Shock holds me silent. Shock and confusion.
Sniffling to my left distracts me and I glance over at Dee. She is looking at me with part confusion, part anger, and a whole lot of hurt.
Shaking my head, I look back over at Locke. “I couldn’t fucking tell you since I haven’t seen nor heard from her in twelve years. Bitch up and disappeared, so if you want answers, you are asking the wrong fucking person.”
“Excuse me? This is the chick who left you? The same one you claim is a cold, heartless bitch? Because I have to say, Reid, the woman who just broke the fuck down in my arms is not a cold, heartless bitch. That woman is feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? This is the same shit with Greg, talking yourselves in goddamn circles. Maybe if you want me to buy a fucking vowel, you could give me a fucking hint,” I roar right back at him.
“All right, you want to know what the fuck I’m talking about? There is a woman in there who looks like her world just ended. She looked like she had seen a ghost. Lost and scared. So scared she is shaking. She was trembling so violently she would have fallen to the ground had I let her go. So I will ask you one more fucking time, you sure that is the chick who left you?”
I hear another gasp off to my side. Swear to Christ, this bitch needs to calm her tits.
“What the hell does it matter now, huh? It’s been twelve fucking years. I don’t think two fucking minutes of her time is too much to ask. I’m sure her husband wouldn’t mind.” I know I’m shooting low, but I am so livid I can’t even see without red closing in my vision.
Another gasp at my side.
I look over at Dee. “Are you fucking okay?”
Her jaw is opening and closing repeatedly. She looks like a damn fish out of the water struggling to breathe. I do not have time for this shit.
“Seriously, do you need something? Water, a chair, a fucking Midol?”
Her mouth snaps shut and a thin line forms before she marches right into my space, coming up on her toes in attempt to meet me eye to eye. “Listen here, you . . . you big bully, you will not sit here and be a little shit. You have no clue what is going on, but I promise you this. It is bigger than your need to ‘chat.’ Do you understand me?” She follows that burst with a few pokes to my chest.
“No, little girl, I do not fucking understand you, not one little bit. So maybe your ass can clue a bastard in?” I feel like the walls around us could have fallen with that burst of anger from me. Any second my head is going to explode. I can feel it now.
Sighing softly, washing the frustration and anger off her face and looking up at me with sympathy, she says, “I can’t, Axel. This isn’t my story to tell.”
Wait a minute. “How do you know my name? I haven’t gone by Axel in a long fucking time, sweetheart, so if anyone knows what’s going on, my guess would be you.”
“Of course I know what’s happening, but like I said, this isn’t my story to tell.” She points over at the closed door. “It’s hers. It always has been. I just never thought I would see the day it would need to be told.”
Again with that cryptic shit. I feel like I just walked into the Twilight Zone.
Shaking my head in exasperation, even with my confusion, I can’t stop the rage that bubbles up every time I think about just who we are fighting over. “All right, fine. Don’t fucking tell me, but let me ask you this. Does her fucking husband know she is out dressed like that, flirting with anything that speaks to her?” I can’t stop the shit that is slinging from my mouth at this point and I’m past the point of caring what I’m saying. The only thing I’m seeing at this moment is that report I read eight years ago that told me my girl hadn’t waited.
“You son of a bitch . . .” she sneers at me.
Before I can even register what is about to happen, I catch a small hand right over my cheek. Damn, that bitch is strong for such a little thing. Before righting my head, I spit the little bit of blood her slap created onto the floor.
I look over at her shocked face. “What the fuck was that for?” I rumble. Looking past her, I see Beck and Locke with shocked eyes and fucking smirks on their faces. Coop lets out a loud laugh before quickly stifling it. It looks like she isn’t the only one thinking I deserved that for some unknown reason.
“Oh shit, shit . . . I am not sorry for that, get that straight right now, but you need to watch your mouth and what you say about Iz. Until you know what’s going on, you have no room to say anything. Not one damn thing.”
I am at a complete loss right now. Obviously I will not be getting anywhere with this crew tonight. They seem to have decided to band together to protect the little coward hiding behind locked doors. Reaching behind me and pulling out my wallet, I take out one of my cards and hold it out to Iz’s protector. “Here. Give her this and have her call me.”