Axle: A Military Bad Boy Mercenary Romance (The Bang Shift Book 5)

by Mandy Harbin

  “I’m just shaking a little.”

  “C’mon. Axle needs us. And if you pass out, I’ll have to leave him here bleeding out to deal with you first. Doesn’t matter he needs medical attention. If I extracted him first, he’d have my ass.”

  She raised her hand to her head to try to salute him in that awful why she’d been doing since she got here.

  He chuckled. “You’re bad at that.”

  “So I’ve heard,” she said, but the words were broken, which jolted Axle. He rose up in time to catch her as she passed out, taking them back to the ground, but him cushioning her fall.

  “I’m going to need more help up here,” Alec said to someone.

  Axle held her to him, hating he couldn’t carry her out on his own. He’d shield her, though. No way was he going to let any more danger come after her. He had to protect her no matter the cost.

  And he would. She meant too much to him not to. Oh, he’d tried to deny how he felt. Even pushed her away to keep them from getting even more attached. He’d tried to keep from falling deeper into his feelings. He’d fought himself every step of the way.

  It was a battle not meant to be won.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “If you don’t let me do this on my own, I’m going to kick your butt,” Axle said to Shelby when she reached for him.

  “Let him do it himself, love,” Mason said. After getting out of surgery, he’d had a cast on his leg and had been healing at his sister’s house.

  Her new house.

  She’d been staying in an FBI safehouse before he’d gotten shot, but sometime between his surgery in a German hospital and his arriving stateside for final debriefing, she’d decided she needed a bigger place so Axle could have plenty of room to recover with her. He’d need time and space to go through physical therapy to work on his atrophied muscles, and there weren’t too many opportunities for her to baby her big brother. It seemed she loved every second of it.

  “Yeah, let me do it myself,” he said, agreeing with Mason as he took another step. He’d gotten to know the guy his sister had fallen in love with over these last couple of months. Although he had a sense of authority about him that Axle had the natural instinct to challenge—the man was his sister’s boyfriend, after all—he did like him. When his sister had told him more details of how they’d found love on assignment, Axle had wanted to choke the man. If he hadn’t been on some killer pain medication, he would’ve tried, but as time went on, he saw how much the man loved Shelby.

  So much so that he’d bought her this house. No way could Shelby afford a place like this on her own. She wasn’t drawing a paycheck from the feds, and what she made at the garage couldn’t be anywhere near enough to qualify for the type of loan she would’ve needed. When they’d first pulled up to the electric gate, he’d almost jokingly asked her whose dick she’d had to suck to get a place like this, but since they’d had words about her last assignment already, he’d thought better of it. Besides, he didn’t want her taking the comment seriously. He’d just eyed her as they waited for the gate to open after she’d typed in the code, and she’d shrugged it off with a sly smile.

  He didn’t have to ask to know the truth.

  And what right did he have to question her or anyone else on fraternizing or crossing professional lines of obligation.

  He’d been ordered to protect a woman, and he’d slept with her.

  He’d been ordered not to tell her shit, and he’d given her classified information.

  It didn’t matter if he’d protected her in the end. That she’d gotten out of a warzone unharmed and had completed her assignment. He’d gone against his superiors.

  There had only been one thing he could do about it.

  He’d confessed it all to Major General Burge.

  Oh, the ass chewing he’d gotten was of Biblical proportions. He had no doubt if he hadn’t been lying injured in a hospital bed, he would’ve faced court-martial. A shitty end to a career spanning years. From early military, to SEALs, to joint taskforce operations, it could have easily all come down to an unceremonious fuck-you exit.

  Getting injured had been his saving grace. He couldn’t very well be allowed back to active duty when he could barely walk. By the time he healed enough to return, his service would be over anyway. When he’d held Caitlin on that schoolhouse floor, the world in chaos around them, he’d known then he wouldn’t be reupping even if he could. A few months without her while he completed his remaining service obligation was much easier to cope with than years under a new contract could possibly be.

