Page 15 of Cruel Savior

"Why's that?" He took several steps in my direction. "Would you have tried to hide a severed head?"

"From my family? Of course. I still believe my best course of action is to lead whoever this is away from here. I don't need my family getting caught in the crosshairs. They may not like me very much right now, but that doesn't mean I want anything to happen to them."

"You wanted to run—again?" Something very dark and very dangerous crossed over his face. I wasn't sure quite how to decipher it.

"I'd do whatever it takes to keep them safe. Sometimes leaving my loved ones behind is the only choice."

He glared down at me, the planes of his face rigid in anger. I could feel it boiling just under his skin. It even made the hairs at the back of my neck stand on end. What were we even talking about? Was this still about the case?

"Go then," he said, marching across the cabin to the front door and yanking it open. "If your best plan is to run. Do it. Get out of town before it's too late. But this time, don't come back."

I stood transfixed, unclear on how to respond. Although a big part of me wanted to grab my shit and hightail it out of here. I didn't need his help and I sure as hell didn't need his shitty attitude. The longer I stood there the more my muscles twitched. Would running actually accomplish my goals? Would it be enough to draw a killer away from my family?

"Can you really blame me for wanting to keep my family safe?"

"I can blame you for whatever the hell I want. When it comes to you, nothing makes sense. It never did, and it probably never will."

Okay we definitely weren't talking about the current case. I needed to tread carefully here. But maybe he did deserve some answers. I'd honestly thought he didn't care. Especially after all this time.

Had I been wrong? My head spun. I needed to sit down. Maybe drink some water.

"Shut the door, Axel." I took a slow breath in and out of my lungs to keep myself calm. "I'm not going anywhere. Not right now and not without a plan."

Chapter Nine

Axel

The angerinside of me was growing with every passing second, becoming a living breathing thing. It was taking every ounce of effort not to grab her by the shoulders and shake some sense into her. Why did she need to run? What had gone so wrong that it had become her go to in life? I couldn't understand. And I was sick of people running away.

She came from a rich family with a father who seemed to adore her. She'd had a boyfriend, who'd been less than thrilled initially about a pregnancy, but had planned to stay by her side no matter what. Sure the town had turned on her a little when one of her friends spilled the beans about her situation, but this was a small town. No secrets remained secret forever. It was impossible. They thrived on gossip, but not much lingered for more than a few weeks. The busybodies in town would move onto the next thing as quickly as some people changed their shoes.

"You might as well ask what you need to ask. I can see that you're going to let whatever this is fester. I get that you're pissed. Things didn't end well. But we were teenagers. What did you expect?"

"I expected my girlfriend to talk to me like the adult she proclaimed to be."

"But I wasn't an adult."

"You were adult enough to get pregnant. If you can fuck, then you can certainly talk. Don't try to hide behind the teenager bullshit. We had serious issues to deal with, and you took matters into your own hands without even giving me the time of day. One day we were talking about our future, and the next you were gone. Poof." The angry energy sparked in the room between us. Mostly from me, because once I'd opened my mouth, I couldn't seem to shut it. "Would it have killed you to tell me the truth before it was too late?"

"Talking would have changed nothing. My father was horrified and embarrassed by my pregnancy. Once the stories picked up steam, I had no choice. I was a minor." Her voice had risen in volume, but it remained stone cold.

"We always have choices. Some are just harder than others. Just because you keep jumping to the wrong side of a good choice, doesn't make you helpless. It makes you pathetic."

Her mouth dropped open and the shock was written all over her face. I'd hit below the belt and didn't regret it a bit. I still couldn't fathom why she did the things she did. And those were just the things I knew. I could only imagine how much more was unknown. My stomach turned vile at the idea, and I was beginning to regret those enchiladas. Becoming a CIA agent was one thing, but turning dirty, with someone like Frank Mazzeo? It disgusted me.

"Fuck you and the piece of shit motorcycle you rode in on. You don't know shit about me and the choices I've had to make." She slammed the stool at the island against the wood and stalked toward the bedroom. It would have been amusing to watch if I wasn't so damned angry. This assignment was bullshit. When she disappeared out of sight and slammed that door hard enough to rattle the pictures on the wall, it took all of my control not to let my rage get the best of me and go after her.

The anger on her face was one thing, but there had been more. For a moment, when my words came spewing out, I'd caught more hurt than anything else cross her beautiful face. It had punched me in the gut and made me feel guilty. Not that I had anything to be guilty over. I wasn't the one who got dumped via messenger and then found out she'd gotten rid of the baby. What the fuck did she expect? Roses and sunshine? Fuck that.FUCK.THAT.

I picked up a vase from a nearby end table, hurled it at the wall, and watched it shatter into thousands of tiny pieces.

"I hope you know you're going to pay for that," she yelled through the closed door.

"Take it out of my fucking bill," I yelled back, uncaring whether it was a thirty-dollar piece of glass or three thousand. I needed to get out of here as soon as possible. After I checked in with the guys at the main house security, I would place a call to JD.

And say what exactly? That I was a little bitch and couldn't handle the job? I paced across the room a few times, trying to work out some of the excess energy that had built inside me before finally giving up and flopping into one of the deep leather armchairs. I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Tel to call me when he got a chance. I wanted to fill him in on the information out here as well as get an update on the main house.

The muscles in my arms and neck were tense and I needed to do something to relieve them. This is when a good fight came in handy. I was going to miss the ring at the compound for just this thing. The prospects, in particular, liked to volunteer for fight duty and I was more than eager to teach them a thing or two. I glanced around. It would be a bad idea to leave her alone to investigate the gym she’d mentioned. She’d just have to go with me. Which meant I would have to inform Miss High-and-Mighty of my needs when she decided to come back down from her throne of self-righteousness.

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