Razor's Mark: (Marked Book 1) (6 page)

Razor made it down the stairs in no time and set her down, holding onto her before snapping her helmet on her head. He climbed onto his bike, not saying a word to her. It was her signal to follow suit. Climbing on the back, she held him tight without any hesitation this time as they sped off back to the city.

Razor had never been so damn mad and scared in all his life. He was normally cool-headed and calm. He didn’t do drama; didn’t like it, and avoided shit like that. But Faith walked into his life and now it was one giant ass soap opera he didn’t want. Except
that someone had killed his brother,
and now, they were after her.

He’d gotten a package from Johnny at the store today. He had no damn clue what it meant. It was a fucking watch of all things. He had gone to the office to show Faith, but she wasn’t there. However, it was clean and tidy, so it did tell him she had been there at some point. At least he was able to get in a two-hour piece on some dude. It helped, but then this. He didn’t know where to go. He would have gone to her apartment, but he had no clue where the hell that was
,
then he remembered her say something about Johnny’s. So he went there, though he had taken a wrong turn. Walking up the stairs, he saw her coming out of not his brother’s place but the neighbor's. He saw red knowing anyone could have grabbed her. Anything could have happened to her at that point and it would’ve been his fault. As much as he hated having to deal with her crazy outbursts and unusual way of talking, he didn’t want anything to happen to her. The more he spoke to her, watched her interact with others, the more he saw something more that an empty woman who just got by in life. It had
to have been what Johnny had seen as well. Faith was something he had yet to figure out. Though he tried to avoid her like the plague, his mind wandered into dangerous territory with her.

He needed the few minutes to cool down,
so he rode with her on the back. She was trembling slightly, making him hold her hand steady until he calmed enough, and trying to let her know silently that he had her. Not wanting to risk her safety anymore, he called in a favor to Casper who would bring some dinner over for them. She had already exposed herself enough by going to Johnny’s apartment.

He rode right past his exit and down five more before he turned around and went home the back way. If someone
was
following him, he would have seen it by now. He parked in his spot, cut the engine, then waited for her to get off. She eventually
did,
and he held his hand out for the helmet. Not giving her any other option, he took her hand and dragged her up the stairs.

He knew what he was acting like, but she was damn lucky he didn’t bend her over his knee, or bike, and spank her ass until she couldn’t sit for a week. He couldn’t risk that. He couldn’t risk getting more attached to her than he already was. Razor promised himself a long time ago, he would never get burned by a woman ever again. It was bang them, then leave. And He had a feeling with Faith, one time wasn’t going to be enough. He needed to keep his shell tight around him, and not let her see more than he was willing to show.

Opening the door, he ushered her inside before locking the door behind them. Heading straight to his cabinet in the kitchen, he located the whiskey, poured a giant glass and drank it all in one go. He filled it again and turned around. She wasn’t there. She hadn’t left the apartment, but he could see his bedroom door half shut. Walking over to the door, he heard a soft cry.
Damn, he hated chicks that cried
.

“Kitten?” He didn’t want to scare
her; it
seemed like she had had enough today. She was sitting on his bed, her knees brought up to her chest, her head down, and rocking back and forth. She really was scared.

“Damn,
Faith. I
’m sorry.”
There, he said it; he should get a fucking medal or something
.

“I’m fine. You can leave.”

“Ain’t happening.”

“Whatever.”

“Wanna tell me why you left the shop?”

There was a long pause before she finally answered, “I had to find some answers; for John.”

“I take it you didn’t find anything?”

“No, the place was trashed. He didn’t hide anything there and his equipment was gone.”

“Okay, so why were you at the neighbor’s house?” Her head was still down, but she was still talking.

“They came back.” It was such a soft whisper he almost missed it.

“Fuck, did they hurt you; did they see you?”

“No,
they didn’t. But they are looking. I heard them talking about me. I went through the door leading to John's deck and jumped onto the next deck, hiding behind boxes and plants. They didn’t see me.” He watched as she started shaking.

“Well, you’re
safe now.” He was trying to reassure her, but it didn’t seem to work to well with her.

“I won’t be. They want me, and they will do to me what they did to John.”

“How do you know what they did?” He knew she was looking for information on the computer, but she never told him what she found, she was gone before he could ask.

“They killed him. Well more than that, they-they, tortured him. It looked like he fought back, but it didn’t help. He was killed protecting information; protecting me. And now they want me.” She broke this
time,
and a hiccup escaped.

He now understood why she was so scared. Hell, he was furious. What with his brother having been killed in such a way, and now she
thought she was next.
Unable to stop himself, he picked her up and sat her on his lap, holding her close. She went willingly and wept into his shirt. He didn’t want to say anything and fuck everything open, so he just held her.

Faith was crying so hard her body was shaking. He had never seen a woman cry like this. He rocked back and forth, just holding her, kissing the top of her head, while making sure to let her know he had her and wasn’t letting go until she was ready. Anything just to get her to stop. Though he hated woman who cried, because it was mostly about stupid shit like boyfriends dumping them, or they lost their cat. Faith’s crying tugged his heart in a way it was almost painful. She didn’t deserve this crazy messed up situation, so if she needed to cry and him to hold her to make her feel better, he would do it. When the waterworks slowed, he did what any sane person would do, he gave her a drink, though he should’ve told her it was straight whiskey, he hadn't and she chugged it. She was going to be drunk by the end of the night, but maybe she needed that.

“Feel better?” She nodded before shifting in his lap.

“You know, you can be sweet sometimes.”

“Shh
, don’t say that out loud, you will kill my rep.” He smiled as she giggled.

