6. Axel
AXEL
FINE AGAIN – SEETHER
On England’s eastern coastline, the air is fresher beyond London’s smog. Despite being a huge city within its own right, Ipswich’s traffic doesn’t reach the industrial landscape of the Port of Felixstowe. As far as the eye can reach, it’s a lifeless sea of shipping containers and cargo.
Arms braced over my chest, I watch as Rayna navigates the complex setup for the drone’s operating system on her laptop. We’re flying a military grade unit over the port, scouting out which vessels are docked and searching for any signs of Luis’s men concealed as dock workers.
“How loud is that thing?” I frown at the camera feed.
“Nearly silent,” she mumbles back. “Drones these days are designed to be stealthy and discreet. Especially ones created by the military to be taken into enemy combat overseas.”
The high-definition camera pans over the entire dockside, offering a bird’s eye view of the cargo ship currently anchored. Onboard, metal cranes systematically lift containers, stacking shipments ready for departure.
“This place is vast.”
“Good hiding spot, right?” Rayna hums.
“A little too good. It’ll be a minefield to infiltrate.”
Plonking a half-full coffee cup onto the table, Warner leans in to observe the laptop screen. “We have two teams and full surveillance from above.”
“Luis could have the same numbers or more. He knows we’re searching for him.”
“If he’s even here,” he comments. “There’s still a good chance Dominic gave up this location to lower his sentence. It could be a red herring.”
“He held out for eighteen hours,” I point out. “If your theory were true, he would’ve tattled much sooner to spare himself the pain. He’s going to prison either way.”
“I still don’t trust his intel.”
“You don’t trust anything or anyone.”
Warner casts me a glance. “That’s why we’re still alive.”
According to Dominic Pit, Luis has criminal connections in this region. I broke his fingers individually myself. He held out well. It wasn’t until I wrenched his premolar out that he finally snapped to reveal this location.
“What’s our play?” I study the drone’s view, high above the scene.
“We have a freight lorry prepped and ready to be driven into the port.” Forehead wrinkled while squinting at the monitor, it’s clear that Warner is deep in thought. “If Luis has a presence here, it’ll be hidden behind legitimate operations.”
“But why would he keep Tom in such an exposed location?”
“Close to the fastest exit out of the country and into Europe?” he retorts. “It’s strategically placed. They can split at a moment’s notice and vanish from underneath our noses.”
“But these ports are heavily regulated.”
“Safe to assume that local authorities are working as operatives, much like elsewhere.” Warner shrugs. “It makes no difference. Once Luis’s apprehended, we’ll dismantle the whole thing and apprehend anyone aiding him from the inside.”
“Gotcha!” We both startle at Rayna’s exclamation.
Her pointer finger hovers over the laptop screen above a bright-blue lorry we clocked earlier. She’s zoomed in on the European license plate.
“Fakes,” she mutters in a rush. “I’ve run them through the freight company’s online database.”
“How did you access that?” Warner frowns.
“Easy. Their cybersecurity is shit.”
“Damn, you’re good,” I whisper in awe.
“That’s what you pay me for.” She smiles to herself. “This right here is a Trojan horse.”
“Then that’s our target,” Warner decides.
He turns away from us to bark orders at Josh and Oscar—the youngest members of the Falcon Team—currently helping each other pull on Kevlar vests. The others, Archer and Kyle, are in another room with Hyland and Fox.
We’re camped across three rooms booked in two different hotels, housing our entire operation. After a rapid strategy meeting, each team drove here separately, setting up base a safe ten miles away from Luis’s suspected bolthole.
“Move out in five. We have our target.”
“Where is Ember?” I look around the room.
Pausing, Warner tilts his head towards the bathroom. “In there.”
“She didn’t say much at the debrief.”
“I gave her the chance to stay behind before we left London.” Hesitation curls around his words. “It didn’t go over well.”
“No shit?” I snort. “You know she wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
“I know. Just thinking about last time, that’s all.”
Unease trickles through me. “This isn’t going to be like the last raid.”
Warner nods silently.
“Relax, man. I’ll get her.”
“Thanks, Ax.”
