Property of Drex (Book 2)(28)

My jaw grinds, and his lips twitch. It’s like he’s trying to piss me off. Not fucking smart.

“Ben wanted to quit playing the long game when there was suddenly a sense of urgency,” Axle goes on. “With Eve stuck with our crew, he lost his patience. He organized the attack, using his loyal followers from the Hell Breathers. Even set Drake up to play the unknowing pawn who led them to you. Then, from what I can gather, he planned for them to piss you off enough to attack back—since you have a volatile temper and react immediately instead of thinking. Your reputation makes you sound stupid, by the way.”

The amusement is back in his eyes, and I flip him off. When he snorts out a laugh, I adjust Eve, feeling my eyes grow heavy.

“Is most of this conjecture, or is it said word-for-word on the video?” I ask.

“Most of it is what we’ve pieced together from the conversations Mikey and Ben had in front of the camera. Some parts are verbatim, other parts are educated guesses. It’s an elaborate scheme by two masterminds going in two different directions. Ben is tired of being someone’s lapdog. He’s unpredictable right now. The longer we’re in the hospital, the easier it is for him to get to her. I’m surprised he hasn’t made a move yet.”

“How did Aaron come to us?” I ask him randomly.

Eve doesn’t react, so I know she’s really asleep.

Axle’s eyebrows go up, but he shrugs. “Your dad hired him. Why?”

“How did Pop find him?”

“Hell if I know. Sledge probably knows. Again, why?”

“Just curious,” I say on a sigh. “Eve’s tangled up in this, and there are just too many coincidences surrounding her. I’m curious if someone put her on this path, even if it was by mistake. Someone got Aaron involved with us, even though from what she’s told me, he was a good guy with good morals and values before he came to us.”

“She’s probably already a target to the second mastermind,” Axle says on a heavy breath. “It’s because of her Ben went a little crazy and killed the slow, subtle game they were running.”

“Back when all that shit went down, I tracked down Marks after he left our clubhouse that day, and he played dumb in the middle of the diner where I’d found him. At least I thought he was playing. He acted like he had no clue what I was talking about. He swore he didn’t steal a dime. The next day, every dollar missing was back where it was supposed to be. I knew that fucker had something to do with it then.”

“Then he went missing,” he points out.

“Yeah. He did. But he wasn’t too damn far away. He managed to hide his entire life from us, yet he couldn’t hide the eighty million he stole until he could get away with it? And he came to work the day after it was stolen? It didn’t add up back then, but I thought he was just a stupid fuck. Now I realize he was a genius and had a family he cared for. He lived at home, Axle. He was briefly separated from his family, but he lived at home during a chunk of the time he worked for us. He knew when we were tailing him, and he went to his shitty apartment instead of his nice home. So how does a genius do something that stupid?”

He shrugs, and I mull over the facts that don’t add up. My head actually starts hurting from trying to squeeze in all the variables and coming up with… nothing.

Maybe Aaron was just a fluke. Maybe Eve landing here really was a coincidence. Maybe all this is just the universe’s sick joke or a dash of karma for all the hell we’ve spread.

Or maybe I just want there to be another reason Eve is here so that I don’t feel like shit for keeping her when I know I’m going to seal her fate just by being in her life.





Chapter 28



EVE



“Your pussy must be made of fucking gold. No wonder Drex wants you away from me,” Drake grumbles, shifting awkwardly in his bed and wincing. “I’d be scared of taking a dip in the damn haunted thing at this point. Men seem to go crazy around it.”

I glare at him, and he laughs, then he groans because laughing hurts him everywhere.

For the past three days, I’ve been sneaking into his room, thanks to Axle pretending to sleep while I slip out of my own room. Drex only comes around after I’ve gone asleep, and I wake up to him every morning just in time for him to withdraw from my side and mutter a “See you later.”

I’ve spent the past three days trying to talk to Drake for a few hours, but it’s been packed with people coming to see him now that he can finally talk and not want to strangle anyone in the room with him. Rush has hauled me out of here twice on behalf of Drex. Asshole.

