Axle's Brand (Death Chasers MC Series #3)

by C. M. Owens

“What do you want? Whatever she’s promised you, I can double it the second I have access to those accounts.”

  I don’t have to say anything before Smitty steps up, and Lathan pales. He knows he can’t turn Smitty. I’m sure he’s figured out we’re all untouchable too by now.

  “If you tell me how Troy got her out of the building undetected, I’ll end your suffering quickly,” Smitty offers.

  Lathan’s nostrils flare, and his jaw tics. “Nice offer. I’ll pass—”

  I blow a hole through his knee, the barrel of my gun still pressed against his leg as he wails in pain. Pulling my gun back, I stare at him expectantly.

  He puffs out a couple of breaths like he’s breathing through the pain, his hands cuffed behind his back as he remains seated on the ground with his legs stretched out in front of him.

  “How did he get her out of the building?” Smitty growls.

  Lathan grins, eyes jaded and hollow. “You’re old, Smitty. You know you don’t keep up with the times. Your son is just smarter than you. That’s all I’m saying.”

  I shoot a hole in his other knee, hearing him roar out his pain as his eyes roll back in his head. When he falls backwards, I stand over him, and in quick succession, put two bullets in his forehead.

  “I didn’t find out how he stole her from the building yet!” Smitty snaps, yanking me back by my arm.

  My eyes drop to where his hand is touching me, and I slowly lift my eyes to meet his. Smitty, the beast of a man, clears his throat and releases his hold as he takes a step back.

  Sometimes the scary scars come in handy. Saves me from finding out if he’s too old to fight.

  “Doesn’t matter how he got her out. She’s not going back with you. It’s fucking clear to me that I can keep her safer.”

  His eyes narrow to slits. “You almost got her blown up.”

  “You let her get kidnapped and didn’t find her for two days. Who fucking knows what has happened to her by now?!” I shout, getting right in front of him.

  He starts to do something or say something, when Drex is suddenly there and pushing us apart.

  “Sarah has Maya,” he tells us, but his eyes are on me. “She’s bringing her back right now.”

  I drop my gun to the ground and race outside, kicking my way through the door we mostly broke on entry. My eyes scan the area, searching for them, and the second I see the white golf cart coming toward us, I sprint to meet it.

  “She passed out halfway here,” Sarah tells me, jumping out and coming around as I take in the blood and bruises all over Maya’s face.

  “They knocked her around, but nothing on her face seems broken, Axle,” Sarah says like she’s trying to keep me from losing it. “Her ribs might be a different story.”

  Swallowing the knot in my throat, I carefully lift Maya into my arms. Her bleach-blonde hair is no longer there. She went back to dark hair during our time apart.

  She doesn’t even stir as I cradle her to me, trying not to put any pressure on anything that seems damaged.

  “She’s going to need fluids,” Sarah goes on. “And soon would be good. She said they over-sedated her, and she’s been out cold this entire time.”

  My entire body is strung tight as I walk and stare down at her at the same time. The closer we get to the lights shining from the house, the more I can see every bruise, red mark, and cut on her face.

  Her lip is split and bleeding generously, and her cheek is swollen and cut.

  I let her go to keep her and the guys safe. Yet, she almost died right down the road from me.

  Smitty is panting as he runs up, his eyes tearing up when he sees her bruised and battered body lying limply in my arms.

  “Troy did most of the damage,” Sarah tells Smitty, her eyebrows going up when she provokes a reaction.

  He turns away, gagging like he can’t stomach the sight of Maya upon hearing that.

  “I’ll kill him,” he bites out, back still turned. “He’s not my son. He’s nothing but a coward.”

  “He’s already dead. I can show you where I left the body if you want to go collect it.”

  Smitty turns around, his face hard. “Let the animals feed off his remains. He doesn’t deserve a proper burial.”

  He turns and stalks away, and I brush my lips over Maya’s forehead, worried to death that I’m holding her too tightly.

  Smitty opens the back door to his vehicle, and I just look at him like he’s crazy.

