Unraveling Fayth (Devil's Knights Book 8) Read online

  “How about we never talk about Cyn’s tits again,” Slider mumbled.

  “That’s the most intelligent thing you’ve said all day, Slider,” Rigid replied and hit him upside the head. “And I never want any of you fuckers to say Cyn and the word ‘tits’ in the same sentence again,” Rigid barked.

  Rigid and Slider walked back out the door, and I turned over on my side to watch them maneuver the couch into the house. They had figured out how to get it in through the door, and in no time, the three-piece sectional was put together, and Marco and Remy were sprawled out on it.

  “That fits perfectly in here,” Meg called. “Definitely more room to sit down now.”

  “We still need to grab the kitchen table and chairs. Come on, guys.” King knocked Remy’s feet off of the couch. “You two can lay around after we get everything moved in.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Remy grumbled. He sat up and followed King out the door with Marco behind him.

  I stood and moved over to the couch. I fluffed the cushions, straightening them and then sat down.

  “Are they gone?” Cyn asked. She looked over at me, and I gave her a thumbs up. “Oh hell. I’m sorry. I’m an ass for assuming you can talk. I keep forgetting.” Cyn stood, tucked her boob back in her shirt, and put Micha over her shoulder.

  I shrugged. I couldn’t be mad at her. Hell, half of the time I forgot that no words came out of my mouth. It wasn’t a normal occurrence for someone who used to be able to talk to suddenly stop.

  I held out my arms and wiggled my fingers, silently begging for Cyn to let me hold Micha.

  “He’s all yours,” she laughed and laid him in my arms. “I’m gonna go grab a plate of food before the guys descend on it and devour it all. Do you want me to bring you a plate?” She walked over to the island where Meg was laying out all of the food.

  I waited for her to look at me and nodded.

  “I really need to remember you can’t talk.”

  “It was nice to see you make an ass of yourself and not me for once,” Meg said and pulled a couple of bowls out of the fridge.

  “Hey, I was just feeding my kid. Slider was the one who made an ass of himself.” Cyn grabbed two plates and piled them up with food. “Besides, you’ll never live down the coffeepot with Marley.”

  “Pfft, please. I think you and I wrecking a bed is in the top for most embarrassing shit we’ve done,” Meg replied and scoffed.

  “True, true,” Cyn agreed. “Although, that ended with you getting that huge-ass bed for cheap.”

  King walked in the front door with an end table “Cheap? That thing was far from cheap. Over a grand for a bed that I had to fucking fix is not cheap.” King set the end table next to the recliner, and I knew as soon as everyone left, I was going to have to rearrange everything.

  Meg rolled her eyes. “Please, you told me last night that bed was best money you’ve ever spent.”

  King looked over his shoulder and saw Marco and Remy walk in. “You know damn well why I said that last night. If you can’t remember why, I’ll remind you again tonight.” King winked at Meg and headed back out the door.

  “Jesus, I can’t wait ‘til I go to college and I don’t have to go to bed with my headphones on,” Remy mumbled to Marco.

  I looked at Meg to see if she had heard Remy, but she was talking to Cyn about chicken. I silently laughed, and I couldn’t help but think that Remy going to bed with headphones on was hilarious but also slightly embarrassing. I guess one of the good things about living with Leo was the house was so big that we never ran into those problems.

  The guys came in with the rest of the furniture and quickly had it all set up.

  “Here ya go,” Cyn sang and sat down next to me.

  Micha had fallen back asleep snuggled into my arms. I beamed at her, hoping she would figure out what I was trying to tell her. Her little guy was so adorable that I could hold him all day if she let me.

  “You want me to take him so you can eat?” Rigid offered.

  I shook my head no and held Micha closer to me. I wasn’t going to give this baby up without a fight.

  “Uh oh. I know that look. You’re getting a fever, Fayth,” Meg joked and sat down next to Cyn.

  “Fever?” Slider asked, concerned.

  “Yup, baby fever,” Meg laughed.

