Axle had been gone two full days when Gran Hart decided I was ready to learn the finer points of milking a cow. The cow wasn’t too sure.

“Ya gotta commit,” Gran said. “Kinda like your man. You don’t want ’em fumbling around up there pullin’ too gentle or too hard. Makes a girl nervous like he don’t know what he’s doin’. Emily’s the same way.”

My face flamed at Gran’s description of foreplay. But I couldn’t fault her observation. She was right. Emily the cow looked back at me with one large brown eye. She blinked her blonde-tipped lashes once then stomped her foot and whipped me with her tail.

My phone ringing in my back pocket saved me. Or maybe it saved Emily, depending on your point of view. “I need to take that.” I smiled up at Gran. She stood against the fence with her arms crossed. She wore denim overalls and a faded red t-shirt, her dark hair pulled back in what I now knew was her signature braid. Axle told me he inherited his Native American blood from her and his long-deceased grandfather. They were both half Comanche, making him a quarter. It showed in Gran’s fierce gaze. From this angle, she looked just like him.

“You better answer that thing before Emily decides to take it out on you. Move on over, I’ll finish her off.”

I gave Gran an apologetic smile as I got off the stool and made room for her. I didn’t recognize the number and hesitated for a moment before answering, but something told me it might be Axle.

“Hello?”

I heard rustling on the other end of the phone, as the caller likely rifled through a stack of paper. “Miss Ballard? This is Detective Langley.” My heart sank a little.

“Yes.”

He let out an audible sigh. “Thank God. I didn’t think you’d answer.”

The truth was, I wouldn’t have if I’d known it was him. It might be naive. It might be irresponsible, but ever since I’d come out to the farm with Axle, I didn’t want to think about anything connected to Cups, Junior DiSalvo, or my family drama back in Monroe. My mother hadn’t stopped calling either. My conversations with her had been short and terse as I tried to stick to my boundaries with her.

“Is there something I can help you with?”

“Yeah. Actually, yeah. I think I told you when we last spoke that I’d probably need you to come back in and give a more detailed statement. It’s come to that point now. Do you have some time for me this afternoon? I could even come pick you up.”

I stood against the fence on the other side of the barn. Emily let out a bleat in protest as Gran must have gotten settled and milked her properly. I pressed my palm to my forehead then smoothed a few stray hairs that had pulled loose from my ponytail.

“Detective, I’ve really told you everything I remember.”

“Miss Ballard, this is a serious matter. I’ve got a dead kid on a slab in the morgue. I don’t want to be indelicate, but if we’re going to build a case against the person who put him there, you have a responsibility to help us if you can.”

One of Gran’s barn cats appeared. She nuzzled against my boot and arched her back. I reached down and scratched her ears. “So you think it really was Junior,” I said. Langley drew in a breath.

“I’m afraid I can’t confirm that. Not yet. It’s an ongoing investigation so I can’t really go into detail about suspects.”

“I can appreciate that. It’s just not a good time for me right now. I’m not even in town.”

I heard a bang on the other end of the phone. “Miss Ballard, I thought I cautioned you not to leave town.”

Anger roiled in me. It wasn’t directed at Langley, not really. It was Junior. He’d put me in this position. He’s put poor Cory in that morgue. His actions were working to unravel everything I’d tried to build since I left Michigan. Now he was about to destroy the peace I’d found over the last few days.

“I am cooperating,” I said. “I answered your call. We can make arrangements to talk, but not today.”

“Where are you?” he asked. “I can come to you.”

Gran started whistling a tune as she did her work on the other side of the barn. The sun came out from behind the clouds and warmed my face. What would Gran think if a detective showed up here? What would Axle think? It felt wrong, as if it weren’t my place to let that seep into this haven Gran had built.

“That’s not a good idea. Let’s set up a time and I’ll come back into town in a day or two.”

“Miss Ballard, time is of the essence.”

“I understand that. But I’m going to have to insist.”

“No. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but I don’t think you do understand. I don’t just need a statement from you. Look, I don’t want to scare you. But maybe you need to be a little scared to grasp what’s happening. Or what could happen.”

