Chapter Twenty-Three
Axel
They had gone back to his cabin so he could get clothes, but ended up rutting against each other and making out.
It’s a little bit like high school, he thinks, to keep their clothes on and rub against each other.
But he knows she’s respecting his wishes.
She keeps her hands above the belt. Running over his arms, his hair, his back, and his chest. When she’d brushed against his nipple for the first time, he jumped at the sensation.
He’d always left his nipples alone when jerking off, he never knew they were sensitive.
Speaking of jerking off, fuck, he’s going to chafe his dick the way he hasn’t been able to keep his hands off of it.
He wants her, deeply. So bad his heart and pelvis hurt in unison.
He wants to go slow. Wants to tell her how he really feels before they move forward sexually.
Wants to tell her she’s his mate. Wants to tell her he loves her.
And fuck if that isn’t something huge. He loves his family.
His town. His horse. But this is like nothing he’s ever experienced.
When he realized she was his mate, he immediately fell for her.
He knew she was the one person in the world who was perfect for him.
The one person who would complete him. But he didn’t know love would feel like this.
It’s all-consuming. Wonderful and scary.
It’s nothing like what he thought it would be.
And he has to tell her, tell her he loves her and will cherish her the rest of their lives.
Tell her that she’s special. That she’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. That he can’t live without her.
But she’s leaving, she’s fucking leaving. He doesn’t know what will happen when she goes. He assumes it will be like when his father died and his mother was a broken shell of herself. He can still see her, he tells himself. He can visit, and she can come to Montana. It doesn’t have to be the end.
He’s focusing on vendor payments when Raif stomps into his office.
“Come on, let’s go.”
“Where?” But Raif is already walking back out of the office.
“Raif, wait,” Axel calls after him, jogging to catch up. “Where are we going?”
“To talk to Maury. That son of a bitch has to answer for what he did.”
“He’s gone, Raif. You heard the detective, his place was cleared out. He’s gone.”
Raif ignores him and climbs into his big blue truck. Axel gets in the passenger seat, and they don’t talk. Maybe Raif needs closure. Maybe he needs to know they at least tried to find Maury. But when Raif takes a different turn after twenty miles, Axel perks up.
“What do you know?”
Raif clenches his jaw and doesn’t answer. He’s up to something, that’s for sure.
“What do you know, Raif? What’s going on? Do you know where Maury is?”
“I hired someone to track him.”
“What!?” Axel practically roars, and Raif hunches his shoulders a little at the sound.
“What did you do, Raif?”
“I hired a P.I., we never would have found him on our own, Axel. Never. This guy found him in a day.”
“So what now? You just pay this guy for the info?”
Raif grimaces and focuses on the road.
“What Raif? Out with it.”
“He gave me the information…”
“But?”
“But it was $20,000.”
Axel is speechless. That amount is substantial, more than they can afford to pay someone to track Maury down. More than they have for salaries and expenses this month.
“How did you even get that kind of money?”
“We’re all on the trust Axel,” Raif growls out. “I went to the city, did a withdrawal.”
“You can’t just fucking take money from the trust, Raif!”
Raif slams on the brakes, skidding to a stop on the gravel road. His nostrils are flaring, and he’s breathing hard.
“I did what I had to do for our family.”
Axel doesn’t say anything else as Raif drives.
What can he say? The money is gone, paid to someone who tracked Maury down.
He should have tried harder, not given up when the detective told him Maury had left.
He should have been the one to hire someone for help.
He pats Raif on the shoulder, squeezing lightly, and feels Raif relax under his hand.
All he can do now is hope that they find Maury and that Maury gives back the money he stole.
They pull up to what looks like an abandoned trailer. There are weeds and a fallen tree, and the trailer sitting crooked on blocks. No one can possibly live here. As Raif throws the truck in park, Axel sees the curtains move a little.
“Someone’s here.”
“I know,” Raif says before opening his door.
Axel follows him out as Raif approaches the trailer door, banging on it quickly.
