Unbearable (Undescribable) (32 page)

I start to feel pain in my right hand and realize
I’m holding onto my keys so tightly they are digging into my palm. It gives me
an idea. I lift my hand and swing, causing them to cuss once again when the
keys make contact with their body.

I try to get a good look at whoever it is as I face
them, but they have one hand over their face as they stumble back and it’s too
dark for me to make out anything besides the dark clothes.

My face instantly starts to sting when I’m
backhanded. I cry out as I lose my balance and fall to the ground.

I attempt to catch a breath as I spit blood onto
the concrete from my teeth cutting the inside of my mouth. I try to regain my
senses when I feel two hands on my arms, pulling me up. “Sam.”

I try to pull away. “Sam?”

Through my headache and stinging face, I see that
it is Tate, helping me up.

“Are you okay?” he asks wide-eyed.

I nod.

“Where did he go?”

I blink a few times, trying to see straight.
“What…?’

He shakes me, which does hell to my headache.
“Which way did he go, Sam?” he demands.

“I…I don’t know.” I look around the dark parking
lot. He lets go of my arms and runs to the side of the bar.

I slump back against the Tahoe as I try to get my
shaking body back under control. Only a few seconds tick by before Tate
returns. “I didn’t see anyone.” He looks around the parking lot again.

“What happened?” I ask, confused. One second
someone was attacking me, and then the next Tate was shaking me.

“I came around the corner and saw you on the
ground,” he states, not even breathing heavy from running around the building.
“What did you see?” he asks in a rush.

“Just dark clothes.”

“Come on,” he says taking me by my arm and pulling
me away from the Tahoe.

“What? Where are we going?”

“You are calling Slade and I am taking you to the
hospital.” He places me up in his truck.

“I didn’t even see him and I don’t need to go to
the hospital,” I argue.

“That doesn’t matter. You need to report it and you
need to get checked out.”

“I’m not going to the hospital,” I snap. “The
police station is fine, but I do not need to go to the hospital.”

He ignores my outburst and pulls his phone out of
his pocket.

I sigh as I close my eyes, still trying to calm my
heart rate. After several seconds, he asks for my phone. I hand him my purse,
not wanting to dig through it to find my phone.

“Hey, Slade, its Tate,” he says once Slade answers
the phone. “Yes, I have Sam’s phone.” He inhales deeply. I can only imagine
Slade asking several questions at once, demanding to know why Tate has my
phone. Tate goes on to explain what happened in the parking lot then hands me
the phone.

“He wants to talk to you.”

Of course he does. “Hello?”

“Angel. Are you okay? What in the hell happened?
What were you doing there alone?” he demands.

“I sent Holly home early because she was sick,” I
explain. “And I wasn’t alone. Tate was there.”

“Well, he obviously didn’t do any good. Someone
attacked you,” he barks.

“I wouldn’t call it that.” I try to lighten the
conversation.

“Really?” he counters. “What in the fuck would you
call it?”

“I’m okay, Slade. We are heading to the police
station to make a report even though I didn’t see anything.”

“I know. I’ll meet you there,” he says before he
hangs up. I toss my phone into the cup holder and lean back in my seat. My face
hurts and I have a headache. I don’t want to go to the police station. I would
much rather just have some peace and quiet.

I think Tate understands how I’m feeling because he
stays quiet as he drives me through town.

When we pull up to the police station, I see
Slade’s car is already in the parking lot. He meets us as soon as we walk
inside.

“Angel,” he says, running up to us.

“I’m okay,” I assure him, trying to sound positive.
My face is still burning and I can feel it swelling as I look at him.

He steps closer to me and grabs my chin. “Do not
tell me you’re okay. Your face is already starting to bruise.”

I jerk away from his hold and shut my eyes at the
pain the action causes in my neck.

“Miss Hall, please come into my office,” an officer
says, gesturing to a small office in the corner.

Tate and I replay our story of how things happened
as Slade sits quietly in the seat beside me. I decide I like it when he screams
a lot better than when he’s quiet. At least when he’s speaking I know what he’s
thinking. His silence worries me.

“What do you think his intentions were, Miss Hall?”
the officer asks.

“My purse.” I remember him trying to grab it.

Slade lets out a dark laugh and I turn my head to
stare at him. “There’s no way he was after your purse, Angel.”

The officer places his forearms on the table. “Do
you have some information you want to add, Slade?”

Slade raises an eyebrow at the officer. “Well,
Brad, our house was broken into last month, someone busted the window of our
truck while she was out shopping and now someone has attacked her outside of
her work. I would say someone is after her.”