Icy fingers of fear started to snake up my back. My vision blurred and I gripped the phone tighter. “What could happen, Detective?”

He let out a sigh. “I told you when we met. DiSalvo has connections. I have reason to believe ... that his ... I’ve heard some rumblings through certain channels. You might be in some danger, Miss Ballard.”

I gripped the wooden fence railing. “How?”

“You’re a material witness against Gino DiSalvo, Jr. I wouldn’t put it past him to use any means at his disposal to make sure you aren’t in a position to do him harm. You already know what he’s capable of, don’t you? I can keep you safe. If I know where you are, I can keep you safe. Let me do that. I’ll come to you myself.”

I shook my head, trying to clear the cobwebs forming in my brain. I couldn’t process what Langley was saying. I was in danger? Did Junior know I was the one who went to the police? Had he known I was there in the alley? My heart raced and my tongue went dry as sandpaper.

“I have to go.” The words came out of me, but I had no conscious thought about what I was saying.

“Miss Ballard. Let me know where you are. Let me help you.”

“I’ll come in,” I said. “Tomorrow.”

He sighed in my ear. “Today would be better. Now would be better. Tell me where you are, at least.”

My heart hammered in my chest. Langley sounded legitimately scared. If he was scared, how much danger was I really in? I tried to think, but my brain felt jumbled. I took a slow, steeling breath to collect myself. Panic wouldn’t help me. My constant need to please wouldn’t help me. This wasn’t about Langley or Junior or even Cory. It was about me. I had to do what was best for me.

“Tomorrow,” I said. “That’s the best you’re going to get from me. There’s a diner off 37 just outside of Port Az. Best waffles I’ve ever eaten. I’ll meet you at eleven.”

I heard Langley take a breath, about to say something else. But I clicked the end button. My knees shook as I gripped the railing for support. Just then, the ground beneath my feet vibrated. My heart raced as I looked up and Axle rode up Gran’s winding dirt driveway, sun gleaming off his aviator glasses.

I couldn’t move. I could barely breathe. I wanted to run to him, but I needed to get a grip first. Langley’s words and warnings clanged around in my brain. It would be easy to pretend he hadn’t meant them or that he was just trying to scare me to serve his own agenda. But I’d been in that alley the night Cory died. I’d seen the cold look in Junior DiSalvo’s eyes.

Axle spotted me. Gran had finished with Emily and gave him a wave as she went up the porch steps and into the house. Axle gathered his hair into his hands and tied it back as he walked toward me. I kept my place, gripping the fence. Axle stood on the other side, his expression hard. With the sun at his back, shadows danced across his face.

We stood like that for a moment, him staring into my eyes as if he could see straight into my soul. It stirred me. God, I realized it had been like that since the moment I first saw him. This man had a way of laying me bare with just a glance. I blinked hard as tears threatened to spill. It would be so easy to just steal away into the barn, climb up to the hayloft like we had the other day, and lose myself in the feel of him deep inside me.

“Maya, what happened?” he asked, his voice deep and rough.

I wiped my palm across my face and looked away. If he hadn’t ridden up at that moment, I might have had a chance to process what Detective Langley said and kept it out of my eyes. There was no chance of that now. I pushed back from the fence and headed toward the shade of the barn. I heard the gate creak behind me as Axle followed.

I stood below the rafters; the temptation to climb up into that hayloft and push the world away burned strong within me. But Axle’s hard gaze wouldn’t allow it. The reality of my situation bubbled up inside of me like molten lava. I couldn’t keep it in a second longer. So, I did the first thing Detective Langley warned me against.

“I’m in trouble, I think,” I said.

Axle came to me. He put one hand on my shoulder and crooked a finger beneath my chin with the other. “Maya.”

“Let me get this out,” I said. “Just ... listen.”

“I am.”

I stepped away from him. I went to the ladder and sat on one of the rungs. “I didn’t get fired from Cups. Actually, I didn’t really quit either. Not officially. Something happened. With Junior.”

