Axle's Brand (Death Chasers MC 3)

“My brother betrayed the Family, Smitty. Not just Troy. I want Lathan dead worse than—”

“Lathan is dead,” he interrupts, lips twitching. “Your boyfriend killed him when we came for you.”

My heart beats a little faster at just the alluded mention of Axle.

“But I understand what you’re saying,” he says on a long breath. “When someone betrays you, the blood running in their veins doesn’t make you more likely to forgive them. If their plan had worked, Blackbird would have crumbled, and Troy would have sentenced us all to death for greed. Not just you. His own sisters. His mother. Me. He gets no loyalty from me. If it’s okay with you, I want to stay at your side. You’re more my daughter than he is now my son. Even in death, I will never claim a man who doesn’t care about his family.”

“Because family is all that matters,” I say with a small smile, knowing that’s why we even call our organization a Family.

“They’re very protective and don’t trust me very much,” he says quietly, gesturing with his head toward the door. “They fear I will want retribution for Troy’s death.”

“That’s because they don’t know you,” I say softly.

He nods, looking down. “I realize I spent a lot of time worrying about you for nothing when you were here. This club, though a little rough and barbaric, has iron-clad loyalty to each other that you don’t find everywhere.”

“Only the inner circle. It’s a little shaky the lower down you get. Any tips you can leave them with to snuff out the leaks?”

His lip wavers, and I realize how stupid that was to say. “No. I’m afraid I don’t trust myself to give advice in that area right now.”

I nod in understanding and silent apology, as I clutch the sheet a little tighter to me.

“I’m naked under here. Any clothes around that I can wear so we can get out of here?” I ask him.

His brow furrows. “You want to leave?”

I spot the little ketchup beside the door, perched on the dresser, and emotion clogs my throat. “Nothing has changed, and I’d rather not see Axle and have to say goodbye a second time.”

I look back over at Smitty to see sympathy in his eyes. What the hell is that about?

I blame it on the fact he just lost a son and his emotions are a little heightened. It’s hard to be sensitive to his loss when Troy was willing to turn me over to Lathan to be tortured. And the fact he beat the hell out of me doesn’t help either.

Clearing his throat, he stands, opening a drawer and tossing me a T-shirt that definitely belongs to Axle. Damn it.

Then he tosses me a pair of boxers.

“Really?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood.

He barely cracks a grin. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have the forethought to bring clothes, and yours were rather ruined.” He clears his throat again. “I’ll let the guys know we’re about to leave. It’ll take a few minutes to—”

“Axle said no leaving,” Drake butts in, poking his head through the doorway after clearly having been eavesdropping.

Chest pain.

“Tell him thank you for coming after me,” I say to Drake, forcing a smile. “But I need to get back.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “Too pretty to be un-pretty,” he says, gesturing at his face.

“You’ll still be pretty no matter what,” I say with a wink, and he rolls his eyes while groaning.

“Damn women. Why do I always get put in charge of the vagina squad, when everyone knows the vagina squad never listens to me?”

As he stalks away, Smitty looks over at me. “Odd little assortment of friends you’ve made.”

Smitty turns and walks out, shutting the door behind him to give me privacy.

With a wince, I pull out the IV, and massage my hand for a second. Then I bite back a litany of curses when I pull on the clothes, my entire body protesting the actions.

Fortunately, in just a few weeks, the pain will be more tolerable in my ribs. Yes, I’ve dealt with this before.

I glance once again at the small ketchup, and my smile tugs up. At least he’s been thinking about me a little.

That makes it a little less awkward that I went and fell in love with him.

As the sheet falls away, I realize I’m not completely naked. There’s a lot of Ace bandaging around my torso.

My eyes drift to the small mirror on the wall, and I grimace when I see all the bruises on my face. The swelling is minor, but Drake’s words still ring true.

I really do look like shit.

CHAPTER 42

AXLE

Fifteen of Herrin’s men should be a damn good start to making a statement. That was what we did this morning when our prospect lure took Liza’s body with him, and two others came to pick him up.