I roll my eyes. “They are not connected.”

“How do you know that?” Slade eyes slam to mine.

I gesture to Officer Brad. “They have the guy who
broke into our house in custody.”

“What makes you think that?” the officer says,
frowning.

“Because an officer called Slade yesterday and said
so.”

“Who was the officer that called you?” He looks at
Slade.

Slade informs him of the conversation that took
place between him and Officer White. The officer then picks up his phone and
makes a call. He barks out a few orders and then hangs up. He folds his hands
on top of his desk and looks at Slade. “The guy was released a few hours after
you were called.”

“Why?” Slade demands.

“The guy was drunk and homeless. He broke into the
house to get a night in jail.” He shakes his head with a scowl on his face. “He
lied about the other break-ins.”

I look at Tate confused. Who lies about breaking
into someone’s home?

“It happens often. The homeless would much rather
spend a night in a jail cell with a warm bed and dinner, than on the streets,”
he explains as if reading my mind.

“Why the fuck was I not notified?” Slade stands
abruptly.

The officer lets out a sigh. “I’m sorry, Slade. If
I would have known they called and informed you of the arrest, I would have
called and let you know he was released. From now on, I will be the only one
who contacts you.” He points a finger at all of us. “If anyone from here calls
you to give you information, you call me immediately.”

Slade turns to Tate and gestures to the door. Tate gets
up, grabs my hand, causing me to stand as well, and guides me out of the office.
Once he shuts the door, Tate continues to drag me toward another desk where an
officer sits. “I need some Tylenol and a glass of water,” Tate states.

The officer nods and gets up from his chair. He
returns several seconds later and hands them to Tate. He opens the Tylenol and
hands me two pills. I take them without hesitation. My head is pounding and I
still feel somewhat dizzy.

Slade exits the office with a scowl on his face. We
walk out of the police station and I turn to face Slade. He gives me a hard
stare before he speaks. “First thing tomorrow, you’re quitting your job.”

“What?” Some guy jumps me for my purse and that
means I have to quit my job?

“You heard me. This is not up for discussion. You.
Are. Quitting. Your. Job.”

I look from him to Tate. Tate just stares off into
the street as if he can’t hear us even though he is standing only a foot away
from me. “No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are,” he counters before he starts to
walk away.

“Oh? What am I going to do, Slade?”

“I don’t care,” he throws over his shoulder.

“What do you want me to do, Slade? I sure as hell
won’t sit around the house all day!”

“You do that anyways,” he snaps.

I place my hands on my hips. “What the fuck does
that mean?” I scream at him.

He stops walking and spins around to face me. “It
means you’re a fucking waitress who works at a rundown bar,” he snaps. “I’ve
been telling you to quit, but for some reason that’s too hard for you!”

My body is now shaking for a different reason.
Anger.

“So, the waitress was good enough to bring home and
fuck, but now that we’re living together, I’m not good enough?”

He takes a step toward me, holding a finger up.
“First of all, I did not just take you home and fuck you. I waited. You were
the one who begged for it.” My mouth drops open at his words. “Second of all,
like I said. You’re. A. Fucking. Waitress. It’s not like your job is
important.”

I don’t think I have ever been this embarrassed in
all my life. I turn and start walking toward Tate’s truck. I open up the
passenger door and jump in.

To my surprise, I see Slade spin around and walk
off to his car as well.

Tate quietly gets up into his truck and starts the
engine. “Take me back to the Tahoe,” is all I say to him. He drives me back to
the bar, once again in silence.

“Are you going home?” he asks before I open the
passenger door.

“No.” Why would I go home to that? Who wants to
listen to someone you love put you down? Tell you how worthless you are?

Not me!

I open the door and slam it shut. I don’t know why,
but I’m pretty pissed off at Tate as well. He just stood there like a fucking
shadow, not even caring what Slade had to say to me. I start up the Tahoe and
decide the best place for me to go is to a hotel. I want a night without
questions, a night without arguments. What happened was not my fault and I
don’t want to have to sit and listen to his life lessons on how I’m a worthless
waitress who continues to fuck up.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

I get home and pace back
and forth in the garage, waiting for her to get there. She looked awful. A
bruise was already forming on her cheek and she had a red spot on her forehead.
What the hell was she thinking walking out to her car by herself? A better
question is what the fuck was Tate doing there?

