Chapter Nineteen

Axel

I groaned when I saw the man standing in front of me. He’d barged in through the side of the shop and had taken me by surprise. I’d heard the bikes approaching, but I hadn’t given it much thought. I often heard bikes driving up to the shop. I knew who it was the moment I saw him. He’d been the not so delightful man I’d seen at XMC when we’d gone to grab Savannah’s things the first time. I should’ve known he’d be trouble. I had only wished that Savannah had given me a bit of warning. I wondered if this is what she didn’t want to tell me about. I had no idea that she was still in contact with the people at this club. What was she thinking? Why hadn’t she told me?

“What do you want?” I said to the man who had walked up to me.

“What do you mean? You know what I want, so don’t act like you don’t. Do you even know who I am?” he said.

I raised my eyebrows. “Yeah, I remember.”

“You’re Axel,” he said.

I laughed. “Hmm, what gave that away? The big sign above my shop window?”

“Don’t be rude to me, boy. I’m Duke. You know that name?”

“Not at all. Why? Should I? What are you? Famous?”

“Oh, I’m famous alright. And if you don’t listen to what I say, I’ll make sure that everyone who knows me comes after you. You do not want to mess with me because I will make your life a living hell if you do. It’s happened many times before, and people always regret it. Look behind me, boy; I have a whole army with me.”

I looked out at the men on their bikes behind Duke. I wasn’t all that intimated by them because I’d grown up around guys on bikes. I knew that the XMC guys were a lot rougher than the guys I was used to hanging around, but I knew that I wouldn’t let it stop me from standing up to him.

“What do you want?” I said to him. “Because you’ve come to my shop to threaten me and I don’t even know who you are. You better tell me what you want before I kick you out of here.”

“You and what army?”

I realized that the only person I had in the shop was Spike, who was by far the least intimidating man you’ll ever meet, but I puffed my chest despite this. I would not let this man walk all over me. I would not be just another statistic to add to his list.

“What do you want?” I said again.

“Oh, come on, you know what I want. I want Savannah. She belongs to me and has no right being with you.”

My blood ran cold at the mention of her name. I hated that Savannah had a man like this in her life. I thought about little Bobby, and I felt sick. I wanted this man gone out of my life and out of their lives for good.

“Savannah has nothing to do with you. She’s with me now.”

Duke laughed. He was clearly accustomed to being in control. He didn’t take kindly to me standing up to him. I wondered about his ‘army’ behind him and how many times they’d stood up to this horrible man. Probably never.

“Savannah is not with you. She belongs to my group of people. Her father and I go way back. And I’m going to make sure that she stays with us. She made a mistake coming to you, and it’s time that she comes back home. We can do this with very little trouble if you want. Or, of course, we can do it with a lot of trouble. Your choice.”

“Get the hell off my property,” I said. The heat had risen to my face, and I found myself stepping closer to Duke rather than walking away. I was generally not a very angry man, but when something made me angry, it was hard for me to let it go. There was no way that I was going to let something like this go easily. Not when it had to do with Savannah, no matter how angry I was with her at that moment.

“Not until you tell me that you will stay away from my girl. I will leave when you tell me that.”

“She’s not your girl,” I said. “And I think it’s about time that you realized that. She doesn’t belong to me just as much as she doesn’t belong to you. Now, if you don’t get off my property, I’m going to have to make you.”

Duke laughed again. We both knew that if we had to fight, that I would come out last. Even if the group of men behind him didn’t get involved, I was no match for him. Duke was a big man, and it was clear to me that he had been in many fights before. It would be in my best interest to stay away from him, but there was no way that I was going to let him stand in my shop and talk to me that way.

“You’re going to make me? Oh, I’d love to see you try.”

I moved forward again and was just about to grab hold of him when Spike came up to us and tried to pull us away. Poor Spike wasn’t helping at all though, and I was worried that Duke was going to punch him.

“Don’t worry, Spike,” I said. “I’ve got this.”

