Page 7 of Silent Fidelity
“Let me go,” I snarled, snapping my head up to glare at Spike.
“No. Not until we get outside,” he said calmly, meeting my gaze evenly, all while he continued backing me up toward the exit of the bus.
Dalton already had the door open, and when Spike spun me around so I could walk forward down the steps, Dalton asked quietly, “You okay, Kalin?”
“Fucking fine,” I spat before moving past him and out the door. Once we were on the cool pavement, Spike released me and raked his fingers through his hair. I crossed my arms over my chest, clenching my jaw as I stared at the ground, feeling a little stupid now that I was no longer on the bus.
Salem hadn’t done a damn thing to me, yet I’d taken my shit out on him. Fuck. I owed him an apology… if he’d even accept it. Salem was good at holding grudges.
Spike took a step closer to me. “What’s going on, baby?” he asked with so much concern, I wanted to cry.
I shuffled awkwardly on my feet, tightening my folded arms over my chest like it would somehow hold me together. When I didn’t answer, Spike gently pulled me closer, then wrapped his arms tightly around me. I shuddered and sank into him, my throat becoming so tight, I nearly couldn’t breathe.
He stroked his hands down my back. “Whenever you want to talk about it, I’m here. I’m always here, baby,” he said softly before dropping a kiss to the top of my head.
“Does he really even want us?” I asked, my voice mostly muffled by his neck, where I’d tucked my face.
Spike sighed softly, his breath blowing my hair. “He does, baby. I promise he does. He’s trying to protect us, even if we don’t need the protection.”
“I don’t like hiding.”
“I know,” Spike softly responded. “Whatever decision you make, baby, I’ll stand behind you ten toes down. I swear.” He gripped my hair at my roots and tugged my head back so we were forced to look at each other. He cupped my jaw with his other hand, stroking his thumb over my cheek. “You are the center of my universe, you hear me? I will follow you everywhere.”
Tears sprang to my eyes, blurring my vision. “But you love him, too,” I croaked. I couldn’t ask him to come with me if I decided to leave Richard.
Spike shrugged. “I do, but me and you, baby? We’re where it started, and if it has to be that way, then just me and you will be how it ends, too.” He leaned in and rested his forehead on mine. I closed my eyes, drawing in a shaky breath that was filled with the scent of him—citrus and sandalwood. “I love you. No matter what happens, remember that. I love you.”
I swallowed thickly and nodded. “I love you, too,” I whispered, then sank into him again, just wanting him to hold me for a little while longer. Because in Spike’s arms, I didn’t feel so goddamn broken.
Salem walked past me to the fridge. I stared down at my coffee for a moment before sucking my pride the fuck up and turning to face him. When he felt my staring, he turned his head away from the fridge and looked at me, arching a single brow.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted. He straightened, still not saying anything. I drew in a deep breath and shoved my hands into the pockets of my sweats. “I was pissed and upset this morning, but not at you. Not at any of you. But I took it out on you because you were my closest target, and… I’m sorry.”
He shrugged one shoulder and nodded. “All good, bro.” My shoulders relaxed a fraction. He wasn’t holding a grudge, thank fuck. He turned back to the fridge. “I don’t know what’s going on, but if you need to talk, we’re all here. Family above all, remember?”
Though he wasn’t looking at me because he was still looking in the fridge for… something, I nodded. “I know. Thank you. Just not ready to open up about it right now,” I lied. Truth was, I was ready to talk about it. I was ready to shout to the entire fucking world that Spike and I were with Richard.
But Richard wasn’t fucking ready.
Sighing, I turned away, just wanting to crawl back into bed and watch a movie that had nothing to do with love until tonight, when I needed to get ready for our last concert for this tour.
5
Richard
After more silence from Kalin, I couldn’t take it any longer. There wasn’t much I could do when they were on tour, but the night before had been their last concert, and like fuck was I sitting aside any longer and letting this animosity continue bleeding between us and staining the beautiful bond the three of us had.
So, I was doing something irrational. Something completely out of character. But Kalin drove me mad, and I was not letting him and Spike slip through my fingers. And I knew if I lost Kalin, I’d lose Spike, too. Because Spike would follow him, even if it meant breaking his own heart.
“They are here, Mr. Nightwork,” my bodyguard, Zen, announced. “Dalton’s mother just arrived in her van.”
Mrs. Temple, Dalton’s mother, always picked the boys up after their tours. It was the one time the guys refused a company driver to deliver them home. They liked Mrs. Temple, and she loved gushing over them and giving them a little taste of home once they were off tour. And since most of them either had no mother figures or their mothers were letdowns, I knew Mrs. Temple was always a breath of fresh air for them.
I stood and slid my hands into the pockets of my slacks just as I heard the front door to the boys’ mansion open. Kalin and Spike had given me a key months ago, but I’d never used it because I’d felt the need to protect them, which meant hiding our relationship… even from their best friends/band mates.
But I was done hiding. So fucking done. I could not let these two boys slip through my fingers.
“I’m so fucking ready to crash in bed for the next century,” I heard Dalton say. “I’m fucking wiped.”
