“Oh, God,” she breathed.
Mad squealed, reaching his arms up for his daddy. Axel took him in his arms, moving to stand to my right as Sal took my left.
“Sal,” her voice was a murmur as she took us both in.
“What are you doing here?” his voice was cold and unyielding. For every bit of misguided attention she’d forced on me as a child, the only thing she’d offered Sal was indifference.
Sal’s father was a Spanish man from humble roots. Though I think my mother had loved him, she removed him from her life in search of pedigree and prestige.
My father had fit the bill to a T. I couldn’t fathom choosing money over love.
“I want to help,” she replied, effectively shocking the hell out of me.
“Come again?” Sal demanded.
She glanced around, clearly uncomfortable by the amount of eyes on her. “Can we talk, in private?”
I looked to Axel and then to Sal, letting them make the decision. After a brief moment of hesitation, Axel nodded.
“Take Mad,” he instructed Ryker, carefully handing our son to his uncle. He grasped my hand, his touch warm and firm as he led us back to Cal’s office.
Axel and Sal leaned against the desk as my mother took a seat. I couldn’t remain that still and stood, leaning against the wall pensively.
“Talk,” Sal ordered brusquely and despite myself, I winced at his tone.
“I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes, with both of you,” she began. “Despite what you may think, I love you both very much.” She swallowed as I sucked in a surprised breath. I could remember only one other occasion where she’d said she loved me in my entire life. “I’ve had a lot of time to reflect this last year. I’ve lost both of you and I want to try to make things right.” She twisted her hands in her lap, a nervous gesture I’d never seen in her before. She was always so put together, so impenetrable.
“Your father…” She shook her head, looking at me. “His sanity has…well, he’s changed,” she said primly, trying to hold on to her pride while delivering what I was sure she considered shameful news. “He’s obsessed with bringing you home. I’m worried he’s going to do something brash. Well, more brash,” she amended.
“You know he has men here in Hawthorne scouting?” Axel cut in.
She winced. “I didn’t know for sure. But I’ve caught wind of some of his conversations. I knew he might be planning something.”
“He belongs in the fucking nut house,” Sal muttered.
“You might be right,” she allowed. “I left him.” She shared the shocking news with quiet dignity. “I gathered what I could. I think it will help,” she offered, pulling a large file out of her purse and handing it over to Sal.
Sal reviewed the file, his brows lifting before he handed it over to Axel. “It will,” Sal nodded.
My shoulders sagged with relief, ready to be done with this insanity.
“Do you think after all this is over – if I came back to town, that we could talk?” she asked cautiously, her gaze snapping from mine to Sal’s.
A heavy silence followed her words as Sal remained motionless with his arms crossed and gaze to his boots. I could understand his reaction but as for me well, I wanted to believe that redemption was possible.
“Maybe,” I nodded.
“Maybe,” she swallowed, accepting the words before rising and straightening her blouse. “He’s beautiful,” she told me and I knew she meant Maddox.
“Thank you.” I nodded, moving toward Axel as he lifted his arm to pull me into his body.
She gathered her things and left the room without another word.
The sob that escaped me was unexpected and sudden. I curled into Axel’s big body as his arms came up around me holding me tightly.
“I’ll go see her out,” Sal offered, leaving us a few moments together.
“Baby.” Axel’s sigh was sympathetic as he held me tighter still.
“I don’t know why I’m crying!” I sputtered. “She was always so mean to me but I guess I miss her, which is so screwed up.”
He squeezed me tighter. “She’s your mom.” He knew firsthand how deep that love ran and how confusing it could be.
“Yeah,” I agreed hoarsely.
“For what it’s worth, she just gave us the rest of the information we need.”
“Really?” I pulled back, looking up at him as he wiped my tears away.
“Yeah, babe. We’re gonna be able to end this. Soon.”
I blew out a relieved breath. “Good.”
