He was the reason we had to go at it with the Cartel not long ago. He was the reason Caitlin had to experience being drugged and dumped at the doorstep of the club like yesterday’s garbage.
“When you were down there,” I started carefully, keeping my voice calm as possible. “You wouldn’t have happened to come across a guy that looks a little like Cait, would you? Much taller, of course. Eyes like cold chips of jade. Carries himself like he’s walking the red carpet at all times?”
Teresa chewed on her nail, eyes unfocused like she was thinking.
“Here,” Caitlin said behind me. There was some shuffling, and then a phone was passed to me. I looked down at an old picture of Rebel dismounting his silver bike, just turning towards the camera.
I slowly held it out to the nervous woman. “Ringing any bells?”
She squinted for a moment before nodding. Rapidly. “He’s the one who found me first. He blackmailed Ash.”
Axle stepped into her space, smacking my hand away when I tried to stop him. She trembled harder than ever, and I frowned. It was unusual for him to be throwing out so much aggression.
Even more so for him to willingly participate in the first place.
“What kind of blackmail?” he spat.
I would’ve preferred for him to ask in a more reasonable tone, but I was curious myself.
What kind of blackmail would be effective against the Prince of Crime?
Except it was obvious in hindsight, as most things were.
“Me,” Teresa said, staring down into her lap. “Either Ash paid him a huge sum of money or...what did you call him? Rebel? He was going to tell everyone where I was.”
Axle had his cigarette out and a lighter up to his lips before I coughed a gentle reminder. He stuffed them angrily back in his pocket. “She’s fucking bait,” he said, addressing us all. “Rebel doesn’t know we aren’t trying to find his punk-ass, so he keeps putting obstacles in our way that’ll slow us down. This is nothing but the latest card he’s decided to play. But she’s also the last person to have known contact with him.”
I stepped up beside him. “What are you getting at?”
He ignored me, focusing his glare on the woman who couldn’t meet it. “If there are any hints as to why he’s doing what he’s doing, she might have them. He knows that, and he made sure she got sent to us anyway.” Axle glanced at me. “Give her to me. I’ll get that information one way or another.”
“Uhhh...no fucking way,” Lizzy added quickly. “You couldn’t take care of a potted plant, dude. She’s liable to have a heart attack if she’s stuck with you for company, and keeping her alive, no matter what, is kinda important here.”
Axle rolled his eyes. “You think I don’t fucking know that.”
Tex folded massive arms over his chest. “Watch your mouth.”
I intervened. For me, and not for them. If they started going at it and Naomi ended up caught in the scuffle, we were really going to have some fucking problems.
“Put her to work,” I said, catching Axle’s attention.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Haven’t you mentioned that you’re looking for an assistant now that the shop is getting busier.” A result of Naomi bringing so much business to the area. Not that I’ve been rubbing anybody’s face in it or anything.
He threw his hands in the air. “What the hell am I supposed to do with an assistant who’ll probably hide under her fucking desk when the phone rings?”
“I won’t hide.”
We turned at the same time, and whatever bravery had prompted her response withered and died. She curled into a tighter ball than the one she was already maintaining, looking for all the world like she would give anything to be invisible in that moment.
The look on Axle’s face was unreadable...
I paused.
Not unreadable. Unfamiliar.
I asked myself when he last seemed interested in a goddamn thing and came up empty. But he certainly seemed interested enough in the cowering blonde. Weird.
Naomi fit her hand into mine. “We’ll share,” she said, not waiting for anyone to argue. “I need someone at least part-time at the shop with me anyway.” She acknowledged the curious look Teresa was giving her. “Are you fine with helping whenever I have a rush?”
“Yeah,” came the raspy whisper.
“Great,” Creed said. “Hoo-fucking-rah. It’s settled. Now do me a favor and all of you get the fuck out of my house. Take the coward with you.”
He didn’t wait to see if we would obey his latest decree. Caitlin rolled her eyes over his shoulder as he swept her into his arms and headed up the stairs. He paused for a moment on the landing, giving everyone a look that said, Why the hell are y’all still here?
Texas and Lizzy were gone first, with the latter shooting a lingering, sympathetic look towards the woman who had become the latest addition to our fucked-up tale.
