Chapter Forty-Three
A week went by, and everybody was back to normal.
Everyone, except Axe, who was back in his house, lying on his bed with Gio Batta, his dog.
Leanna’s mother decided to stay at her house, and that meant Axe had to vacate the guest room.
Of course, everyone was happy that Carmelita returned safely. Ivan was arrested, and the snitch immediately started cooperating with the authorities on nabbing the Collector and his human trafficking ring. In any case, he would be put away for a long time, and if he ever got out and hurt anyone related to Tomas Rivera, he would have a fate worse than death.
Axe’s isolation from Leanna was a fate worse than death. It wasn’t like she pushed him away, actually not. Whenever she had a chance to sneak off, she’d come to his mountain hideaway and they’d fuck and make love until the sheets came off.
Too bad Carmelita teased her mother every chance she got. Her suspicious eyes were sharp, and she had a nose for every detail implying her mother and Axe had had sex.
The brat had even dug through the trash to look for condom wrappers.
Unfortunately, it went from bad to worse when she didn’t find any and reported it to Leanna’s mother around the breakfast table.
Axe propped his arm over his forehead and groaned. He was forever ruined as far as condoms were concerned—not that he’d ever need them again since he and Leanna were both clean. Sex would never be just sex again, and fucking was forever intertwined with making love.
Leanna and he hadn’t had the talk about baby making yet, but she was taking the pills she confiscated from Carmelita because she’d been too busy to renew her own supply.
Maybe the pills had expired.
Not that he would have minded if she did become his baby mama. He just had to make it signed, sealed, and legal.
He groaned again and pushed his dog, who nosed him, sniffing and sensing his perpetually aching balls and hard dick with nowhere to go.
He needed to marry Leanna; the sooner the better.
Axe showered, got dressed, and tucked the velvet ring box into his pocket. It had been there every day since Leanna returned it to him. He was surprised it hadn’t worn a hole in the lining.
He simply hadn’t found the exact right time to give it to her.
He kept turning things over and over in his mind.
Had she said yes?
Or was it only her hips that tilted up and down? So enthusiastically.
Chicken. Chicken. No dinner, just chicken. Chicken.
He should ask her, but she was busy taking Carmelita to therapy and getting her an insulin pump as well as intravenous sensor for her blood glucose levels. The poor girl’s blood sugar was spiking up and down unevenly due to a new steroid cream she was using for her acne. Fortunately, Soledad had found her passed out one night and called for help.
Because of her medical history, they knew immediately she was in a diabetic coma, and she’d been rushed to the hospital and treated promptly. Obviously, it was a close call, so with her new medical insurance, she qualified for the more expensive medical devices that would automate her blood sugar and insulin levels.
Still, it required a lot of monitoring, which Leanna did on an app on her cell phone, and frequent appointments to tweak the system. Axe was glad of it, of course, but it meant less time to talk about marriage and their future when Leanna was engrossed in learning all she could about managing a teen with Type 1 diabetes.
He put on his shoes and patted his curious dog, who sniffed the bulge of the ring box. He put on his motorcycle helmet.
Tonight was the night of the rescheduled Nick and Carol bachelor and bachelorette party, and he had to get his club ready for the festivities, including all of the eating contests.
But first, he had to put in a special order at the Bumblebee Bakery, and he’d better get there before Leanna arrived.
