Axle's Brand (Death Chasers MC 3)

My voice starts to crack, but I clear my throat and press on.

“I wasn’t ready. I’m still not ready. None of us are. But we have to pretend like we are, otherwise, someone else will step in, and who knows what will happen then. If Phillip is in charge, it’ll be like the early years of the mafia all over again, and trust me when I say that will only benefit him. He’d have more control over the U.S. than the Cartels have over Mexico.”

You know what? I’m sick of defending myself and exposing all my weaknesses to a man who tells me nothing.

“Go away. I’m tired. This day has sucked, and I’m ready for tomorrow.”

I drop to the bed again and screw my eyes shut as I jerk the covers back over my shoulders once more. My body tenses when I hear him moving toward me. A thump has me tempted to open my eyes, but I’m too stubborn to give in.

I track the sound of his retreating footsteps that sound like he’s moving toward the door, and I listen to the telling click that assures me he just left.

My eyes open to look at the table beside me, and I see my phone. He couldn’t have read the messages, and I’m not sure if that means he’s finally hearing me, or if it simply means he doesn’t want to trust me.

Instead of analyzing it, I close my eyes and pretend to sleep, even though I know I won’t fall asleep until he’s beside me in bed. Since the explosion, I haven’t slept; I’ve only crashed.

I’ll stay awake for days until my body demands I sleep, and I collapse from exhaustion. It’s how I’ve operated. It’s the only way I could operate.

Then I came here, and sleep…happened. The nightmares still come, but they’re not as bad. Not as painful. The false security could be the effect of having a guy like Axle so close.

Guess I’ll find out.

CHAPTER 16

AXLE

I awake with a start, feeling the bed beside me and hitting the damn pillow she put between us instead of her. A sense of panic hits me when I see her side of the bed is empty, and my eyes dart to the clock as I jump up and start stabbing my legs into my jeans.

It’s after two in the fucking afternoon, so it’s no surprise she’s not in bed. She could be any-fucking-where by now. Damn it!

I don’t even bother with a shirt as I sling my door open…only to slam to an abrupt halt when I hear Rock ‘N’ Roll Train humming through the speakers as Maya skates backwards, making a large loop around Dash, Drex, and Eve as Drex tries to talk to her.

He’s having to yell over the music as Maya spins in a fast, tight circle, her arms straight up over her head.

“You can’t leave right now. It’s not safe.” Drex is saying as she breaks out of her spin and starts skating again, facing front this time, and gaining a lot of speed.

“I have work to do, and all you guys are concerned with is my story. We haven’t even discussed the cars I need built, and my guy never sent me a text last night. Which means something went wrong with the last job.”

Her shirt has vampire teeth on it with a logo that reads, “Bite Me.” Pretty sure some blood is dripping from those teeth. She has on long socks again, only this time they’re blood red.

Her shorts are black and barely cover her ass. Fuck me, I really love/hate spandex.

“You still can’t leave. We’ll go check out—”

“No!” Maya shouts, skidding to an abrupt halt close to Drex.

I start walking down the stairs quickly, cursing the metal steps against my bare feet.

“I’m not supposed to allow you to get involved. This is my show. Not yours. All I need from you are the fucking cars. They’re here. Do your genius stuff, and that’s your job done,” she goes on.

Colleen walks toward them as I approach, but no one notices me.

“You guys need to get quiet. All this music is waking people up, and they might hear you yelling about this.”

“She knows?” Maya asks, crossing her arms over her chest as she glares at Drex.

Drex runs a hand through his hair.

“No. She didn’t. But you’re the one who seems to have forgotten a lot of others have been crashing here.”

She drops her arms to her sides and grimaces. “Right.”

Maya starts skating backwards again, and my hands dart out, grabbing her hips before she can run all over me. She jerks, and I end up tightening my hold so she doesn’t fall and break her damn neck.

When she looks at me over her shoulder, the surprise turns into exasperation as she rolls her eyes and looks back at Drex.