I continue to pace for several minutes before I
realize she has still not arrived home. She should have been here by now. I
pull my phone out of my pocket and scroll through my recent calls to Tate’s
number. He answers immediately.

“Where are you guys?” I demand.

“She is in the Tahoe and I’m following her,” he
says simply.

“Why are you following her?” Does he plan on coming
to our house?

“Because she told me she was not going home. So my
plan was to follow her and then call you when she stops.”

I let out a hard breath. “What is your deal, Tate?
Why were you at her work in the first place?”

“If you’re thinking I still want Sam, just stop,”
he replies calmly.

“Well, you’re not making a very believable case for
yourself. At her work after closing, following her.”

“I’m following her to inform you where she goes.”

“And why in the fuck would you do that?” I snap.

“You pissed her off with your outburst outside the
police station, but I don’t blame you.”

His words make me pause.

“I would have laughed at her screaming at you, if
you had not been right.”

“I’m confused.” This guy is not making any sense.

“I feel the same way you do, Slade. Sam needs to
quit her job and work somewhere safer. But I sure as hell was not going to jump
into that ring of fire. Telling Sam to do something won’t get you anywhere.”

“No shit,” I mumble.

“There is someone either after you or after her,
but either way she is the one who is going to end up hurt.”

I also agree with that. If someone is after me,
they will use her to get to me. If someone is after her, they will continue
until they succeed.

“So, quit questioning my intentions. That’s why I
was there at Larry’s. I want her safe, just like you, and I failed,” he says
quietly. “I was too slow. When I got into my truck, I had a phone call. I
thought it would take her longer to close up. I was wrong. By the time I pulled
around the back, she was already on the ground and the guy had run off. I guess
my headlights scared him away.”

I take in a deep breath as I lean up against the
car door. He probably saved her life by being there. “Well, then I guess I owe
you a thank you. And I owe her an apology.”

“Hell no, you don’t owe her an apology. You are
right in wanting to keep her safe,” he says surprising me. I start to speak but
he tells me she has stopped and informs me of the name of the hotel.

I open the door and jump back into my car, heading
to the hotel. Not fifteen minutes later, I’m walking into the lobby heading
straight for the reception desk to ask for a room key. There is no way Angel is
going to answer the door for me. I’m going to have to get in that room on my
own. The woman behind the counter perks up when she sees me.

“Slade,” she greets excitedly.

Fuck!

I swear I have never seen this woman before.
“Hello,” I say nicely, giving her a big smile. I have to play this right.

“What can I do for you?” She smiles brightly.

“I need a key to room 406.” After Tate told me what
hotel she was in, I had called and asked for Samantha Hall’s room. They very
easily told me what room she was in. I intend on calling the manager tomorrow
and giving him a piece of my mind. What if I was the person who is after her?

“Okay.” She looks down and starts typing into her
computer. After a few seconds, she frowns. “Oh,” she says sadly.

“What?” Could she have already checked out? She
just got here.

“It belongs to a woman,” she states, still looking
at the computer.

Shit!

“I’m sorry, you are not listed on the room, so I
can’t give you a key,” she says looking at me, a smile no longer on her face.

I lean up against the counter casually and give her
my best smile. “I know. Do you remember my friend Josh?” I ask, since she seems
to know me.

She nods her head. “Well, that is his girlfriend’s
room. She rented the room for a couple of nights.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Sleeping with your best
friend’s girlfriend? Even that is low for you, Slade.”

“No. They decided to go out of town and left
yesterday, but had paid for another night. They said I could use it, but forgot
to give me a key.” Fuck, that was the stupidest thing I have ever said. Being
with Angel has totally ruined my mojo with women.

“Okay,” she says like the dumb blonde she is. I
look over to the man sitting next to her and he frowns. I’m praying that he
doesn’t rat me out. All the blonde has to do is look and see that Angel had
just checked in. “Would you like to meet up later? I get off at ten in the
morning.”

I smile brightly until she has the key ready. “I’ll
call you,” I say as she hands it to me.

I know Tate said I don’t owe her an apology, but I
feel like I do. I should not have said a few of the things I did. I’m not her
father. I can’t make her do something she doesn’t want to do.

I make my way to her room to find her lying face
down on the bed with the covers shoved down to the foot of the bed, still
dressed in her work clothes. She must be exhausted.

I take my phone out of my pocket and text Micah that
I will be in late tomorrow. Then I take off my clothes and crawl in bed so that
I’m facing her. I thank my lucky stars that she is already asleep. Otherwise, she
would have thrown me out. I lightly touch the bruise that is on her cheek. It’s
so frustrating knowing someone was trying to hurt her once again. I close my
eyes and inhale her scent. This isn’t the first time that I’m thankful she’s
with me.