  He’d already decided to pursue a new chapter in his life before he got the news of how much damage there’d been to his leg, which would’ve made the decision for him. Since he was leaving the military, there hadn’t been a reason for Burge to make a stink about Axle giving Caitlin that name.

  He took another step, and the physical therapist corrected his posture. “Told you I could do it,” he muttered.

  “You’re doing so good. I’m so proud of you,” she squealed.

  “Jesus, I’m not a baby.”

  The intercom buzzed, drawing all of their attention. “Someone’s at the gate,” Mason said. He gave his sister a kiss and left the room. She stared after him, smiling goofy.

  “You’re supposed to pay attention to me,” he said.

  “And you said you’re not a baby. Sure are whining like one.”

  The physical therapist smiled. She was pretty. If he’d been in a different place in his life, he’d have asked her out. Those days were over, and it had nothing to do with his probable life-long disability.

  “Am not,” he said, continuing with their juvenile banter.

  “Are so.”

  He took another step and another. His leg ached, but he was determined to get it working as best he could.

  “Good work, Mr. Landry. We’ll do some ice therapy to get the swelling down and be done for the day.” She helped him lay on the foam table Shelby had set up in this large space. She’d said she needed a workout room anyway, which just so happened to include all the machinery he’d need for his therapy sessions and exercising his leg. When he expressed doubt she’d be working out so much she would need a cold therapy machine, she’d made a dirty joke about playing with it once he was done. Mason had cracked a smile, and Axle really hadn’t wanted to ask what she’d meant by that.

  “Look who I found,” Mason said as he walked back into the room.

  Oz and Zeke walked in with another guy. Shelby waved at him, but he was too stunned to ask who that person was.

  “Holy shit,” Axle breathed. He hadn’t seen these guys in years. Not since their Orion mission.

  “Damn, brother, always lying on your ass,” Zeke said.

  Axle laughed and clapped him on the back when he leaned over to hug him.

  Oz shook his hand. “Good to see you. Sorry it’s not under better circumstances.”

  “Nah, man. We’ve all been busy. While I’ve been getting shot, Zeke’s been pushing papers, and you’ve been playing house.”

  “Ah, fuck you, man,” Zeke said. “I run my own FBI team.”

  “Like I said, paper pusher.” Oz cracked a smile, and Axle asked him, “How’s the wife?”

  His smile widened. “Good. Really good. She’s home with the kids.”

  “What? You got kids, man? That’s awesome.” Oz had fallen in love with Bryn, a woman who’d been on the run from the mafia, and he’d been in charge of watching.

  Oh the irony.

  Axle had given Oz so much shit about Bryn back then and here he was, head over heels for the woman he’d been ordered to protect.

  “Yeah. It is.”

  He looked at the other guy in the room with them. He resembled Oz, and Axle realized who it probably was. “You must be Gauge,” he said.

  “I am.” He walked over and shook his hand. “I, uh, wanted to meet you and tell you I’m sorry for getting you into all of this,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets.


  Axle nodded at him. “Not your fault, man.” He looked at Shelby. “Not yours either.”

  Her lips quivered, and Mason seemed to materialize at her side, rubbing her back, immediately comforting her. She’d taken him getting shot pretty hard. Not only was he her brother, and she the one to initially suggest he be the one assigned to Caitlin, but she herself had been shot before and knew the pain involved. Thankfully, her wound hadn’t been as bad as his. Not physically anyway. Shelby had been dealing with much more than pain of the flesh, but he could tell she was doing much better than just a few months ago.

  “You never said your sister was so hot,” Zeke said, trying to lighten the mood, but when Mason’s gaze shot to him, it was apparent the attempt had failed miserably. “Sorry, guy.”

  “She’s mean as hell anyway,” Gauge said, smiling and not caring Mason trained his protective gaze on him now. He looked at Axle. “I work with her. I’m allowed to say that.”

  “Because you’re an agent?” he asked.

