Page 115 of Axel

I have her eyes. We all do. And right now? She’s trying to protect me.

From myself.

Without a word, I storm out of the room, letting the door slam behind me before I tuck my bloody knife into my pocket.

“Cover her!” I command her guards as I fight every instinct I have to kill my half-brother.

But with deep inhales, I pace the concrete hallway and get my shit together. We didn’t survive this long by being impulsive and stupid.

Vale’s initiation.

Alena’s wedding.

Turner’s destruction.

We have so much to do, and we’ll get through it. We honor our vows and traditions. That’s how we survive together.

While secretly I’ll find out…

How in the hell did my father find us?

And I’ll ask my mom how long she’s known.

And I’ll worry like hell…

What if he finds Ruby?

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

RUBY

“Where are we going?”

We’re speeding down a dark road in a remote area up the coast from the city. Axel holds my hand over the console. His clutch is warm and protective, but he’s making me nervous.

Do I trust him? Yes.

Do I know something’s wrong? As sure as I have jet lag, there is.

“My hideout,” he answers, turning down another road the state should’ve named “Creepy As Fuck Lane.”

“Your hideout? Why?” I peer into the inky night. The headlights of this vintage Land Rover barely pierce the darkness. “And our kittens! And Sparky!” I whip his way. “Where are they?”

The first smile since I’ve arrived plays with his lips. “They’re waiting for you there.”

When Axel met me in baggage claim, his kiss was overwhelming. It was as if he didn’t believe I was real, or he didn’t want me to be. He kissed me like he wanted to whisk me away into a fairytale, not rush me into the airport parking lot with his head on a swivel while he pushed the luggage cart.

I’m happy to see him. I’m surprised by how much I missed him. How he felt like home when he wrapped his arms around me. It’s been three weeks since we were together.

But he seems… Hurried? Harrowed? Haunted? I’ve never seen him like this.

“I won’t play twenty questions with you,” I sigh, “because when we get to yourhideout, I know you’ll give me answers.”

He nods, looking relieved that I’ve turned a new leaf.

I mean, four weeks of nightly video chats and daily purple flowers, punctuated by the hottest night of sex in my life, followed by porn-worthy phone sex, and super cute kittens crawling over my jacked and tatted man would make any woman holster her pistol.

For now.

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