  “How is she going to ride on your bike when she’s unconscious?” he asks.

  “If you try to take off with her, I will hunt you down and kill you myself. Understand?”

  His jaw grinds. “You keep making threats toward me when you know who I am. Watch yourself, biker boy. You’re not playing with thugs right now. You’re playing with people who can make you disappear from the face of the earth.”

  “Funny how Phillip and Lathan never disappeared then, huh?” I snap.

  “Long game for the big ones. You’re just a small fish in a massive ocean of sharks. No one will notice you—”

  “Maya will notice him missing, and your personal family has already betrayed her once. Let’s not make it a normal thing,” Sarah butts in, moving to my side.

  Smitty looks away, eyes glistening as he stares at the inside of his vehicle. “We’ll discuss this somewhere else. Your friends are about to blow this place up, and I’d like to be far away from such action,” he says much calmer.

  “I can drive your big shiny bike if you’ll commit the cardinal sin and let me,” Sarah says, looking up at me as I stare at the backseat, Maya still in my arms as I refuse to put her down.

  “Take the damn thing,” I say without hesitation as I slip into the backseat, Maya still in my arms.

  Smitty mutters something about brutes and Neanderthals, but I don’t give a damn.

  Maya sleeps all the way back to the safe house, and I carry her inside to the room we stayed in the day she had to leave me.

  Carefully, with every ounce of fucking delicate I possess, I put her down on the bed.

  “Doctor is on his way,” Drex says as he follows me in. “We’ll take her to the hospital if we have to. She’ll be fine, though. Her breathing is solid and her heartrate is steady.”

  Blowing out a breath, I gesture for him to go, and I follow him out, leaving the door open so I can see inside whenever I want to check and make sure she hasn’t vanished.

  Smitty is drinking scotch when I step into the living room.

  “You and I don’t get to decide, so let’s drink and wait for her to wake instead of fighting like barbarians over a woman who will kill us both for making a decision without her input,” he says, handing me a glass.

  I grab an empty glass and pour myself some of the whiskey Drex hands me, knowing there’s no way Smitty tampered with it.

  Call it paranoid, but these guys are shady as fuck.

  Smitty’s lips simply twitch as he drinks the glass of scotch I rejected, proving to me he didn’t just try to poison me.

  His eyes flit to the bar next to us, then he looks away. When his gaze darts back and settles on a few tiny condiment bottles I’ve brought here, a sad smile graces his lips.

  “Well, damn,” he says on a sigh, his gaze returning to me as though he’s deflated. “She should have mentioned she fell in love.”

  It’s like a punch to the stomach to hear him say that, because I go back to the sad look in her eyes the day she had to leave. Almost like she was waiting for me to reciprocate what she’d said. Or acknowledge it. Or hell, act like I heard her at all.

  I drink more of the whiskey as he studies me.

  The others give us some space, moving outside to drink and wind down from the night. Jude and Dash are still on their way back, since they’re the ones who volunteered to blow the place to hell.

  “That’s why she was crying,” he goes on. “And you sent her away to keep your men safe from Phillip. Not that I blame you.”

  “I sent her away because we ha
ve our own shit going on and she almost got killed because of it. It was just a matter of time before someone realized she was my weakness and used her against us. Against me. I didn’t want that happening, and I didn’t want my friends dying because of my selfishness.”

  “Yet now you’re willing to risk it all?” he muses.

  “Now I see it’s not just here that she’s at risk. As for the rest, we’ll figure it out. Even if I have to chain her to my side so that I have eyes on her at all times.”

  His grin is brief as he clears his expression and clinks his glass against mine.

  “Good luck with that. Maya hates being around people for too long. She prefers her solitude a lot of times.”

  A smirk graces my lips, and he just studies me. She never minded me close by.

  My moment of smugness evaporates with reality.

  I sent her away. I was too fucking busy being pissed to even tell her goodbye. I didn’t call. I didn’t do anything but push her away.

  What the hell happens when she wakes up and tells me to go fuck myself?