*****
With the information my mother had provided handed off to the police, an arrest warrant had been issued for my father. It was a rare show of partnership between the Knights and the local PD. Not something, Axel assured me, I was likely to see again.
I didn’t know the details of the charges and, at the moment, didn’t care. I assumed Axel would tell me what I needed to know. I was focused on keeping Maddox content and hoping we’d be in our own beds that night.
A group of the guys went out scouting and came back confirming that his cronies had left town. Too many cops, too much heat for them to stick around. Plus, I’d guess with their boss about to be locked up, there wasn’t much reason for them to stick around. There’d be nobody to pay them.
It was late by the time the guys agreed it was safe enough for all of us to disperse.
Ryker had decreed he’d be staying with us for the night, wanting Axel to have him at his back. It’d been a long day and all I wanted was to get home.
Home.
“What’s on your mind?” Axel asked, his head cocked toward me as we drove up the mountain with Ryker’s bike rumbling behind us.
There was so much going through my mind just then, but mostly, I was thinking about how all of this was nearly behind us and together, we could just look forward.
“I was thinking about the house,” I answered him.
His brow lifted and I could tell that wasn’t the answer he’d been expecting.
“I was thinking it’s time we made some changes, work on Mad’s room,” I explained.
“Guess I had to put a ring on your finger for you to come to that conclusion, finally,” he goaded me with a chuckle.
“Whatever,” I huffed as he reached over and tickled my side.
“Hey!” I protested through laughter as Mad squealed from the backseat.
“Your mama’s ticklish,” Axel told him, his deep chuckle reverberating through the small space as I continued to squeal.
“Okay, okay,” I held up my hands in surrender as he grabbed one and placed it in his lap.
“You did good today,” he told me quietly.
I sighed. “Thanks.”
“The shit with your dad, are you okay with it?”
“I don’t know that I’ll ever be okay with it necessarily.” I bit my lip and looked out the window as the dark landscape slid by. “But I understand why it has to be this way. It’s better than a lot of the alternatives. Do you think they’ll catch him soon?”
He squeezed my hand. “Yeah.”
“Good,” I sighed, suddenly weary. “I’m ready to be done with this.”
“I know, darlin’.”
“What did he do?” I asked seriously.
Ax glanced over to me, his expression sympathetic, which didn’t bode well. “You sure?”
I knew he wanted to protect me from this, but I needed to know.
“Yeah,” I nodded.
“He’s been into some serious shit for a while,” he began as I braced myself for what was to come. “Seems like he’s got a pretty serious gambling problem.”
“My father?” I demanded incredulously. I would never have guessed.
“Yep, he’s broke…as in bankrupt. That’s why he was after your money. One thing we did learn from Benjamin was that there was a substantial financial gain for your father if you married him. It had the potential to rebuild his completely fucked career also.”
“So what
was his plan? To sell me off?” I screeched.
He put a hand on my thigh and squeezed in reassurance. “Not sure,” he admitted.
“Do you think my mother knows?”
“The information she gave us was pretty damning so I’d guess whatever she didn’t know before she does now. I also don’t think she had any part in trying to steal from your trust fund. She actually delivered proof that he’d fraudulently tried to access your money.”
I felt an unexpected wave of sympathy for my mother. Despite everything, I didn’t want her to lose everything she had. She’d already lost her family.
“One thing I’ll say for your mother, babe. She may be a bitch but the lady is smart. I’m sure she can take care of herself,” he assured me, picking up on my line of thinking.
“I hope so,” I bit my lip. I thought about everything he just shared, trying to make sense of an insane situation. “So basically, his whole plan centered around me. He lost everything by being a jackass and thought he could marry me off to some rich senator’s son and somehow reclaim power and money.”
“Pretty much.”
“What an ass.” I shook my head in disgust.
“Yeah, well, your mother obviously has the brains in that relationship. He didn’t cover his tracks very well. The money was an easy trail to follow – Sal and I have been on that for weeks.”
