Chapter 19

Axel

The girl curled into my side in the bed was ruining everything. The smile I woke with at remembering she was with me was telling of one very simple fact: I was falling for her.

I hadn’t experienced feelings like this for a woman in years. And Ellie, of all people, was a surprise. Johnny had always told me he thought we would be a good fit together. He knew I was attracted to the shop girl and had encouraged me to try to fuck her—as Johnny would have if he were in my shoes. But that didn’t sit right with me. Ellie wasn’t the one-night-stand kind of girl. And I didn’t want to make her do that for me, either.

Of course, I made sure Johnny knew she was off limits, regardless of whether or not I was having sex with her. He respected that.

Ellie shifted beside me, pulling the blankets tighter around herself as she nuzzled closer to my side and let out a content little sigh.

I smiled at the ceiling like a damn fool.

There was no reason for me to leave the bed, so I stayed where I was until Ellie woke about a half an hour after me. She stirred awake slowly and stretched her body out alongside mine like a cat. Sunshine was streaming in through the windows, and she squinted against the brightness of it after opening her eyes for the first time.

Her green gaze fell on me, and she gave me a sleepy smile. “Good morning. What time is it? I feel like I’ve been asleep for ages.”

I rubbed her shoulder with my thumb. “I haven’t checked. Probably close to nine.”

Ellie yawned and rested her chin on my shoulder. She lay there blinking up at me. Her smile was still lingering in the corners of her lips. “Did you have a good sleep?”

I nodded and slid my hand under my head to prop myself up to better see her. “Like a baby.”

“Do you have plans for the day? I was thinking we could do breakfast. I have a craving for pancakes. But if you don’t have maple syrup, it’s not an option.”

“So, you’re a diva about your syrup, hey?” I chuckled and kissed her forehead.

“Yes.” She nodded matter-of-factly.

“Well, lucky for you, I have some.”

“Great. I know a good recipe. Let me cook for you to thank you for a great night last night. Seriously. I had an amazing time.”

“Me too. I’d really like if we could do it again soon.”

Ellie rewarded my honesty with a bright smile. “The sooner the better.”

She leaned into me to plant a kiss on my lips. Her lips were warm and soft, and when she settled back into her place at my side, I hugged her to me. Her naked body felt good against mine. The intimacy of being so close and vulnerable with one another had my heart fluttering in my chest.

Ellie’s stomach growled.

“Let’s make the pancakes together. You can teach me this recipe of yours. You don’t have any other clothes here besides that dress, do you?”

Ellie shook her head. “No. I guess I didn’t really think that all the way through.” She pursed her lips.

“That’s an easy problem to fix,” I said as I pulled the covers down and swung my legs off the bed. Ellie’s hand traced my spine gently before I stood, naked, and padded to my dresser. I fished out a gray T-shirt and tossed it to her. “Here, put this on. I probably have an extra pair of sweats, if you want.”

Ellie shook her head as she let the blankets settle around her waist. I withdrew a pair of sweats for myself and stepped into them as I admired her breasts before they disappeared beneath the shirt I had passed her. She pulled it down as she got out of bed, and I was a little disappointed to see how long it was on her. It reached her upper thigh, hiding her ass and pussy from me.

I tied the drawstring of my pants while Ellie stretched again. As she stretched her arms over her head, I was granted a brief glimpse of her naked lower half.

Then she hop-skipped over to me. “Do you have any fruit? I like fruit with my pancakes.”

I rolled my eyes to mock her. “So demanding. So, you want fresh fruit and maple syrup? I don’t know if I’m going to be able to put up with how high maintenance you are.”

Ellie arched an eyebrow as we slipped out of the bedroom. She faced me and walked backward down the hall. “If you think I’m high maintenance, you have another thing coming. Before I forget, I’m going to have to go home after we eat to let Cade out and feed him.”

“Sure thing. I’ll drive you. Maybe we can take him for a walk together after?”

“Sure.” Ellie nodded. “That would be great. He’ll be your best friend if you walk him.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Definitely.”

Once we made it into the kitchen, I started a pot of coffee. The rich smell flooded the room, and we both hunched over our mugs once I had poured us each a glass. Ellie sipped it gratefully as I got out the ingredients for pancakes.

Then, the buzzer for my front gate went off.

