Page 21 of Redemption

Axel

Blood pounds in my earswith every step I take down the stairs and into the kitchen. I light up a cigarette to calm my nerves before stealing a seat at the counter. Zane’s leaning against the fridge with his arms crossed, tilting his head to the side and doing that assessing shit he always does—watching me for any sign of trouble. A cloud of smoke leaves me and billows in his direction.

“Problems?” He crosses his arms over his chest and tilts his head to the side. Those blue eyes never miss a fucking thing. For someone who’s hiding demons of his own, he sure likes calling us out on our shit. And if I didn’t understand the true weight of the burden he carries I’d call him out on it.

“You could say that.” I pinch the bridge of my nose between my fingers and fight off the migraine that’s threatening to break. “I locked her up in Charlee’s old room.”

He cocks a dark eyebrow at me. “How’d that go over for you?”

“My balls are in tact, so that’s something.” My thumb rubs along my bottom lip, as a tightness twists in my chest. “She’s so fucking stubborn. What else was I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know. Talk to her?” He toys with the end of his beard as he waits me out.

“Tried that, smart ass.” I clench my teeth and let out a deep sigh. “She won’t listen to a damn word I’ve been saying. I’m not letting her sneak out of here so she can end up head first into an even bigger cluster fuck than what we’re in now. She’ll see reason sooner or later. Let’s just bank on it being sooner for my sake.”

Zane doesn’t say anything for once. He grabs some glasses from a nearby cabinet and pours us each a shot of whiskey. I toss it back and let the burn wash away the shit storm of the last few minutes. I’m just about to enjoy a small buzz when Asher walks into the kitchen and wastes no time with pleasantries.

“Ready to talk now, little brother?” He stands next to Zane and eyes the two of us for a minute. If he senses something he doesn’t say a word about it, which is fine by me. The less unsolicited advice I get from my brothers the better.

“Yeah, let’s get this over with.” The tip of my thumb flicks the ash hanging off my cigarette into a nearby ashtray and my muscles tense as images of Willie Mae up in flames flashes through my head. My adrenaline spikes through me. Ordinarily, I’d fuck this out of my system, but since I’m sure that offer is off the table I’d settle for a fight.

“Good.” He slides a manilla folder onto the counter in front of me. “I was able to hack into the cameras in front of her apartment building to make out a partial plate and a few of their faces.”

I flip it open, shuffling through each image carefully. Some are grainy and hard to make out. Others are a bit better. My fingers flip through every one until I come across a face so clear that there’s no mistaking who I’m seeing. “That’s him. That’s one of the dickwads that shot at us.” I stare down at the image, burning every detail into my memory for later. The bastard is going to regret ever pointing a gun at Kelsey when I’m through with him.

“It’s not much, but at least we have something to go on. I’ll run his image through a few different databases and see what else I can find. Things would be much simpler if Governor Loren would take my fucking calls, but it doesn’t mean we can’t get creative to find answers on our own.” Asher rubs a hand over his dark buzzed head.

“I had her call him and leave a message. Figure if he won’t call you back then maybe he’ll answer for his daughter or at least return her call.” I toss back another tumbler of whiskey and take another drag off my cigarette.

“Smart.” He props his elbows against the marble counter and leans down.

“Don’t look so surprised. I didn’t just get the looks in the family, big brother.” I tap the side of my head with my finger and go back to staring at the photo that’s going to plague me until he’s caught and taught a lesson.

Asher shakes his head, but doesn’t offer up a comment. He’s mellowed a bit over the years, but not much. He’ll still knock me on my ass if I push him too far. Too bad I just never remember where the boundaries are.

“What do we do in the meantime? Just sit here? Someone shot at us and blew up my truck. That shit isn’t going to slide. I’m ready to show these fuckers how us good ‘ol boys handle things in the South.” My hands ball into fists.

“We do what we always do, little brother.” Asher’s gaze hardens on mine. He feeds on this shit just as much as I do. “We go hunting.”

“Fucking right, Ash. All for one and all that shit.” My lips spread into a smile that I feel down to my toes. Redemption will be mine.

Asher takes the whisky bottle out of Zane’s hands to pour himself a double this time.

“You might want to go easy on that or you ain’t gonna be able to hear Wildflower if she wakes up tonight.” I let out a small whistle. He hasn’t drank much at all since they had Lily, so this is surprising.

“It’s Charlee’s night.” He shrugs and downs the drink in one go before slamming the glass down on the counter.

“In that case, we’re gonna need a couple more bottles.” I smack him in the shoulder as Zane pulls out two full bottles from our liquor cabinet, pouring us each another shot. It’s been so long that we’ve all sat and had a drink like this that I’m feeling all nostalgic and shit.

I raise my glass and eye each of my brothers. “To family.”

“To family,” Zane and Asher repeat at the same time before we tap our glasses together and toss the shots back.

It’s late when we manage to polish off the rest of the whiskey. I’m slightly buzzed, but not drunk enough that I can’t find my way into her room. She’s curled up on her side facing away from me, looking like an Angel, but the vision is too tempting not to enjoy up close.

I stumble further into the room, doing my best not to make a sound, and crawl in behind her, wrapping my body around hers. A groan rumbles out of my throat the second I do as her ass presses further against me, sending what little blood flow I have left in my head straight down to my dick.

We’re a perfect fit. It’s like she was made for me. Every inch of her is soft where I’m hard. Her porcelain skin is smooth beneath my touch as I trail my fingers up and down her arm. My nose brushes against her damp hair and the familiar scent of mango fills my veins with warmth. She’s like a cyclone—hot and dangerous all at the same time, but it’s a danger I’d walk into happily. Whatever tomorrow brings, we’ll weather this storm and come out the other side together.

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