Chapter Seven
Axe swerved into an alley and stopped the motorcycle. He set Leanna on her feet and held onto her shoulders. “I told you to stay away from her.”
She jutted out both her lower lip and her heaving bosom. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know you, thankfully, and you have no business kidnapping me. My mom might have been hurt, and she’s calling the police right now.”
“I’m the guy you hired to take you to Mexico. If you want to go, hop onto the back. If not, then stay away. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”
“Wait, what? No, I didn’t hire you. What are you talking about?” She waved her hand and swung her arms like a wild swan trapped in a net. “No, actually. You don’t know anything. Nothing’s going on. Nothing at all. Take me back to the bakery.”
He kept his hands firmly on her shoulders and waited, drawing smooth, even breaths. The emotions sputtered from her like an erupting volcano, and she had that unfortunate, attention-drawing pair of breasts, accented by ruffles on her blouse flapping like elephant ears.
After five minutes, her rant petered out since he refused to respond.
“Well? Aren’t you going to say anything? What are you? Mute? Dumb? Why did you kidnap me?” She wiggled her shoulders, drawing away from him.
He tightened his grip.
“Ow, you’re leaving bruises.”
“Then calm down.”
“Oh, so he speaks.” She huffed and darted him the evil eye. “All these years, I’ve seen you around, and you never said a word to me. Ever.”
He waited. He wasn’t going to get a word in until she ran out of steam. Since she looked like she wanted to get a load off her chest, and she had nowhere to run off to, he let go of her shoulders and crossed his arms. The mirrored sunglasses remained over his eyes, and she had no way of knowing he was not staring at her, but keeping an eye out for lookouts, informants, and the lowlife who skulked around working for the men who really controlled the city.
She turned to walk away, her bootheels clip-clopping down the sidewalk. He wheeled his motorcycle around and walked it slowly behind her.
She darted a glance back, and he stopped. He turned his face away from her and stood still.
Soon enough, he heard her footsteps approach.
She poked him. “You should at least have the decency to take me back to the bakery. I need to know if my mother’s okay.”
“She’s okay.”
She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “Are you always this rude? I mean, you ignore me all these years when my friends party at your club. We bring in a lot of business, what with all the events and contests, but you act like you’re above us.”
“You didn’t have a flight to catch.”
“Well, der! I needed to get away from my mother. If she talks and exposes things, she could get us all killed.”
“I agree.” Still, he kept his face averted. When he’d rescued a tiny puppy with more fight than bite, he had to earn the stray dog’s trust. He did it by not looking threatening.
“What do we do now?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
This was a tiny opening, about as tiny as the little pink tongue the tiny, malnourished puppy thanked him with after he removed the thorn from his paw.
“We get on the airplane and figure out our next step.” He patted the passenger seat on his motorcycle. “Hop on.”
She did.
* * *
Leanna hardly dared to suck in air as she straddled the raised passenger seat. There was no sissy bar, backrest, or anything in the back to keep her from falling off, and she didn’t want to have to hold on to Axe. Actually, wrapping her arms around his broad back would have been a dream come true in normal circumstances.
How many times had she leered at his backside when he made the rounds at the club, greeting customers and gracing them with his charm and good looks?
This was too weird, and strange. When the motorcycle surged, jumping a speedbump, Leanna yelped and hung on tight. She might as well enjoy it while it lasted, because she was under no illusion that finding Carmelita wouldn’t be dangerous.
