CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Axe
I pulled out onto the main road and tossed my arm out of the window. I hated being trapped in a goddamn cage.
“You have five minutes,” I growled at her. “Anything you think you should tell me, better say it right now. Once we get to the clubhouse, you’re on your own.”
My eyes were glued to the road ahead of me, even though I knew them so well that I could drive them in my sleep. I may not have been looking directly at her, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her body begin to tremble as tears leaked from her eyes.
“It’s not what you think,” she mumbled.
“I sure as fuck hope it’s not. ‘Cause right now, I’m thinking you’re a lying bitch who is trying to spy on my brothers for some sick fuck.” My teeth clenched together so tight I felt like they were going to crack and my knuckles were turning white from the death grip I had on the wheel.
“I’m not one of his girls, I’m his wife,” she said, her words sounded surprisingly strong and I could hear the downright disgust in her voice.
I glanced over at her to see if the expression on her face matched her tone, but her head was turned and she was looking out the window. Her face was angled enough that I could see that the tears had stopped falling and her body now looked rigid with anger.
I eased the car off the side of the road. If it had been just her and me, I would have jerked the car over and slammed on the damn breaks, but the reminder of Lil man in the backseat had me cautious.
Out of the front windshield, I could see the compound gates up ahead. I knew I didn’t have long to sit there and I could only imagine that Cal was probably sitting there stressing the fuck out waiting on me.
We knew that Savage had a wife, however, Bocca couldn’t come up with anything about her. She had been a mystery, but now she was sitting in the car beside me and his son was in the backseat. Things had taken a hard turn and I couldn’t help but look at them differently. But I knew that wasn’t fair, especially to Neiryn. He couldn’t help his role in all of this, it wasn’t like the kid had a choice to be born to a monster. I hated it for him. And if her story even had an ounce of truth, I hated it for her too.
My mind couldn’t decide if I believed what she had told me just now. On the one hand, it was obvious that she was, for lack of a better term, damaged. She had been through some shit. But on the other hand, I might be able to see her being the Devil’s queen and I wouldn’t put it past her to have mastered the art of manipulation. Then again, maybe I had become too paranoid with the whole Savage thing.
I studied her profile. Her throat bobbed with a swallow before she turned to look at me. There was no way this woman sitting here had even an ounce of evil in her. I knew what I’d seen, and while some might say that I was blinded by my feelings for her, I knew better. I wasn’t. I could see her, the real her. She was a good mother and sure, she’d been through some fucked up stuff, but she was strong and warmhearted. And while she did have an amazing strength inside her, not one bone in her even seemed a bit malicious.
“Everything I told you is true,” she said breaking the silence. She cleared her throat and continued on. “But there is more.” A shiver traveled down her spine shaking her entire body.
“Tell me,” I whispered, not one hundred percent sure that I really wanted to know.
“I was seventeen. My dad got into trouble with Savage’s club. I was sold to Savage to pay off my dad’s debt. He married me just to let me know that he owned me. Everything I already told you, it’s all true. Savage wants to be number one. He wants to rule the world. He has his hands in everything. Guns, drugs, girls…”
My eyes widened in shock. The first two I knew about, but I had no idea that he was selling girls. I knew this was going to be a shock to the club as well. I would like to have said that finding that out changed everything, only it didn’t. We were going to put him down at the end of this regardless. Maybe now we’d make him suffer a little more than we’d originally envisioned.
I started to reach out to her but she shook her head.
“He has many different methods for breaking the girls in. Each and every one, he tried on me first. I was his test subject to see how much the human body—and mind—could endure. I stayed because he said he would kill my family and friends if I tried to leave, and when I looked into his eyes, I knew he was telling the truth.”
The need to hold her was overwhelming, but she needed to get through this without my comfort, I could tell. I held back, even if it killed me to do so.
“When I became pregnant, I knew I had to get out. It took me a long time but I finally did. I couldn’t let my son be tortured like I had been. And I couldn’t stand to see Neiryn turn into his father. I came here because I know about you guys. I had hoped that I would be safe here. Savage has the hate and the power, but you guys have the numbers. I figured he would hesitate before crossing the line and I could hide out here and give myself some time to figure out my next move.”
With lightning speed, I undid her seatbelt and pulled her across the console and into my lap.
Her fingers gripped my shirt as she buried her face in my neck and I didn’t hesitate to wrap my arms around her.
“I’m not trying to start a war, I’m just trying to save my son,” she whispered into my neck.
I rubbed her back, trying my best to soothe her.
What the hell was I going to do now? I had to tell Cal. I didn’t keep things from him or the club. Not to mention the fact that if Savage came for them, we needed to be prepared. Would Cal send her away? Sure he had a heart, but he was the damn prez and that meant he had to make the hard decisions. He had to do right by the club.
I pulled her head back and my thumbs wiped the tear streaks away. Without thinking, I pulled her lips to mine. Her body relaxed instantly and I couldn’t deny that I wanted her lips on mine for the rest of my fucking life. Touching her, kissing her, felt like the most natural yet explosive thing in the world. Her fingers threaded through my hair as our tongues tangled together. I wanted nothing more than to push my way inside of her and fucking claim her as my own. But now was not the time and this definitely wasn’t the place.