My anger flared, sudden and intense. “Why didn’t you say anything?” I hissed, not wanting to yell and scare Maddox.
He turned to face me briefly before his eyes returned to the dark road ahead. “I wanted to have proof before I had to deliver more bad news,” he answered with gruff sincerity. “We all know your father’s a grade A bastard, but all this,” he shook his head. “It’s worse than I thought it would be.”
That pacified me some though I still wished he would have told me.
“What’s his connection with the Black Riders?” I wanted to know. “I don’t get how he even knew how to contact Aron, or Jeb for that matter. “
Axel jaw clenched. “It’s fucked up,” he admitted. “And we still don’t know everything, including who was feeding him information about our club. He often came to Vegas to gamble. The Black Riders run a lot of that territory. I don’t know how it started, but somewhere along the way, he invested in several of their businesses. He got in way over his head,” Axel sighed in exasperation. “You don’t live long with an outstanding debt with a club like theirs,” he said darkly. “My guess is, Aron got wind that the Black Riders were owed a pay day and struck out on his own working with Jeb to get inside information. They didn’t realize your dad was broke. They got greedy.”
“What’s going to happen with the Black Riders now?” I wanted to know.
“Cal wants to find out how much their prez knows,” he explained. “If it was just a debt they were owed, that’s one thing. But, if he had anything to do with breaking into your place or your kidnapping, that’s another. For now, we’re still thinking Aron and Jeb were acting alone.” When he saw my worried expression, his deep voice rumbled, “Don’t worry, baby,”
Easier said than done, but I nodded rather than argue.
“Thank you,” I murmured, turning to watch his handsome profile as he watched the road intently.
He turned to look at me briefly, his eyes soft. “For what?”
“Where do I start?” I smiled tenderly, reaching over to stroke his bearded jaw. I decided to settle on the easiest answer. “For everything.”
He lifted my hand to kiss my knuckles. “Always, baby.”
“Always,” I agreed.
Despite everything, I felt like the luckiest girl in the whole world.
Chapter 20
“Did you, uh, cook the eggs?” Ry asked cautiously the next morning. I’d wanted to cook breakfast for the guys but my culinary skills still required some practice evidently.
“Yeah, why?” I asked, leaning over to look at my handiwork on their plates. Maddox babbled in my arms and I moved him to my other hip. He was getting so big.
The eggs did look slightly runny, but last time I’d overcooked them.
Dammit.
Axel shot him a glare but Ryker threw up his hands in reply. “Dude, I know she’s your wife and I love her like a sister, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let her poison me!”
I rolled my eyes, shoving a box of cereal at him and tried not to take it personally when Axel was the first to reach for it.
He pulled me over so I stood between his muscular thighs with Maddox cradled in my arms. “You wanna start on Mad’s room today?” His eyes burned with an intensity that was now familiar but no less butterfly-inducing.
“Yeah,” I agreed softly.
He tweaked the rings on my left hand and grinned. “That’s good, babe. I think I’ll even have another set of hands with this knucklehead.” He hooked a thumb in Ry’s direction.
“Great,” Ry muttered as he shoved a huge bite of cereal into his mouth.
As it turned out, we had more help than we needed. Sal and Cole stopped by to check on things and stayed to help dismantle the office. Scarlet and Connie offered to stay with Mad and Gracie while Kat and I went into town to buy some new things for the nursery with Mack and Wes in tow.
The image of Wes and Mack folding their big bodies into the rocking chairs at the front of the children’s store while we shopped would be permanently burned into my mind. Perfect material for whenever I’d need a quick laugh – for the next twenty years.
“What are you guys going to do for Thanksgiving?” Kat asked as we sifted through racks of baby clothes. We’d picked out the furniture for the room relatively quickly and had soon grown distracted with the tiny clothing for Kat’s little one.