Naomi fussed at Axle when he kicked the leg of Teresa’s chair and ordered its occupant to her feet. But being condemned for his actions wasn’t exactly a new thing.
We followed them out the door. Naomi tugged at my hand as they headed towards his giant Hummer. “Are we sure about leaving him alone with her?”
“Wait for it,” I told her, flashing a smile.
Sure enough, a window above us opened and Creed’s voice came hollering out. “If she loses so much as a fucking nail, I’ll take a chainsaw to your nuts and feed them to you!”
Axle threw both middle fingers in the air without turning around and hopped into the driver’s seat. Shoulders slumped in defeat, Teresa slid in opposite him. Tires squealing, kicking gravel and dust, he accelerated out onto the street and they were gone.
Naomi leaned into my side and I threw my arm around her shoulder, holding her close. “Never a dull moment is there?”
“Afraid not,” I said on a low chuckle. “We’re still neck-deep in the swamp to be honest, and we can’t even see the alligators lurking. Asher is convinced people are going to come for her once they realize she’s here. And that they’ll keep coming until he does whatever the hell it is he’s up to. You sure you don’t want to take a rain check before you hop back on this crazy ride, Smoothie Girl?”
“I think I will,” she said, surprising me. I glanced down and found her cheeks twitching with barely contained mirth. “And I’m taking a plus one.”
“Is that right?” I murmured, finding the shell of her ear with my teeth.
Her soft laugh was the sound of everything being right in my world. “It sure is. We’re going to take this moment right here, watch the sunrise, and appreciate what we have. Then we’ll see where the rest of our story takes us.”
I pressed a kiss to her cheek and whispered three words against her warm skin. She was right. Whatever the future might bring couldn’t take away the here. The now.
This time belonged to no one else but us.
I wouldn’t hide from possibilities I couldn't change. Instead, I would accept that the journey was worth it, no matter what the ending might be.
With this beautiful woman at my side? My sweet, sweet temptation I could never get enough of?
It was going to be a trip I would never forget.
The End
Author’s Note
Tap tap.
Is this thing on? Oh, it is? Fantastic.
You’ve made it to the end of the book, and this is the part where I thank you so, so much for reading! If you have the time, reviews are always appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed the story.
Everything after this point will be me rambling, because why not? So, feel free to ignore the rest of this if you like.
Still here? Well, that’s surprising.
I have to admit, writing this book was not in my initial plan for the series. Then again, I’m still fairly new at this. If you asked me two years ago if I was going to try and write a seven book series, I would’ve laughed.
Seven books?
That’s crazine
ss.
Who would do such a thing to themselves? Certainly not me, that’s for sure.
And yet here we are, book four. (Five, if you count Rain as being a part of the series, which I’m not to make this easier on my brain.)
But back to my point.
Tone snuck up on me. Somewhere in the middle of Saved by a Sinner, he started nudging me to write his story. And how could I not? I was as curious as anyone about this biker who acted like his feathers were impossible to ruffle.
I spent a lot of time exploring his past. Enough that I probably could’ve done a prequel to this one with everything that happened. But then Naomi came along, and I realized how I wanted their tale to go.
Full disclosure. Writing this book ripped my heart out on multiple occasions. I had to just…stop several times and collect myself. I hope that it did the same for you, and I swear I mean that in the nicest way possible.
This was such an enjoyable experience, and I could go on about it for a while, but I’ll spare you a full book of me carrying on.
So, what’s next?
Three more books(at least). Axle’s story will be book five. Followed by Tanner. And finally, the Sinner who toppled the house of cards and set things in motion: Rebel.
Ideally, those three will all be releasing in 2020. Seeing as how I haven’t started on Axle’s book yet, I might be biting off way more than I can chew. But you never know until you try, right?
Right?
Someone tell me I’m not making a huge mistake!
I guess we’ll find out soon, huh?
Again, thank you so much for reading. Hope to see you next time!
Until then...
Connect with Me
Haven’t had enough? Glad to hear it. Find any link you might need to connect with me or just see what I’m up to below.
Want updates on new releases? Mailing List
Interested in teasers and snippets of my life or what I’m currently working on? Check out my Instagram: @ag.henderson
Prefer Facebook? www.facebook.com/AG.HendersonAuthor
Tempted by a Sinner (Seven Sinners Book 4) Page 36