  “Don’t worry, Meg had that too, but as soon as the little monster starts crying or needs his diaper changed, she’s eager to give him back,” Cyn laughed.

  “Hey, that’s because I’m the fun aunt. I’m here to do cool shit with, like go-carting and possibly playing mailbox baseball.” Meg took a bite of chicken and pointed her chicken leg at King. “Speaking of that, we need to see where Remy’s bat is.”

  “Meg,” King said and shook his head. “No mailbox baseball. Can’t you be the aunt to teach him how to bake, not destroy stuff?”

  “Hell no. What fun is that?” Meg scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Amateurs. I’ve done this aunt gig three fucking times before with my sister. Trust me when I say I got this shit locked down.”

  “You do realize how many times you swore in that sentence, right? But you give the guys hell if they even say damn.” King pointed his finger at Meg. “Get that shit locked down.”

  “Don’t say shit,” Meg scolded.

  King tossed his hands up in the air. “I seriously don’t know what to do with your mom,” he said to Remy.

  “Just agree with her. It’s for the best.” Remy patted King on the shoulder, grabbed his plate piled high with food, and followed Marco out to the garage. Apparently, hanging out with the adults wasn’t cool.

  “See, as much as you like to think that Remy is on your side, he’s on mine. I gave that boy life,” Meg laughed.

  “I’m only on your side in hopes that you’ll stop talking,” Remy called before he shut the door to the garage.

  “Hey!” Meg protested.

  “Checkmate,” Slider mumbled. “The kid has the last word.”

  “Hey, no one asked the peanut gallery,” Meg said. She popped up from the couch and beelined it over to King.

  “Oh hell, here we go. She’s gonna give him hell,” Cyn laughed.

  Meg set her plate down, started talking with her hands, and went off on King.

  Rigid stood in front of me with his arms held out. “I’ll take the boy.”

  I held him close and shook my head.

  “Give him up, woman.”

  Cyn elbowed me. “Just give him up. I’ll come over this week without overprotective father here, and I’ll let you hold him the whole time.”

  “I’m not overprotective,” Rigid protested and grabbed Micha out of my arms. “I just missed my boy.”

  “Funny how you don’t miss your boy in the middle of the night when he wakes up wet, or hungry.”

  “I don’t have the right equipment to feed him,” Rigid argued and winked at Cyn.

  “Oh trust me, in two weeks, we’ll both have the same equipment to feed him. A bottle.”

  Rigid rolled his eyes and gently rocked Micha in his arms. “We’ll see about that.”

  “Oh, we certainly will.” Cyn smirked.

  I grabbed the plate Cyn had brought me and munched on the chicken and salads as I listened to everyone talk around me. I couldn’t count how many times I wished I could join in the conversation, but nothing would come out. Slider’s eyes stayed on me the whole time while he ate, and he barely spoke.

  “That’s it, we’re going,” Meg called from the kitchen.

  I had just finished eating and stood from the couch, wondering why they were leaving already.

  Rigid laid Micha in his carrier. “Us too. We need to get the little guy home for his bath.”

  Cyn sighed and stood next to me. “The man may drive me crazy with his overprotectiveness, but I can say with no doubt that he is one damn good dad.”

  I smiled at her and was glad she had someone like that. Raising a child with no father was a hard task I hoped Cyn never had to go through.

/>   “I’ll leave all of the leftovers,” Meg called and started Saran-wrapping everything. “I’ll put the extra food I bought in the fridge and pantry, Fayth, but I know you’ll want to arrange things where you want them.” Meg opened the fridge and put a few containers on the top shelf.

  “How many chickens were left?” Cyn asked, grabbing the baby carrier.

  “Only half. I swear Marco and Remy ate a chicken a piece.” Meg shook her head and shut the fridge door. “The only good thing about him going to school in Chicago is my grocery bill will be cut in half.”

  “You say that now, until he calls you every week and gives you a sob story of how he doesn’t have any food,” King laughed.

  Meg shrugged. “He’s my baby.”

  “He is far from a baby, Meg.” King put his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close.

