Page 33 of Reckless Pawn

She let go of my shoulders and turned toward the window. Long seconds ticked by before she finally answered. "I don't know what I am to JD. I just know I've been waiting a long time to find out."

The sadness echoed in her quiet voice pricked at my fragile heart. I wanted to press for more even though I had no right to. Instead I kept quiet, letting her work through her thoughts alone as I did the same.

I needed to face the facts. Whether Houston was here with me last night or not he was gone to me. There was nothing left for us except a beautiful fling in our past and my ongoing fantasies. Sasha was right. If I wanted to change my life it would have to be done by me and on my own terms.

Houston not included.

Just like the night I met him on a foggy pier in Seattle, I needed a new plan and I needed it now. I refused to be afraid of my own shadow any longer. Like Sasha said, there were ways to overcome my situation, I only had to use my brain. First, I would learn to stop being afraid and then I would fight for the life I wanted, whatever that ended up being.

I refused to be a victim and I refused to stand by and get nothing.

Enough was enough.

Chapter Twelve

Axel

Axel stood in the shadows, watching Isabella Mazzeo make her way down the hill toward the clubhouse. That woman was a fine piece of work and the biggest pain in his ass.

He took another drag on his smoke, uncaring if she saw the orange glow in the dark. She walked like she was on a mission, totally uncaring of the drunk and rowdy group of bikers she was about to walk into. On Friday night after a tense week they were all looking to blow off some steam. None of which had a thing to do with the woman coming his way. Her cloud of dark, curly hair almost disappeared against the night sky, except that it framed a pale face that from this distance practically glowed.

He guessed he should be grateful she wasn't skulking somewhere in the dark trying to spy on them without their knowledge. Or worse, snooping through the clubhouse again. Although this direct approach of hers made him equally nervous. Her purposeful stride and the expression stamped across her face told him she was on a mission and he probably wouldn't like it.

The afternoon spent with her new girlfriends obviously hadn't educated her on the ways of the club like he had hoped. Otherwise she wouldn't be out here strutting her fucking ass in skin tight jeans and a pink tank top that made him think of melt in his mouth cotton candy wrapped around her tits. He'd already noticed her ass more than he needed to. She definitely shouldn't have added sweet tits to the mix.

He gave his body a quick warning and did his best to put it on lock down before she got any closer. She needed kid gloves, but there was only so much a brother could take before he broke.

Those fuckers who kidnapped her had left her more messed up than anyone wanted to admit, including her. Especially her. She lived in her head where apparently reality had no fucking place. Which led him to believe one day she would blow and the opportunity for collateral damage to the club was great.

His blood boiled thinking about it. He wanted to hop on his bike and hunt down the assholes who’d hurt her and put a bullet in each of their brains. Houston and the rest of their crew may have taken out several members of the guilty, but there were still at least two men that needed put down. Her ex-fiancé and her father.

What kind of father willingly gave his beautiful precious daughter to a psycho like Marco? Not that Mazzeo wasn't a nut case all on his own. JD had shared some information about the man's past that made his stomach turn if he thought about it. Apparently the bastard would use anyone he had to to get the power he craved and that included his own child. The trail of blood from his Seattle mansion ran deep and there wasn't anyone immune to his psychotic cravings.

Asking Houston to go inside that organization likely amounted to a suicide mission and that didn't sit well with him at all. His personal feelings aside, no Wrath member deserved that. Not even Houston. Axel took a deep breath. Losing his best friend right after high school had sucked. Instead of rising through the ranks of Wrath together, Axel had done it alone while Houston spent his years risking his life for his country.

The only thing that could have been worse is if Houston had followed his brother into the FBI. Thank fuck he’d not gone there.

Either way, he'd been angry the day he left and just as angry the day he returned.

He dropped the smoke on the ground and toed it into the dirt with his heavy boot. Maybe he should have done the same thing. Then he wouldn't be standing here right now thinking about what he'd like to do with a certain curly headed troublemaker. That left him smack dab in the middle of a fucked-up situation. The club had all but forbidden her from Houston as part of their deal to rescue her, but it was damned obvious that the man had claimed her anyway. He was bat shit crazy about her and JD was a fool if he thought he could keep them apart for long.

But if the woman still heading toward him didn't get her head out of her ass soon, she could end up the club's Yoko and bring them all down trying to protect her. Her whacked out ability to lock what happened to her somewhere in that pretty head of hers meant trouble was brewing until something had to give.

Their attempt to redirect her bottled up energy by giving her a job at the casino had backfired on night one. But who the fuck expected one of their own employees to give her a roofie? That bitch was gone now and it was up to him to see that Izzy continued to move forward in her acclimation. Not that he had time to be her babysitter. What the hell was he supposed to do with an antsy mafia princess that didn't include fucking her?

Having her around wasn't all bad though. Her innocence about their life here combined with her vulnerability made her someone they all wanted to protect. The prospects all argued over who would stand guard for her and the old ladies and party bitches alike seemed to be crazy about her.

That infectious personality suited their family more than he wanted to admit. Which meant when the time came she was ready for more, there'd likely be a fight or two over who got to claim her. He laughed. Who the fuck were they kidding? When the time came it would be her choice not theirs. Not even JD could override that.

As she entered the courtyard, many of the brothers took notice. Like him, they watched her hair swing with her hips and her tits bounce as she made her way past the groups of men busy drinking and playing with some of the other women. And that's why she stood out so much. She looked one hundred times more innocent than the women who hung around the club for their parties. Those women had a look about them and if they were smart they not only understood the score, they really let it sink in and lived in the here and now without wasting their time thinking about more.

A few of the boys greeted Isabella and she smiled at them all, making his groin tighten further. He had no business getting a hard-on for someone else's girl. He shifted feet and frowned.

"Hi," she said, coming to a stop a few feet in front of him.

He groaned. The sweet lilt of her voice wound its way down his spine, caressing him.

"Hey," he replied.

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