  CHAPTER 41

  MAYA

  Before I can even peel open my eyes, there are voices around me.

  “Axle might kill you if he finds you lying on the bed beside her,” Eve is saying from somewhere in the room.

  “Like I won’t hear him the second they all get back. I’ll have plenty of time to move,” Drake tells her, sounding really close to my side. “I want her to think we got married in Vegas and that now I’m the Blackbird king. Should be interesting.”

  I’d laugh, if it didn’t hurt so much to even consider. Guess Drake knows who I am now.

  “I worry about you sometimes,” Eve says on a sigh.

  “Only sometimes? I must be losing my edge.”

  Ever so slowly, my eyes blink open to the bright light filtering through the room.

  “She’s awake,” Eve says, even as I blink again, trying to adjust my vision to the brightness.

  “Is that what it means when someone’s eyes are open? Always wondered about that,” Drake says, grinning at Eve when I look over at him.

  Then he turns that dazzling smile on me.

  “Afternoon, sunshine. You look like shit.” He says all this with a grin.

  “I was kidnapped by a sociopath,” I say with a hoarse, scratchy voice, forcing the words out. “What’s your excuse?”

  Drake just grins broader as Eve hands me a bottle of water. I thank her with a tight smile as I start drinking the water, trying not to drink too fast.

  “Well, she seems fine,” Drake goes on, then looks at me again and holds up four fingers.

  “How many fingers am I holding up?” he asks seriously.

  Idly, I take in the fact there’s an IV running into my hand, presumably fluids.

  I extend my middle finger to Drake. “More than me,” I say, still flipping him off.

  He laughs lightly. “I’d say all her brain cells are probably destroyed, but that likely happened before the blow to the head.”

  “Blows to the head,” I grumble, wincing when I feel the pain in my side that reminds me of my ribs. Just cracked—not broken. “Plural.”

  I look around, taking in the room I’m in, and a pain catches in my chest.

  “Where’s Axle?” I ask Eve.

  “They had something to do. They had already gotten the ball rolling on striking back at Herrin and making a statement when we found out about you, and—”

  Her words cut off when a familiar face steps into the room, and tears blur my vision as Smitty looks over at me with sad, haunted eyes. He’s almost too big for the doorway, and he ducks his head as he comes in completely and straightens again.

  “We’ll give you two a minute,” Eve says softly.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Drake tells her in a bored drawl. “Axle said he doesn’t trust the Family right now, and that I’m to stay put or he’ll make me look as un-pretty as he is.” He shudders dramatically. “I’m too pretty not to be pretty.”

  I groan inwardly, rolling my eyes as I swing my gaze to Drake. “Go. We need a minute alone.”

  He looks between us, and all jokes aside, looks genuinely worried about leaving me alone with Smitty.

  “I’ll leave the door open,” Smitty says tightly, taking a seat in the far corner. “And I’ll stay right here.”

  Drake warily stands, and a tear slips from my eye. Smitty looks broken. The man who has been like a second father to me acts like he’s worried I’ll be scared of him. Everyone is treating him like he’s the one who betrayed me.

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Smitty,” I say with a stronger voice, the water already helping to soothe the dry throat. “You can come closer.”

  Drake glares at me, but I ignore him. Compared to Smitty, I barely know Drake at all. Not that I don’t appreciate the protective vibe that makes me feel safe right now.

  Smitty looks down, a tear falling from his eye, and Drake stands to leave. “I’ll be right outside. Armed. I’m a decent shot.”

  I vaguely remember shooting Troy in the ass, but I definitely don’t bring that up right now.

  I also realize I’m very naked under this sheet. Why am I naked?

  Clutching the sheet to my chest, I sit up a little, even though it sends a shot of pain up my spine from the pitiful ribs.

  “Don’t try to move,” Smitty says, standing and hesitating to come toward me.

  “I’m sorry,” I finally say to him, tears choking me.

  His eyes fill with more tears, and he shakes his head.

  “I’m the one who’s sorry, little one. My own son hated the Family so much he betrayed you and almost got you killed. And I was too blind to see it coming.”

