“I don’t bite,” he assures me.
I reach out, and put my hand in his. He curls his fingers around mine, and shakes my hand. “I know you don’t remember me, but I’m Raide.”
My head snaps up, and my eyes widen. He chuckles.
“So you have heard of me? I believe you had something for me, though I imagine my son, here, has convinced you not to give it to me.”
The USB. This is the Raide my father wanted me to give the information to? Raide is Axel’s father...I don’t...I don’t understand.
“I don’t know you,” I say in a small voice.
“No, you wouldn’t remember me. You were only young. We need to talk, Meadow.”
“You can refuse him, Cricket,” Axel says from behind me. “You don’t owe him nothin’.”
Raide looks up at Axel, and his eyes harden. “Now, don’t make her mind up for her, boy. This ain’t your business.”
“It is my fuckin’ business. You’re on my soil.”
Raide chuckles. “I see nothing changes.”
I look between the two, confused. I honestly don’t know what’s going down, but I don’t want to be a part of it.
“I’m not going to stick around here pressuring you. But I do need to speak with you, Meadow. I have a lot of answers to your questions. You call me, when you have time,” he says, tucking his hand into his pocket and bringing out a card. He hands it to me, and I take it.
“You done?” Axel barks.
Raide lifts his eyes, and for a moment, I see a look of longing. I don’t know what went down between the two but whatever it is, it was bad. I look at Axel, and I’m angry he lied to me. He told me Raide was dead. Why would he tell me that? I don’t understand it, but right now, I’m trying to process so much information I just can’t do it all right now. Raide calls his boys back to their cars, and with one last look at Axel, they drive away.
Axel turns back to the guys, and his eyes harden. “It ain’t your fuckin’ concern, and I ain’t discussing it.”
Then he walks inside, not giving anyone the chance to argue.
AXEL
“Don’t fuckin’ start on me, Cobra,” I hiss, storming down the hall.
“You knew the boys were goin’ to find out eventually, Pres...”
“Yeah, and that cunt showing up wasn’t how it was meant to go down.”
He grips my shoulder, and I spin around, lashing out at him, and slamming him against the nearest wall. “Don’t you fuckin’ put your hands on me.”
“They’re good with it, Pres,” he grunts. “They’ve got your back.”
I search his face, and then shove him back, letting him go. He rubs his throat where his shirt pressed against his skin. I shoot him one more glare before retreating to my office, and slamming the door. He doesn’t follow me, but the minute I sit down, the door swings open and Meadow walks in. She’s staring at me with eyes that are all betrayed and angry.
“You lied to me,” she whispers.
I clench my jaw. “Wasn’t your business, Meadow.”
“You. Lied. To. Me.”
I get out of my chair, and charge over, backing her up against the nearest wall. Her lips part, but her eyes hold that same determined glare.
“Don’t you fuckin’ come in here, throwin’ your weight around. I wasn’t obligated to tell you shit, but I did. I gave you somethin’ earlier. I just left one thing out. And I don’t owe you that, ’cause it ain’t your concern.”
“Not my concern?” she cries, and her eyes fill with tears. “I’ve been busting my ass trying with you, Axel. And for what? You’ve given me nothing. Nothing! I let you show me what eats at you, and I accepted it, but you’re still holding back. You still don’t trust me enough to share it all with me. When are you going to give me a bigger piece of yourself?”
I glare at her, and my anger boils over. “I was goin’ to give you a piece of myself, Meadow. Tonight. I was going to patch you in as my old lady, because I want you in my fuckin’ life. I want to try. I want to give you somethin’ that you can hang on to.”
Her eyes widen, and a little gasp escapes her lips. “What?”
“You fuckin’ heard me. I’m claimin’ you.”
She shakes her head, backing up. “You don’t get to just claim me, Axel. It’s not that easy.”
“Do you want me, Meadow?”
She shakes her head, her eyes wide. “What?”
“You fuckin’ heard me,” I grunt.
“I do, but...”
“Do you want to walk away from me?”
“No, but...”
“Then that makes you mine. I’m claimin’ you, because I want you in my bed every fuckin’ day, and I’m sick of denying that.”
Her mouth forms a tiny O, and she continues walking backward.
“You killed my father,” she croaks out. “You chased me across the country for nearly two years. You treated me like a dog, and you hurt me. You lied to me. You kept yourself away from me. Through all of that I still fought for you, hoping there was something left. Now you’re going to just tell me I’m yours, and it’s all happy days? I don’t think so,” she whispers.
What?
I narrow my eyes. “You fuckin’ rejectin’ me, Cricket?”
“I’m no one’s property, Axel, especially not yours. I’m never going to give myself to someone who refuses to be honest with me.”
“It was one fuckin’ thing!”
“You want me to be your old lady?” she growls. “Then open the last door. Tell me what happened to you those months you were away.”
My eyes harden, and my skin crawls. She can’t ask me that shit. It ain’t for her to know. “No.”
“Then this,” she says, pointing between the two of us, “is fucking done. Don’t you follow me.”
She turns, and runs out the door, not giving me a chance to react. I slam my hands against the table, and pain cascades through my heart.
Fuck it. I can’t be back here.
I close my eyes, and drop my head into my hands. It’s all been fuckin’ too much. Chasin’ her across the country, then havin’ her in my bed, and opening something I never thought I’d open, then my fuckin’ father shows up, and now we’re here. I need to end this shit, once and for all. I’m tired of chasing, tired of hiding. I’m getting my girl back, even if she doesn’t fuckin’ want it.
Then it hits me, hard, like a ton of bricks.
She’s still got my USB.
CHAPTER 23
MEADOW
Promises are made to be broken, that’s why the words were never spoken.
He doesn’t come after me. Not that I expected him to. So, I flag down a cab and order him to take me to the police station. I need answers. I don’t trust Raide, but I want to hear his side of it. My entire destiny has been warped. Everything I’ve looked forward to, everything I’ve believed in has been slammed into the dirt, and crushed. I can’t begin to process everything that’s been put into my life, but I do know there’s always a reason for it.
Axel has a reason—a purpose—I just don’t know what it is.
I know I love him. I’ve known it for long enough now.
It doesn’t change that I can’t keep fighting against a soulless man. He doesn’t want to let me in. He’s refusing to acknowledge what this really is. He wants me as an old lady, just a girl that does as she’s told. That’s not me. I need him to love me. I need him to want more than just a claim. He doesn’t, though, because he won’t open up. That should have been my answer then, and it’s certainly my answer now.
Axel and I are done.
The minute the cab pulls up to the police station, I get out, handing the driver a twenty. Then I stand out front, staring up at the big building. I need a toilet before I go in there. I’m fully aware that I still have a USB drive in a place a USB drive shouldn’t be. I don’t know if that makes me feel more powerful, or if I’ll just throw it in the mail and send it back to Axel, cutting all ties forever. He’ll want this. His father will want this. I’m tired of being the meat between the sandwich. If he has it, he can deal with it.