Axle's Brand (Death Chasers MC 3)

I say nothing. I have a healthy relationship with fear and self-preservation, but I’m not a coward. I still don’t handle the grunt work on my own. It’s just not the civilized manner of handling things back home. You have guys for that. You have reach for a reason.

But apparently things work differently with them.

“I say we send a message of our own.” The new voice startles me, and I look over my shoulder to see Jude standing there.

Holy crap, that look is scary. He’s too pretty to be so scary.

“I’m in agreement with that,” Drex says, a cold smile on his lips. “We’ll hit the club afterwards.”

He turns and walks over to the tattoo parlor, and I bite back the questions I want to ask and the advice I want to give. It’s a great show of disrespect to any organization for a guest to butt in and start getting nosy or too helpful. It’s also suspicious.

I’m sick of suspicion.

I’ve already overstepped by telling Axle not to launder their money for a while.

“You two get inside the warehouse and lock up. We’re going to go make some noise,” Drex is saying as Eve walks out and into his awaiting arms.

I sort of envy how easily they seem to fit together, and remember not to ever be jealous of her again. Even if she wasn’t obviously in love with Drex, Axle wouldn’t ever do anything to fuck up his friendship with Drex.

I watch as he kisses the top of her head, and find myself leaning back on Axle. “Should I be worried about you watching D?” Axle asks, drawing me out of my thoughts.

The dead guy is gone when I glance over, and I turn to face my favorite brooder as I frown.

“I know you’re not being serious, so I’ll skip over that rhetorical question. What I would like is for you to tell me that making some noise and delivering a message is you two banging on some war drums and not blowing something up or putting yourself at risk for more gunfire.”

His eyebrows go up, and he opens his mouth to speak.

Just to be clear, I add, “Lie to me, Axle. Right now, just lie to me.”

Something in his eyes softens, but as usual, he hides any expression behind a blank veil the second he shows too much. The guy loves his mysterious factor.

“We’ll be banging on drums and completely safe,” he lies.

Taking a shaky breath, I nod in gratitude, and turn to walk back to the warehouse that is safer than the tattoo parlor. Just as I reach the door, he spins me around, and his lips come down on mine, surprising me.

The only time he kisses me in front of the others is when he’s making a point of claiming me or something just as barbaric as that. But this…this is how he kisses me when it’s just the two of us.

It’s real, and it’s almost desperate. It always feels so desperate, as though he’s making sure to soak it all in before it goes away. I do the same.

He pulls back, his eyes intensely on mine as he straightens to his full, very tall height.

“I’ll let you know when we’re finished banging on the drums,” he says in that sex-gravel voice of his.

A full breath of relief comes out. “Thank you.”

He hesitates for a second, his gaze shifting over my face like he’s trying to get inside my head, but then turns around and heads to the open hangar. I walk inside, pretending like I’m not already staring at my phone and waiting for this night to be over.

It’s a hell of a lot harder to be on this side of things. I’m used to being the one calling the shots, or at least weighing in on what shots get called.

Now I’m sidelined because I’m on someone else’s team, and it sucks because I have no control over Axle’s fate.

Maybe he should join my crew and leave all this behind so I can keep him safe.

CHAPTER 20

AXLE

Drex pulls the pin on a grenade, and we all hang back, guns poised and ready. He nods at us, and then he twists, launching the grenade as hard as he can.

He turns and sprints, running as fast as he can back to us, and leaps over the trench from the desert to the property line. He scrambles back into it just as a loud explosion crackles through the air.

The top loft of the building blows, all windows breaking under it. I can feel the pulse of it, even from the distance I’m at, and the heat hits me next.

I’m the first to pull my trigger as Drex stays covered, keeping his head down so we don’t accidentally shoot it off.

Rapid fire hits the warehouse, punching holes in the metal, sending out telling pings. We fire for about two solid minutes before we realize no one is firing back.