  “No. Well, yeah,” he said, frowning slightly. “My career is a little more complex than that.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Axle said, indicating the machine he was hooked up to.

  “Miss, can you excuse us a minute?” Oz asked the physical therapist.

  Mason walked toward her and escorted her out. Shelby stepped over to Axle and sat on the edge of the bed.

  “You know I was investigating the Bang Shift, right?”

  “Yeah,” he said slowly.

  “The feds had assigned Gauge to work deep undercover as a member of their group. Eventually, the government sussed out their bad guy, but Gauge stayed on when Xan decided to stay in Mayflower.”

  “Xan?”

  “Alexandra Collins,” Oz said, penning him with a knowing stare.

  “What?” Axle asked slowly. “Marco’s ex isn’t in WINSEC anymore?” That had been the catalyst for Orion’s first—and only—mission.

  “It’s Xan Jackson, now, and her husband and his friends won’t let anybody near her,” Gauge said with an odd finality. “The Bang Shift can protect her better than some overworked case manager.”

  “Long story short,” Shelby said. “The Bang Shift isn’t only a garage. They’re hired guns. If the feds pay them to handle other matters, they shouldn’t have a problem with them taking care of this one for free.”

  He knew there had to be a valid reason for Shelby to investigate them before, and this made sense. Then he glared at her as something else clicked into place. “So you’re not just rotating tires for them?”

  “I mean…I do that, too.”

  “That’s actually the other reason we’re here,” Gauge said.

  “I’m listening,” he said, trying not to be irritated with anybody else other than his sister.

  “They need your help,” Oz said.

  Axle chuckled. “I hope it doesn’t require running because you’d be shit outta luck.”

  “You’re supposed to let me do the talking,” Gauge said.

  “You’re beating around the bush,” Oz retorted.

  “Yep, y’all are definitely brothers,” Axle muttered.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Shelby asked, rearing back.

  “That siblings can be a pain in the ass.”

  “Jesus, we’re gonna be here all day,” Zeke said.

  Mason walked back into the room. “Why does everybody look like they’re gonna start shooting?” he joked, but there was a hard glint in his eyes.

  “Get her outta here, please,” Axle said to him as he pointed at Shelby.

  “You don’t have to be such a jerk.”

  “See, mean, I told ya,” Gauge said to Mason.

  “Nobody’s going anywhere,” Mason said calmingly as he walked farther into the room. He reached Shelby and kissed the top of her head.

  “Anyway,” she said slowly. “We think you should come work with us.”

  “I was supposed—ugh,” Gauge said, stopping on a groan.

  “Fuck, man, your balls not drop yet?” Oz asked, shaking his head. He turned to Axle. “This is perfect. You have garage experience, so you can work at the shop, and you have a long military background working reconnaissance missions, so you can take on contracts. You’re not just comfortable with a gun. You’re the fucking best.”

  He blinked, not sure what to say.

  “Don’t let the idea of working with me stop you,” Shelby said with a wink. She was a brat, but he did love her.

  “You’ll be doing me a huge favor,” Gauge said.

  Axle shook his head. “I’m all outta favors. Still working on my last one.” He nodded at his leg.

  “You want to blame someone, take it out on me,” Oz said. “I was the one Gauge called when Shelby first mentioned you doing it. I agreed with him, and I called in the favor.”

  “Look, I’m not mad about being assigned to Caitlin,” he said, trying not to show any emotion at voicing her name aloud, “But I’m not clear how you calling in a favor to protect a woman you don’t even know somehow meant involving me. We haven’t seen each other in years.”

  “Because it mattered enough to your sister to protect her friend. Because you’re the best goddamn shooter I know—”

  “Hey,” Zeke said, acting offended.

  “And our father,” Oz continued, pointing at himself and Gauge, “took a bullet meant for Burge.”

  The life debt. That made complete sense.

  “I never thought you’d get hurt,” Shelby said.

  Axle sighed. “I’ll heal. Stop feeling guilty.” He turned to Gauge. “I get it, and thanks for the offer, but I don’t need charity.”