“Maury! We know you’re in there,” Raif bellows before banging again on the door so hard it shakes on its hinges.
Maybe this isn’t even where Maury is living? Maybe it’s someone else’s home? As Axel raises his hand to clasp his brother’s shoulder, the door opens a crack, and Axel sees Maury’s round face looking out at them.
Raif shoves the door open, and Maury scrambles back into the kitchen.
“How’d you find me?”
Raif bares his teeth, and Axel worries he might shift right here in the trailer, tearing it apart.
“We need to talk.”
Maury is sweating through his shirt. It’s stuffy in the trailer, but not hot enough for him to be sweating like this. He’s scared, and he should be. Two very angry bear shifters, one almost feral. He should be very scared.
“Please. I didn’t do anything.”
“You didn’t do anything? You didn’t embezzle three million dollars? You didn’t sell my land off to Harvey Development Group?”
“I didn’t want to. It wasn’t my idea. I liked your family, I really did. But they said I could keep the money as long as I took enough. Then, when I didn’t want to sell the land, they threatened me.”
“Who? Who threatened you? Harvey Group?”
“Two men. Big like you guys. Always in black leather. They roughed me up one time.”
A pang of empathy hits Axel. Maury is an old man, overweight, single, with no kids or family they know of, and he was hurt by these men. Doesn’t excuse what he did, just makes Axel feel bad for him.
“Why did you start taking the money from us?”
“I was approached about seven years ago.”
“The same two men?”
Maury moves himself from the floor to the kitchen table bench.
“There were two men, like bodyguards, but there was another man with them. A suit. He said I needed to embezzle from you. That I would be able to retire in luxury. He, he threatened me.”
“What did he threaten you with?”
Maury looks at his hands and fiddles with them.
“He had pictures.”
“Pictures of what?” Raif growls out. “Come on, old man!”
Maury looks up at them then. His eyes are still wide with panic as he moves from Raif to Axel.
“It’s normal, lots of people do it. But if the pictures came out, no one would hire me again. I didn’t want to steal from you, I didn’t want to.”
“What were the pictures of Maury?”
“I like...I like to be tied up, dominated, you know?”
“And there were pictures of this?”
Maury drops his head again before he starts sobbing.
“I didn’t want to. I would have lost my business. No one would want to do business with an accountant who likes to get spanked.”
“So you sold us out.”
“I’m sorry. I just...it was so easy, you know. You were so trusting, and I thought for sure you would find out. But the money kept coming. It was so much more than I ever would have made as an accountant. I was going to retire, leave the country.”
“What happened then? Why are you here?”
“The men came back. The suit was with them, said the police were onto me. They destroyed my office. Moved me here with just a suitcase. Said they’d move me out of the country when it was safe.”
“Is this any of them?” Raif pulls out his phone and flips through several photos. It’s the men from Harvey Group.
“That one, the thin one. He’s the suit.”
Raif and Axel exchange a look. Axel knows what this means. Harvey Group has been working with Maury, blackmailing him to steal from them.
“Where’s the money now, Maury?”
“They took the account information. I have it safe in the Caymans, but they took it, said it was for safekeeping. That I would get it back after they moved me.”
“Why are you telling us this?”
“I didn’t mean for things to go this far. I’m sorry, I really am. You boys have been good to me. Always looking out for me, and I betrayed you.”
Raif growls, stepping forward, and Axel has to physically restrain him.
Yanking his brother back by the shoulder and shoving him out the trailer door.
Raif continues to try to advance back towards the trailer, and Axel roars in his face to get him to break his gaze from the front door.
He knows they’ve exposed themselves to Maury.
Normal humans don’t roar and growl. Maury comes to the door, shaking like a leaf, and Raif pushes forward again.
“Stay the fuck inside, Maury. Stay here. We’ll be back with the police, you will tell them everything, understood?”
Raif is snapping his jaws and growling actively at Maury, trying to push past Axel to get to him. Axel knows they need to leave before Raif rips him apart and destroys the only evidence they have against Harvey Development Group.