Shadow
I blink. Once. Then again. Axel notices and follows my stare to the brunette bounding through the gates. “What the fu––”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention,” says Axel, as he pushes to his feet, “I’m hiring her.”
My head whips around so fast, I almost go dizzy. “Huh?”
He shrugs, but I don’t miss the smirk on his face. “She needs work, and I have shit she can do.”
“Like?” I ask, my tone way brisker than it should be when addressing my President.
“Well, I don’t know exactly,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck while watching her speaking to the prospect. “I’m gonna see what skills she has and take it from there.”
He heads in her direction, and I’m up off my seat almost running after him. “We don’t even know her,” I remind him, because strangers aren’t welcome in the clubhouse.
“She seems alright.”
“You said that about Lexi, and she was undercover.” The words fall out of my mouth without thinking, and I immediatelywince as he stops dead and slowly turns to face me. His eyes say everything his mouth doesn’t. “I’m sorry,” I rush out, bracing for the punch I deserve.
“You’re in a flap because you wanna fuck the new girl,” he mutters, his voice dangerously low. I don’t even try to object, even though I disagree with his words. “So, I’m gonna let that slide. You bring that up again, I’m gonna lay you out right in front of her so she can see what it’s like to watch a grown ass biker cry. We clear?”
I nod, not trusting myself to speak.
We turn our attention to Remi. She smiles wide, but it’s fake. I’ve seen it many times on broken people. “Thanks for having me back,” she says to Axel as she shakes his hand.
I run my eyes over her attire. It’s the exact same shit she had on the first time I saw her. “I didn’t know this place was used,” she adds, glancing past us to the building behind. “It’s huge.”
“You better come in,” Axel says, heading back inside. She gives me a small smile before passing to follow.
“Who the hell is she?” whispers Shooter.
“Way outta your league, prospect,” I snap, heading after them. Maybe I can convince Axel this woman isn’t club material.
They both look round as I enter the office, and Axel’s smirk returns, like he predicted I’d follow. I sit on the couch and wait for him to continue.
“As I was saying, we have Zen. We’re not looking right now but––”
“You want her in Zen?” I snap, sitting straighter.
Axel gives me another wary look. “I’m giving her options.”
“Zen ain’t an option,” I say firmly.
“Wait, what is Zen exactly?” asks Remi.
“A massage parlour,” says Axel.
“Oh,” she murmurs, her brows knitting together as if she’s connecting the dots. “And would I need to––”
“No, you wouldn’t because Zen isn’t an option,” I snap. She glances at me for a second before looking back to Axel.
“Still,” she says, with a small smirk, “let’s not rule it out completely.”
Axel laughs, his broad shoulders shaking as he tries to contain it. Her words send a burning rage through me.Fuck.Why am I even bothered?
Axel continues. “We have a micro bar too, and you mentioned you’ve done some bar work?”
Remi nods. “I can work a bar, clean floors, whatever you have.”
