No, we’re here for Axe.
Allen yanks open the clubhouse door and steps inside, chest puffed, chin up, hand flirting with his sidearm. It’s the middle of the day, so the place is mostly empty, most of the Sinners working their day jobs.
Axe is sitting at his usual table in the back, attention on the woman perched on his lap. His old lady. I wish she weren’t here. Allen seems to like using the women to get what he wants, and while Kat and I have had our share of run-ins, I don’t really want her to be subjected to any of Allen’s plans. Especially since Triss is nowhere in sight, meaning there’s no one around to make sure we’re acting within the law.
It can be pretty easy sometimes to forget who the good guys are around here, what side I’m supposed to be on.
“Donovan,” Allen growls.
Axe glances up, face neutral, and scans the four police officers interloping on his territory. His eyes meet mine briefly before settling on Allen. He says nothing. His expression unchanging. But there’s the slightest hint of a shift. Allen wouldn’t notice it, but I’ve been reading Axe since we were teenagers. It’s the clamp of his fingers tightening on Kat’s thigh, the subtle tick of his jaw.
“Sergeant Allen, I take it?” he says coolly.
Allen smiles. “Figured it’s about time we meet. I’ve got some questions for you.”
Axe hums. “I don’t remember extending an invite.”
“I don’t need an invite. I’m the police.”
“You wanna talk? Release my men. Otherwise, call my lawyer and set up an appointment.”
OPP’s been in town for two weeks, and Allen has made good on his promise to shake things up. South Bay PD has been throwing out citations to anyone with a patch. Going fifty-five in a fifty, exhaust too loud, parking violations, jaywalking. And then there’s the more serious shit. Two possession charges, a parole violation that’ll end in a jail sentence unless Triss talks the judge into community service, and a weapons charge. All small fish, though. A couple prospects, an old-timer, and a Sinner with no priors. It’s not good enough. Allen wants the heavy hitters. He wants real jail time.
Axe hasn’t retaliated. Yet. But a storm is brewing. I can practically smell it in the air. Like I warned Allen, pissing off a man like Axe has consequences. Back the Sinners into a corner, and therewillbe violence. It’s just a matter of when and who bleeds for it when shit finally settles.
“What’s going on?” It’s Grace’s voice that pulls my attention away from the Sinner president.
Fuck. Me.
She’s wearing another one of her ridiculously short skirts. A skirt I want to rip off. With my fucking teeth. I exhale through my nose as I take in the tight tank top hugging the smooth contours of her body and dipping low on her chest. And the curve of her throat, of course. Perfectly exposed with her hair pulled up and out of her face. I can’t help but stare at it, remember how nice it looks when I’m squeezing it.
Predictably, she keeps her attention away from me. I’m doing with Grace the same thing Allen’s planning with the Sinner women. Using her. She’s a tool in my mission to bring down her brother. The difference is I know what her pussy tastes like. That probably makes me the bigger asshole.
“No lawyers, Donovan. We talk now, or I throw you in a cell. You’d be shocked at how long I can keep you in there just by sitting on your paperwork. And lose the sluts.” Allen jerks his head at Kat and Grace. “Your little biker whores got no place in this conversation.”
Shit. Here we fucking go.
Eyes flashing, Axe plucks Kat off his lap and pushes to his full height. “Don’t think you can come in here and disrespect me, or my people, without consequence,” he says, voice steady. “This ismyfucking house.”
“That sounded a bit like a threat, don’t you think?” Allen asks me.
Grace’s angry eyes snap to me and hold. She’s doing that thing again. Waiting for me to be the good guy. Maybe to defuse the situation and put Allen in his place. But self-preservation is a hell of an incentive to be a piece of shit. There is no way I’ll come to Axel Donovan’s defence in front of the man gunning to take down the dirty cop in the department.
“I heard it.” I smirk.
That earns me a scathing look from Grace.
Ignoring her, I take out my cuffs. “Turn around, Donovan.”
Kat steps between us, fists clenched. “No one’s taking him. Not again.”
“Easy, Kitty,” Axe says, locking eyes with me. “Just a couple assholes looking to throw their dicks around. I’ll be out by dinner.”
She shakes her head, a tremble in her voice when she speaks. “I just got him back.No oneis taking him.”
Murphy moves towards her, grabbing her roughly by the arm. Axe reacts almost immediately, lunging towards them, but Allen’s ready, and practically tackles him to the ground. Like it was his plan. Touch his girl, make him get violent, give us a reason to put him in cuffs.
But it’s Grace who frees Kat from the hand restraining her.
