Chapter Seven #2
Axel stands, and I take a step back to give him space. His scent wraps around me, all woods and fresh air. “How about a deal then?” I raise my eyebrows at him, biting down on my bottom lip. “I won’t come all this way to see that you’re okay if you text me. That’ll be enough to calm the worry.”
“Fine. Now go.”
“I don’t get to eat my lunch? You’re gonna make me drive all the way back to Amberwood without my meal?” he teases, a little smirk playing on his lips.
“Unless you want to eat floor food with a side of glass, I’d suggest you go and eat someplace else. Not in Autumn Bay.” Axel puts his hands over his heart and feigns heartbreak. I hate how cute he is, how reckless he’s making me. “Bye, Axel.”
“Bye, sweetheart.”
I don’t bother watching him leave, choosing to head back into the kitchen to take care of my cut. Tommy is standing with his large arms crossed over his broad chest, a metal spatula in his hand, eyebrows raised.
“What?”
“Just makin’ sure you’re good, kid. Saint would have my ass if something happened to you here.”
“I appreciate the concern, but I’m okay.” I lift my hand, showing him the bright crimson seeping through the thin fabric of the old towel. “I’m going to go wash this and wrap it up. I’ll be back in just a few.”
Once I’m alone in the bathroom, I unwrap my hand and toss the small, crappy towel into the trash can and get to work washing out my small cut, my mind replaying the interaction with Axel.
When I look up in the mirror, I realize I’m smiling for the first time in a long time.
That’s quickly replaced when I see the scars on my exposed jaw and neck reflected back at me.
Axel just might be the most dangerous man of all. After all, he’s giving me hope, and there’s no chance of saving me.
The little cabin Maddox has me staying in now is a far cry from the studio apartment I was living in before Cain returned.
It beats couch surfing, and living above the diner, though.
It’s got more space, but it’s old. And calling it a cabin is being very generous.
It’s more like a hunting shack. But it’s hidden in the woods off a private road, and no one knows about it except us, Cage, and Lincoln.
I don’t even know how they found the place or who it belongs to, but it’s keeping me off the radar when I’m not at the diner.
“Things are getting worse,” Maddox says, breaking the silence. I swallow the sudden knot in my throat, the one that usually accompanies the rapid tightening in my chest and the tremble in my hands.
“How bad?” I ask while looking at my brother and studying his face.
He’s always looked mature for his age, but ever since that night that our lives changed, he’s aged quicker.
The exhaustion seems to be getting to him.
I can’t imagine what it would be like to watch the place you love be dismantled and destroyed the way the Kingsnakes MC has been.
He runs his hand over his head, looking out the window at the endless row of trees.
“More men are disappearing. The women are . . . I’m sure you can imagine.”
“There has to be something you can do, Mad,” I plead, but he just shakes his head.
Ever since Cain took over the clubhouse, every day seems to get worse.
What’s more terrifying than Cain is that he has a band of club members who are following him blindly.
It feels like we’re trapped inside a house that’s slowly filling with smoke, and everyone around us is pretending they don’t smell fire.
I wrap my arms around myself, looking up at the ceiling.
“He’s adamant about finding you, Enna. I don’t know what to do to keep you safe.
It’s only a matter of time before he turns on me, Lincoln, and Gage.
” I’ve never truly understood why he hasn’t already.
Why Maddox was spared when our parents weren’t.
Why, if Cain wants me so badly, he hasn’t tortured all three of them for the information.
“Has he come for you or the guys?”
“Just a line of questioning when we see him. But we don’t see him often. He’s paranoid, and we’re staying under his radar for now, but we’re playing a waiting game that has an expiration date.”
“Why can’t you leave?”
“We have lives here, Sienna. You know that!” What I want to say is that you have no problem moving me around from place to place.
I guess I don’t have one, then? If it wasn’t for Gage, there’s no way I’d have the job I do.
But I’d have gone insane if I was cooped up in this place or the last. Lucky for me, Tommy is Gage’s uncle and pays me under the table.
He also keeps his mouth shut about who I am.
“What about the bikers that said they’d help us?”
“Can’t trust outsiders.”
“But—”
“I’m goin’ for a walk. Stay put.”
“Where the hell would I go?” I mumble under my breath.
Maddox leaves the cabin, and I’m left completely alone with my thoughts.
I pace back and forth in the tiny kitchen, the wood floor creaking against my weight.
I wish I could understand what was going through my brother’s head and what it’ll take before he realizes this is all going to get worse if he doesn’t do something.
Is it his fragile male pride? Maddox doesn’t seem like the type, but he’s also not reaching out to a club that very well could help us.
The burner phone feels like a hand grenade that could blow everything up at any moment in my back pocket.
I pull it out, staring down at it like I’ve never seen it before.
I can’t believe he drove back up just to see that I was alright.
Who does that? Maddox would probably kill him if he found out.
He’d assume the worst, which I probably should as well.
But there’s just something about him that is disarming, that makes my hypervigilant body relax and unwind.
I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.
I glance out the door, not seeing Maddox anywhere. With shaky hands, I pull out the folded-up piece of paper with Axel’s number on it and plug it into the burner phone, typing out a text, not really realizing just how badly I want to talk to someone.
Me: Hi.
Jesus, no, erase. That’s stupid. What the fuck do I even say? Hey? Remember the damsel you pestered at the diner yesterday? That’s me, let’s chat.
Me: Hey, it’s Sienna.
Erase. Nope. Can’t use my damn name, just in case. He wanted me to text him, right?
Me: I’m texting. Happy?
His response comes right away.
Unknown: Very. How was your day?
I exhale a deep breath that was trapped in my lungs and collapse onto the dusty old couch.
Me: Fine. Same as always.
Unknown: I’m glad you texted.
Me: I don’t know why I did to be honest
Unknown: Did you eat?
Did I eat? Who is this guy?
Me: What kind of question is that?
Unknown: Just want to make sure you’re taking care of yourself
Me: Pretty sure I said I wasn’t your problem
Unknown: And I’m pretty sure I said you couldn’t be a problem if you tried
Me: My brother is a hard sell. I’m working on it.
Unknown: If it works out, it works out. I just want you to be safe. Don’t want you in the crossfire.
Me: Why do you care so much?
Unknown: I can’t explain it. I just do.
Me: I shouldn’t believe you.
Me: Or trust you.
Unknown: But you do. You can’t explain it either.
Me: Goodnight, Axel
Unknown: Goodnight, sweetheart
My cheeks ache from smiling, something I haven’t felt in a really long time. I delete the text thread, powering off the phone just as Maddox walks back inside. He seems to have cooled off a bit, but I have a feeling I’m going to rile him right back up again.
“Sit down, Mad, we need to talk.”