Chapter 69 Scarlett
SCARLETT
“You know Axel?” My eyes darted between Axel and Dakota, feeling like I’d stumbled into the middle of a Western standoff.
Wearing a pair of blue jeans and a white T-shirt, Dakota should have looked every part the casual woman. But casual wasn’t in the dictionary when her tiny arms folded over her chest, her eyes narrowed to lethal slits as she tried to assassinate Axel with her glower.
“You mean Satan’s spawn? Yes. Unfortunately, I do know him.” Her voice dripped with the kind of venom usually reserved for tax auditors and people who talked during movies.
“How?” I asked, suddenly fascinated by whatever cosmic joke had connected these two.
“He was my brother’s best friend,” Dakota said, each word clipped.
“Is,” Axel snarled, leaning forward. “Present tense. Knox is still my best friend.”
“Can someone hand me that bag of chips?” Jace interrupted, extending his hand. “This is a show that deserves treats.”
“Knox?” I questioned.
“My brother,” Dakota clarified, her eyes never leaving Axel.
“Your brother?” I repeated like some deranged parrot.
“Seriously, that bag of chips, please.” Jace waggled his fingers impatiently.
“I don’t think you should be eating potato chips yet,” Blake said, slipping effortlessly into doctor mode. “Your digestive system is still—”
“Since when does a stab wound affect my cholesterol level?” Jace countered. “Did they rewire my arteries while I was under?”
“Your body is healing,” Blake insisted. “Maybe start with something less—”
“Save the lecture. Pass the chips.”
Ryker rolled his eyes and finally made himself useful by grabbing the chips and tossing them to Jace. “Here. Die happy.”
“Finally.” Jace opened the bag with the reverence of a man unwrapping a priceless artifact. He popped one into his mouth, making sure to chomp loud as hell.
Axel shot him a death glare, so Jace smirked. And chomped louder.
“Maybe we should give them some space,” Ryker suggested, eyeing the door.
“Absolutely not,” Jace said between crunches. “I’m not missing whatever this is.” He gestured between Dakota and Axel with a chip, dropping crumbs on his hospital gown.
“You never talked about your brother with me.” I tried not to feel hurt by Dakota’s revelation.
She knew virtually everything about my life—from my father’s abuse to that mortifying incident with the mechanical bull last year (which we’d sworn never to speak of again).
So, why wouldn’t she share something this basic about her family?
She met my eyes, her expression apologetic and haunted, the anger momentarily replaced with something raw. “Because he’s in prison. For murder.”
Holy. Shit.
The room went silent, except for Jace’s crunching.
“Dude, read the room,” Ryker hissed, smacking Jace’s arm.
Suddenly, everything about Dakota’s behavior over the years clicked into place: how she’d dodge questions about her family, changed the subject whenever siblings came up.
Maybe this even explained why she was so careful about her social media empire.
One headline about her murderer brother, and her business could crumble overnight.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked softly.
“It’s not exactly easy to drop into conversation.” She gave a bitter laugh. “Hey, want to grab lunch? Oh, and by the way, my brother’s a convicted murderer. The spinach artichoke dip is amazing here.”
“Did you think I’d judge you?”
“God, no.” Dakota waved it off. “I didn’t keep it from you because I was worried about how you’d react, Scarlett.
I kept it from you for the same reason I keep it from everybody.
It’s just …” She took a breath. “The only way I can get through my days sometimes is by shoving that information into the darkest corner of my mind. Because if I let myself think about what my brother did to another human being, I become frozen. Okay?”
Well, when she put it that way, how could I not understand? It wasn’t dissimilar to all the years I’d refused to talk about my father.
“Okay.” I nodded, feeling bad for a moment that I had made this about me.
In fact, I admired Dakota even more than I had before.
This was a woman who’d created an empire of her own (she’d finally given her notice to focus on her mega-successful empire) and managed to get through all the days without talking about something incredibly dark.
Something dark that could have held her back, but she didn’t let it.
“Jace, you knew Knox too?” I asked, the pieces finally clicking together. This must be why Dakota had recognized his name, why she’d called him an “old family friend” she’d only met a couple times. “That’s how you two know each other?”
Jace nodded. “Met Dakota a few times during Knox’s trial.”
Right. A murder trial that Dakota had clearly tried to block out of her memory.
“I guess I can understand why you don’t want to talk about your brother,” I said to Dakota, turning back to the matter at hand, “but why do you hate Axel?”
“We have a history.” Dakota’s jaw clenched. “And not a delightful one.”
“She’s my sworn enemy,” Axel added, as if clarifying an important detail on his résumé.
“Did you two date?” I asked, unable to keep the curiosity from my voice.
“No,” they both said in unison, their faces contorting like they’d both simultaneously bitten into lemons.
“I avoid him at all costs,” Dakota said, her tone suggesting Axel was less a person and more a communicable disease.
“Well, tough luck, Sunshine,” Axel said. Gone was his panicked demeanor, and in its place was an antagonistic smirk that seemed designed specifically to make Dakota’s blood boil. “Looks like we’re going to be stuck spending some time together.”
Her chest swelled like she was preparing to breathe fire.
“You can go,” I said to her. “Thank you for bringing the car.”
“Did you scratch it?” Jace asked, panic momentarily overriding his chip mission.
“No,” Dakota answered him before turning her fiery glare back to Axel. “And, no, I don’t run from vermin. I said I’ll help, and I’ll help. If he wants to run off like the coward he is, he can do that.”
Axel huffed. “Run? From you?” He rolled his eyes with such dramatic flair, it was a wonder they didn’t get stuck in the back of his head. “Don’t flatter yourself. You’re not even a blip in my universe.”
“That’s not what your face said when I walked in,” Dakota countered. “You looked like you’d seen a ghost. Or your credit score.”
“I was surprised to see you—that’s all. Like finding a hair in your food. Unpleasant, but not life-altering.”
And with that, Axel sat back down in his chair, his posture rigid enough to make a drill sergeant proud. Dakota remained standing, arms still crossed, as they entered a glaring competition intense enough to melt steel.
“If anyone needs me, I’ll be … anywhere but here,” Ryker said, inching toward the door.
“Stay,” Jace commanded, pointing a chip at him. “We might need the help. If these two finally snap and try to kill each other, Blake can only save one of them at a time.”