But today, I finally got to tell him everything. And he’s also an asshole. Not that I expected him to be different, because… Well, it’s Drake.

“Ben was always a friend, and now you’re mocking me after I’ve been betrayed?” I hiss.

He cocks an eyebrow. “The fuck nugget crashed us, kidnapped you, and has a twisted version of romance because he thinks he was going to get you in the end. Drex has probably started skinning people alive in your name, and there’s no doubt he’s been tracking that cunt puddle to make him pay. I’m not mocking you. I’m praising you. Well, I’m praising your pussy.”

I roll my eyes while he grins that cheeky smile of his. Drex is anything but obsessed with me, but this isn’t about my relationship issues.

“My vagina has nothing to do with this. Ben’s mom always said he was sick, but I thought she was just a bitch and wanted to console her conscience by making an excuse to leave him. Maybe he was sick. I… I think he killed her.”

“Probably. He was more than likely killing kittens and eating their entrails from a young age,” Drake deadpans.

That vivid imagery makes my stomach churn. Ben did hate kittens…

“Anyway,” I say, shaking my head and getting out of Drake Land. “The feds still don’t fit in. I can’t make the puzzle pieces go together because it feels like I’m working with two separate puzzles.”

“You’re assuming Ben would know a fed only if Benny did,” Drake says around a hiss of pain, trying to adjust again.

I go to help him by adjusting a pillow under his elevated leg, fixing it so that his leg is higher. He curses when I move him wrong, but I ignore his glower. I’m not a nurse, so he can get over my lack of finesse. At least his leg isn’t sliding off anymore.

“True,” I say, thinking that over. “But Ben wouldn’t want a fed working inside the Hell Breathers if he was planning to takeover. It would just put instant heat on him.”

“Instant heat,” Drake grunts. “Listen to you.”

Rolling my eyes, I sit down on the edge of his bed, ignoring my “gown” issues. I really freaking wish they’d let me wear my regular clothes here.

“I can see your ass,” Drake confesses, grinning as his eyes roam down my back. I continue to ignore his words while looking over my shoulder at him, because I’m sick of fucking with the backless gown, and putting two on at once is a pain in the ass—no pun intended. And my robe is in my abandoned chair because I’m burning up.

At least I’m cooling down now.

“What about Drex’s guy? Think he’s a part of it? The fed he knows, I mean?”

“Your ass is actually very nice. Well, at least what I can see of it. If your ass is that nice, no wonder they have an obsession with your—”

“Concentrate,” I grumble, snapping my fingers in front of his face.

“I’m trying,” he lies, still staring down at my ass. I start to turn to face him instead of sitting comfortably on the bed, just so my ass will be facing the wall, but the door flies open and slams into the wall.

Drake curses, then he grunts a, “Fuck me.”

“The fuck is going on in here?” Drex growls, letting his eyes drop to my exposed back, and apparently my exposed ass. Not my fault this hospital keeps the ridiculous slit in the back of their gowns.

“We’re having a conversation,” I say with a sweet smile. “It’s full of dirty innuendo and intriguing assumptions about my pussy.”

“No the hell it isn’t,” Drake refutes, looking at me like I’ve lost my damn mind.

“But you were just saying that my—”

“Damn it, you crazy woman! Don’t give him a reason to break my arms while I can’t fight back!” Drake barks.

My lips twitch, and Drex glares at Drake like he’s debating if he could really hurt a guy who can’t defend himself. I roll my eyes.

“It’s not like Drex still wants me. Remember?” I ask Drake, but I keep my eyes fixed on Drex.

Very slowly, those chilly blue eyes turn to meet my gaze, and I cock an eyebrow as if I’m daring him to deny it. Considering he won’t even freaking speak to me, I’m pretty sure I’ve hit the nail right on the head.

“Sarah will bring you some fucking clothes. Get back to your room. We’re leaving in ten.”

“Quit bossing me around,” I grumble, turning back to face Drake, who is seething a little since I put his balls at stake. I decide to keep talking like there isn’t a murderous VP standing right behind me, and I pretend Drake isn’t silently condemning me to hell with his eyes.