Page 100 of Once A Villain

“Why does he even have a car like that? Isn’t he supposed to be immortal or something?”

He chuckles. “Yes, he is. But the car isn’t for him. It was custom-made for you. Picked it up while you were ‘vacationing’ in the Hamptons,” he adds with a smirk that says he knows it was anything but a fun getaway.

My eyebrows shoot up. “What? Why would he do that?”

“Guess he doesn’t want to lose his favorite toy.” He shrugs, pouring himself a coffee.

“I’m not a toy,” I snap, irritation lacing my voice.

He arches an eyebrow, his smirk widening. “Aren’t you?” he teases. “From what I’ve heard, the two of you are quite?—”

“He tried to drown me last night,” I cut him off, voice sharp. “There is no ‘two of us’.”

He shrugs. “Sounds kinky.”

“What is wrong with you? It wasnotkinky. He tried to drown me, Griffen.”

“Okay, doll, I’m sure you didn’t enjoy it all,” he says with a chuckle, taking a leisurely sip of his coffee.

“What is wrong with both of you?” I shake my head, disbelief lacing my words.

“Look, I’m just saying, he doesn’t give a damn about anyone or anything. Except Kane, and now, apparently, you. So take that as you will. The fact that he had a bulletproof, explosion-proof car customized for you...that says something.”

“You’re wrong,” I say, my voice firm.

He quirks a brow at me. “Am I? I’ve known him a hell of a lot longer than you. He’s never done anything like this for anyone.”

“Maybe he did it because I’m Conrad’s daughter,” I counter, grasping at straws. “He probably doesn’t want to piss off the Sovereign,” I continue, attempting to rationalize it. “He’s just protecting his own ass.”

“Maybe,” he says, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Except Axe doesn’t give a fuck about pissing off the Sovereign. He does what he wants when he wants. He doesn’t answer to anyone, especially your father.”

“I’m done talking about this,” I declare, cutting him off.

Axe doesn’t care about anyone, certainly not me. He’s an abusive, sadistic bastard, and the last thing I need is for anyone to make me second-guess that.

“Don’t you want to know how many people he’s asked me to babysit for him?” Griffen asks, a wry smile playing at his lips.

“No,” I reply, perhaps a bit too quickly. “I don’t care.”

“Zero,” he says, ignoring my dismissal. “Until now.”

I shrug it off. “I’m going to get ready for rehearsal.”

“Have fun!” he calls after me, laughing.

As I make my way upstairs, his words bounce around in my head. I don’t want to believe him, but a nagging part of me wonders if there’s something to what he said.

Why the hell would Axe go through the trouble of customizing an armored vehicle for me? Why was he so insistent on bringing me back with him when I could’ve stayed in the Hamptons until this mess blew over?

There has to be a rational explanation. Like Griffen said, I’m just his favorite little toy, and he doesn’t want anyone else touching it. He’s possessive and controlling—that’s all this is. There’s no other reason.

Axe is a man who seems to do everything with an agenda.

But I can’t shake the feeling that maybe his motives aren’t what I think they are.

He’s made it clear he despises my father. So why would he go out of his way to protect the daughter of the man he hates? It doesn’t make sense. Still, that annoying little voice keeps whispering that maybe, Griffen was right…and he does feel something towards me.

I shake away the thoughts. I need to focus on my routines, not some psychopathic immortal with a death wish.

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