“No!” Spike said loudly, and I was surprised by his tone. He didn’t like confrontation, and I was sure that this was not the sort of thing he was used to doing. I shot him a look to say that I was grateful that he was sticking up for me but that I didn’t want to get him involved. But the moment I looked at him, I saw Savannah standing in the corner. She had a surprised and fearful look on her face. I was about to shout at her to go back inside, but she came out anyway. She was clutching her phone.

“Savannah!” I yelled.

“Stop it. I have the cops on speed dial, and I’ll call them if you don’t both break it off.”

“You don’t have to do that, Savannah,” Duke said.

I knew why Savannah was using that tactic. Even my motorcycle club didn’t want anything to do with the cops. We’d had enough run-ins with them in the past, and they didn’t take kindly to our group. If my club didn’t want to get the cops involved, then I was sure that Duke’s club felt the same. In fact, they probably felt much stronger about it than we did. Duke looked at me, sighed, and stepped away, and I did the same. I could see Spike visibly relax.

“This isn’t over,” Duke said to me.

“Yes, I think you’ll find that it is over,” I said even though I knew that it wasn’t. Guys like Duke held grudges for a long time and didn’t easily let them go. “This is my shop, and Savannah is not your property. She’s her own person, and you have no right to come here and tell her otherwise.”

Duke ignored me and looked at Savannah instead. “You know you don’t belong here,” he said to her.

“Please go,” she whispered. I could hear how frightened she was and my heart broke into a million pieces at the sight of her. Had she always been frightened of this man? What had he done to her to make her feel that way? Had her last six years been like this?

“You belong with me,” Duke said to her. “Me! I will come back, and I will get you. I don’t care what this stupid boy has to say about it. He’s nothing to me.”

Duke spat at my feet, and I recoiled in disgust.

“Get out of my shop,” I said to him.

“You coming with?” Duke said to Savannah.

I looked at her and was pleased when she shook her head. “No, I’m staying here,” she said. There was a defiance in her voice that was mingled in with the fear, and as angry as I was, I was still impressed that she was holding her ground. She was a strong woman, that was for sure.

“Fine. But like I said, I’m not going to let this go. And Savannah, you should know that by now. You’ve known me for a long time. You know that I never let things go.”

He walked away, and we all stood in silence as we watched the men climb back onto the bikes and ride off. The sound was deafening, and when they left, none of us knew what to do with ourselves. Spike was the first one to talk.

“What the hell was that all about?” he said. “Who was that guy?”

I sighed. “Member of the XMC. One of the friendliest men I’ve ever met,” I said sarcastically.

“Savannah what’s going on? Why did he come after you like that?”

I turned around and looked at Savannah, and wondered if she was going to tell Spike the truth. I noticed that she was trembling.

“Long story,” she said to Spike. “I’m sorry you had to be a part of this. Don’t worry. He won’t come after you. It’s me he wants.”

“Come on, Savannah. I’m taking you home.”

“No, it’s fine,” she said. “He’s gone.”

“I’m taking you home,” I said again. This time I said it more firmly, and she didn’t argue. I looked at Spike. “Mind holding down the fort?”

“Of course not. But shout if you need help with anything. I’ll let you know if there’s any more trouble here.”

“Appreciate it,” I said and walked out with Savannah.

She tried to get into her own car, but I made her get into mine. There was no way I was letting her go on her own. Thankfully she didn’t put up much of a fight. I don’t think she really wanted to be by herself either.

“Axel . . .” she started.

“Don’t,” I said. “I don’t want to hear it. I don’t care about this stupid man threatening me. I really don’t. What I do care about are you and my son. And I hate that you didn’t tell me about him. I hate that you didn’t tell me how bad this all really was. It’s not fair that you did this. And yeah, I know I wasn’t here for you for the past six years. I know you were all alone. But that’s not anybody’s fault but your own. I’m trying to be there for you, but you just won’t let me. Now, I don’t want to talk about it right now because I’m just too damn angry.”

She didn’t say anything. We drove home the rest of the way in silence. I had no idea what to do or how I was going to protect her, but I knew that I was going to have to do something. My mind felt like it was going to explode and a deep-set headache was now knocking against me. I had never felt angrier in my whole life.