Excuse The Obscene

Michael Slade. Michael Slade. Michael Slade.

Typically when a girl starts breaking into her boyfriend’s things it’s to find some dirty secret. ‘Is he cheating on me?’ ‘Does he have some illegitimate child?’ ‘Is he a criminal?’ – oh the irony.

Michael Slade. Michael Slade. Michael Slade.

But I gave up on being a typical girl a long time ago. So when I decided to break into Zacky’s office it wasn’t to soothe some irrational paranoia issue. I know what Zacky’s dirty little secret is and it isn’t some cheap whore or illegitimate offspring. It’s Michael Slade.

I waited until the house was relatively empty before slipping into Zacky’s office. It had been two days since the Michael Slade revelation and I finally had a moment when none of the guys were around. Despite the waiting, getting in was the easy part. Finding information would be the hard part. Any and all files Zacky kept would be virtually impossible to find and even harder to get into. Besides, any files Zacky ever had on Michael Slade would have no doubt been burned years ago. Instead, I’d have to find Zacky’s little black book. If I managed to find the book there’d probably be someone among the contacts that I could use. I could have gone to the guys I knew around Huntington but Cherie had said no one in town would breathe Slade’s name so I would just have to stretch out further.

Glancing around, I walked over to Zacky’s massive desk and started yanking open drawers. Most of the drawers were filled with the regular things: knives, guns, and the like. One drawer held a stack of folders on members of the Huntington police department and I paused to wonder how many of them were on Zacky’s payroll.

I had almost shut the top left drawer when I spotted a flash of silver. I pushed aside a few random things and picked up the bracelet. It was the white-gold charm bracelet Zacky had gotten me for our one year anniversary.

I held the bracelet in my hand and stared at it. There was no way it could be the same bracelet. I had sold it the night I had run two years ago. But why would Zacky go out and buy the exact same bracelet and add the same charms to it? And if it was my original bracelet, why was it sitting in Zacky’s drawer all this time?

It had been three months since I came back to Huntington and Zacky and I had been together for the past two months. If the bracelet meant enough for Zacky to track down and keep then why hadn’t he given it back to me? Was it even fair for me to expect him to? It wasn't like we had the same relationship from before. What if I was wrong and he didn’t feel as strongly about me as he used to?We couldn’t pretend that two years hadn’t gone by and changed everything.

The distant sound of the doorbell ringing snapped me from my thoughts. I’d wasted time contemplating my increasingly complicated relationship with Zacky. Quickly, I dropped the charm bracelet back in the drawer and slipped quietly from the room.

I made my way over to the front and swung the door open. I smile broke out on my face and for a second I forgot the turmoil of the past few days. Dressed in dark jeans and a leather jacket, Drew stood on the doorstep holding a duffel bag.

Right after the Santa Barbara incident, Zacky sent Drew to Northern California to handle business there for a few days. Drew had always been loyal to me and he’d been reluctant to go considering my recent stint in jail but in the end I convinced him that I would be fine. Ironically enough, shit had taken a turn for the worst in Drew’s absence.

“Are you going to let me in?” Drew asked, pushing past me without waiting for an answer.

“I believe this belongs to your boyfriend.” He held up the medium duffel bag.

I took the bag from him and headed back towards Zacky’s office with Drew following behind me. As I stepped into Zacky’s office again, I was reminded of my failed attempt to find Zacky’s book of contacts. I’d barely dropped the duffel when a thought hit me.
Drew. That was the only contact I needed. Back when we were partners on the east coast, he’d been the one to set up all jobs. It was more than far enough away that anyone who’d known anything about Michael Slade wouldn’t feel threatened by talking about it.

“I need a favor.” I spun on my heel and faced Drew.

“I’ve been back all of two minutes and already you’re asking for favors,” Drew smirked, “why? Did anything happen while I was gone?”

“Yes and no.” I responded quickly before filling him in on Mills following me, the attack on Cherie, and the man Michael Slade who appeared to be behind it all.

When I was done, I asked Drew to do as much digging as he could through his contacts and see if anything on Slade came up. After it all, he paused for a moment and stared at me.

“Why?” Drew finally spoke. “Why go looking for what went down between Zacky and Slade? Whatever happened isn’t what matters. It’s killing the fucker that matters.”

Drew had a point. Knowing who Michael Slade was wouldn’t exactly do me any good. Whoever he was, he was probably no match for the guys and they’d no doubt find a way to take care of the problem. But the stiffness that fell on the room when Mills first breathed his name kept nagging at me. The tension the memory of this man, whoever he is, caused was enough to spike my curiosity. It didn’t help that everyone seemed so anxious to keep it from me.

“Just please.” I said to Drew as we walked out of Zacky’s office.

Before he could respond my phone rang loudly from my pocket. Drew just sighed and nodded his head as he made his way out of the house. I smiled a little as I pulled my phone from my pocket.

“Hey, Val.”

“What do you say to a quick lunch and some retail therapy? Matt’s still been acting weird and I need to distress.” She asked by way of greeting.

For a woman who could have most grown men wetting their pants in fear, Val really loved shopping. I still wasn’t convinced that Matt’s behavior had anything to losing love for Val but if blowing through his money made her feel better than I had no choice but to follow suit.

Hours later, Val and I parted ways as I headed home. I hadn’t seen Zacky all afternoon and I made my way directly to his office once I was inside. Throwing the door open, I found him leaning against his desk talking heatedly with Brian who was standing right next to the door.
The two stopped talking the second I walked in. After a few seconds, Brian nodded at me and left the room. I walked slowly over to Zacky as he smirked at me from across the room.

