39. Axel
Chapter 39
Axel
“ W here is Ariella?” I ask, my eyes cold on Thalia’s dark ones.
“Fuck you! I’m not her babysitter,” she replies.
I laugh in her face before slamming the door. An infuriating presence comes over me the longer I search for my little sister.
Only I’m not searching for Ariella. Not really. I’m looking for Yelizaveta Pashokov. I’d given her specific orders to wait for me in the sanctuary.
Aye, Lizita, Lizita.
Constantly challenging me. I move through the hallways on the hunt for her. Hunting brought out the predator in me, and right now, she was the prey.
I’m not the type of mother fucker to repress my impulses. Too many people have made their impressions of me over the years, allowing me the freedom to not give a fuck.
Nothing I say will change their minds.
Lack of emotions and some fragments of boredom are what led me here. Hating a woman whom I vowed to protect. I don’t do protection. I do control. Kostya Pashokov wants her safe. This is how I’ll keep her safe.
Safe under my fucking thumb.
She was a fucking inconvenience to me.
An inexplicable itch surfaces, and I circle back to the other end of the church where Preston is preparing for the day. My feet fall flat when I hear a whimper from behind the door.
“One of you fucking said something,” Preston says from behind the door.
“I didn’t tell anyone.”I hear Liza cry out.
My blood boils beneath my skin at the image I’m about to walk into.
Tranquilito Axel.
Good leaders were calm leaders. I was far from calm, but I am a calculated son of a bitch. Patience right now can gain me some blackmail I can use against her later.
“Only two of you fucking recognized me! You and Rosie!” he yells.
“I swear it wasn’t me.” She cries.
“Then who the fuck was it? All Claudia’s houses were confiscated in the raid! Any fucking files she had incriminating me were destroyed!”
His screaming throws me over the edge. I shove into the room strapped, my gun pointed right at him.
When I see his hand on her throat, red covers my vision. I shoot him in the shoulder, forcing him to release her/
“What the fuck?” he yelps, falling to the floor.
“What the fuck is going on here?” I ask.
Liza stands trembling before me. She shakes her head.
“You two fucking know each other?” I shout.
“She came in here trying to fuck me.” Preston objects.
“That’s not true!” Liza cries.
I look between him and Liza.
Liza had been rescued from a human trafficking stint. I remember the way she was found and the way she was brought to us seeking sanctuary. Kostya Pashokov sought an alliance with us for her safekeeping.
“Did this mother fucker hurt you?” I ask her, but I don’t need a response.
I haunch down to where the son of a bitch is lying. Laughing as I imagine the slow death I’m going to give this mother fucker.
Hitting him with the muzzle of my gun, blood flies out from his nose. I punch him again, this time as a pained howl falls from his lips. It’s not enough. I want to cut him open piece by piece. Drain his blood and disintegrate his organs in acid.
I don’t get the chance, though.
“Houston Police, drop your weapons!” I hear and lift my hands. I turn to face the gang of intruders.
“Come to arrest me on my sister’s wedding day, assholes?” I sneer.
I’ve had my run-in with HPD before. I thought they knew better than to come for me again. Money usually bought my freedom.
“Axel Reyes, my name is Benji Ferraro. I’m with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We have a warrant out for the arrest of Preston Cuevas.”
He shows me his badge while the other two officers pick Preston up and place him in handcuffs.
Liza watches her eyes widen from the corner.
“Preston Cuevas, you're under arrest for human trafficking, sexual assault, and child pornography. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in court. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?”
What the fuck?
This mother fucker.
I lung forward and strike him several times in the face before I’m pulled back by one of the officers.
“Better the lot of you carry him out alive than me having to find a place to hide his body.” I spit on Preston one last time as he moves past us.
This was not the plan. There’s nothing I hate more than being blindsided. By a fucking pedophile.
I’ll have my people in the prison waiting for him.
Adan gives me a disappointed look as he watches the cops take Preston out of the church. The fucker warned me something was off, and I refused to listen.
Adan has a bad habit of babying our little sister. It’s no wonder she favors him.
Making my way into the bathroom, I splash my face with water to get rid of the blood that splattered on me. Blood was a fucking mess. I look up in the mirror and find Liza standing in the doorway.
“Axel. I’m sorry,” she says, her thick Russian accent barely above a whisper.
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”
Her eyes shift, and her lips tremble.
“WHY THE FUCK DID YOU NOT TELL ME?” I roar. Repeating the question.
My voice was low the first time I asked her. The second time, it was less forgiving and much more ominous.
My face is red in the reflection. I slam my fist into the mirror. Another fucking bloody mess.
“I’m sorry,” she cries out, but her tears are meaningless to me.
“You were going to let my sister marry that son of a bitch?” I growl, turning to move into her.
Black dots appear in front of me, shielding me from her reaction. I close my eyes and press my hand to my temple before my vision clears.
“You knew this whole time and said nothing,” I say calmly.
“Axel, I was scared. I-”
“Shhh. My family paid for a wedding, and they’re going to get a fucking wedding today.”
Her pupils dilate, and I look over her designer dress.
“It’s not white, but it will do,” I murmur.
“Axel, you can’t be serious?” she says petrified.
“I’m dead serious, Cosita.”
I close the distance between us and run a knuckle over her cheek. Her face is frozen in shock, and I can smell the fear rising from her body at the sudden change of events.
Excitement grows in me at the thought of her quickened pulse.
“I’m going to pump you with babies, Liza. You’ll be nothing more than a pawn in my rise to the top. I’ll take over the gun trade and overthrow every single member of your fucking family until all of you cease to exist. You will make up for what was lost here today.”
A tear falls down her face.
“I hate you.” She murmurs.
“I don’t give a fuck. Clean yourself up. I’ll be waiting for you at the end of the altar.”