Page 25 of Velvet and Valor
“Do I seem like the kind of guy who would take you to a disgusting hovel?”
I arch my brows at him.
“Yeah, on second thought, don’t answer that. Seriously though, trust me, you’re going to love it.”
I’m not feeling all that reassured, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, he did save my life.
6
AXEL
Ican’t blame June for being anxious. Her whole life has been turned upside down with a snap of a finger.
Shit, I’d probably be freaking out more than her under these circumstances. I’m used to people trying to kill me, but in the Army I had the support of the US Arsenal of Democracy, not to mention my squad mates.
Who’s she got? Me. Just little old me. I’m going to have to be enough because this is one awesome woman, and I’m not about to let her down. All night I’ve been fighting the urge to pull her into my arms; her energy is electric. I want her so damn bad I can taste it but that would be unprofessional as fuck. For once in my life, I can’t make this about me.
If Moorcrock is half as dangerous as Stone made him out to be, AND the triad is involved, we’re in a heap of trouble. The problem is people like Moorcrock excel at what they do, and one of the things they do a lot is track down people who don’t want to be found.
People like my girl here.
“Listen,” I say. “From now on, until I tell you different, you’re not to use any of your bank cards.”
“Um, okay,” she says. “And why not?”
“Someone might be able to track us by following the trail of your transactional history,” I say. “I’ll cover whatever you need for the time being. Jax will reimburse me.”
“Fair enough,” she says. “How long do you think this is going to take?”
“Oh, not long. It’s less than an hour’s drive.”
“No,” she says with a groan. “I mean, how long do you think it’s going to be until we find out what is going on, find Moorcrock, and I can go back to my normal life?”
“Eh, give me a couple days and I’ll have his ass in a sling,” I say with a wink. “You see, as scary as Moorcrock is, I’m a hell of a lot scarier. I shit bigger than him. What’s that guy weigh, a gram?”
She can’t help but laugh at my antics. I’m trying to cheer her up and it’s working.
“I mean, that guy needs to eat a Snickers bar and a sandwich. He could probably walk through a harp.”
“Stop,” she says, putting a hand on my chest. “Just stop, I can’t breathe…”
Eventually she gets some control of herself.
“Um, thanks. I really needed a good laugh.”
“I know.” The smile fades from my face. “I promise I’ll get you back to your life as quick as I can, June. I might be new at this, but we’ve done pretty good so far, haven’t we?”
“We’re alive, that’s about as much as I’ll give you until I see this place of yours. I swear to God if I see a cockroach, I’m sleeping outside. I don’t care if Moorcrock straps me down and force-feeds me a stick of dynamite. I'm not sleeping anywhere a roach might touch me.”
“You got a problem with bugs, huh?”
“Yeah. You could say that.”
I resist the urge to tease her about it. June stands with her shoulders hunched, arms clutching her middle. I’ve seen that exact same stance on guys I served with. Guys who’d had a close encounter with an IED or worse.
“Hey, it’s all right. Everybody’s got their thing, you know what I mean?”
She glances my way, eyes narrowed with scrutiny. I think she expected me to be a dick about her fear of insects. Maybe I gave her good reason. For a moment I wonder if I should drop my usual ‘the Hell I care’ shtick and try to be friends with June. Maybe even good friends.
