TORTURE ME_ The Bandits MC(87)
“Juanita,” the girl whispered, lifting her head again, looking at Fiona with wide, tearful eyes. “My name is Juanita,” she said again, and this time her voice cracked.
“That’s a beautiful name,” Fiona murmured. “Here, Juanita, let me get you down from here, okay?” She stepped forward and undid the complicated knots around the girl’s wrists before turning her attention to her feet, letting Juanita sink her body weight onto her as she fell down from the wall. “That’s it. That’s it. Good girl. You’re going to be alright. You’re going to be just fine.”
“How do you know?” Juanita asked, her voice wavering as she whispered into Fiona’s ear, as if she was afraid of Gage hearing her question.
“Because I was where you were once, and I’m fine. I’m fine,” she said, and for the first time in fifteen years, she actually believed it. “We’re going to be okay.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“I have to go somewhere really quick,” Fiona said after she and Gage gave their statements to the police, making sure that Juanita was safe and secure in the hospital.
Gage’s face immediately fell, his brows furrowing together as he stared at Fiona in silent disagreement. “It’ll only be thirty minutes, an hour tops,” Fiona said. “I just have to do one last thing before today is over.”
“I really think you need to rest,” Gage said softly, keeping his tone calm rather than pushy. Fiona appreciated that. After everything she’d been through, she didn’t need anyone bossing her around anymore, which was why she had to do this one last thing.
“I know,” she said. “You’re right. And I will rest. I’ll rest for like three days. But I have to take care of something first.”
Gage was quiet a moment, chewing on his bottom lip for several seconds before looking back up at Fiona and speaking again. “Are you leaving me again?”
“What?” Fiona asked, completely dumbfounded.
“Are you leaving me again?” Gage repeated himself. “I need to know. I just…I need to have warning. That’s all.”
Fiona didn’t have the words to answer that question, so instead, she just leaned in and took Gage’s head into her hands, pressing their foreheads together for a moment before sliding her mouth against his. “Does that answer your question?” she whispered onto his face, allowing herself to finally smile again as Gage nodded within her grasp. “Good. I’ll be back.”
After walking over to the Bandits’ compound to grab the car, it was a quick drive back over to Carl’s hotel, dropping the car off in the back lot before she headed back up to his room. She knocked on the door before opening it, finding him almost exactly where she left him, sitting on the bed.
“Jesus, you look like hell,” Carl muttered as he saw her.
“Yeah, well, been there, done that,” Fiona said with a shrug, dropping the car keys on the dresser.
“Are you coming back to me?” Carl asked slowly, looking up at her with heartbreaking hope in his eyes.
It hurt her to do it, but Fiona still shook her head, smiling sadly at him. “I belong here. In the city.”
Carl stared down at his lap, tapping his fingers on his legs. “With him?”
“Yes, yes, with him,” Fiona said honestly. “You knew that already. I…I want to apologize to you, Carl. I used you as a way to escape myself. It wasn’t fair to you at all. I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t mind it so much,” he said sheepishly, smiling up at her, the sadness in his eyes dimming a little bit.
“I did,” Fiona admitted. “It wasn’t you. It had nothing to do with you. I just…I need to be the person that I was, the person that I’ve always been. I need to stop hiding from myself. You understand that, right?”
“No,” Carl said, shaking his head. “But I guess that’s the whole problem right there, huh?”
“Yeah, I suppose it is,” Fiona said, slowly backing away from the bed. “It was nice knowing you, Carl. Be happy. Please. Be as happy as you can.”
“You, too,” Carl said as Fiona finally retreated for the room, going back down the stairs and out into the dark night. The darkness welcomed her like an old friend, and this time, she wasn’t scared of it. In fact, she wasn’t sure that she was scared of anything anymore.
# # #
Gage felt like he was on pins and needles, waiting for his body to be impaled at any moment. His leg was shaking furiously, his fingers continually moving over his phone screen to check if Fiona called to tell him that she was running away with Carl again. But instead, about an hour after he last saw her, he heard the front door of his apartment open. Fiona walked inside, looking like she hadn’t slept in about a million years.