  “It’s not charity. We’re swamped. We have cars booked out for months. Brody’s wife is about to have a baby, so we can’t even entertain other jobs right now.”

  “Sorry, man. I can’t do shit as it is anyway. I’ll figure out what I’m going to do with my life when I get better.” And it would probably entail finding a job in Atlanta…for reasons he didn’t want to dive too far into.

  “By Brody’s wife, he means the woman formerly known as Alexandria Collins,” Oz said. “Remember her former nanny? The woman who helped raise her son, Scott? The woman I later married? Well, she’s tired of letting the mafia control her life. She wants to move to this little town, see this baby grow up, be a part of Scott’s life.”

  “Oh shit,” Axle said.

  “Yeah, which means, these two women who should be on opposite ends of the world to keep the mafia from ever finding them are going to be living in the same tiny town.”

  Gauge winced. “Sorry. I never should’ve said anything. I thought she’d be happy to hear how well Xan was doing. I didn’t think…”

  “I’ll deal with you later,” Oz grumbled.

  “This is why I need the favor,” Gauge said. “We need help, sure. I mean, it’s not like we can run an ad online that says, Help wanted. Must be good with torque guns and shotguns. But with my sister-in-law wanting to move here, maybe my brother won’t kill me if there’s an assassin on the team.”

  “It’s sniper, not assassin,” Axle corrected.

  “Assassin sounds cooler.”

  “He has a point,” Zeke said. “And those other jobs, he mentioned? He meant the feds. I have a case I need them to work on, but they’re reluctant,” he said, drawing out the last word.

  “Well, the FBI should handle their own shit,” Axle said. “Quit spending government dollars on contractors and get people on the payroll to do their jobs.”

  “You’re right,” Zeke said, but his tone belied any real agreement. “Absolutely right. I’ll just run on down to Quantico and get someone green.”

  “Why don’t you call Katie Dean?” Axle asked sarcastically, not liking his attitude and purposely pushing an off-limits button by bringing up the woman Zeke had a major thing for.

  “Good idea,” he said without missing a beat. “She probably won’t be such a little bitch when she’s asked to protect Cait
lin Cooper.”

  His former teammate was out for blood. Zeke’s thing for Katie might be something long buried, but Axle’s feelings for Caitlin were fresh.

  They’d never fade.

  “I did not complain when I was given that assignment!” Yes, he’d been mad getting pulled from his SEAL team, but he’d taken the role without any lip.

  “Bub,” Shelby said softly. “He’s not talking about before.”

  “What. The. Fuck?” he asked, low and deadly.

  “She’ll be here in three weeks.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Today.

  Caitlin Cooper sat nervously as she gazed over the crowd. There were more people here than she’d anticipated, though a Bronze Star Ceremony was sure to be the talk of the town and draw even those normally uninterested in current affairs out of the woodwork. When Caitlin’s gaze landed on a group of tough-looking men entering the room, she quickly dropped it to her notebook as heat tinged the tips of her ears. Only one man caused that reaction. Unable to resist his pull, she looked at him again.

  Axle stared right at her.

  Caitlin swallowed, locked in his hot gaze, instantly taken back to other times he’d looked at her just as intensely but for a completely different reason. She couldn’t look away now even if she wanted to, and she didn’t. She’d missed him so much since the last day she saw him…the day everything went to shit, and they’d been ripped apart by circumstance.

  He took a step, then another, slowly making his way to the stage without breaking eye contact just yet. She wanted to run to him and help him walk, but she knew beyond any doubt he’d hate her even more if she offered him any assistance. He was a strong man.

  He was a proud man.

  And now, he was a disabled man. A former SEAL injured in the prime of his life. The career he carefully nurtured for so many years completely obliterated.

  All because of her.

  More than anything else, that killed her. She loved him. Even not seeing him these last few months, her feelings hadn’t changed. If anything, they’d grown stronger.