Chapter 25
ZANE
I woke up in the dead of night, not long after we fell asleep.
I could’ve woken her, I could’ve fucked her again, gotten some more sleep that way.
Instead, I let her sleep, and I’ve just been standing by the window, or outside smoking, the spray from the pouring rain hitting my face like a cold, soft mist.
None of it brought any clarity.
None of it told me whether I’d forgiven her or if I’m just getting my fill of her, getting all that should’ve been mine these past ten years.
If I were alone, I’d be out riding in the rain, clearing my head, thinking of nothing. But here I am, thinking too many things. It has to stop.
Light is breaking in the distance and the rain’s letting up.
I’ll get no answers in this motel room. Or at least none I’ll be happy with.
The town in the distance is slowly waking up, cars and trucks starting to pass on the road that runs past this place, lights in shops going on, the nighttime silence giving way to the noise of the day. I much prefer to sleep during the day. Because the night is my time.
But it’s the fucking morning now and it’s time to get on with my life.
I toss my cigarette into one of the puddles and enter the room, my mind once again blank now that I’ve made up my mind. Or at least stopped trying to figure shit out.
I grab her shoulder but shake her gently. “Come on, wake up, Sienna.”
I whispered the words so of course she doesn’t even stir.
“Sienna,” I call more loudly as I shake her gently again. “We gotta hit the road.”
She opens her eyes, staring at me with fear and shock. And neither of them goes away even after she’s fully awake.
“Why?” she asks.
“Because it’s time.”
I don’t have any better answer for her. I just know we gotta hit the road.
It’s the kind of itch that’s saved my life a bunch of times.
Like sending me out of town right before someone with a score to settle came riding in to find me.
It’s the same kind of itch that’s gotten me into trouble too.
Like when I killed that priest for her. I never know which kind of itch it is.
The kind that will save my ass or wreck my life even more. I just know not to question it.
“And what will happen when we get to LA?” she asks, crawling towards me on the bed.
I know what she wants to hear. She wants to hear I’ll keep her around once we get there. She also wants a kiss. I got neither for her.
Once she realizes that, she stops asking questions and starts packing.
“I’m not trying to be an asshole. It’s just time to get back to the real world.”
I have no idea why I felt the need to say that. I don’t explain myself. I just do what I want. But I wanted her to smile.
And she does. “Oh, is that what’s happening? But can we at least get coffee first?”
“Sure, we can get coffee.”
She’s done packing, mainly because we hardly unpacked since we spent the last couple of days naked.
She’s holding her phone in her hand, about to slip into her jacket pocket when it starts ringing, the sound echoing like a church bell in the silent room. The smile is gone from her face, replaced by complete, stark shock.
“What?”
“It’s him,” she whispers, showing me the screen like I’m supposed to know who she’s talking about from the name written there.
“Your husband? Answer it. I got something to say to him.”
She presses the green button and puts the call on speaker.
“I know where you and that lowlife criminal are,” the husband says in his whiny voice. “And you’re both gonna be very sorry. Soon.”
I grab the phone from her hand and end the call.
“I thought you kept this thing off,” I say to her.
“I did. I just turned it on to pay for some of the stuff we’ve been ordering.” Her hands are shaking and that itch to get the fuck out of here is getting stronger. The guy must’ve traced those payments to find out where we are.
“Let’s go,” I say, grab her bag and mine and head for the door.
She’s not right behind me. She’s still in the room when I turn, tossing the bedding and pillows around.
“I can’t find my helmet,” she says when I ask what the fuck’s taking her so long.
“Did you tell him where we are? Do you want him to find us?”
Nothing, absolutely nothing that’s happened in the last few days gives me cause to ask her that. But I can’t trust her. She lies. With her words and her kisses and even her pussy. Were the last couple of days just her toying with me? I never know.
“Fuck, Zane, no!” she snaps, kneeling by the bed and pulling her helmet from under it. “I wish you’d start trusting me already.”
I got nothing to say to that, so I don’t even try. I just rush out to my bike and I swear, if she’s not right behind me this time, I’m leaving without her.
She is right behind me.
And just as I rev my bike, three black SUVs with tinted windows roll into the parking lot, blocking the exit.
“Hold on,” I tell her then gun it, riding onto the curb and out into the street just as the doors of the first SUV open.
I speed up, weaving through the morning traffic. In the rearview mirror, I can see the SUVs following.
Too bad my warning itch never comes early enough to actually save me from the real trouble. It just gives me enough warning to know that bad things are coming. Because these assholes might just catch up to us.
“Go faster,” Sienna yells, holding onto my waist so tight I have trouble breathing.
I only hear her words over the noise of my bike because I could hear her voice anywhere, anytime. Even after I’m dead, I’m sure.
I do as she suggested.
Because I want to hear her voice while I’m still alive for a little longer. Even if she betrayed me. So yeah, I think that maybe I do forgive her.