Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
By the end of the day, I’m exhausted. I feel like I’m the one who can’t see, and everything feels blurry.
I’m caught up in names, dates, and terms that I have no idea what they mean.
My years of reading didn’t help prepare me for the legal jargon, and it pisses me off to have Gage listen to me struggle.
Despite that, we got a lot of work done, and even better, Gage handed me enough cash for at least five days’ worth of food if I stretched it.
For the first time in days, I feel lighter.
I climb into my car and drive home. I didn’t want to burn the gas to get here, but this coffee shop is on the edge of town, closer to the richer homes.
I stop by the grocery store, glowering the whole time. I hope against hope that I don’t see Axel here. But this is the only place in town where I know I can find the cheapest food.
While I’m checking out with food, my phone rings. I traded numbers with Gage before I left. Maybe he needs something? I flip it open.
“Survived your first day with my brother, hmmm?”
I spin on my heel, checking around me. Fuck, is Axel here? Becky, my old coworker, gives me a look as she checks me out.
“He’s a bit unbearable,” Axel goes on. “But I could have told you that earlier.”
I don’t see him. I flip the phone closed, hanging up. Immediately, it rings again. I grab my groceries and scurry out.
This is just embarrassing. Absolutely the worst possible day. I need to go home and eat my food and fucking forget.
Axel calls a few more times, so I turn my phone off. When I get back home, the apartment is empty and dark and smells like plaster. But it’s home. I flip the lights on and lean back against the door, letting out a breath.
Fuck.
I have this vague sense that I’m being chased by a fucking bear. I’m exhausted, and I have no idea how to live my life safely while Axel openly licks his fucking chops. And I know Max is hovering in the background somewhere, just trying to track me down.
It feels like it takes forever to cook the rice, but I’m actually just starving. When it’s finally done, I burn my mouth wolfing the first bites down.
I’m finishing my first bowl when there’s a knock at the front door.
I jump, gaze immediately flicking to the door. No one ever comes here. Well, no one except Axel.
My mood immediately jumps all over the place. It better not be fucking Axel.
I haven’t had time to really process my feelings about him. I’m pissed and angry, and fuck, I wish he and his brother weren’t so goddamn hot. It was like staring at a marble statue of a god all day, if that god had veiny hands and a deep voice that made shivers run across my skin.
I shake myself. Yeah. Max was cute, too, and look where that got me.
Except these men are hot. Max was nothing compared to them. I wonder if they’re married, too? I haven’t noticed a ring on either of them. And I checked. Because my brain is apparently super fucked up. I’d rather fuck my bat than let either of them touch me.
The person knocks again.
Snatching up my pink bat, I suck in a breath. No more. I’m taking my power back.
I stride to the door and swing it open.
Standing on my doorstep is Axel.
He grins at me. “Hey, little b–”
I shut the door in his face. Not fast enough to miss the way he tries to look past me.
My hands shake, and I shake them aggressively. Why am I afraid? I have no reason to be afraid. I’ll brain Axel if he tries anything.
There’s more knocking, and I just stand there, staring at the door. Obsession is never good. It can only mean one thing: pain.
The knocking continues, rattling around inside my already tired brain, making me buzz. Will he stop? Leave? Forget my number?
But if he stops, will he actually leave? Or will he just wait for me to check and ambush me later?
No. I don’t want to leave that option open.
My body feels trapped in that frozen state until Axel knocks again.
Fuck it. I’m done with this. I yank the door open again, my bat still in my hands. “What–”
“I’m sorry.” Axel holds his hands up like he’s calming a wild animal. “I’m sorry, just hear me out.”
Narrowing my eyes, I focus on the feeling of the bat handle in my hands. The thin rubber is cool, and the bat is heavy. One swing and it’s lights out for Axel. He’s standing on the bottom step, so he’s eye to eye with me instead of being taller. It would be easy to hit him.
I glance around. Axel’s driver is waiting about a block away, giving us a semblance of privacy.
“What do you want?” I ask.
“I should have told you about Gage. I’m sorry, I just didn’t think you’d run into him.”
Axel’s in that red suit, and it’s molded to his body. His thick body. Good god, why are they both so big? Attraction rolls through me, and disgust follows quickly after. Why am I cursed to find men attractive? Why the fuck can’t I like women?
