Chapter 29
I’m at the club early, but when Jackal sent me a message letting me know Axel had showed up to meet with us, I slipped out of the bedroom without waking the rest, leaving them to sleep before even more shit hit the fan.
I know Quinn has every fucking right to meet with her brother, but me and him are gonna have a talk first, and I prefer that we do it in private. The rest can catch up afterwards.
Jackal comes out of the side entrance to meet me. “He’s in the barracks, first floor meeting room. Riot’s keeping an eye on him, but my impression was that he’s a friendly. Hope I was on the right track. We disarmed him first, of course, but he didn’t give us any trouble.”
“Yeah, all good. We fell outta touch a while ago, but I don’t think he’s gonna be trouble. I’ll take it from here.”
Fell out of touch. That’s one way of putting it.
“You got it.”
Two minutes later, I’m outside the door.
I pause. Fuck. Axel. Ten years. Ten long fucking years of grief and guilt.
And the whole goddamned time he’s been hiding from me.
From Quinn. Fuck, from everyone, as far as I can tell.
I’m sure he’s got his reasons, but I’m struggling real hard to imagine what could possibly be fucking good enough.
Only one way to find out. I push the door open.
Riot spots me, but when I nod my head at the door, he takes the hint and leaves. And then it’s just me, and Axel.
“You’ve got some fucking gall showing up here.”
“I know.” He’s got his back to me. He knows that I’m here, but I’m guessing I’m not the only one that was dreading this moment. I hope he’s fucking miserable with it.
“Turn the fuck around.”
He does, and it hits me all over again. It’s him.
Part of me was hoping it was just a ruse.
Someone fucking with us. But that’s him, no doubt about it.
Bigger, older, rougher, but I’d recognize him anywhere.
Not that I doubted Quinn, but still, I was hoping.
How fucked up is it that I hoped my old best friend was dead because it would be a hell of a lot less complicated that way?
“Heath.” His voice is unmistakable.
“I’m Priest now. Fuck, it really is you.”
A faint smile comes to his lips. He throws his hands out. “In the flesh.”
“Good.” I punch him in the face.
Axel stumbles backwards and falls on his ass. His nose is bleeding.
I hope I fucking broke it. “Fuck you,” I say simply.
He wipes at his nose with the back of his hand. “You’ve been working on your cross. Jesus, that hurts.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are? Coming back after ten fucking years like it was fucking nothing. Quinn never fully recovered from thinking you were dead. Fuck, I never did either.” My voice is low and seething.
“I waited for you. All that fucking night. I sat there, thinking of everything that could go wrong but knowing you’d come back. I WAITED.”
Grief distorts his face. “It wasn’t my choice, I swear.”
“Cops said it was you in the body bag, and I thought I’d fucking lost you, you asshole.” Fuck I want to punch him again. “Your funeral sucked.”
He pushes at the floor like he’s gonna get up. “Did either of my parents bother coming?”
“Your mom. It woulda been hard to shake people down for sympathy and donations if she didn’t. Just a warning, if you stand up, I’m gonna knock you back down. I don’t think you really understand how fucking mad I am.”
“I’ll stay down. One of those was fucking enough.” He holds up a hand, warding me off.
“Convince me. Tell me what happened. If it’s good enough, maybe I won’t kill you for real.” I put my back up against the wall, leaning but ready to jump on him again if I have to.
“Really? No beer, or sitting down somewhere. Nothing?”
“Fuck you.”
He wipes his nose again and grimaces at the blood. “I killed someone. This was the price.”
“Gonna need more than that.”
“You remember that night. I was helping Zee with a deal. I was there as muscle. It was my first time. Things went to shit. Someone pulled a gun on Zee and we responded. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I’d always been fast. I killed a guy.
Don’t even remember his name, just that he was worth a fuck ton more than me.
” Axel leans back against the wall, his eyes focused on something a million miles away. “I ran.”
“Not far enough, apparently. What, you couldn’t call? Couldn’t send a fucking email?”
He lets out a sigh. “I didn’t even make it out of town that night.
Boss caught up with me. He made me a deal.
They’d get the heat off me if I agreed to die.
They had me, a kid who was as good as dead, and a body that needed explaining away.
If I cooperated, they’d cover my ass. I thought it’d be temporary. ”
I look away, not knowing what I feel. Part of me wants to just jump on the fucker and pound him into the ground, while part of me wants to hug him ‘til I break his bones.
“So for ten fucking years, I’m supposed to believe that you just…
stayed away? I fucking missed you man. First you, and then my step-dad a couple years later.
I thought the world had it in for me. I was so fucking angry for so long.
And just when I found Quinn again and felt like we could get some fucking closure, you rise from the fucking grave.
You understand why I’m angry?” I push off the wall and walk over until I’m standing over him.
“Fuck!” Axel smacks his head into the wall. “No! It wasn’t that simple. At first, yeah. Boss moved me down the coast, put me to work. I didn’t have much time to think about anything. After about a year I was starting to get a little more freedom. I tried coming back.”
“And?”
“And I found out they were watching Sheila and Quinn. He had a whole fucking folder full of pictures of them. Quinn had just started with the modeling shit.”
“He threatened to kill her?”
“Never with those words, but you know the deal.” He changes his voice, imitating someone.
“ ‘Your sister’s doing real good, Axel. I’ve been keeping an eye on her.
She’s becoming quite the beauty.’ He made sure I knew that he could take her out whenever he fucking wanted to.
And to keep her safe, I’ve been his fucking lapdog. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.”
“So why now? After all these years? Did they finally let you go?”
He shakes his head. “You think I’m that lucky? Not a fucking chance. Nah, I got sent to the east coast for a job, but when I got there it felt like bullshit. Sometimes he’d do that, though, just to test me. I didn’t think too much about it until I saw the news.”
“News?”
“I keep a watch on Quinn’s name. I saw the shit about her getting attacked, and then the one that came after.”
“So you came back to protect her?”
He looks at me with eyes so close to Quinn’s. “I came back because I know Greg Cook. He works for my boss. Well, worked.”
“Past tense?”
Axel’s smile is sharp as a razor. “I don’t like leaving loose ends.”
I wouldn’t have minded doing the job myself, but can’t say I’m upset. “Okay? So who’s your boss?”
“My boss, Romero. Who happens to be fucking Quinn’s mom.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah. Pretty much. The only thing keeping me under his thumb was Quinn. He left me no choice. I went rogue, and as soon as he finds out, he’s going to make a move on Quinn.”
Goddamn it. I hold my hand out to help him up. “Get the fuck up.”
“Yeah? So you can hit me again?”
“Want a hand or not?”
He takes it, letting me yank him to his feet. As soon as he’s up, I throw my arms around him and pull him in close. “By the way, I’m fucking your sister.”