“Axle!” Maya screamed. I saw her eyes widen as she tried to process what had happened. She looked at the gun on the ground and back at me. Only I knew the shot hadn’t come from her.

“Get down!” I yelled, diving forward. I caught Maya around the waist. Pushing her backward, I covered her with my body as we hit the ground together.

The second bullet hit the dirt just a few inches from where Maya had been standing, sending a cloud of dust all around us. As my shoulder erupted in agony, I grabbed my gun and pushed Maya behind me.

“Stay down!” I yelled. I got up on one knee as the car screeched to a halt, then backed up going almost top speed. The first two shots had missed their target. I knew the shooter wouldn’t risk missing a third time.

I aimed too high. My bullet shattered the back windshield. Maya yelled something to me. “Keep your head down!” I shouted. “Don’t move!”

I rolled to the side and got in front of her as I saw the passenger side window roll down. He would stop to try and get off a clean shot. I didn’t plan on letting him get that close. My second shot tore through the passenger side front tire, sending the car swerving sideways. It was enough to make his next shot go wide.

“Stay down,” I commanded Maya again as I ran forward, going in for the kill. I held my weapon up, with my right shoulder bunched almost to my cheekbone as I advanced.

“This isn’t about you, Axle!” Junior Disalvo’s hands shook as he pointed his gun straight at me. But his hands trembled. Mine didn’t.

“Drop it!” I yelled. Adrenaline kept the worst part of the pain at bay but I knew that wouldn’t last for long. Junior’s first bullet had torn through the meat of my shoulder. I figured it hadn’t hit anything important because I could still work my arm. For the rest of my life I’d thank God Junior was such a lousy shot.

“Let me finish this,” Junior said, still not dropping his weapon.

“You don’t drop that piece right now, my next one’s going to be straight between your eyes!”

He didn’t move. I squeezed the trigger and hit Junior in the right shoulder. His gun flew out of his hands and landed on the seat in front of him. I didn’t give him a chance to recover. Keeping my gun trained on his fucking head, I opened the passenger side door, grabbed his weapon, and slid it into my waistband.

“I ought to blow your fucking brains out right here!” My voice came out as a hiss.

My vision tunneled. The world fell away except for the barrel of my gun, my trigger finger, and the trembling man in front of me. My quarry. Everything slowed. The bullet would enter his forehead, squarely between his eyes. It would leave a small hole, the worst of the damage would be to the back of his head and everything in between. Still, the Calhoun Brothers would be able to do an excellent job with him so his mother could still have an open casket.

My gift. My calling. All I had to do was move my finger a fraction of an inch.

“Axle!”

Maya’s voice reached me through the din. My vision widened. I became aware of the gold glint of the sun reflecting off Junior’s side mirror. I heard Junior beg me for mercy as he slumped against the driver’s side door, blood pouring out of the shoulder wound I’d given him. My own blood dripped down my elbow, pooling in fat droplets in the dirt.

“Axle!” Maya called again, tethering me to earth.

“Are you okay?” I yelled back, still keeping my Nine trained right on Junior’s head.

“Yes,” she gasped. I felt her breath near my ear.

“You’re bleeding,” she said.

“Ain’t nothing but a scratch,” I said. “Baby, get my phone out of my back pocket, will you?”

She did. I kept my hands on the trigger and told Maya to hold the phone near my mouth.

“Call Kade,” I said. As the phone dialed, Maya held it closer to my ear. Kade answered on the second ring.

“Ax, where are you?” Kade said.

“Marshall Road,” I answered. “Just about halfway between Corpus Christi and Port Az. We’ve got a problem. I need you to bring a cleanup crew. ” I couldn’t say more over the phone. But I knew Kade could figure out the rest.

I jerked my chin toward Maya and she took the phone away.

“Axle, be reasonable,” Junior said. Even this asshole knew what a cleanup crew meant. “You really wanna put both our businesses on the line?”

“You really wanna say more stupid shit, Junior?”

His eyes darted from Maya to me and back again. “You gotta be kidding me,” Junior said. “You telling me this gash got in your head?”

My fingers twitched on the trigger. The tunnel vision threatened to return. Maya put a gentle hand on my good shoulder.

So, we stayed that way. Sweat poured down my face. Maya took her sleeve and wiped it away. Junior whimpered from the pain of his gunshot wound in the front seat of his car. I don’t know how long it took for the crew to get there. It probably wasn’t more than ten minutes but it felt like forever.

But Zig, Kade, Benz, and Chase showed up in a van. They piled out, each of them with their hands on their side arms, ready for battle. Kade’s eyes widened with understanding when he saw who I had in the car.

“We good?” I asked him, itching to end this once and for all.

Benz stepped forward. He put his hand on my wrist, trying to pull the gun away.

“No way, man,” I said. “He’s mine.”

A look passed between Kade and Chase.

“Axle,” Zig said. “You know we want what you want, but this is Bear’s call. He’s on his way. You let us take it from here. You need to get that shoulder looked at.”

“Mama Bear can do that,” I said. But my vision started to waver. I let out a breath and locked eyes with Benz. He gave me a tight-lipped nod. I nodded back and finally handed him the gun.

Maya’s arms came around me. “Are you okay? Axle, you’re bleeding bad.”

I stepped away, leaving Benz, Chase, and Kade to deal with Junior. Zig came with us.

“It’s just a scratch,” Zig answered for me. “It’d take a hell of a lot more than Junior DiSalvo to do damage to Axle. Are you okay, Maya?”

She tensed in my arms but gave Zig a nod. “I will be.”

“Good,” he said. “Now let us deal with this shithead for you. Maya, I suppose Axle’s told you, but you’re under the club’s protection now. It’s going to be okay.”

Zig said other things, but I pulled Maya away. I wanted to get her as far away from Junior DiSalvo as possible.

“Are you really okay?” I asked her. I didn’t think I’d be able to drive but I wanted to get her back to the clubhouse as soon as possible.

“Have I told you lately that I hate you, Axle Hart?” she said, but her eyes shone with fresh tears and she smiled wide.

“I love you too, baby,” I said. Then I kissed her long and deep. Maya’s fingers laced through my hair and the feel of her body pressed against mine took all the pain and darkness away.

“God help me, baby,” she whispered. “But I love you too.”