“Yes, you should have.” I pull my gaze back up to Axel’s face, staring at him.
Despite the fact that I spent all day with Gage, I seriously can’t tell them apart besides the glasses.
Their eyes are the same blueish purple, their eyebrows have the same arch, and their lips are the same biteable pink.
He sees me staring and gentles his voice. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“How do I tell you apart?”
Axel laughs softly. “Uh, I’m the hotter one?”
I move to slam the door again, and Axel holds out his hand, stopping it. “Wait, I came to offer you your job back.”
I freeze.
“I didn’t know you got fired that night. Mrs. Todd told me later.”
There’s a weird surge of relief, followed very closely by suspicion. He didn’t care until now. Why does he suddenly care?
“What’s in it for you?” I trace the tip of the bat along the floor, and Axel’s gaze snaps down to it.
He thinks I’m gonna hit him with it.
That makes me smile.
Axel looks back up at me. “Well, you clearly need a job.”
The statement makes me angry. “I already have a job.”
A flush creeps across Axel’s face. I watch it bloom on his skin.
Axel genuinely doesn’t like that I’m working with Gage. A thrill mixes in with the anger. I have control over something that Axel hates.
“I just thought you’d want a stable job.” Axel adjusts his suit jacket. “My brother only needs help until his glasses come in, so he won’t pay you for long.”
I rip my gaze from Axel’s veiny, strong hands on his jacket. Why the hell does he care how long Gage pays me?
He’s jealous. He’s totally jealous. Jealous of the girl he stole from and then got fired from her job.
And now I have power over him. And that thought makes me happier than I’ve been in a long time. I’m not sure if it’s the exhaustion or the delirium from not eating for a while, but I can’t stop the next words from coming out of my mouth. “Beg.”
Axel’s gaze snaps to mine. “What?”
“You heard me. Beg me to take it back.” I stare at him. Anger flickers in his eyes.
Fear shoots into my muscles, and I tense. Immediately after that, a rush of excitement follows.
If Axel tries to hurt me, I’ll splatter his brains across the ground.
But, instead of trying to hurt me, Axel locks eyes with me and then slowly sinks to his knees. He grits his teeth, the word coming out tense. “Please.”
I stare at him, watching the way his pupils dilate. He’s on his knees in front of the whole street. Begging me.
My blood feels like it’s full of tiny firecrackers.
I like this. I like it a lot.
But instead of letting him see that, I say with a bored expression, “I’ve heard men beg much better than that.”
Axel makes the tiniest flinch my way and my entire body tenses.
Then Axel holds himself still. There’s a beat where I’m not sure if I’m going to actually have to hit him.
But then his chest heaves, and his pupils widen so much there’s barely any color on the edges.
He gives a tense laugh. “Goddamn, woman. I’m trying my best here. ”
“No, you’re not.” My heart is racing, and I can’t tell if it’s fear or arousal. Or maybe both. “If you were, you’d be crawling for me.”
There’s a beat of silence, and a challenge flashes in his eyes. The cold air whips around us, going up my skirt and making me shiver.
Am I really doing this? I’m playing with fire right now, and I feel like I’m either about to die or about to truly live.
Then, Axel drops his giant frame over, bending to put his hands on the threshold. He looks up at me from under wispy, white hair, his tone mocking. “Please?”
I can’t help the tiny grin that stretches across my face as I look down at him. The muscles under his suit jacket are bunched and coiled like he’s uncomfortable, and that goes straight to my pussy.
I lift the bat, tracing it gently up Axel’s arm. “What a good boy, doing what you’re told.”
Axel gives a heavy huff of air, and his whole body shivers. He hates it, yet here he is, still on his knees.
I trace the bat up along his collarbone until it’s at his sternum. Axel watches me closely.
I bend down so I’m closer to his face. “Now. What was it you wanted?”
His eyes bounce between mine, and there’s a glint of a smirk before he says, “Work for me.”
It’s that smirk. That Playboy smirk. He thinks he has me. Just like he thinks he can get any woman, either through money or sex. And that pisses me off.
I hold his look, my entire body buzzing, thinking about everything before this point. The longer I take, the more the side of Axel’s mouth quirks up in a confident smirk.
I smirk back. “Go bother one of your toys, slut. I don’t have time for you.”
Then, I use the bat to push him back and slam the door.