I wake up to Angel getting
out of the shower. I walk into the bathroom and see her drying her hair with a
towel. “I don’t know why you even came. I don’t want you here,” she says, not
even bothering to look over at me.

“I want to talk about what I said.”

“Which part?” She places a finger over her lips and
looks up as in thought. “The fact that you pretty much called me worthless and said
that I just lay around the house all day? Or where you called me a bar whore?”

I grind my teeth in frustration. “You’re putting
words in my mouth.”

She takes a step forward with a finger pointed at
me. “A guy tried to rob me and you were more worried about what I do for a
living than how I actually felt.”

I run a hand over the back of my neck. “That’s why
I came here.”

“Speaking of
here
. How in the hell did you
find me?” she demands, placing her hands on her hips.

I go to speak but a knock at the door has me
releasing a sigh. Angel looks at me. “Are you expecting someone?”

“No.”

She walks over to open the door and there stands
the girl from downstairs.

Fuck me!

Could this day get any fucking worse?

She looks from Angel to me. “Uh, Slade. My shift is
over and I realized you may not have my number anymore.”

“Excuse me?” Angel chokes out before I can speak.

She looks to Angel with a smile on her face. “He
said he would call me later and I didn’t know if he still had my number.”

I tense as Angel slams the door in her face and
then proceeds to slowly turn around to face me. I have never seen a woman want
to kill me as much as she does right now. Fuck, shit just got worse.

I stand there, staring back, not really knowing
what to say. I would have never called that girl. I just needed a key to get up
here, but Angel doesn’t know that.

“Unfuckingbelievable,” she says as her hard green
eyes stare into mine. Then she turns and stomps off to the bathroom.

I go to follow her but she turns and points to the
door. “Show yourself out, Slade.”

“Angel, let me explain.”

She huffs taking a step closer. “Explain what,
Slade? How you’re sorry about what you said last night? How you found me?” Her
eyes look to the door then back to me. “Is that what you want, Slade? Is that
why you have never settled down before? Hmm? No one is good enough for Slade
Long,” she says sarcastically. “Well, not for anything more than a fuck, that
is.”

I run a hand through my hair. “No, no one ever
mattered until you.”

 She gives a dark laugh before she looks me in the
eye. “I believe I told you to leave. I have heard all the bullshit I can handle
for one day,” she says before she stalks off, slamming the door to the
bathroom.

I turn around and march out, slamming the hotel
door as well. I fucked up, and she hates me. Fuck all this shit, we both just
need time to cool down.

After I hear Slade slam the
door, I hear my cell phone ringing. I exit the bathroom to see who it is.

I answer when I see Holly’s name flash across my
screen.

“Hey, Holls.”

“Oh my God, girl, I heard what happened. Are you
okay?”

“Yes. You sound like you feel better.” I try to
change the subject.

“Who cares how I feel. Are you sure you’re okay?”

I fill her in on all of last night’s drama. She
apologizes more times than I can even count about being sick and leaving early.
She blames herself for not being there, but I feel better knowing she wasn’t
there. She couldn’t have stopped anything, I’m just glad that she wasn’t there
to get hurt as well. We say our goodbyes and I rest my hands on the counter,
hanging my head as I think about Slade being here this morning.

I don’t know what was said between him and that
girl who showed up at my room, but I do know that he would never cheat on me.

The thought that she showed up still pisses me off
though. I look up at myself in the mirror and see my necklace that he got me
for my birthday hanging around my neck. I’ve always known he feels differently
about me and that he has only ever loved me. I just don’t know how much more
crap I can take. I once told myself I would never change anything for a man.
You can still love someone that has flaws. Hell, that’s what makes them so
beautiful. That’s what makes them special. Maybe my flaw is that I’m too
stubborn. I’ve actually been considering quitting Larry’s. Maybe take Courtney
up on her offer of the opening her bank has right now, but not now. Oh, hell
no. He is not going to control my life.

Then a thought hits me. I find myself smiling as I
start to get ready for the day. The bruises on my face and the memory of my
fight with Slade are not going to hold me back from doing what I want.

I have a fuck him attitude today and I’m in the
mood to have a new car to go along with it. I do not want to drive the Tahoe. Just
because I have come to terms with the fact that my mother is gone, doesn’t mean
I feel comfortable driving her car around every day.