“Anyway, so there’s a chance—”
My words end on a squeal when I’m suddenly being lifted, and Drex curses while covering my ass a little better.
“Put me down, damn it! I’m talking.”
“You’re shutting the fuck up and getting your clothes on like I told you to do,” Drex growls.
Anger and embarrassment hit me hard when I struggle in vain and hear the snickers all around us, realizing we’re in the hallway where all of the Death Dealers are getting a show. Drex narrows his eyes on a few of them, ending the chuckling.
As soon as we’re back in the room, Axle jumps like the kid who has just been caught. He grins at Drex, who glares at him.
“What happened to you promising not to let her out of the room again?” Drex snarls.
“You’ve made her stay in here much longer than necessary. I think she deserves to walk around. Just so happened that Drake was finally feeling good enough for company, and she’s one of the few he actually wants to see.”
“What?” I snap, whipping my eyes to Drex. “You said the doctor told me I wasn’t ready to leave.”
Drex’s jaw tenses. “Do you think I’ve gone soft or something?”
His voice is cold, but Axle doesn’t even blink. “I think you’re not thinking at all. Eve isn’t a little girl. She’s capable of making her own decisions.”
“She’s not capable of making decisions that she doesn’t understand the consequences of.”
“And there are consequences for her speaking with Drake? The guy she works for? The guy she was in a wreck with? The guy who cares about her in a non-sexual way? Or are we talking about other consequences involving her decisions, Drex? Hard to tell anymore.”
“I’m right here!” I bark, struggling to get away from Drex.
He finally deposits me gently onto the bed, and he grabs Axle by the shirt before slamming him against a wall.
“You don’t want to fucking push me right now,” Drex seethes.
For Pete’s sake.
“And you want to get your fucking hands off me,” Axle says in a chilling way that has the hairs on my body rising to attention.
Just because I’m getting worried they’re close to throwing punches, I try to lighten the tension.
“When you two get finished seeing who has the bigger dick, would you care to get out so I can get changed?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest. Sarah hasn’t even brought my clothes yet, but my words have both of them easing away from each other like attack dogs being pulled back by their leashes.
I don’t understand these guys. I really don’t. And I’m getting a headache from the constant confusion they induce.
Axle turns toward me, giving me a look that lets me know he knows what I just did. He’s a hard guy to read since he usually doesn’t wear an expression. As soon as he’s gone, Drex turns to face me again.
“Eve, you seem to keep forgetting who I am. I’m not sure when you thought you were suddenly in charge, but you’re not.”
My mind and body refuse to cower to him. Slowly, I stand from the bed, and watch as all of his muscles tense when I get closer. Tilting my head back, I stare up at him when I’m inches away.
“What are you going to do if I don’t listen to you?” I prod. Yes, I’m trying to provoke him. I’m stupid like that.
His jaw tics as he leans down, and my breath leaves in a rush when he roughly grabs my side and pulls me to him. It’s distracting, because now I can feel something very hard jabbing into my stomach, and that something is barely being restrained by his jeans.
“If you keep pushing me, I’ll fucking consume you. That’s what I’ll do. Neither of us want that, Eve. Trust me.”
He turns and opens the door, moving aside for Sarah to walk in, and I watch as he slams the door much harder than necessary on his way out.
“What did you do to piss him off this time?” she asks.
“Same shit, different day,” I mumble.
She puts my clothes down, but she grows quiet. It’s then I notice she’s not the bubbly, smiling girl she normally is.
“Something happen?” I ask her.
She jumps a little like I’ve startled her, but she shakes her head.
“No. You should get changed. The sooner you’re out of here, the better. This hospital has too many cameras, and the feds are here to question Drake about his accident.”
“Since when do feds give a damn about a tattoo artist in a wreck? And what’s wrong with cameras?” I ask her, wondering if anything has been said or done in front of them. Surely Drex and the guys would have been aware of the cameras in the hall. I know none are in the room.
“Nothing.” She forces a smile before leaning forward and hugging me. “You’re tougher than you look. Drex is lucky.”