“Maya, don’t …”

I put a hand up. “I think he might have had something to do with what happened to Cory Kline. You asked me about it once and I put you off. I saw something. That night, I was in the alley. They didn’t know I was there, at least I don’t think. Junior beat the shit out of Cory. Axle, I mean he really wailed on him. They were arguing about something then, I don’t know ... Junior just went somewhere in his head. Then the next day ... Cory ... he turned up dead. On the beach. Axle, I don’t know if it was Junior. I don’t know if Cory was dead when I left that alley. I didn’t think he was. God. If I thought he was, I would have called for help. If I’d called for help, maybe he’d be alive. Do you think he might be? Did I do this? Did I do the right thing?”

I realized I was starting to get a little hysterical. My words tumbled out of me in a stream of disjointed consciousness. Axle finally came to me. He pulled me against his chest and rubbed my hair.

“Stop,” he said.

“I can’t.” I looked up at him. “I told the police everything I knew as soon as I heard about Cory being dead. And now ... oh, Axle, it’s a mess.”

Axle sucked in air hard, flaring his nostrils.

“I was on the phone just before you got here. There’s a detective I’m working with. He thinks Junior might have figured out I went to the cops. He thinks Junior might try to do ... something.”

When Axle stepped away from me, he staggered to the side as if he’d taken a gut punch. As scared as I was for what might be coming for me, I wanted to take the pain I saw in Axle’s eyes away. God, my need to fix other people still flared even now.

Axle turned. His face turned red and a tremor ran through his jaw. Veins jumped in his forearm as he curled both fists.

“Axle?”

He shot me a single look filled with fire and fury. Then he took two strides toward the back of the barn and punched a hole through the wall. Wood splintered. Blood poured from his knuckles as I jumped off the ladder and went to him.

“Axle!”

He shook, every corded muscle twitched. I put a hand on his back and grabbed him by the wrist, trying to pull him away from the wall. His eyes were bloodshot and barely focused as I succeeded in drawing him away. I made him sit on the ladder and grabbed a towel from the bench and wrapped his bloody hand with it.

“Tell me what to do,” I whispered.

Axle squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

“Goddammit, Maya.”

I reared back. “Are you mad at me?”

His eyes snapped open and he ran his good hand through my hair. “No! Fuck. No. I’m not mad at you.”

“Then what? Is Langley right? Do you really think Junior DiSalvo is capable of trying to hurt me?”

Something passed through Axle’s face. He went red again and for a moment, I thought he was about to take it out on the side of the barn again.

“I think he is,” I answered for him. “God. Axle. I thought I was doing the right thing. But I saw him that night. I should have known. Cory just stood there. He stood there and took what Junior did to him. He could have stopped it. He didn’t though. Axle, he took punch after punch and he never lifted a hand to defend himself. I didn’t understand it. But now, after what Langley had to say, I think I do. Cory was afraid of Junior. Of what he might do if he crossed him. He was willing to take a beatdown rather than risk making him more angry.”

“Langley.” Axle’s voice cracked. He pulled his wounded hand away from me and pounded it with his other fist. It had to have hurt, but none of that showed on Axle’s face. He pushed off the ladder and walked away from me. He covered the floor of the barn, pacing with long strides as he tore his hand through his hair.

“You’re scaring me,” I said. “Tell me what to do.”

He froze, turning to me. His eyes were wild. His lips parted as if he meant to say something. Hell, he looked ready to shout it, but he didn’t. Instead, he pressed his thumb to the corner of his eye and let out a hard, labored breath.

“Junior’s dangerous,” he said.

“I know that now. And I know you tried to warn me about him the very first day I met you. But he warned me too. I never told you that. But after you left that night and that thing with his Uncle Frank, he called me into his office and told me he didn’t want any of his girls messing with you or your club.”

Axle’s lips curled into a snarl and he smashed his towel-wrapped hand against the workbench. If it caused him any pain, his face didn’t show that either. “That little fuck. What else did he tell you?”

