on the bed and folded her hands. "I'm going to shower and go to sleep. Wake me up when you're ready to leave."
The dejected-sounding words hit him like bullets. Closing the door behind him, Gideon stomped down the hallway. Could she not give him this?! He thought savagely as anger curled inside of him. Why wasn't she even trying to understand? He was tired, so very fucking tired. He was tired of driving, and he was tired of pretending like everything was fine. They had been on their way to their goal, they had a clear path in mind, and with that, he was making it. If he earned so much and drove so many miles, they would soon get a house together and begin their lives together as one. With each day, he could feel her awareness to him growing. He could feel himself gaining ground. But between this morning's odd distant beh
avior from her and the fucking accident, it felt like he was thrown back to square one and all his work was for nothing.
He couldn't do this, not like this. Not for much longer.
Fine, Gideon thought. He would look around by himself. Walking up to a door, he opened it. The room was empty, not even a bed or a dresser furnished it. The next few rooms were exactly the same, except for one. Jiggling the handle, it did not budge. Glancing down at the knob, he realized unlike all the other matching door knobs down the hall, this one was different; it had a keyhole. Why would anyone lock a door from the outside in their own home?
Ignoring it, he continued through the house. The kitchen wasn't necessarily empty. The pantry had a few canned goods, dry goods, and bottles of wine, but the refrigerator was empty. Walking past the laundry room, Gideon opened a door, and despite its pitch-black interior, he could feel the change in the air and the slight smell of rubber and knew even before he flicked on the light switch to this left that it was a garage. What he did not expect was to see a bright yellow Lamborghini and a shining black Lotus sitting side by side in the three-bay garage. Gideon felt as if his breath stopped completely. Not daring to step forward, he flicked off the switch and quickly closed the door. His heart was still trying to calm itself when he went into the final room across the kitchen, and it immediately spiked at the sight.
A Love So Wrong: A Forbidden Romance Page 17