I smile at Rayna, still monitoring our suspicious cargo from afar, then approach the bathroom. Ember gives a faint response when I knock. Stepping inside, I click the door shut behind me to block out the sounds of preparation.
“You ready, dimples?”
God, she looks fucking formidable in her bulletproof vest and navy cargos. I’d spread her open on that sink top and plunge into her right now if we weren’t on a time crunch. Plus, I’d have to sever our support staff’s ears if they heard her gorgeous whimpers.
“Rayna’s surveillance has picked up false plates on a cargo lorry. Could be something. We’re leaving in five to move in.”
She meets my eyes in the bathroom mirror. “Can you tighten my straps?”
“If you promise I can be the one to rip that vest off you when this raid is over.”
Her mouth quirks, almost satisfying me. “If we survive.”
“We’ve got this, babe. In a few hours’ time, you’ll be reunited with your brother. Luis will be dead. We can go home and celebrate… sans clothing.”
“You sound confident.”
“That’s because I am.”
Grasping the vest’s thick Velcro, I work on adjusting the tightness. We’re all decked out in full assault gear and will be packing significant firepower when we advance on the dock. For all we know, Luis has a small army hiding there.
“How are you feeling?” I ask more seriously.
“I feel good.”
“No symptoms? Headache? Nothing we should be worried about?”
Ember shakes her head. “I’m okay, Ax.”
“Better not be lying to me.”
“Jesus, I’m not lying. I learned my lesson before.”
“Good. Luis won’t risk losing you for a second time; he’ll be prepared to throw his entire arsenal back at us.”
“Let him try,” she growls out.
“That’s the spirit.”
“Once Tom’s safe, I’m going to rip that son of a bitch limb from limb for what he’s done to us both. I want the bounty on my head erased from existence.”
“One thing at a time.” I adjust the back of her vest, tugging it down to her tailbone. “First Tom. Kill Luis. Then we deal with Gael and his bounty. No one else is going to come looking.”
“That easy?” She tsks.
“Not exactly, but we’ll get it done.”
When I move to step away from her, Ember’s hand catches mine. Her lip is trapped between her teeth, forming a bright-red petal against her pearly white.
“What is it?” I step back up to her.
“Just… tell me he’ll be alive.” Her croak betrays a glimpse of her inner vulnerability. “Tell me we made it in time.”
“You know Luis wouldn’t risk killing Tom.”
“We don’t know that for sure.”
“Your brother is tough. You should’ve heard him calling Warner every week on the dot to demand updates when we were searching for you. Give him some credit. He’s a survivor.”
“That’s different. You don’t know Gael and his… methods. ”
“You think he’s my first monster?” I laugh without humour. “Think again. I’ve seen plenty of his kind even before I joined Sabre. I know what he’s capable of.”
Fear inches over her delicate oval features to warp her face into a twisted caricature. I wince at my own idiocy. Right… Not the correct thing to say when she’s secretly terrified for her only sibling.
Wonder what that’s like.
I prefer to pretend mine doesn’t exist.
Dropping my chin to her shoulder, I circle my arms around her cargo-clad figure from behind. Ember is stiff but slowly relaxes into my hold as I maintain eye contact in the mirror.
“My point is, Tom has waited all these years to get you back. I know for a fact that he would endure just about anything to have the time with you that he prayed for.”
“But if they’ve hurt him?—”
“Then we will deal with it,” I say with certainty. “They’ll pay in blood, and we’ll ship their carcasses back to the monster who sent them to find you.”
“Gael will only send more in their place.” Her expression is bleak.
“Then I’ll kill each and every one of them too. When we track down Gael, he’ll receive the same treatment. No one is going to hurt you or this team again.”
Pulling at my arms, Ember turns to face me. She lifts a hand to cup my jaw, her fingertips skating along my cheekbone and beneath my eye. A slow, luxuriating shiver rolls down my spine at the feel of her fingers on my skin.
“You’d risk so much for me.”
“Are you only just realising that?” I study her reaction.
“I’m understanding the reality of it. You had to spend all those months in Mexico. It was your job. But everything you’ve done for me since… I guess I still don’t understand why.”
Disbelief tugs at my quivering heartstrings.
“How could you not understand?”
“Because I was just a job,” she replies like it’s obvious. “Perhaps I still am.”
