Ignite (The Disciples 4)

“Here.” He hands me an iPhone. I barely have time to swallow my bite. “That’s your new phone.”

I blink at him as my fork drops with a clank on the plate. “What?” I hiss.

“I need you to be untraceable.”

Blinking at him, I clear my throat. “What does that mean? I mean thank you, for the job and now a phone, but I’d rather have my old one seeing as it has all of my life in it.”

“Use this one for now. And never put your life in a phone.” He lifts his hips as he pulls his wallet out.

“Eat up. Time to go.” He pulls out some cash, then picks up his cup of coffee.

“I want my old phone now,” I hiss. An older couple walks by smiling at us like they think we’re cute, and I have to fight rolling my eyes. Instead I smile and return my attention to him.

He sits there, relaxing with his coffee. The one thing I’ve now learned about Axel is he’s smart and he knows it. You can’t come at him in anger as that gives him all your power.

Picking up the new silver phone, I say, “I’m sure you thought to transfer all my numbers, right?”

He smiles and when he takes another sip of coffee, I hate that I’m drawn to his full lips. For the first time, I notice the initials MJ tattooed on his right hand.

I look down at my food. It’s delicious, but I’ve lost my appetite. The phone was bad enough. Firing me from the Pussycat? Shit. Fucking me then acting like a dick? Horrible. But having another girl’s initials tattooed is the final straw for me today.

Forcing myself, I start to eat. This is absurd. He has tattoos all over his body. God only knows how many women he’s been with.

And suddenly I think I might throw up. “How many women have you been with?”

I stare at his hand and can’t help but look into his eyes.

“Why? More than you,” he says like the dick he is. No wonder all the women hate him.

“I’ll tell you why. You have decided to put my life at risk, and like an idiot, I’ve only now realized it.”

I grab my coffee with so much force it spills on my shirt. Ignoring it, I act like I meant to do it because he’s getting ready to laugh at me and I’m not sure what I’ll do if he does.

“You’re on the pill, so you’re fine.”

He said it so arrogantly I can’t help but retort, “You sure about that?”

Now his eyes do change. Gone is all the playfulness and for a second, I almost assure him he’s fine. But instead, I hold my head high as our eyes battle. He raises a dark brow at me. I think a busboy comes over to ask if we’re okay, although I can’t be sure since all sound is gone except for my own breathing.

“Well, darlin’, if you’re so ready for me to knock you up… that’s fine. I’ve found I love babies.” His eyes are serious.

“Don’t call me darlin’,” I hiss at him.

This time he grins, and the sound of a phone vibrating makes me want to look down, but I would rather take poison than look away now.

This I can control and I’m not losing this battle.

Axel wanting kids has thrown me, but there’s no way I’ll admit it. The phone buzzes again like an annoying bee. Thankfully he’ll have to look at it.

He doesn’t.

He simply sits across from me, relaxed, as if he knows my game, secrets, everything. Neither of us blinks, or breathes for that matter. My freakin’ chest is burning. And right when I’m about to cave, he kills me.

He smiles and winks.

Winks.

Then picks up his phone.

“What?” he blurts into the phone, but his eyes twinkle with amusement when he looks at me.

I hate him.

“I’ll be there soon.” He hangs up and grabs his wallet. “We’ve gotta go. Now.”AXEL“That’s wrong, Jewel,” I say, almost wanting to slap her hand. I don’t, but I want to. What the hell is wrong with everyone?

“Axel, I’m trying, but all of this is a lot.” Her brown eyes fill with tears and I have to bite back what I want to say, which is, if you can’t remember shit getting high… you can’t smoke at work. Which is stupid, and unreasonable, but is it?

Jewel is hands down one of my best growers. She also manages a couple of our shops. It’s essential that she take these new security measures seriously. I breathe in and out through my nose. Patience is not my strong suit.

“Jewel, it’s not negotiable. Let’s do it again,” I say, my voice tight.

She bursts into tears. Fucking perfect.

“I need a minute.” She rushes outside, leaving me with Rip who looks like he wants to kick my ass if the clenching and unclenching of his fists is any indication.