Chapter 23
The stars were shining so brightly overhead, that the Seven Deadlies clubhouse was almost entirely illuminated. There was music from a live band, plenty of tagalongs, and the Lone Rangers were making their presence known with yet another fight in the cage- this time with Prettyboy at the helm.
Scarlett had never seen anything like it in her whole life.
She’d been to parties, galas, charity events, and a multitude of weddings.
None of them had ever been so fun.
At first, she hadn’t been too sure that she’d be able to enjoy herself.
Torch had assured her that enough whiskey would make anyone enjoy themselves.
Esme was keeping her company while they watched Axel and Prettyboy.
Both men were laughing, mildly bloody, but having a grand time nonetheless. She’d seen a few familiar faces from the wedding too, Rebel for one. He’d been kind and sweet, and they’d talked for quite a while before his crew had taken his attention. Pierce was there, too.
She’d avoided him for the most part, but eventually he’d sought her out so he could apologize. While she’d accepted it, she wasn’t so sure she believed his sincerity…
“What’s on your mind, girl? You’re a million miles away!,” Esme said.
Scarlett cleared her throat.
“I was thinking about all the people I’ve met since I moved here, and how different this is from my life back home.”
Esme nodded her dark head and leaned against Scarlett’s shoulder.
“I wouldn’t change my life here. Would you change anything about yours?”
It was on the tip of her tongue to say yes.
That she would change what’d happened with Scott, Limit, and her father and even.
But, would she really?
In the end, she’d seen everyone’s true colors including her own. She’d been independent and strong, but she’d also been willing to get hurt and that said a lot about where her heart and head were at in the grand scheme of things.
“No.”
Esme looked up at her, surprise alight in her eyes.
“Really?”
“Really. If I could take away my mom’s sickness, I would. But, other than that? This has all been one terrifying, uncomfortable learning experience for me. I’ve met so many wonderful people, Esmeralda Quinn.”
She looked like she believed her, too.
“You’re a really sweet woman, Scarlett. Ox is lucky to have a daughter like you and I’m lucky to have a friend like you.”
Scarlett wrapped an arm around Esme’s shoulder at the exact moment Prettyboy and Axel decided to call the fight.
“Well, shit! I never thought I’d see the day!,’ Esme said as she giggled.
She clapped her hands together as both men exited the cage, both smiling and covered in a thin sheen of sweat.
Axel was scarred and always looked angry, but Scarlett knew that he was a very nice man. He was covered in tattoos and out of the two of them, he was the only one with hair on his chest.
Scarlett thought he was handsome in a Tarzan kind of way, and when he smiled at her, she returned it.
“You stay to watch me kick Prettyboy’s ass?,” He joked.
She winked at Prettyboy.
“He looked like he handled himself just fine.”
Both of them laughed then, and the sound was like a melody to her ears.
She’d laughed more in the last few hours than she had all week.
“How’s the arm? And your side?,” Axel asked.
He nodded towards her arm as he walked alongside her. Scarlett was on her way back to the clubhouse to get another drink, but she didn’t mind his company one bit.
“Healing up okay! Laura said everything looks good.”
“That’s good. I’m glad to hear it…but, how are you holding up? Something like that happenin’ is bound to shake you up good.”
Scarlett opened her mouth to deny him, but instead she told the truth.
Again.
“I’m terrified.”
Axel didn’t look surprised.
“I understand. What happened to you isn’t something you can just forget. Have you told anyone?”
Scarlett shook her head as she tucked her hair back behind her ears.
“The only person I want to talk to, doesn’t want to talk to me. I don’t want Ox to worry about me, really. He’ll feel like it’s his fault, and I don’t want him to feel guilty.”
Axel opened the clubhouse door for her, and she stepped inside with her eyes still locked on him. In fact, she was so busy waiting for him to respond that she walked right into a solid wall of chest, and would have fallen on her ass if the person she’d run into hadn’t caught her around the waist.
When she looked up to apologize, she met grey eyes she’d know anywhere.
Sober or drunk.
“Sorry,” She mumbled.
Limit only nodded before he released her and stepped around her.
Axel watched him leave, his dark eyes narrowed.