She looks almost sad when she pulls back, and I tilt my head.
“Sarah, are you okay?”
She keeps that fake smile intact, but all the life in her eyes seems to be gone. I swear she’s on the verge of crying.
“I got you another phone. Your old one was smashed in the wreck. It’s in your bag. I’ll call you later.”
Great. That means Drex is putting me on lockdown somewhere if she’s not even going to be allowed to come see me. Or he’s kicking me out again. Fuck it. Fuck him. Fuck this. I’m sick of feeling like I need permission to live my own damn life.
“You can come to my motel and see me. Snake wouldn’t get pissed, would he?”
She gives me a look that borders on confused mixed with amused. “You won’t be at your motel. Good luck trying to get Drex to let you go anywhere that isn’t right under him.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, he’s trying to stay as far away as he can.”
She shrugs, picking at something on her shirt like she’s a million miles away.
“If I could explain how cold-killers love, I would. They push you away, then they pull you back. If there’s any heart in them at all, they try not to drown you in their own personal hell. If they can change, they will. But not all of them can change. Most just hide who they are for the sake of someone they’ve loved. Sometimes they even manage to get lost in the illusion, and for the briefest of moments, they become someone they love too.”
She’s not making any sense. Or maybe I’m just not understanding.
“Sarah, you’re really confusing me right now.”
She gives me a watery smile while pulling me to her, and I hug her awkwardly when she holds me as tight as she can. It almost feels like she’s seeking comfort, so I hold her closer, standing there with no clue as to what’s going on all of the sudden.
When she finally pulls back, she clears her throat and wipes a tear from her eye.
“Why do I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me?”
She laughs humorlessly while turning toward the door.
“In this kind of life, Eve, no one ever tells anyone everything.” She turns to face me. “Remember that. It’ll save you the trouble of ever feeling betrayed. You’re the only one of us who is truly honest. It’s why so many are suspicious of you. Because the rest of us have secrets we live to protect.”
Chapter 29
DREX
Eve is asleep in my bed, but she seems to be sleeping peacefully instead of struggling. I keep checking on her like she’s suddenly going to disappear if I turn my head for too long.
She’s pissed at me. Which is better than continuing to look at me like I’m her fucking hero instead of her condemnation. This… All of this is my fucking fault. I should have sent her away on day one. Unfortunately, I didn’t give a damn about her on day one, so doing what was best for her wasn’t on my priority list.
Then I get to wondering what Ben might have done later if I wasn’t around… If she hadn’t been sent to me.
“You going to just keep staring at her like a fucking creeper?” Axle asks, raising an eyebrow at me as he walks toward me.
Clearing my throat, I shut the door to my upstairs place, and turn to lean over the railing as he joins my side.
“I’m still figuring out what to do. It’s not like I can keep her, but she’s not safe on her own. Did you get the money and place for her mom?”
He nods. “Dreading that conversation. I don’t see her mom being willing to move to Colorado just because we tell her she needs to get far away from Texas.”
“Eve can handle her. We need her out of here within a few days, just to be safe. Her mother is fucking terrified right now, so she’d trust Eve if she let her know there was too much danger for her here.”
“Or her mom might go to the cops,” he points out.
“She doesn’t want to risk Eve’s safety, and I’m fairly positive she’s fucking terrified of me. She was ghostly white that day I told her where Eve had been. Pretty sure she did the math on what I’ve been doing with her daughter. You should have seen the look she gave me. No doubt she was disgusted, horrified, and sick.”
“And you give a damn?” he muses.
My eyes run over the floor beneath us, watching as everyone relaxes, acting like a war isn’t on the horizon.
“I don’t care what that woman thinks. But Eve does. She probably wants someone she can take home and cuddle with in front of her family… Someone who’s going to have boring jokes and idle chitchat that doesn’t involve anything illegal. That’s not me. Never will be. And she’ll never have that. Even if I can’t have her, it’s not like I’ll ever let anyone else touch her.”