“Which one did you call? We’ve had a few on call over the years,” I said.
Axton stayed silent, however. He sat there at the kitchen table with his legs outstretched and the frame of the wooden chair he sat on begged for mercy. Every movement caused the chair to groan. Watching him fold his arms over his chest as he stared out the kitchen window above the sink felt more like watching an act of God than a struggling man at rest. The wind kicked up quickly, a tactic the Chihuahuan deserts of Texas that surrounded us were used to throwing. It was part of the reason we stayed safe out there. Because hardly anyone could get to us.
And even with the whistling of the wind by the window that kicked up a small storm of sand pelting against the clubhouse, he continued to stare.
Empty.
Angry.
Mindless.
“You couldn’t have known,” I murmured, easing myself onto the chair next to Axton.
He scoffed. “Tell that to her bruises.”
Mav leaned against the countertop and folded his arms across his chest. “You can’t blame yourself for—”
Axton leapt out of his seat as if someone had set him on fire. “I beat an innocent fucking woman within inches of her life!”
“Give me a bit more credit than that,” her angelic voice said as it echoed down the hallway. “It was hardly inches.”
Axton whipped around with a kind of shock on his face, which was odd, because I’d never seen that man shocked. And yet, as I slowly stood—sipping my Coke in one hand as I traced my fingertips along the top of the kitchen table with the other—he stood there in absolute silence.
With eyes that grew wider with every step that woman took into our kitchen.
“Axton,” the woman said with a soft nod of her head.
Axe’s hardened stare along her face froze him in place. However, I couldn’t stop staring at the robe I had silently hung for her in the bedroom next to the closet. I was glad she had found it, because dear fucking heaven it made her legs look positively delectable.
“Eyes up,” she said as the heat of her gaze fell against my forehead.
I slowly crawled my gaze up her body until I clocked the frustration on her face. “Be clearer next time, then.”
I could have sworn I saw the faintest shadow of a grin upon her rosy, red cheeks before she pulled her hand out from behind her back and slapped the weight of that file into the chair Axe had been occupying.
“Question,” she said.
Mav pushed off the countertop. “Answer.”
She pointed down toward the documents. “How many people are looking for this woman who looks just like me?”
Mav cleared his throat to respond, but she held up her hand.
“Axton?” she asked.
I had to admit, the exchange was intriguing. So, I perched my hip on top of the kitchen table, took a sip of my Coke, and settled in for the ride.
“Our rival crew is,” Axe said once he found his voice. “She was originally employed by them when she crossed us. They’re also searching for her.”
“Why?”
“That’s confidential.”
She smirked. “Within an inch of my life. Those were your exact words. I think that deserves at least a few answers, don’t you think?”
Mav barked with laughter. “She’s spunky. I like her. Can we keep her?”
“Isn’t that your plan anyway?” the woman asked.
