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“Because if you don’t, those bruises on your face will be the least of your worries.”

~

It didn’t take much persuasion for Levi to tell me everything he knew about Niles Harris and where I might be able to find him. Finding out about Harris also enlightened me about the mess Levi was in. Not in a million years had I thought that he and I would have something in common. Van Wilkerson had his hooks in Levi too. All this time, Kenzi thought Levi was in prison, taking the blame for Dice’s death when he was off in Texas doing Wilkerson’s dirty work. Even though I hated Levi, I understood exactly the dilemma he was in. It seemed as if neither of us had a choice. It might have been for different reasons, but the outcome was the same. We were both screwed.

Getting Levi to confess just added to the secrets I had kept from Kenzi. But at least I had a lead on where to find Niles Harris. Before leaving Shady Tree Apartments, I sent Davian a quick text to let him know I was on my way back to the warehouse with information on where Niles Harris might be. I wasn’t dumb enough to search for Harris alone. There was no telling what I would find. WithThe Societyas reinforcement, we would be ready for any surprises.

My call to Kenzi went to voicemail, so I told her not to wait up for me and that I would be at the warehouse. I wasn’t sure if Davian wanted to jump on checking out where Harris might be or wait. Either way, the last thing I wanted was to worry Kenzi.

As I fought the heavy afternoon traffic, my mind drifted back to living with my abusive father and the chain reaction that paved the path of how I became the man I am today. I often wondered what my life would have been like if I had stayed with dear old dad instead of reaching out to Van Wilkerson for help.Who was I kidding?I would probably be dead or behind bars.

~14~

Kenzi

“I don’t know about this dress, Reyna.” I inspected the dress, wondering what was holding the skimpy material together. “Where the hell would I even wear it?”

“You could wear it in New York.” Renya grinned mischievously, holding up a bright red dress skimpier than mine. “Come on, let’s try these on.”

Letting her take the lead, I followed her to the dressing rooms, where an attendant stood waiting to assist. Handing us each a terrycloth robe, she took our dresses. “If you don’t like the dresses, you can just put the robe on instead of your clothes so you can look around for something different,” she said before showing us to our dressing room.

Having robes available for the customers was a great idea. It saved time in dressing and undressing, and because it was a women’s boutique, it wouldn’t be very likely for a man to step inside.

Locked inside the dressing room, I began to undress. Every piece of clothing that I removed I placed neatly on the accent chair in the corner of the room. The dress Reyn chose for me left no room for a bra, so I removed it as well. As I slipped the dress over my head, the material felt soft against my skin. There were only two hidden hooks that held the dress on. Once I fastened them, I turned to face the long mirror to see how much of the dress covered my body.

When I looked in the mirror, I was surprised to see how well my body was covered and how perfectly the material hugged my curves. It was tastefully risky—hiding all the most feminine parts while leaving others to the imagination.

One day of shopping with Reyna was like running the Boston Marathon. My feet had never hurt so bad. The minute Reyna dropped me off at my apartment, I filled the tub full of water, as hot as I could stand, and added a bath bomb. It was just after six o’clock, and with night approaching, the sky had turned a brilliant hue of orange and yellow. Axe hadn’t indicated when he would be home and only stated not to wait for him in his text. Completely naked, I left the pile of shopping bags on the bed and stepped into heaven. I pinned my hair up in a messy bun like I hadn’t a care in the world. All I wanted was to soak for at least an hour and soothe my aching body.

The eucalyptus and tea tree infused bath bomb was taking effect, and the soreness in my heels and the balls of my feet began to subside. I could actually wiggle my toes without them hurting. Relaxing took on a whole new meaning as every muscle in my body felt like they were on holiday.

I could have remained in the tub another thirty minutes, but the water turned lukewarm, and my fingers were getting pruney. I opened the drain and let the water out of the tub as I stepped out of the tub and wrapped my body in a soft towel. Axe still wasn’t home, and it was now well after seven.

The shopping bags I threw on the bed stared back at me when I left the bathroom. After my relaxing bath, I didn’t have the strength to sort through them. Instead, I ignored them and headed to the kitchen to make something to eat, without Axe here to test whatever concoction I put together. Having dinner alone was something I hadn’t done in a long time. I hadn’t seen him all day. Missing him like crazy, I closed the refrigerator door and walked back to the bedroom to grab my phone.

Before I could bring my phone to life, I heard the door to the apartment open and then close. There could be only one person entering the apartment. It didn’t matter where we were, Axe always managed to send goosebumps up and down my body. Without hesitation, I rushed out of the bedroom to greet him.

When Axe looked up at me after removing his jacket, he looked spent. Whatever it was he had to take care of must have been exhausting. Stepping up to him, I wrapped my arms around his waist and gave him a big bear hug. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, baby.” His voice was soft, just like the tender swipe of his thumb against my cheek.

Axe lowered his head, and our eyes met. His gaze was explosive and warmed my body from head to toe. Rising to the tip of my toes, I placed my lips over his. His spicy cologne tingled my senses as I entwined my tongue with his. Damn if he wasn't a great kisser. Scaling my hands up his chest, I balanced them on his shoulders as he pulled me closer before lifting me from the floor. Axe affected me as no other man could. Not even Levi or Kyle could make me feel the way Axe had.

Lacing my legs around his waist, I deepened our kiss. When we reached our bedroom, Axe pulled his lips from mine and gazed down at the bed still piled high with shopping bags. “Did you and Reyna buy out every store?”

Buying everything was impossible, but that wasn’t to say that there weren’t a lot of bags. “Maybe, but if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have found something special for you.”

Setting me on the floor, Axe ran his arm across the bed and pushed the bags to the floor. Thankfully there wasn’t anything breakable in the bags. Both of us stood on the side of the bed staring at each other before we pulled and tugged at each other’s clothes. What we were about to do wasn’t going to be slow and tender. We were each other’s release outlet. I crawled onto the bed, laying on my back. Axe positioned himself between my legs and pushed inside me, making me feel all kinds of wonderful.

“That’s it, Axe, harder.” I cried, pulling his lips to mine.

“Damn, baby. I want this to last.” Axe’s words were labored as he slowly moved inside me.

“Hard and fast first, Axe,” I moaned. “Then you can make me come again nice and slow.”

“Your wish is my command.”

Axe slammed into me as fast as he could. He knew how much I liked it rough, so he pinned my hands above my head. “That’s it, baby. Just like that.”