Butcher blinked.
What the fuck.
“What did you say?”
Axel folded his arms and closed his lips.
“Keep her safe from what? From fuckingwhat, Axel?”
“Remember what I said if you come back again. You can’t hide behind Rider forever.”
“I don’t hide behind anyone. I’m right here. You wanna shoot me? Go ahead.”
The man hissed and turned on his heel to walk away.
“If you’ve got yourself in some shit and it touches Roux in any way, Axel, it’ll be me who comes looking for you. Believe it. Fair fucking warning.”
Now he had more to worry about other than getting his girl.
Protecting her from whatever shady shit Axel was caught up in was priority.
FIFTEEN
“Now she was a real Diablos.” - Roux
Roux left the house that morning before Axel was awake.
Intent on avoiding him much the same way she did his pointless tirade last night.
She couldn’t take another second of him dictating her dating life. She loved him with her whole heart, and here comes thebut, but he didn’t understand her at all. He saw her as a kid. Even with her birthday approaching, she was still a thing to hide away so the big bad bogeyman didn’t get her.
That kind of love was stifling her.
She wasn’t athingto barter with.
No one gave their daughters away these days. Or at least a decent father wouldn’t, and she’d always thought Axel was the top tier of dads.
Her first stop was to get coffee.Naturally. Caffeine was her best friend on days like today. She added in a cookie too and smiled as she ate it. Every time they met at the motel; Tad would bring her a box of fresh baked cookies.
Her next stop was to meet a real estate agent. She set up a bunch of viewings on apartments. A palace wasn’t needed. She was no queen, somewhere that was all hers would be nice.
On her third apartment viewing and fourth coffee, her phone pinged and she huffed a sigh seeing an unwelcome name on the screen. She stepped out onto the balcony overlooking a strip mall.
“What?”
“Is that any way to talk to your old man?” Cackled Reno. His stupid raspy voice irritated her.
“Pigs aren’t flying, Reno, so don’t hold your breath. Actually, hold it for a long time. I’ll count how long it takes you.”
If she was hoping to piss off the sergeant at arms, she was sorely disappointed because he laughed again. “Fuck, you’re so feisty. Where you at, princess? Wanna take you for lunch.”
Her belly grumbled. Shewashungry. But encouraging Reno by getting food with him, which she’d done a million times in the past, was not on her to-do list.
“Is Ruin with you?”
“Nah, he’s sleeping off a hangover.”
“Ah, too bad, I’ll only eat with you if your twin is around too.”