“How was your day?” He asked, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me to him.

“Uneventful. Yours?” I asked, leaning my head back as he buried his face in my neck.

“Same. Though I did find out someone was in my office today.” He bit my neck lightly and looked at me, raising one eyebrow.

“I was just dropping that off.” I nodded towards the duffel bag Drew had brought over.

“And prying through my things?” Zacky smirked at me before running his lips along my neck again.

I had no idea how Zacky knew I’d been looking through his things seeing as how I had left everything exactly as I found it.

“I didn’t find anything.” I said, opting for the truth.

“I know” was his only reply.

I knew I could wipe the smug tone right out of his voice by telling him that Drew would get me the information I wanted anyway but the momentary satisfaction wouldn’t be worth the trouble Zacky would cause if he knew I wasn’t giving up on finding out about Slade. Besides, my rummaging through his drawers hadn’t been completely worthless.

“Actually there was something.” I said, taking a step back from Zacky and immediately missing the feeling of his breath on my skin.

Zacky shot me a confused look but didn’t say anything so I walked around the desk and opened it up, rummaging around and pulling out the charm bracelet. Holding it between my fingers, I held it up in front of Zacky. I don’t know why I decided to let him know I knew it was there but it seemed like we’d never discussed the new terms of our relationship and this seemed like a good enough catalyst.

Zacky’s P.O.V.

I looked at the bracelet dangling in Toni’s fingers before reaching across the desk and taking it from her.

“Am I going to have to start locking my drawers?”

In true Toni fashion, she ignored my question and asked one of her own.

“Where’d you get that?” she asked, nodding towards the bracelet.

I fingered the expensive white gold bracelet and stared at Toni for a few seconds. She barely flinched as she stood there waiting.

“You know where I got it. After all, you were the one that sold it.”

“I did what I had to do.” She said, barely above a whisper. Then louder, “and you’ve just kept it in there for the past few years?”

I walked over and took a seat in my chair before pulling her down on top of me. What was I supposed to say? That I kept the bracelet to torture myself while she was gone? That it was the only valuable link I had left to her after I’d forced her to run?

Finding the bracelet in a pawn shop that night two years ago had hit me between the eyes like a bullet. For two years it was a constant reminder of how happy we’d been on our first anniversary. A constant reminder that it hadn’t been enough- that I’d royally fucked up.

Three months ago, when Toni came back to Huntington I kept the bracelet as a reminder of what I wanted back – of what I would kill to get back. Toni is mine. And I’m never going back to a time without her.

I ran my fingers through her hair and down her neck. I traced invisible lines across her breast and down her right arm. Lifting her arm, I slid my lips from her inner elbow down to her wrist. When I was done, I took the bracelet and slid it onto her wrist.

“There.” I smirked, running my eyes along her angelic face and pausing on her plump lips.
She leaned down and pressed those lips to my ear.

“I love you Zacky.” She whispered, sliding her hands along my chest.

I paused for a second, my hands tightening around her waist. We’d been together for the past two months but she hadn’t spoken those words in two years. I’d made it clear how I felt and I knew she knew it too. But after everything that I’d done, I’d known I’d need to give her time before she was ready to put her heart on the line again. If I’d known the bracelet was all the push that she needed, I would have let her find it sooner.

“Say it again.” My voice came out aggressive and husky as I pulled her tighter against my chest.

“I love you Zacky.” This time I felt the smile on her lips as she whispered in my ear.

“Again.” I said gruffly, nibbling at her chest as she threw her head back.

“I love you Zacky.” She breathed, this time her words came out on a soft moan.

Standing up swiftly with her in my arms, I dropped her on my desk and wrapped her legs around my waist.

“God I fucking love you.” I groaned, running my hands franticly along her thighs.

The things this girl could do to me with just a few words.

“Fucking love me huh?” Toni asked with a wicked smile on her face.

“You know I do.” I growled, tearing her shirt from her body.

“Then fuck me already.” Toni tilted her head and smirked at me.

My pants seemed to tighten and my hands gripped her small waist. I was teetering on the edge of lost control when the door to my office flew open.

My head shot up, ready to kill whoever the fuck was disrupting my first alone time with Toni all day. Brian stood in the doorway with his hands crossed over his chest and a grim look on his face.

“Go the fuck away.” I growled, glaring at him over Toni’s bare shoulder.

“I would love to leave you two to this,” Brian spoke, gesturing to Toni and I, “but we’ve got a problem to deal with.”

“So deal with it.” The faster he left, the sooner I could turn my attention back to Toni who still sat topless in front of me on my desk.

“It’s Slade.” Brian said, shooting me a look.

My shoulders snapped straight and I unwrapped myself from Toni.

“Round up the guys.” I could feel Toni’s stare on me as I snapped into business mode and tossed her shirt at her.

Brian gave a curt nod and left the room.

“Call Cherie and tell her to leave her office and get her ass back here now. Stay here and look after her.” I was shooting off orders before Toni could get a protest out.

“Zacky-” I cut her off before she could go any further.

“Toni don’t- not right now.” I spoke without looking at her as I checked to make sure my gun was loaded.

I heard, rather than saw, Toni jump off my desk and storm out of the room.

I ran my hand through my hair and punched the desk. I knew Toni was pissed but I’d just have to deal with that later. Right now, Slade was my main priority. And this time around – the fucker wasn’t going to live.