All too soon, I broke away. My hands cradled her jaw as I looked into her eyes. The tears had dried, but the sadness and fear were still piercing her eyes.
“You said you trust me, then let me handle this,” I said with an odd tenderness in my tone. I smoothed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. With my lips still pressed against her skin, she nodded.
She slid back into her seat, a storm of emotions brewing in her deep blue orbs. I knew this couldn’t have been easy for her.
As I drove off, I took what little time I had left to mentally prepare myself for what was about to happen. I needed to go in there with a cool head because there was no doubt that I was going to let Cal know that I was on her side and that I thought the club should be too. I had to play it out just right. If I didn’t there was a chance that I would be forced to chose between the club and them. I didn’t want to even think that I was about to lose it all.
I parked in front of the clubhouse, got out and ran around the car to her door. With gentle hands, I pulled her out and caged her against the car with my body as I planted my feet wide so I could be on her level. She didn’t try to fight me or get away. And the thing that sucker punched me to the gut, was that when her eyes looked to mine there was no fear there, no hesitation about being trapped by me.
“You alright?” I asked, knowing the answer was negative.
But she was my strong girl, so she gave a timid nod and tried to put on her brave face. I wrapped my hand around her head, my fingers tangling in her silky hair, as I planted a quick kiss on her temple before I stepped away.
Like it was something I did all the time, I walked back around the car and got Neiryn out. It was strange and weird and not, all at the same time. Holding him felt natural like it was just something I’d always done.
We walked through the clubhouse and headed in the direction of the kitchen. I was fucking thankful that it was early and the place was empty.
Once we were in the kitchen, I set Neiryn down in the highchair they had there for Fate. I reached my hand out and Allison placed the oatmeal in my hand as if she knew just what I wanted. She handed him the milk while I warmed his breakfast up in the microwave for thirty seconds.
“Oh! Hey, Axe,” Ellie’s tiny voice called out as she stepped into the kitchen. I gave her a chin lift and her eyes slid over to Allison and the kid. “Hi…”
“Allison,” I replied for her.
Ellie’s eyes slid back over to mine, all the questions she wanted to ask clear as day on her face but I knew she wouldn’t be rude and voice them.
“Where’s D?” I asked, knowing better than to leave Allison with Ellie without supervision. Not that I thought there would have been any problems, but I had a feeling once everyone found out who Allison was shit would hit the fan. I didn’t want to piss anyone off more than I had to.
“He’s getting Fate out of the car, he’ll be right in,” she answered with a wistful smile on her lips. “I thought I’d come make breakfast for everyone. I was getting a bit stir crazy at home.” She let out a little nervous giggle.
“What would these guys do without you?” I said jokingly, and for some strange reason, I walked over to her and tossed my arm around her in a side hug.
Maybe I was changing, growing, evolving into the person and man I wanted to be. Or maybe I was going completely insane. I had no idea. But I felt the need to hug the tiny woman, so I fuckin’ did.
Ellie’s breath hitched like she was caught off guard for a moment, but then her green eyes turned up to look at me and there was a weird sense of happiness shining brightly in them.
“What the hell? You break him, pixie?” Diesel’s voice filled the air as he walked into the room caring Fate in his arms.
The little girl was decked out in a bunch of pink and ruffles. I would have liked to have said that that was probably all Ellie’s doing, but I’d had the pleasure to be around Diesel after he’d gone shopping for the little one.
Let me just tell you, he went overboard making his kid look like the princess that she was. Not that it was a bad thing. Even if I made fun of the man in my head, I also admired the fact that he didn’t give a shit what anyone thought. When it came to his woman and his kid, he would have done anything for them.
“I-I…umm…” she stammered like she sometimes did when she was nervous. “Did I?”
I chucked and moved to greet Diesel. I knew it was strange for me and that they probably had no idea what the hell was going on or what to do with it. Truth was, I didn’t have the first clue as to what had gotten into me.
“That the girl?” Diesel asked jerking his head in Allison’s direction.
“Yeah,” I said in a curt tone. “Need to talk to Cal. Can you stay here with them?”
He eyed me, reading me like an open book. He could tell something was up, but he wasn’t sure what.
“Yeah,” he said and pursed his lips, making the ring on the side of his lip stick out a little.
“Hey,” Jessica’s voice rang out and broke the tension.
She walked up to me and planted a kiss on my cheek, her hand rested on my chest. I won’t lie, I tensed and she noticed.
We’d kept our distance for months, we hadn’t talked about that night, we hadn’t had sex, and we hadn’t tried to start up the relationship that both of us knew would never work. But her affection was normal, and while I never read too much into it, I wasn’t sure what Allison would think seeing it. I’m sure it didn’t help that Jessica was dressed in her normal club gear—everything too short, too tight, and overly revealing.
Diesel’s shoulders shook with a silent laugh as he studied me. It was like he could see the panic inside my mind. And he thought that shit was funny.
Fucker!