“That was it. I didn’t know what to think. Obviously, I didn’t think much because after that ... you and I ... I don’t know. I didn’t believe him. When I spent time with you ... Axle, I know you. I know your heart. At least, I’d like to think I’m starting to. Junior’s crazy. I get that now. I just wish I’d seen what he was sooner.”

Axle searched my face. He came to me; sliding his hand through my hair he held it at the back of my neck. “You don’t know anything, baby.” It could have been an insult, but Axle’s voice broke when he said it.

I put my hand up, encircling his wrist where he held me. “Tell me what to do, Axle. Langley wants me to come in tomorrow. I said I’d meet him at the diner where you took me the other day. I mean, I didn’t tell him you took me there. But it seemed like a good, quiet, very public place. He wants a more detailed statement. I just want to get this over with. Put it behind me. Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten involved, but I am now. The only way I’m going to be safe from Junior is if I can help put him away.”

Axle’s eyes glistened. He gave just a slight shake of his head, then let out a sigh, dropping his hand from the back of my neck.

“Don’t do it,” he said.

“What, meet Langley?”

“Any of it,” he said. “Call him back. Tell Langley you want to retract whatever you told him before. Tell him it was too dark. Fuck, tell him you were just trying to get back at Junior because you were jealous he was paying attention to one of the other girls.”

I took a step back. “Axle, I can’t. It’s a lie.”

“Then fucking lie, Maya. I don’t trust Langley. I sure as fuck don’t trust Junior. These people. Baby. You have no idea what they are capable of. You cannot go up against that asshole. Not yet. Not now.”

“It’s too late,” I said. “Langley isn’t going to let this go. He knows I was there. He says Junior knows I was there. Well, he implied that anyway. Axle, he said Junior might try to hurt me to keep me from testifying against him. Fine. I don’t know these people. This isn’t my world. So, I’m asking you. I’m begging you. Tell me the truth. Do you really think Junior DiSalvo is capable of something like that? What happened with Cory, it was awful. But I don’t know. I don’t think he planned it. This ... coming after me …”

Axle came to me again. He stopped so he could stare at me at eye level. “Yes. Dammit. Yes. Junior DiSalvo is capable of finding a way to hurt you. You shouldn’t ... you can’t trust anybody. Not Junior. Not anyone from Cups. Not the cops. Not even …”

I placed my hands flat on his chest. Axle’s heartbeat hammered beneath my fingertips. “You,” I said. “Baby, I trust you. So, will you help me? Will you help me find a way to put Junior away and keep my ass from getting in deeper trouble than I already am?”

I smiled, going up on my tiptoes. I kissed Axle. Even in my distress, his body heat seared through me. His lips ignited that now familiar, overwhelming desire. He stayed still as stone at first, then Axle seemed to melt beneath my touch. His arms came around me, lifting me off my feet. My head swam as he took a few steps forward, pressing my back against the wall of the barn.

Almost on instinct, I lifted my legs and wrapped them around his waist. God, I needed him. The desire to have him inside me burned through me so intensely I could barely breathe. He felt it too. Axle’s breath came in quick pants. He pressed his good hand against the wall and held me up with his other arm.

I did all the work; tearing at his belt buckle, I freed him from his jeans. His cock was huge and hard, throbbing for me. I was on fire. Moisture pooled between my legs. Axle shifted his posture just enough so I could drop my legs for a moment and pull my shorts down.

Then he was in me. Grunting, he thrust inside of me quick and deep. I came almost at once, my heart pounding in time to the rhythm he set. He fucked me so hard, the barn wall shook.

“Fuck,” Axle whispered against my temple. He came just as quick. It was raw and dirty and something we both needed. Everything else felt so out of control. But this ... us ... it was mine and I could take it. We both could.

As soon as Axle spent himself he let go of me. His eyes were hooded, half-crazed with the lust he felt. He pressed his forehead against mine as he refastened his jeans.

“I swear to God,” he whispered, breathless. “No matter what it costs me, I’ll keep you safe.”

Then a single tear fell down his cheek.