“Tell you what, I have someone coming over with some food, so you go take a shower, it will make you feel better, and then we can forget about today; okay?” Once again, she nodded. She took a few steps toward the bathroom, but stopped, turning back like she wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

“What?”

“Umm, I hate to ask, but we didn’t do laundry, and well, I don’t have any clean clothes; can I maybe-
' He
cut her off by standing and going to his drawers, pulling out a large shirt and tossing it to her.

“Thanks, Razor.” And like that, she went into the bathroom. He needed another drink. The door
sounded, and he opened it only to see a smile all too bright for his liking.

Damn, Casper.

“Hey, mate, gotcha some food.”

“Set it over there.” He went to his wallet to get cash for Casper, but the little prick had already sat his ass down.

“Now come off it, there is plenty of food for more than one person, so where is the lass anyway?”

“That’s none of your business,” he snapped.

“Aww, I think I hear the shower, you dirty rascal.” Just then, the bathroom door
opened,
and Faith walked out. Never had he given her a second look before, but her standing there
with wet hair hanging down and in his shirt, did things to his cock. Her bare legs, damn, he didn’t expect those. Fuck, she wasn’t wearing a bra. Motherfucker.

“Oh, bloody hell, mate, you got yourself a vixen wrapped up all pretty like. Hey there,
me
lovely. I’m Casper.” Faith blinked and looked at both of them, then blushed.

“Hi, I’m Faith.” She walked closer to them and held her hand out, though a little hesitantly. “You said you’re Casper, like, as in the friendly ghost?” Razor couldn’t help
it; he
busted up laughing. Casper was going to be pissed.

“Fuck, not you too. I’m not Casper the Friendly Fucking Ghost.”

“Oh,
but he was cute, I liked him.” Which started a whole round of questions for her. At least she wasn’t crying.

Casper had not been what she had expected at all. First, he was a flirt and a half, which was nice compared to Razor’s grumpy demeanor. He made her feel good about herself. She knew she wasn’t a blushing beauty, but she didn’t think she was a total dog either. After she
came
out of the bathroom from her shower, Razor had magically found some pants for her to sleep in. Having to roll them, a lot, she sat and ate dinner.

Casper was very talkative,
but then again, it wasn’t so much what he was saying, compared to how he said it. His accent was awesome. She could be drawn
into
him, even if he just recited the alphabet. It also helped that they had been drinking. Casper stopped at one beer, but Razor seemed to be passing her drinks mixed with God knows what, which she drank.

“So, Faith, you got yourself a fella?”

“A fella?
Like, am I seeing someone?” answering Casper’s question.

“That’s what I’m asking.”

“Well, seeing as people want to kill me, and I practically live like a nun and only get pleasure from my removable shower head
, I say nope.” She smiled, but then looked at both their faces, eyes wide and their mouths open like fish.
Shit, she had said that out loud.

“Umm, what I mean is, no. I think it’s time for bed.
Yeah,
sleep is good. Thanks for dinner. Night, everyone.” She scurried to the bedroom, shutting the door faster than she could even breathe, then
leaning
against it. The sound of mumbled words and laughter only confirmed her
thoughts; she
was an idiot, and they now knew how much of a freak she really was.

Wiping the few tears that slipped out, she climbed into the bed she had been sleeping in. She just needed to figure things out. Razor hadn’t even brought up what John had sent him; her mind was frazzled to the
max, and all she wanted was to sleep off
her drunken state. It was easy to tell she didn’t drink, well, at least, not like she had tonight, but maybe it was because her nerves were fried by the excitement of
today.

Or it could be the fact that she was getting interested in Razor. Faith kept telling herself it was just a physical reaction due to his broad shoulders, strong jaw, tattoos, and piercings. But he had shown there was more to him. He had a heart, and someone had to have hurt him, or something like that for him to act the way he did. He only showed people the outer layer of him, and though she hated parts of it, she knew there was more. But at the same time her attraction to him was also because he was the opposite of John, Razor was a bad boy. He was the bad boy her mother had warned her about. Not that any of them would give her the time of day anyway.

Growing up in a rundown part of town, her mom had worked two jobs. One at a doctor’s office as a receptionist and the other as a waitress to help put her in a better school for gifted children. Her dad was a deadbeat, or so her mother said, but who knows. She studied and studied; graduated high school at sixteen and went to college. She had landed the job at Hamilton and Rodgers right out of college. She had been there since. No one ever talked to her except via email, and that was only to get her help. John was the only one who seemed
to take an interest in her personally, which had shocked her. He was as good looking as Razor, maybe a little less muscular, but they had the same features.

What was she going to do? Razor had John’s information, but she was too fuzzy to try to analyze it now. Closing her eyes, she let the alcohol take her into a dreamless sleep.

*****

Razor said bye to Casper while he put away the rest of the food. He couldn’t believe Faith had said what she had. He had no desire to start anything with her, but when she came out of the bathroom looking like sex on legs, he about came in his jeans. He was shocked he never really took the time to notice her before, but she was fucking gorgeous, well when she wasn’t wrapped up in her own little world. Making sure to cover her up and then plying her with booze seemed to have helped him deal with his raging hard on.

However, she was still having issues with his brother’s death. Hell, he hadn’t even started grieving. Honestly, he doubted if ever he would. He loved Johnny, but he didn’t cry, ever. That was something pussies did. Even when his parents had passed.

Sure, he was devastated, but he would drink the pain away, or ride his bike.

He was in a bind with this whole damn situation. He felt like he was beating his head against the wall and not getting anywhere. Deciding he wasn’t going to figure things out with Johnny or even Faith, he went and took a shower before laying down on his couch.