“Your man is by the truck.” Zack gestured to the truck behind them,
“Castello said he’d introduce us to you today.”
What the fuck is he talking about? This idiot was on drugs—right?He
didn’t have a man, or a woman for that matter, even if that man was Hot As Fuck Cas Moran. Axel studied Zack. It was clear to him by the look in the other man’s eyes that he wanted him to understand something. Wait— Axel’s brain kicked into gear, finally he got it, he was to pretend to belong to Castello for some reason, he could totally do that. Did it involve kissing?
“Yeah.” Axel cleared his throat, “but he said you all were coming for dinner.”
“Castello?” Colgan asked.
“That would be me.” Castello’s voice from behind Zack made both Colgan and Axel jump. “He’s mine.” Castello stepped around Zack and wrapped an arm around Axel’s shoulders, pressing a kiss to the side of his head, “Sorry, babe, we were passing by, and Zack was sure that was his friend talking to you.” Castello lifted one shoulder, quirked up the corner of his mouth in a sexy as hell smirk, and winked at Axel.
“Fuck.” Colgan swore and turned around to stalk away, “Sorry man, I gotta go.” He tossed over his shoulder at Zack. “Call me later. We’ll talk.”
***
“Sorry, Boss.”
Zack, the fuckwad, had the audacity to look remorseful. What the actual fuck had he got him into now, Axel Shaw, his man? He fucking wished. But argh, he wanted this on their terms, not because Zack was a dick and setting them up, and for what? A fake relationship? Nope, if Castello was going to go down the relationship road, then he wanted a real one. If he weren’t watching Marc Colgan stride away, the man was still in view, Castello would have slammed his eyes shut to block out the feeling of Axel pressed up against his side. His stomach did that damn flip flop shit it had done when they had looked at the man’s mugshot and police record, not to mention that kiss, the one he had been turning over and over in his head all morning, instead of concentrating on what he should have been doing—his job. With Axel’s hair almost under his nose, the attraction Castello was determined to ignore ramped up to nuclear and was making his damn dick twitch. He was going to freaking shoot Zack. Asshole!
“He’s gone.” The corner of Zack’s lip curved upward, “You can let him go now, Boss.”
Damn it, this not realizing he was putting his hands around Axel, and Axel soaking in his touch, was becoming a fucking habit. “I am going to fucking kill you, asshole.” Castello growled at Zack. “You couldn’t fucking tell him that he was our friend, or something could you?”
“Nope,” Zack popped the end on the word, “Colgan may be running wild off the reservation, but family is off limits, especially partners and kids.”
He gestured to Axel, “You want Colgan to leave him alone, then the price of chasing him has to be too high for him to risk it.”
“Why does he want you?” Castello spun around to study Axel, not that it was a hardship to play happy families with him, he just didn’t want to be forced into any relationship, even a fake one.You don’t want this one to befake!!!He was going to dry fuck Zack’s ass with a fucking cactus. Asshole, it was his fault he was in this situation. Gah. Castello knew his brain was being unreasonable, but argh, he could present a calm solid front all he wanted.
They all fucking could. Just because they had perfected warrior mode didn’t mean they were no longer human. Even Special Forces personnel had feelings, thoughts, and insecurities like any other man or woman. Sometimes they struggled with how to deal with everyday shit, and second-guessing how something could blow up in their faces was a way of survival. Turning that switch off in everyday life, that was harder than people thought.
“Colgan?” Axel shrugged, “I don’t think he does personally. He said he wants to deliver me to Brendan Givens.”
“He what now?” Castello took two steps in the direction Marc Colgan had taken, all of his time on battlefields in foreign countries, and Castello had never seen the red haze drop over his vision. Even when Rourke got into a shitty situation with the fucking Russians, he hadn’t been this pissed. Nope, he’d known Fritz Blackwell and Delta Force Team Panther would look after his son. Had believed that down to his bones. But Colgan, or rather Givens, wanting something from Axel, that made him pissed as hell. Why? Didn’t matter a fuck, the fact was it did, so Castello would own it and deal with it.
“Boss.” Zack fisted his fingers into the back of Castello’s shirt. “He’s gone.” He pulled hard, preventing Castello from doing what he wanted, to find the asshole and kick the shit out of him.
Castello shrugged off Zack’s hold, “I’m—” he cut off what he was about to say and stepped toward Zack. He needed to hit something, his second would do.
“Yeah, Boss,” Zack side-stepped Castello as he swung toward him, “I know you are pissed, but shut that shit down and focus.”
“Argh.” Castello didn’t give a shit that he was growling, he needed to.
“Argh, just fuck.”
“If you want to kick something, Cas,” Axel completely missed the
surprised look on Zack’s face at the shortened name he used for Castello. He folded his arms, he wasn’t entirely sure what Castello’s problem was, but he knew what a pissed off man looked like. Hell, he had grown up with one who wore that look for his normal resting face. “Then use the trash can, over there will ya?” He pointed to the huge dumpster he used to toss the metal scraps building the bikes caused.
Castello focused on square breathing, like the military taught him to do in crap situations where he needed to focus and pull his shit together. Inhale for a count of five, hold it for a count of five. Exhale for a count of five, and wait for a count of five, before repeating it over and over. Focusing on breathing like this helped. Not much, but enough that he could see in normal colors again. “Are you done for the day?”
No.Axel was sure that wasn’t the answer Castello was looking for so instead he answered, “Yes.”
“Lock up,” Castello ordered, “I’ll take him home.” He turned to Zack,
“you go see if you can meet up with Colgan.”