Ellie looked up at me. “Do you need to get that?”

I groaned. “It’s probably one of the MC boys or a fucking solicitor. Hang on.” I put my coffee down and went to the TV mounted on my wall above the fireplace in my living room. I turned it on and flicked to the channel that showed the security footage of my front gate.

The video was black and white, but it was easy to see what was parked outside of my gate.

A fucking cop car.

“Great,” I muttered as the buzzer went again.

Ellie padded over to me, and her eyes narrowed as she saw the cruiser. “I think I should go put some pants on.”

“All right,” I said. “Just hang back, okay? I don’t know what this is about.”

Ellie nodded. I could see she was nervous. Her eyebrows were drawn together, and there was a tightness in her expression that hadn’t been there moments ago. “Be careful, okay?”

I laughed.

“Seriously, Axel. Don’t do anything stupid.” Her green eyes flicked back and forth between mine, and she put her hand flat on my chest. “We have pancakes to make and a dog to walk.”

I nodded and closed my hand over hers. “I’ll answer their questions and send them on their way. It’s probably about something to do with the MC.” I wondered dimly if they had traced something back to me or Johnny. Maybe the cops knew about our part in beating up the Black Hearts members the other week.

No. It couldn’t be that. Dani, Johnny’s woman, would have given us a heads-up if there was a target on our backs. This visit might be about anything. It wouldn’t do anyone any good if I jumped to conclusions.

Ellie patted my chest before turning away from me and hurrying down the hall to put pants on. When the bedroom door closed behind her, I pressed the button to the buzzer and spoke into the speaker.

“Sorry, was in the middle of cooking. I’ll buzz you through in a second.”

I opened the gates and looked over my shoulder at the TV in my living room. I watched the cruiser drive through the gate, and I promptly closed it behind them. Then, I stepped into a pair of boots at my front door and stepped outside, shirtless, to confront the officers who were stepping out of the car.

They met me halfway up the driveway. I noticed a third cop get out of the back seat and stand with the door open. She rested her elbows on the window of the open door. Everyone seemed calm. This didn’t feel like my normal interaction with officers of the law.

The two cops who had come to meet me were both middle-aged. One was a woman who looked stronger than her male partner. She had a head of short, bright blond hair, and her brown eyes were so wide and calculating that it was impossible for her to conceal the way she was sizing me up.

I suppose meeting officers in my driveway, shirtless, showing all my scars and tattoos, might not have been the smartest move to make.

The male officer, a stocky man with graying hair and a black goatee nodded in greeting as he hooked his thumbs on his belt. The action drew my eye to the gun at his hip. The cop cleared his throat to get my attention.

“Are you Jeremiah Cooper?”

I nodded.

The cop nodded in return. I knew instantly that this was not about the MC. This was about something else. It had been a long time since someone used my real name.

“What are you here for?” I asked, unsure if I really wanted the answer.

The cop looked back at the cruiser. He squinted against the sun and shielded his eyes as he turned back to me. “We have your daughter in our cruiser, Mr. Cooper.”

My mouth went dry. “I don’t have a daughter.”

“Your name is on the birth certificate,” the female cop said. There wasn’t an ounce of sympathy in her voice. “You’re her father. Her mother is deceased.”

“Who was her mother?” I asked. My voice didn’t sound like my own. It sounded very, very far away.

“Evelyn Nortenburgh.” The blond cop tried to give me a smile. “It was a car accident. No foul play.”

“How long ago?”

“Two weeks.”

“How the fuck am I just hearing about this now? I didn’t even know she existed. This doesn’t make any sense. You’re sure she’s—?”

“Mr. Cooper, you’re about to meet your little girl. I suggest you get your act together so as not to scare her. She’s three years old. Her name is Hanna. If you think it’s rough finding out you have a child, try being a three-year-old who just lost her mother. She’s going to need you. I suggest you do whatever you need to do to get your act together and become a father.”

She waved her hand to the other cop back at the car, who crouched down in front of the open back door of the cruiser.

When the officer leaned back from the door and closed it with her hip, she had a young girl in her arms. She couldn’t have been more than three, and as I watched them come up the driveway toward me, my eyes were drawn to her strawberry blond curls and bright blue eyes.

I swallowed. She looked just like me.