“Man, if looks could kill! That fucker nearly burned right through me with that glare. If I didn’t know exactly how he felt, I’d have to remind him who’s boss,” Axel said as he shook his head.
Scarlett frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Axel pressed a hand against the small of her back and led her protectively through the crowd of people surrounding the bar before he waved Torch over to refill her glass.
“Baby, that man wants you bad. Can’t you see it?”
Scarlett scoffed.
“Sorry, I’m still focused on the fact that he rejected me and told me that he doesn’t love me,” She said wryly.
Axel seemed to sense that the conversation was one she didn’t want to have, so he changed the subject.
“You shouldn’t be afraid to tell Ox how you’re feelin’. I know he would want to know, he cares about you.”
“I know. I guess I just haven’t found the right time, and since we’re about to leave, it just hasn’t come up. I’m still reeling from everything.”
He nodded like he understood, and the hooded look in his eyes told her that maybe he did.
“How’s your mama? Ox said she ain’t doin’ too well.”
Scarlett relaxed into his hold when he mentioned her mom.
“She’s not. I’m leaving at the end of the week to go home with her. Fury will be back from his honeymoon, so Ox is going to come with me.”
Axel handed her a fresh drink.
“I’m sorry to hear that. I know how hard it is to say goodbye like that. My parents died within a year of each other, and left me to raise my younger sister Ashley. It’s hard as hell to let go.”
Scarlett placed her hand on his bare shoulder.
“I’m so sorry.”
Axel didn’t say anything for a moment, and then he smiled.
“You’re a lot like your old man, you know that? I know you may not see it yet, but I hope one day you do. He’s a good man, and you’re a fine woman, Scarlett.”
For some reason, that made her sad.
“Axel, I think I let him down,” She admitted.
His expression changed instantly as he gently gripped her shoulder.
“What? Why would you say that?”
Scarlett shook her head.
“Limit told me that I’m not like Rayna or Esme and I know that I’m not. I’m not brave or courageous, and I can’t hold my own in a fight like they can. What if Ox changes his mind about me being here with him? What if he doesn’t want me to come back?,” She worried.
Axel tipped her head back so she could see his deep frown.
“Ox wouldn’t be going with you if he didn’t want to make sure you’d come back. It’s a busy time for him to be leaving, especially with the new business openin’ up. Trust me, Scarlett. He wants you to come back with him,” Axel said.
It made her feel better to hear that, because truthfully, she’d been worried about it all day.
Limit not loving her back was one thing; losing Ox, too?
That was something else.
She didn’t want her father to resent her because she couldn’t be like the other old ladies on the lot.
“Thank you for listening to me. Do you think you could keep the leaving aspect of my story to yourself? I haven’t told the whole crew, yet.”
Axel smiled as he nodded.
“Sure I can. That’s your business.”
She sighed gratefully and surprised them both when she hugged him close.
“Esme’s right. You’re just a big teddy bear,” She teased.
He looked stricken as he placed a palm over his heart.
“Don’t go hurtin’ a man’s reputation now.”
Scarlett eased back from their hug and grinned.
“I’ll keep it between you and me.”
Before Axel could respond, Emily came tumbling in between them.
She was obviously drunk but her eyes were wide with fear. She fought to catch her breath as she waved frantically towards the doors.
“Scarlett! You gotta come watch! That a-hole Pierce and Limit are fightin’ in the cage!”
Axel and Scarlett locked eyes at the same time before all three of them booked it towards the cage.
Sure enough, Limit was circling the inside of the cage like an animal.
His head was bent forward and he was shirtless- she could see every line of the muscles she’d become so well acquainted with. She hadn’t seen much of Limit in the last few days, but seeing him like this just didn’t feel right.
Something was off.
Pierce looked just as scary as Limit did.
He too circled the other side of the cage like he couldn’t wait to get his hands on the Deadlies’ enforcer, and for what reason, Scarlett had no idea.
Just as she made her way to the front of the crowd, Esme and Prettyboy caught sight of her and headed her way.
“Scarlett! Tell Limit to stop the fight now! Tell him you’re not inside with Axel,” She cried.
She was visibly upset, so much so that Prettyboy tried his best to calm her down.
“What the fuck is goin’ on here?,” Axel demanded.
Esme rolled her eyes.