  “You shouldn’t be expected to choose between your family and our Family. I understand if you can’t be a part of Blackbird, and you have my word nothing will happen if you decide to retire.” The words are barely a broken whisper.

  He smiles grimly at me. “I’ll be honest. I thought about leaving after I learned of Troy’s involvement. Simply because I don’t trust my judgment anymore. Lathaniel died on my watch. You almost died at the hands of my son.”

  “My brother betrayed the Family, Smitty. Not just Troy. I want Lathan dead worse than—”

  “Lathan is dead,” he interrupts, lips twitching. “Your boyfriend killed him when we came for you.”

  My heart beats a little faster at just the alluded mention of Axle.

  “But I understand what you’re saying,” he says on a long breath. “When someone betrays you, the blood running in their veins doesn’t make you more likely to forgive them. If their plan had worked, Blackbird would have crumbled, and Troy would have sentenced us all to death for greed. Not just you. His own sisters. His mother. Me. He gets no loyalty from me. If it’s okay with you, I want to stay at your side. You’re more my daughter than he is now my son. Even in death, I will never claim a man who doesn’t care about his family.”

  “Because family is all that matters,” I say with a small smile, knowing that’s why we even call our organization a Family.

  “They’re very protective and don’t trust me very much,” he says quietly, gesturing with his head toward the door. “They fear I will want retribution for Troy’s death.”

  “That’s because they don’t know you,” I say softly.

  He nods, looking down. “I realize I spent a lot of time worrying about you for nothing when you were here. This club, though a little rough and barbaric, has iron-clad loyalty to each other that you don’t find everywhere.”

  “Only the inner circle. It’s a little shaky the lower down you get. Any tips you can leave them with to snuff out the leaks?”

  His lip wavers, and I realize how stupid that was to say. “No. I’m afraid I don’t trust myself to give advice in that area right now.”

  I nod in understanding and silent apology, as I clutch the sheet a little tighter to me.

  “I’m naked under here. Any clothes around that I can wear
so we can get out of here?” I ask him.

  His brow furrows. “You want to leave?”

  I spot the little ketchup beside the door, perched on the dresser, and emotion clogs my throat. “Nothing has changed, and I’d rather not see Axle and have to say goodbye a second time.”

  I look back over at Smitty to see sympathy in his eyes. What the hell is that about?

  I blame it on the fact he just lost a son and his emotions are a little heightened. It’s hard to be sensitive to his loss when Troy was willing to turn me over to Lathan to be tortured. And the fact he beat the hell out of me doesn’t help either.

  Clearing his throat, he stands, opening a drawer and tossing me a T-shirt that definitely belongs to Axle. Damn it.

  Then he tosses me a pair of boxers.

  “Really?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood.

  He barely cracks a grin. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have the forethought to bring clothes, and yours were rather ruined.” He clears his throat again. “I’ll let the guys know we’re about to leave. It’ll take a few minutes to—”

  “Axle said no leaving,” Drake butts in, poking his head through the doorway after clearly having been eavesdropping.

  Chest pain.

  “Tell him thank you for coming after me,” I say to Drake, forcing a smile. “But I need to get back.”

  He narrows his eyes at me. “Too pretty to be un-pretty,” he says, gesturing at his face.

  “You’ll still be pretty no matter what,” I say with a wink, and he rolls his eyes while groaning.

  “Damn women. Why do I always get put in charge of the vagina squad, when everyone knows the vagina squad never listens to me?”

  As he stalks away, Smitty looks over at me. “Odd little assortment of friends you’ve made.”

  Smitty turns and walks out, shutting the door behind him to give me privacy.

  With a wince, I pull out the IV, and massage my hand for a second. Then I bite back a litany of curses when I pull on the clothes, my entire body protesting the actions.

  Fortunately, in just a few weeks, the pain will be more tolerable in my ribs. Yes, I’ve dealt with this before.

  I glance once again at the small ketchup, and my smile tugs up. At least he’s been thinking about me a little.