“You’re a member of our team, Em.”
Her mouth turns down at the corners. “Right.”
“Stop that. I know Hyland said some stupid shit, but none of it is true. You belong with us.”
“It’s not that. He did apologise. It’s just… Well, maybe I want to be more than that.”
Regardless of the urgent preparations taking place all around us, I refuse to leave this bathroom until I’ve erased that damn look from her face. Ember lets me spin us around and walk backwards until she’s pressed up against the bathroom door.
I quickly flip the lock to seal us inside then pin her against the thick wood with my hips, feeling every hard line and tempting curve locked against me. Shit, it’s been too long since I felt her. All of her. I need to remedy that.
“I’m only going to say this once, Em, so listen well. Don’t for a second think that you’re just a job to any of us. That ship sailed a very long time ago. Hell, I never boarded it to begin with.”
“Sure doesn’t feel that way when you’re counting pills for me while Warner and Hyland seem determined to dictate my every move.”
“You mean caring for you?” My eyes widen of their own volition.
Her nostrils flare with a sharp inhale. “Babying me.”
“There’s a big difference.”
“I’m not sure I agree with that.”
“I know you’re used to being all independent and shit, but you need to get it into your brain that we’re all obsessed with you. That’s why we’re tripping over our feet to help. It isn’t babying, it’s love.”
She pushes against my hips, attempting to wriggle free, but I keep her pinned against the door. Fuck it. Let them all talk. I’ll lock her inside this room until she relents and cries out my name. Then let her tell me we’re just fucking colleagues.
“Listen to me,” I urge, clenching her biceps.
“Axel, we need to go?—”
“No. Not until you understand. I’d worship the literal ground you walk on if it meant I could be in your presence for a single second. That’s how I feel about you. I’d bet my left foot it’s how Warner and Hyland feel too.”
“We don’t need to talk about this right now.”
“Yes, we do. This insecurity you have is based on a lie.” I search her cringing face. “You’re our family, Ember. The minute you signed on the dotted line, that’s what you became.”
“I just find it hard to believe.” Her eyes drop down to the floor. “That anyone cares, you know? I had to survive alone for so long. Accepting help now… it’s difficult for me.”
Sliding a finger beneath her chin, I tilt her gaze back up to meet mine. “I get that, babe. It’s all the more reason for me to pin you down and remind you how much we care. Even when you make it harder than it needs to be.”
“That’s me,” Ember jokes.
My forehead presses against hers, bringing our noses flush. The sounds of conversation and barked orders on the other side of the door melt away, leaving me to tune into Ember’s strained breaths. She’s on edge. I can almost imagine the violent thrashing of her heart muscle.
“When this is all over, I intend to lock you in my bedroom and prove to you that I mean it,” I whisper over her mouth. “I’m sure the others would join me in that mission too.”
“You’d want that?” Her lips flutter against mine.
“I’d like nothing less. You know I’m down for whatever you want. As long as I get to watch, that is.”
“Be serious, Ax.”
“I am. If it’s what you want, then you’re ours. Whether those idiots realise yet or not. You belong to us, and I’m done skirting around it. Life is too short.”
She melds her lips to mine, stealing a passionate kiss. “I do want this.”
“Then let’s make it work. After we survive this.”
“Right.” She laughs.
When a loud bang raps on the door, we both sigh. This isn’t the right time to be discussing our relationship—or rather, what it could be—but I wasn’t about to let her doubt my intentions.
“It’s go time!” Warner hollers through the door. “Out. Now.”
Smirking, Ember’s mouth briefly touches mine for a final kiss. “You heard the boss.”
“Fuck the boss.”
“Believe me, I’m trying to.”
Laughter tumbles out of me. “No dice, hmm?”
“I’m playing a long game. Now, come do some heroic shit with me?”
I plant a heavier kiss on her lips, pushing my tongue inside her mouth to ensure my essence is imprinted on her taste buds. She better feel me all over her body when we march into this fight. And on the other side of it, I’m finally gonna make her mine.
We separate when Warner yells our names again, causing Ember to jerk. With a final peck, I release her to reach for the door’s lock.
“Let’s bring your brother home.”
She unveils a full, excited smile.
“I’m ready.”