“Pierce told Limit that you two were inside fuckin’, and that he was next in line. But, we both know Limit will kill him!”
Scarlett’s eyes widened when Axel swore under his breath and looked towards the cage, where both men charged for one another.
“Why would he do that?,” She cried.
Axel swore.
“To cause trouble, that’s why! He’s always gettin' himself in one fight or another.”
The sound Limit and Pierce made when they collided rivaled a category five hurricane.
Like clouds of thunder clapping, it was enough to shake the entire cage.
Scarlett screamed, but the sound was swallowed by the sounds of the crowd as she joined Axel by the front of the cage.
He looked like he had no idea what to do, so she wrapped her fingers around the warm metal much like she had the night her and Limit had kissed in the rain, and shook the links.
At first, neither man seemed to hear her, but that was because they were busy ripping each other apart like two lions fighting for the same piece of meat.
Prettyboy's words came back to her then, and she knew he was telling the truth about Limit being the lion.
If Limit didn’t love her, she had no idea why he’d literally kill Pierce with his bare hands (which she had no doubt that he would do) if she didn’t stop them.
“Limit! Limit!”
At that point Axel was also banging on the cage to get their attention, and finally Pierce caught sight of his president.
Who was livid.
“Get the fuck out of that cage, now.”
Pierce looked like he’d just been stuffed face first through a meat grinder and one look at Limit’s hands showed her why- he was wearing brass knuckles, and he didn’t even look apologetic about it.
He was panting and his face was bloody, but Scarlett had no idea how much of that blood was actually his.
“Boss-”
Axel growled under his breath and the sound rattled Scarlett as well as the cage.
“Now.”
Pierce nodded and climbed down, only pausing to follow after his president.
Esme sighed with relief and Emily looked dumbfounded- drunk, but dumbfounded.
“Fuck, that was scary.”
Scarlett wasn’t too far from terrified, actually.
Green had joined their small group as well as Rider and Slayer, and every single one of them was speechless.
“I’m honestly really confused,” Slayer said.
Green elbowed him.
“You’re always confused.”
“Can someone fill me in, though?,” Rider asked.
“Pierce lied to Limit to get under his skin, and Limit tried to bash his face in with brass knuckles,” Green supplied.
Every one of them, including Scarlett, was watching Limit.
He was standing stock still in the middle of the cage, and that’s when Scarlett realized that he was lost in his own head.
It was obvious that he had no idea she was even there.
Slowly, hoping that she wouldn’t startle him, she climbed into the cage and tried her best to step around any of the blood coating the slick floor.
“Colton?”
She spoke softly to him hoping that would grab his attention.
When he didn’t move, she said his name again.
“Limit!”
His grey eyes snapped to hers, but he didn’t look like he recognized her.
“It’s Scarlett, remember?”
She was so close to crying, but she wanted to keep her voice as steady as possible.
He lowered his fist to his side, but he still looked shell-shocked.
“Why don’t you come with me and we’ll get you cleaned up, okay?”
One glance at her friends told her they were obviously worried about her being so close to him, but she knew he wouldn’t hurt her.
“Did you do it?”
She frowned up at him as she eased even closer to him.
Confused, she asked, “Did I do what?”
“Did you sleep with him?,” He whispered raggedly.
“Axel and I were just talking. We didn’t move any further than the bar. You can ask Torch,” She said.
Limit blinked, and as he did so, he seemed to come back down to earth. When he realized that her and the others were there with him, he stiffened.
“Pierce said you and Axel were inside together.”
“We were. I was grabbing another drink from the bar.”
He sucked in a breath through his nose and nodded.
“I hurt him.”
Scarlett’s face fell as she nodded, but she held out a hand for him anyways.
“Come with me, we’ll go inside and talk about it.”
Limit’s expression went from empty to surprised.
“You’ll talk to me? After what I did?”
She wasn’t sure if he was talking about the fight or the fact that he’d broken her heart, but she didn’t care.
Neither one of them mattered when he looked at her like that; broken, immovable, lonely.
“I told you that you’d only find understanding from me.”
Limit dropped the bloody brass knuckles onto the ground and gripped her hand tightly.
And, then she caught a glimpse of him again- the real Colton Graham.
She just hoped that he wouldn’t disappear this time.