Axel nodded in response, yeah, he fucking knew who he was. He’d have to be dead or stupid not to. He jerked to one side when the goon behind him
cuffed him again. “Ass—”
But before he could finish the word Givens snorted, “I think I like him.”
“He should show you some respect, Boss.” the goon growled.
Givens waved his hand at his minion, “You would be pissed too.”
Steepling his fingers together, his elbows resting on the desk that separated him from Axel, he studied the younger man. That this boy didn’t back off, kept his eyes on him at all times, told Givens the kid was smart. He had picked out the biggest threat in the house and focused on him rather than the four men surrounding his chair. He had good instincts, maybe this would work after all. “You will build me some cars.”
If Axel’s eyes had squinted before, now they widened. He felt them, couldn’t have stopped it if he tried. “I build custom bikes, not cars.”
Seriously, was this dude on crack? With being in the mob anything was possible, but jeez, motorbike engines and car engines, even the frames and bodies—totally fucking different.
“Now you build cars for me.” Givens shrugged as if it was already a done deal.
“I don’t build cars.”
“Then I will take from you what you do care about.” Givens nodded to one of the goons behind Axel, “Call them.”
Call who? Axel frowned when Givens picked up a TV remote and pointed it at the screen on the wall to the left of them. Distracted by the view of his workshop that appeared on screen, he almost missed the goon behind him, telling someone on the phone to ‘pull the plug.’Three seconds after the order was given. On screen Axel’s workshop exploded. “Nooo!”
“Now that I have your attention,” Givens drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “Let’s get to the second reason I ordered you here, shall we?”
“Could have called me on the damn phone.” Axel gritted his teeth. The asshole had just blown up his shop, he could go fuck himself with rusty barbed wire if he though Axel was building him jack shit.
“You will tell me where my grandson is.”
Yeah, no fucking way.Axel tried his best to put what he freaking hoped was a confused look on his face. He knew he had succeeded when the older man heaved a sigh and scrubbed his hand over his face in frustration.
“You don’t know what I am talking about?”
“Nope.” Axel frowned at the man.I wish Castello was here!The thought struck Axel, slammed into him with the weight of a wrecking ball
and he totally missed what the man said to him, didn’t even hear him talking until the pain of a hard cuff on the back of his head slammed him back into the present. “Repeat that?”
Givens’ voice held a weird tone, that sounded suspiciously like hope,
“You will tell me where to find your sister and my grandson.” He paused and waved at the TV screen, “And you will build me some cars. Welcome to the Diamond Family, Mr. Shaw.”
***
Axel jammed the top of his beer bottle on the edge of the porch railing, making sure to snag one of the ridges into the wood, before he slammed the heel of his hand onto the top, ignoring the pain that jolted through his hands.
A little left-over reminder of his visit to casa-del-asshole earlier today, and chugged down the full bottle, before repeating the process of opening a second bottle. He should have fucking insisted Krystal go to Texas or to stay in Tallahassee with the Hell’s Eagles. They would have fucking protected them. Helped him hide his family. Here in Miami he had no one. So much for his big plans of going it alone.There is one person who might help you.
Axel considered it. Chewed on his bottom lip, did he dare? Would they be watching like Givens had warned him they would? Fuck it, he was dead either way. As soon as he built those damn cars and didn’t produce his sister and her son, he was fucking dead. His guts told him he was.Try him, he maynot answer.Decision made, he pulled out his cell and scrolled through the contact list until he found the number he needed then hit call. Thank fuck, he had taken that scrap of paper Grif had offered him before he Krystal and the kids had gotten on the plane to return to the US. Taking another sip of beer, he waited to see if the call would connect. When it did, he put the cell to his ear and waited.
“Go.”
He wasn’t sure what god was up there, but someone was looking out for him. His only hope had answered his call, “Hey, Cas, it’s me…”
“Huh?”
Crap, he doesn’t remember who I am.“It’s Axel Sh—” The rapid sound of gunfire exploded through the phone speaker, sounding so close, Axel dropped to the floor, his beer bottle spinning out of his grip across the deck.
Only the death grip he had on his cell kept it from joining the bottle of Bud as it fell off the edge of the wooden floor. In the background, Axel could hear screams and the sound of an explosion.