My head moved to look over at Allison who was obviously making herself busy with Neiryn. I couldn’t tell if she had noticed what had just happened, but if she did and it bothered her, she was playing it off well. Jessica’s eyes followed the direction I was looking in and I heard her let out a low ‘oooooh’ before a wide smile spread across her face. She patted my shoulder and walked over to Ellie.
With a nod to Diesel and one last glance at Allison, I headed off for Cal’s office. Damn. I had no idea how much time had passed, but I knew it was well beyond seven minutes.
“The fuck is goin’ on?” Cal barked as I planted my ass on the chair on the opposite side of the desk from him. My legs spread wide and I relaxed back into the chair, trying my best to seem as casual as possible. I had a feeling I wasn’t pulling that shit off.
“First, how’s Ethel?” I asked because I was still in the dark about that shit. I didn’t even bother to ask what happened because I knew he’d tell me.
“Oh, fuck, that’s right,” he said as he dug through one of the top drawers on his desk.
A second later, he tossed a burner phone at me, unpackaged and I assumed ready to go. I didn’t bother checking as I shoved it into my pocket and waited for the man to fill me in.
“She was comin’ back from the city and her car went off the road. I talked to the cops and asked if there was another vehicle involved. They said there wasn’t anyone at the scene other than the woman that had called the police. The woman didn’t know what happened, just came upon the scene while drivin’ by and stopped. The cops said Ethel’s car was too mangled to tell anythin’.
“She was in a car accident?” It wasn’t really a question, my brain was just trying to put everything together. “So is she alright?”
“No,” Cal said with a sad sigh. “She’s in a coma and her injuries are pretty bad. She hit her head and had some swellin’ in her brain. She was unresponsive when the paramedics got to her. Reagan is a mess, won’t leave Ethel’s side.”
“Damn,” I said, sadness pinching my heart. Ethel was crazy, that was for sure, but you couldn’t help but have a special place for her in your heart.
“Now, why you all riled up and needin’ to talk to me? And why I get the feelin’ like I ain’t gonna like what you’re about to say, boy?”
Because you’re not. You’re going to lose your shit.
His brows were pinched together and his eyes were dark as he pinned me with his stare. I subconsciously rub two fingers back and forth on my bottom lip as my body leaned forward.
“Fuck, Cal,” I said blowing out a harsh breath. The words I needed to say refused to release themselves from my mouth. I cleared my throat and tried again. “All that shit she said she’s been through, it was Savage who’d done it. She’s his wife.”
The words were out there now, the scary as hell truth was lingering in the still air, and there was no way I could have taken them back. Before I could continue, he bolted out of his seat and his face turned bright red with fury.
“The fuck, Axe! Why you just now comin’ to me with this? You tie her ass up downstairs?” His voice was filled with hate and anger.
He reached down to grab his knife as he moved around the desk and headed for the door. The thought of what he could do to her if he was pushed far enough had the hairs on the back of my neck standing tall. I jerked up and grabbed his arm without even thinking.
“Sit, old man, before you have a heart attack. Let me finish.” No one but me dared to talk to him like that. His eyes narrowed at me for a long moment before he went back around and sat back down.
“She’s runnin’ from him. She’s trying to keep the kid safe. Everything she told me was true, and there was…some other things she told me right before I got here. He sells girls, Cal. He breaks them down so they are submissive before he sells them. Cal…” I couldn’t even speak anymore.
“How’d you find out she was his wife?” He asked, his tone a little more calm, though his face still showed his rage.
“I…”
How could I tell him without letting him know too much? Like the fact that I had kissed her last night. Or that I was in her bed this morning. That I had damn feelings for her and I would protect her and Lil man with my life.
Fuck it!
I saw no way around it, so I just dove in, consequences be damned.
“This morning,” I paused and ran my hand through my hair, “I saw the outline of something through her shirt, I lifted it up and I saw The Devil’s Kings insignia tattooed on the upper half of her back. He branded her without her permission.”
Though I didn’t know that last part for a fact, I was pretty damn sure I was right.
I hadn’t said that I was in bed with her, but by the slight twitch of his eye, it was clear he’d figured that part out. My head dropped down as I waited for the backlash. I had put the club in danger, all because I had fucking feelings for her and the kid.
“Bring her in here,” he said and his tone was oddly calm.
I raised my head to look at him and when I met his eyes, I could tell he was going to see this out with a level head.
I rushed to the kitchen. Allison’s head snapped in my direction the moment I stepped into the room. I could see the uncertainty in her eyes and I wanted nothing more than to calm her and wrap her in my arms. The moment I was close enough, I pulled her into my body and held her tightly.
“He wants to see you,” I said as I pulled my head back to look down at her and tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ear. “Neiryn is safe here with Ellie, she knows what to do, so don’t worry.”
She hesitated for a moment as she looked over to Neiryn.
“Mommy will be right back, buddy,” she cooed then placed a light kiss on his head.
I grabbed her hand, not giving a shit that everyone could see, and led her to the office.
“Just be truthful. Don’t hide anything. Okay?” I said as I squeezed her hand.
Before I opened the door, I bent down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. I hoped like hell it helped to ease her nerves.