Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
MILLIE
I’ve never driven home from work so fast in my entire life.
Not Vegas and especially not here. I’ve been so cautious since moving here that I’ve taken different routes home every other night, ensuring that nobody was following me, or at least that Dante wasn’t behind me.
I always knew when Axton was behind me, even if I didn’t know for sure it was him. But this is different.
When I pull into my spot in the parking garage, I don’t even bother grabbing my duffel bag. That is the last thing on my mind right now. All I can think about is that word.
Claimed.
I know what it means, and ten years ago, I would have thought all my dreams were coming true if this man had claimed me. But he told me he never would. That I would be wasting my time if I stayed with him, hoping to get the title of old lady.
It was the main driving force behind my leaving Thunder Rock. Now I’m back, and all of a sudden, he’s claimed me, without even talking to me about it. I’m not the starry-eyed eighteen-year-old I once was.
How dare he make a decision like that for me?
I lock my car and run up to my apartment. I’m on a mission to tell Axton exactly how I feel about what he’s done. Shoving my key in the door, I yank it open and step inside, slamming it behind me.
It’s well past three in the morning, and I’m sure I’m not being a good neighbor running down the hallway, slamming a door, but right now, I’m so fuming angry that I don’t give a shit. My eyes find him immediately, not that I could even look anywhere else.
Axton is standing in the living room, his back to me, wearing nothing except his boxer briefs.
God, but he’s got a great back.
I start to melt into a puddle of goo at the sight of him, but then remember that word—claimed.
Anger courses through my veins all over again. I’m not sure if Axton senses it or not, but he finally turns around, a smile curving up on his lips as his eyes find mine. I wait for his smile to die, but it doesn’t.
The cocky bastard.
“I bet you’re exhausted, Mill. Let’s go take a shower, then get to bed.”
“Fuck your shower,” I grind out.
He finally has the good sense to appear surprised. “What?” he asks.
“You claimed me?” I ask, emphasizing the word claimed.
“Yeah, I did,” he simply states.
I blink once, twice, three times as I try to take in the fact that he just admitted it and acts as if I’m the one being overly dramatic. I mean, I might be a bit dramatic, but I feel like this is a good thing to be dramatic about.
This is only my life.
“Yeah, you did?” I say sarcastically. “What the hell for?” I demand.
“Because you’re mine, Millie. You were mine when you were eighteen, and you’ve never stopped being mine.”
I shake my head slowly from side to side. I’m ready to beat the absolute shit out of him, and if I thought I could, I probably would. Instead of physically assaulting him, I cross my arms over my chest, jerking my chin toward him, and let out a snort.
“I was never yours, Axton. Not really.”
I can feel the tears welling up behind my eyes, and I blink them away, hoping to God they don’t fall. I refuse to look weak in front of him right now. I’ve been weak enough. I’ve let him back inside my heart and my body. I’m a fucking idiot. I don’t know how I let this happen, and so quickly.
“Now that’s a fucking lie,” he states. “You can lie to yourself all day long, but you will not lie to me, Millie. I won’t accept it.”
Pressing my lips together, I narrow my eyes at him. This asshole. This complete fucking asshole. The cocky motherfucker. I don’t say any of those things, though. I just stare at him. There is something more happening here.
As much as I want to snap at him and slap him at the same time, I stay quiet because there is something else he’s going to throw at me. I know it. And I don’t think I’m going to like it, so I mentally and physically prepare for the blow, bracing myself for what he’s about to throw my way.
“You want me to leave you swinging so that Dante just waltzes in and takes you?”
My shoulder jerks back slightly. I thought I was fully prepared, but I wasn’t, not for that. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I take a step backward. He moves toward me, closing the distance between us.
My entire body freezes.
“What?” I ask.
He smirks, and I still wish I could slap the expression off his face.
“Mill, you think the club would have someone on your back twenty-four seven if you weren’t an old lady?
It was either claim you or only watch you when I was off work.
And I got enough fuckin’ drama down there. I can’t take time off right now.”
I don’t ask him about this newfound drama. I know I should care, but right now, I really don’t think I give a shit about his drama. I’ve got my own problems.
“I don’t want to be your old lady,” I whisper.
“And I don’t give much of a fuck.”
“Don’t you have a security company? Can’t you just put cameras up?”
He grins before he presses his lips together, and I watch as his brows furrow. “I could, but that doesn’t do shit, Mill. I’ve seen it firsthand. Having the cameras is great, and I can outfit this place with them, but they don’t protect you from immediate danger.”
“So you had to claim me?” I ask.
“No,” he murmurs. “I didn’t have to. It was the right thing, and it was the way it was always meant to be. I fucked up back then, and I’m not going to continue doing so.”
PIGGY
Cupping her cheeks, I decide that I’m finished talking. I’m not sure what her fucking problem is. This is what she wanted from me ten years ago, and I’m giving it to her. It took me a little longer than it should have, but I want this.
I want to keep her because she is and always has been mine.
I’m not letting her go anywhere.
Lowering my head, I touch my lips to hers. She wraps her fingers around my wrists, gripping me tightly. Breaking the kiss, I nibble on her bottom lip before I rest my forehead against hers.
“I should have claimed you back then, Mill. I was a fucking idiot.”