“Hands off, asshole.” She pushes Murphy back. “You arenotgetting her alone in that fucking cell.”
Before Murphy can respond, I grab Grace and twist her around, then cuff her hands behind her back.
“Thought we talked about that attitude, Grace,” I murmur with a nod to Kat. “Got anything else to say?”
Kat only purses her lips, focus steady on Axe, who Allen’s got pressed to the ground, knee digging into his back, hands cuffed.
“Didn’t think so. You good?” I ask Allen.
He hauls a furious Axe to his feet and jerks him towards the door. “He rides with us. Murphy, take the She-Donovan and throw her in that cell she likes so much.”
My muscles lock up. The idea of Grace handcuffed and sharing space with Murphy is doing something funny to my chest. Funny like how I felt three nights ago when I saw a man’s hands on her, trying to take her, to hurt her, and I almost ended his fucking life. Right there in the street. It’s like a tingle, a pullon my stomach. Lungs tightening, heart lurching. And then all anger. Blood-boiling, pulse-throttling, need-to-kill-something kind of rage.
And right now, I want to fucking kill something.
Deep fucking breaths.
I bite down on my tongue and keep my attention averted as Grace is forcefully yanked out of the clubhouse.
“Watch him with her,” I murmur to Miller, who nods and follows Murphy out.
By the time we get to my cruiser, Axe has got a bloody nose.Self-defence,Allen said.
The drive to the station is quiet. Allen is smug. Axe is pissed and bleeding. I’m just trying to stay on the road while constantly checking my rearview to confirm the cruiser behind me doesn’t turn off and take a detour with Grace in the back.
If he touches her… Ifanyonefucking touches her.
Axe glares at me the whole way, practically burning a hole into the back of my head. I don’t need to guess how this’ll end for me. Axe is going to kick my shit in.
When we pull into the South Bay PD parking lot, Allen turns to me. “Put him in the interrogation room. And turn the cameras off.”
“You got it,” I say with a dip of my chin. “Want me in there?”
Allen tilts his head thoughtfully, but then smiles and says, “Stick to what you’re good at, Decker. Paperwork and speeding tickets.” Without another word, he pushes out of the car, leaving me alone with Axe.
“You forget who you fucking work for,” Axe says, voice low. The anger imbued in his tone pokes at that place again. The one I’m trying so hard to keep dead and buried. The one full of fury. Blood-boiling rage. “I told you I expect a warning when the law is about to kick down my fucking door.”
I wheel around, glaring at him through the open partition separating the back seat from the front. “And I toldyouthat Allen doesn’t trust me. What the fuck you want me to do?” I huff. “I didn’t know shit until I was already chauffeuring that prick over to pick you up. You want me on his good side, then I need an arrest. A good one. You’ve given me nothing, so whatever happens in that room today is on you.”
“You got four of my guys in jail, Decker.”
“For bullshit. Triss will have most of them out by the end of the day. If you want me on the inside, then someone needs to fall on a sword. Make a fucking sacrifice. Because he’s gonna keep coming, and I won’t have the intel to stop whatever he’s got planned for you.”
Axe is quiet for a long minute, scowl firmly set. Eventually, he dips his head back on the seat and lets out a long sigh. “What’s this about?”
“One of your cars got picked up. OPP found it parked out in your usual spot near the off-ramp. Product still in the trunk. Nothing to trace back to anyone yet, but you can bet they’re pulling the thing apart.”
“That’s just fucking great,” he mutters. Another long pause, and then he says, “Fine. I’ll give you your arrest. But I swear, Deck, if I end up back in jail because you can’t steer this moron in another direction, then your usefulness to me will have run its course. You fuck this up, and Iwillkill you. You feel me?”
I snort. “Yeah, I feel you.”
When I open the back door and he pushes out, we’re nose to nose, his big dumb face inches from mine, muscles flexing. But Axel Donovan is a lot less menacing when he’s in handcuffs and I’m the one with the gun.
“You think I’m bluffing?” he asks.
“No. But I bet I could get the drop on you.”
“I die, and you know what happens.”
