Page 147 of Axel

“Fight like hell for her!” He roars. “And you’re going to own this shit. You and Nash. You’ll look Alena in the eye and tell her what you did. Don’t you dare pull rank on me now! Do you fucking hear me?”

Damn, he’s mad.

Loch may be my baby brother, but he’s got more grit than the rest of us. I prefer guns, knives, and salt. I deploy power with precision. Yes, I was raised to be merciless, to rule, while Loch doesn’t even remember our father. His power is American-made. He was raised here. He fights hand-to-hand, raw and ruthless. It’s why he wanted to be a Marine.

I convinced him otherwise. I told him his duty was to our family first. To Alena. To protect her, and he did.

He does.

“Tell her,” Loch growls at me, “that I already had a ring for her. I was going to ask her, before you and Nash told me I had to marry her. Don’t let Alena believe for one goddamn second that I don’t love her!”

I turn around and look Ruby in the eye.

She’s clutching the sheet to her chest, her eyes wide and worried, hearing my half of the shouting match.

“I’ll tell her,” I answer Loch, but swear to Ruby’s eyes. “I promise, I’ll tell her everything.”

“You fucking better,” he snaps. “Here’s The Queen. She wants to speak with you.”

Please, everyone.

Pile on the Fuck Axel train.

Last stop: Hell.

“You know when you boys fight it makes my ass twitch,” Mom fusses at me on the phone and Loch, who must be standing beside her. “My youngest baby’s mad. My grandgirl’s crying. Nash is trying to make her feel better, and we’re fixingthis. I want all the kings at my club tomorrow morning. We need to meet.”

“What about the queens?”

I stare at mine, her hair tumbling in dark flames.

“Where is Ruby?” Of course, Mom worries about her, too.

“With me. In my villa.”

“While you’re gone,” she replies calmly, “I’ll put more guards on her and all the queens.”

“My Queen, shouldn’t our queens join us?”

Instinct tells me not to leave Ruby. But my mother’s pause is long, and waiting for me to think with my head, not my heart.

“We have too many unknown variables, my son,” she answers wisely. “I won’t expose our queens to risk. I want this meeting just between the kings until we know …everything.”

Until we know which brother, if any, betrayed us. Who sold me and my son to our father?

My mom’s still keeping Roman captive. Now that she has his intel, I suspect they’re getting everything else they want from each other.

“Yes, my Queen,” I answer.

“What’s going on?” Ruby asks when I end the call.

“Alena just found out about Loch.” I sit on the edge of the bed. The edge of my truth. “Vale figured it out. She’s Alena’s best friend, and I don’t blame her for telling Alena. So now, Nash is telling Alena everything about our family and?—”

“Oh, god,” Ruby sighs. “Poor, Alena. And it’s three days before her wedding? But then again, I’d want to know everything about my husband before I got married.”

I wince.

“Loch loves her.”Like I love you, dammit.“He’ll try to explain. He just needs her to give him a chance.”Like I hope you’ll give me.

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