Page 38 of Hell Bent

Vicious watched her expression drop at the sound of Teller’s voice. She should have stopped believing her own bullshit. “Teller . . . I . . .”

“Take Tea and Kiki and go to the back.” Vicious heard the tone in Teller’s words. There was a definite current of pissed-off in them. He almost felt bad for Zoe, but she’d been with the club long enough to know her place.

“Vicious.”

“I brought my ol’ lady to meet everyone. My timing sucks.”

“Monthly poker game” was all Teller said.

Vicious couldn’t inquire about the Sinner Saints being in the house. Not in front of Sway. “I see we have some company.”

Teller turned his attention to the two visitors. Cocking a look at Psycho Bunny, Teller chuckled. He knew exactly what Zoe’s punishment would be—she was about to be a gift to the Sinner Saints. That should put her in her place, at least for a while.

“Let’s take a walk.” Teller looked at the woman standing next to Vicious. She didn’t look completely offended by her surroundings—she looked annoyed. “Make sure to bring her along before she’s mistaken for fresh meat.” He almost laughed when he heard Vicious growl. It was that sound dogs made when someone threatened to take their bone away.

“Sway.” Vicious held out his hand for her to take. When she grabbed hold, he pulled her in tight as they followed Teller toward the office. As they passed the rooms where the girls stayed, they could all hear Zoe and the other two girls arguing.

Sway wanted to feel a little sympathy for the one Vicious called Zoe and for being the cause of the ruckus, but in the back of her mind, she reminded herself that they’d started it.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Sway closed up the shop after a long day of working on two engine rebuilds. Things between her and Vicious had been moving in a more serious direction since he opened up to her about his life. She hadn’t been back to the clubhouse since her initial visit. The brothers, as Vicious called them, had all made their way to the auto repair shop to say hello and to meet her formally. It was a nice gesture on their part. Still, she couldn’t forget that day. Some of the men she couldn’t look at due to the images seared into her brain.

With her and Vicious always together, she could barely remember what it was like to be alone. Heading upstairs, she walked into the apartment expecting to see Vicious cooking, as was the plan. Instead, he sat at the kitchen table in silence. Closing the door behind her, she waited for him to speak. When his head lifted and his piercing green eyes locked onto hers, Sway knew there was a problem and followed his stare.

Instinctively, she looked over at the wall where she had the corkboard hidden. She hadn’t looked at it in weeks. Still, she should have taken it down. The board was now in clear view, in all its glory. Looking back at Vicious, she saw his hands balled into fists as they rested on the table. “It’s not what it looks like.” God, that sounded so cliché.

“What do you presume I think it is?”

“I wasn’t looking into you or your friends . . .” Sway stopped talking as Vicious shoved away from the table, sending the wooden chair crashing to the floor. When he moved around the table, she stepped back toward the door. Was she afraid of him? Maybe. That silent response made her feel like an ass.

Vicious moved past her, and when his hand pulled open the front door, Sway’s voice cracked when she spoke. “Don’t leave.”

“Why shouldn’t I? According to your little board, you think we’re no different than the Scorpions.”

“That’s not true.”

Vicious slammed the door closed and stormed over to the board. Grabbing the fabric she’d hung to hide it, he pulled it down, revealing the board in its entirety. All the Post-it notes fluttered from the rush of movement the fabric made as it fell to the ground. Pointing to the words she’d written about the Royal Bastards, he spoke clearly. “Right here,” he pointed to one of the yellow sticky notes, “it says, ‘Find a way to tie the Royal Bastards to the Bloody Scorpions.’ And this one.” He snatched a pink note from the board. “‘Do I think Vicious had anything to do with Tesh’s death?’ You think I would hurt your brother? I’ve beennothing but good to you. Why would I be with you if I’d killed Tesh? Answer me, Sway!” Vicious yelled.

His temper had hold of him. Instead of staying to hear her answer, which no doubt would’ve been a lie, he headed for the door. Her hand grabbing his arm did nothing to stop him. “I can’t be here right now.”

Sway let go of Vicious, knowing she’d ruined everything. She couldn’t blame him for being angry, but she wished he wasn’t so she could explain the board. When she heard the door close with a bang, Sway let her knees buckle, dropped to the floor, and cried.

She lay there until she was cried out. After that, she picked herself up and chastised herself for thinking she needed a man to make her whole. It was that or she’d remain on that damn floor until she couldn’t find herself.

Staring at the murder board, Sway cursed silently. With her heart dented and her anger tipping over the edge, she plucked the pictures, sticky notes, and sheets of paper from the corkboard. Picking up a folder from the bookshelf, Sway shoved everything into the manilla sleeve and stuffed it into a drawer. The cloth that had hidden the damn board got folded up and tossed on the chair. She left the corkboard hanging on the wall with the intention of making it a memory board about Tesh and their life together.

Without her noticing, the time had clicked by. Noticing the time, she was suddenly tired and hungry. Picking up the phone, she ordered a pizza from the Pizza Box. She almost cancelled the order when they told her it would be an hour for delivery, but screw it, she’d get a shower and start somelaundry, maybe call Lottie and check on her. Sway was sure she could fill the time up.

Stripping out of her work clothes, she stepped into the shower and made quick work of shampooing her hair and washing her body. Splashing warm water on her face, she tried not to think about Vicious. It was hard when he was all she thought about most nights. Annoyed at herself, she shut the water off and grabbed a towel from a hook on the wall.

Wrapping the towel around her wet body, she stormed into the bedroom, grabbed her phone, and called someone she probably shouldn’t, but her gut screamed at her to call him. Pushing the call button, she listened to the phone ring until a rough voice came across the line. “Razor, it’s Sway . . . Sabine. Anyway, Vicious and I had a fight, and he stormed out. I’m not asking you to get involved. I’m asking for you to check on him is all. You don’t have to call me back.”

“Sway, slow down. What happened?”

“We got into an argument. I’m fine, but he was angry. Scary angry.”

“I’ll check on him. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call any of us.”

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