  “He’ll always be my baby,” she whispered. King pressed a kiss to the side of her head, and she burrowed into his side.

  “All right, we’re out. We’ll get together this week, Fayth.” Cyn waved and left out the front door with Rigid following behind her.

  “Later,” Rigid called.

  “I’ll grab Remy and meet you out by the truck.” Meg pulled out of King’s arm. “I’ll come over with Cyn. We can catch up then.” Meg squeezed my arm, waved to Slider, and headed out to the garage.

  “That woman isn’t going to know what to do with herself when Remy goes off to college,” King sighed. “It’s a miracle she’s letting him go that far.”

  Slider began gathering dirty plates and dumped them into the sink. “He’ll do good. He’s got a good head on his shoulders.”

  “It’s not him I’m worried about,” King laughed. “I’ll see you at the shop tomorrow.” He grabbed a couple of chips and popped them into his mouth. “Things are picking up with the nice weather coming. Lots of bikes scheduled for this week.”

  Slider nodded. “I need to get mine up and running too.”

  “It’s about damn time.” King clapped him on the shoulder and nodded to me. “It was good seeing you again, Fayth,” he muttered.

  “I can get the dishes,” Slider said as King walked out the door.

  I shook my head and grabbed the dirty bowl out of his hands. He had moved in all of my furniture, there was no need for him to clean up from dinner too. I pointed at the TV and moved to the sink. I searched for my pad of paper but remembered I had thrown it at Slider in the garage.

  “I’ll go grab your paper,” Slider said, reading my mind. He disappeared into the garage, and I turned on the water to fill the sink.

  “Here, Firecracker.” Slider slid the notebook across to the counter to me and turned to open the fridge.

  I got the dishes. Go watch TV or whatever.

  Slider grabbed a beer out of the fridge, popped the top, and I slid the notebook back down to him.

  “What is considered as whatever?”

  I shrugged. I had no idea what he did when he was at home, but I knew I didn’t want to get in his way.

  “I really ain’t got much to do.”

  Well, he needed to find something else to do besides watch me do the dishes. Go take Marco for a ride in your car.

  “If I take him for a ride, he’s going to beg me to let him drive.”

  Then don’t let him drive. You’re the adult, Slider.

  “Some days, it don’t feel like it,” he laughed and ran his fingers through his hair. He set his beer down and grabbed a set of keys off the top of the fridge. “I guess I’ll finish my beer when we get back.”

  Slider opened up the door to the garage and hollered for Marco. “Start it, don’t move it,” he ordered and tossed the keys at him.

  I heard Marco shout “hell yeah” before Slider shut the door. “You need anything while we are out?”

  Ice cream? I was an absolute sucker for ice cream. Specifically, chocolate ice cream.

  “Chocolate? Vanilla? Strawberry?” Slider asked.

  I held up one finger.

  “Chocolate?”

  I nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

  “Good, you can come with and pick out just the right one.” Slider crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter.

  What? Why?

  “I told you I’m not leaving your side, Fay. I meant it. If you want me to take Marco for a ride, you need to come with.”

  I motioned to the dishes. Who in the hell was going to do the dishes while we were off joyriding?

  “They’ll still be here when we come back, and Marco and I will help you with them.”

  Ha. That’s funny. Marco would find every excuse possible not to do the dishes.

  “Scout’s honor.” Slider help up his hand. “And I was a scout. I can show you my badges later,” he said, winking at me. “One ride, we’ll grab some ice cream, and then we’ll be back in plenty of time to clean up.”

  I shook my head no and turned off the water. Slider was being a bit overprotective. Big A was in jail, and there wasn’t any more danger. I’ll be fine for a half an hour by myself, I wrote.

  “I’m sure you will be, Firecracker, but I’m not willing to take the risk that you might not be. The sooner you get in the car, the sooner we’ll be back.”

  “Are you ready?” Marco asked excitedly and bound into the kitchen. “You didn’t say which car, so I tried both of them before I figured out it was the Corvette.”

  Slider grabbed a second set of keys off the fridge and tossed them to Marco. “Start the Camaro. Your mom is coming with us and there is no way you will be able to sit in the back.”

