“Axel’s coming home with me.”
“Like fuck he is!” Garrett roars, gently placing down Axel’s head before leaping from the mattress to join the rest of us by the foot of the bed. “I refuse to let him out of my sight, especially around the likes of you. You’re not beyond pimping out his unconscious body for the right price.” His chest is heaving, fists clenched ready for a fight that Sharon doesn’t seem interested in having.
I clearly don’t know as many details of Axel’s past as everyone else in this room, but I know enough and the woman before me isn’t the monster I envisioned. Axel has her full lips and heart shaped face, although that’s where the similarities end. Her hair sits perfectly at the back of her slender jewel-covered neck, her breasts too perky to be natural in an expensive pantsuit. She easily could have been a model or boutique owner, but I suppose marrying into money was more her speed. Twisting her lips at Garrett’s comment and checking her watch, she looks to the ceiling as if her patience is being tested.
“Axel is still a minor and, by law, needs to return to my care whether I want him to or not. I have a lot on my plate at the moment, so by all means, tag along and play happy couples or whatever this is,” she waves her hand vaguely between the two of them, “He’s being transported within the hour, with or without you.” Her heels click loudly across the floor as she moves to leave, my mind whirling with questions, concern and an idea.
“We’re all coming with him.” She halts at my demanding tone, looking back over her shoulder, although she isn’t looking at me. A smirk pulls at her lips as she holds Huxley’s gaze and shrugs.
“I’m fine with a bit of extra eye candy hanging around,” she winks at him and leaves, her hips slinking with much more vigour than before. Well, that was disturbing. No one moves for a while, watching the empty space in the doorway as our minds reel.
I’m the first one to turn, finding Dax’s blue eyes fixed on me with a note of longing in them. For a split second, I could have easily run into his arms and allowed his spicy scent to wash away my worries. His gentle hands and soft lips to take control of my pain and wipe it from existence, but that’s the weakness in me breaking through. I don’t need a man to fix my problems for me and I definitely don’t want to depend on one to. That’s the slippery slope many fall prey to, losing the power to correct their own mistakes and lay the blame for their misgivings on others. At least if I try and fail, it’s on me. I need to be good enough, strong enough.
Focusing on Garrett instead, whose neck so taut it looks like it might snap itself at any moment, I close the space between us and take his fists in my hands. “Nothing will happen to him. You heard her, she’ll be preoccupied and it’s the last place Wyatt would think to look for any of us.” Some of the tension ebbs from his shoulders at my words, his concerned gaze flicking back to Axel. On a large sigh, he whispers his agreement and shifts back to the bedside, brushing his fingers along Axel’s jaw. Peacefully sleeping Axel, blissfully unaware that he’s about to return to the place of his nightmares.
∞∞∞
Watching through the Nissan’s windscreen, Axel’s bed is pushed into the back of the ominous black van in front. Garrett is also on the bed, his arm and leg hoisted over his lover, hissing at anyone who gets too close like a pissed-off cat. The two porters struggle to move the extra weight on the silver ramp, using their shoulders to stop it from rolling back down, I have to snort at the ridiculousness of it all. Finally managing to secure the bed in place, flip up the ramp and slam the back doors closed, one of the porters bangs on the side window for the driver to pull away with us right behind. Luckily, we were in the habit of keeping all our belongings in the trunk in case our motel rooms were ransacked while we were away, so no time was wasted on our end.
In the driver’s seat, Dax’s expression is focused as he follows the van through the busy streets, refusing to let any vehicles push their way in between us. Huxley and I are spread across the back seats, my legs lying across his since he is manspreading so much, it was this or huddle in the corner. Kicking my Converses off, I relax against the black leather in my yoga jumper that sits off one shoulder and push my hand into the open bag of Starburst sitting between us from the hospital vending machine. Picking one out, I unwrap the pink cube and lean over to pop into Huxley’s mouth, earning a brief confused glance from Dax in the rear-view mirror.
The dynamic between Huxley and I have changed massively since we left the safe house. I had worried this latest attack would send him spiralling back into the dark place he was only just managing to claw his way out of, but in fact the opposite has happened. He barely utters more than a few words, even to me in private but his actions speak volumes. The first night in the motel, I’d been about to turn in for the night, exhausted and defeated by the day, when Huxley had dropped to the floor in a one-handed push-up.
“What are you doing?!” I’d asked curiously and