I grimaced. “Well, if I wanted to punish Ax, I could cook.” I hadn’t given the holiday much thought despite it being just a few weeks away.
She laughed. “Well, I think Scar is planning to host. You guys should come. Invite Jill.”
“I’ll talk to her,” I nodded.
“I’ll make sure Cal is coming.” She winked as though I was in on the secret.
My brows knit with confusion. “Why would you do that?”
She looked at me with wide eyes. “He’s sweet on her,” she replied as though I were daft.
“I didn’t notice,” I admitted, embarrassed at how little attention I’d obviously been paying my best friend. Clearly, I needed to rectify that. “She’s going through some stuff; I don’t know if…” I trailed off.
“He knows,” she interjected with assurance.
How?
“I’ve been a terrible friend,” I shook my head with a grimace.
“You’ve been through some serious shit, girl. Cut yourself some slack,” Kat admonished, linking her arm through mine and towing me toward the register.
“Finally,” Wes muttered.
“Hey, this’ll be you someday,” Kat retorted, gesturing to all the baby clothes she cradled.
He had a moment of wide-eyed acknowledgement. “Fuck me,” he muttered, shaking his head.
“Well, that won’t bring a baby around anytime soon,” Kat replied with a wink in my direction.
“Christ, you chicks love to bust my fucking balls,” he retorted as I fought my struggle and let the laugh I’d been fighting burst out.
Mack’s deep-throated chuckle filled the space as he got a good laugh at Wes’ expense.
By the time we got home, I was impressed with how much work they’d done. The guys had all cleared out except for Ryker. The office was completely empty and Axel was painting it a beautiful grey-blue.
“Get what you needed?” he asked when he saw me standing in the doorway.
“Yeah,” I smiled. “Looks good in here. The delivery folks will be bringing everything up shortly. It was all in stock.”
“Good,” he nodded, looking thoughtfully at the wall. “You know, I never thought to ask if you wanted to stay here. This was my place that I rebuilt with Ry. It has meaning to me
but…” he trailed off.
I moved into the room, wrapping arms around him from behind. “This is the first real home I’ve ever known. I love it,” I assured him.
“I’m glad,” he nodded, turning in my arms and laying his lips over mine.
“I wouldn’t mind doing some updating though?” I mentioned hesitantly against his lips.
He chuckled. “Yeah, babe, we can do that. We’ll have to expand someday, too,” he winked, smacking my ass as I headed back out of the room.
“Right, for that football team you want to have.” I rolled my eyes with a smile.
“Damn straight,” he nodded.
The next few days felt like a tense waiting game. There was still no news on my father – the authorities were still looking for him. Axel was still on high alert with eyes on the house.
We finished the nursery and moved on to the master. The space that had always felt like home became something more. It became an oasis that I had put my own mark on. Putting Mad to bed every night in his beautiful room gave me a sense of peace I hadn’t realized I’d been missing.
We kept up my driving lessons. I convinced Axel to let me practice on something smaller and we’d borrowed Connie’s car a few times. I was much more confident than the first time I’d gotten behind the wheel.
If I could only learn not to burn everything I tried to cook, I’d be in pretty good shape.
Axel liked to tease me that miracles didn’t happen overnight.
After many failed attempts, I ended up with something close enough to resembling pumpkin pie to bring to Thanksgiving dinner. It certainly wouldn’t win any contests but at least it wouldn’t kill anybody, hopefully.
Cole and Scarlet’s house was packed with club members and their families as the smell of the holiday permeated the air.
“Here,” I handed Scar my pie with a grimace. “It’s the thought that counts, right?”
“Right,” she nodded with a laugh, wrapping me in a one-armed hug.
The meal was delicious, the mood raucous and light in a way it hadn’t been in several days. I watched Cal lean over and talk to Jill from my place across the table. Every time he spoke to her, which was often, her face flushed. She seemed hesitant to engage him, but there was something going on there.
Axel (Ride Series Book 3) Page 16