  “Oh, sweet.” Marco returned to the garage, slamming the door behind him.

  “The kid is excited, you can’t let him down.” Slider smirked.

  He’s excited about the car, not me.

  Slider shrugged. “But the car doesn’t leave unless you are in it with me. You stay, I stay. You leave, I leave.”

  Damn it. Fine. Half an hour and you buy me the biggest chocolate sundae they have.

  Slider grabbed the paper and laughed while he read it. “Deal, Firecracker.” He tossed the notepad on the counter and held his hand out for me to shake.

  I reluctantly shook his hand and a smirk spread across his lips. Slider grabbed his sunglasses off of the counter and slid them over his eyes. He looked damn good with the glasses on, although he looked damn good no matter what he was wearing.

  “Let’s go for a ride.”

  ********

  Chapter 15

  Slider

  “Holy cow, I can’t believe she ate all of that,” Marco whispered.

  Fayth licked the back of her spoon and laid her empty dish on the table at the end of the couch. After we had gotten back, Fayth made me move around the end tables and move the couch over a couple of feet before she let me touch my ice cream.

  I had gotten a dish of the flavor of the day which was mint rocky road; Marco had decided on a twist cone, and Fayth had gotten a three-scoop chocolate sundae topped with hot fudge, and chopped up Kit Kats with whipped cream and a cherry on top. I was rather surprised she had finished it, also.

  “I guess she likes chocolate ice cream,” I whispered back.

  Marco and I were sprawled out on the couch, and Fayth was laid back in the recliner while some shitty movie she had picked out played on the TV.

  “I think that is an understatement at this point,” Marco laughed. “I guess I know what I’m getting her for her birthday next month.”

  “Next month?” It was already the twenty-fourth of April.

  “Yeah, I think it’s the seventh.” Fayth shook her head and glared at Marco. “Eighth?” She nodded and gave him the thumbs up.

  “You should really know when your mom’s birthday is,” I chuckled.

  “You’re probably right.”

  He’s a boy, Fayth wrote and held up the notepad to us.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Marco asked.

  It means you’re going to be a man, and men never
remember birthdays. Fayth was getting damn good at writing fast.

  “You have a point. I guess I’m in training to be a good man then, right, Slider?”

  “Hey, speak for yourself. I happen to remember all important dates.” I saw Fayth roll her eyes.

  “What’s your mom’s birthday?” Marco quizzed.

  “September fourteenth.”

  “What’s your dad’s birthday?”

  “I didn’t have one.”

  Fayth turned to look at me and tilted her head.

  “He died before I was born, and from what I was told about him, I was better off that way.” My mother said she never wanted to speak badly of the dead, but she made sure I became the exact opposite of the man he was. He had gotten my mother pregnant when she was only seventeen, run off with some blonde chick, and then died in a bar fight.

  “Yeah, that’s the same for my dad. He died when I was only three. I don’t even remember him. Uncle Leo helped raise me.”

  That would explain the great bond between them and why Marco wanted to be like Leo. I had never known what happened to Marco’s dad, because it wasn’t any of my business.

  Fayth held her hand over her head and tapped her wrist.

  “Aww, come on mom. It’s only ten. I’m sixteen years old,” Marco protested.

  She shook her head. Bed. Now. She held up the pad of paper and pointed to his room.

  “This sucks. She hates when I talk about my dad. That’s the only reason she’s making me go to bed,” Marco grumbled.

  Fayth crossed her arms over her chest and gave Marco a look that only a mother could. I had seen that look many times from my own growing up.

  “Head to bed, Marco. We’ve got a busy day tomorrow of unpacking all of your mom’s stuff.”

  Marco nodded, kissed him mom on the cheek, and shuffled off to his room.

  “He’s really a good kid, Fayth.” I used to think Marco was a spoiled brat when Fayth had first moved to Rockton. But my opinion of him had changed, mostly because the Marco I had just spent all day with was completely different from the sullen and moody teenager I first met.

  She smiled and nodded.