Page 9 of That Girl is Trouble

My ears are suddenly ringing, and my heart pounds so hard against my ribs they feel like they might crack. It’s what happens when I get stupid or reckless. Testing Axe like this, threatening him in front of Bane and Tex, it’s fucking dangerous. Probably more dangerous than when I used to lean back on Jesse’s bike without a helmet, daring him to take a corner too fast. More dangerous than that time I put smack in my veins and woke up a day later in the hospital with a tube down my throat. More dangerous than what my sister would do if she found out I dropped out a school to become a stripper.

“Kitty,” he grits, his voice dropping lower, and my name comes off his tongue like a threat. “I’m not asking. I’m telling.”

“Last I checked, Sinner territory ended at the South Bay border. You can’t tell me what to do here, and you’re definitely not telling my sister shit. Or Graves. And that goes for them too,” I say, standing a little taller and jerking my head to Tex, who’s still got his eyes closed, and to Bane, who’s pressed his gun so far back into Seb’s mouth that all that’s left is the grip. “No one talks. Unless you want me to.”

The last of my threat barrels out of my mouth before I can stop it, and Tex and Bane both eye Axe with unease. Yeah, I’ve got their prez on the hook for something. But as long as they keep their mouths shut, we won’t have a problem.

After a moment of silence, of Axe’s harsh glare burning my skin, his handsome face twisted with anger, he unfurls his fists, and his shoulders relax. A calmness of sorts sweeps over him, one that’s somehow even more threatening than the anger.

A small smile spreads across his face, and he levels me with a wicked look. “Fucking knew you’d be trouble. The second I laid my goddamn eyes on you. You think you’re tough, Kitty Kat?”

“I know I am. And you can’t do shit here.”

The laugh that falls from his mouth sends a shiver down my spine. Despite my proclamation, Axe’s power isn’t limited to the boundaries of the South Bay town line. The Sinners have eyes and muscle across most of central and eastern Canada. That knowledge still doesn’t stop me from pushing him though. I can’t help it.

“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” He nods to his men, and on command, Tex is sauntering out the door and Bane is patting Seb on the head and removing his gun with a dark chuckle.

“Was it as good for you as it was for me?” he whispers, and Seb turns a little paler.

All three Sinners leave without a backward glance.

Seb lets out a harsh breath and stands. “What the fuck, Kat?” He wipes his mouth with a shaky hand. “You ride with the Sinners? You know Rayna’s gonna fire your ass for this, right?”

“It’s handled,” I snap. “There won’t be any more trouble.”

Another easy lie. I have no doubt that Axe will be back, and that he’ll punish me somehow for being here, for running my mouth.

It’s the same shit I’ve always done. I’ve issued a challenge. A dare. Tickled that need for a thrill.

And it’s definitely a thrill, playing with a man like Axe Donovan. I’ve always liked it—provoking him. Seeing how far I can push him before he gives me that look, the one that tells me to tread carefully, to back down because he won’t. Because there’ll be trouble if I don’t.

But I’ve never been good at backing down, and I’ve never much minded getting into a little trouble.

4

Two Years Ago

October

“Axe?”

I tear my attention from my TV to find Kat standing in my doorway. A dark bruise has formed under her eye and across the top of her cheekbone. She covered it with makeup today, so I hadn’t noticed how dark it’s gotten, how bad the cut on her nose looks.

Now it’s all I see. A reminder of what almost happened last night.

“Hey, Kitty,” I say, bringing my beer to my lips and glancing back over at the screen. I’m not really watching, just staring, sound off, mind on the shitstorm that’s about to kick down my door.

The drug business is a rough one. Graves hates it. Says we should get out while we’re still making money and still living free. It was easier when we were moving green. Reefer tends to fall under the radar. Powder and pills bring a whole other level of trouble—getting product across the border, dealing with supply chain bullshit. But it’s the fucking feds that really make shit difficult. RCMP is suddenly breathing down our fucking necks, and what went down last night has me thinking we’re about to be in some serious shit.

Didn’t see the missed calls until I rolled out of bed this morning. An entire shipment pinched at the border, driver dead, and one guy who will be once he gets to lockup. Man will roll on us the second he hears the words plea deal, and I can’t have all my guys go down because one asshole won’t duck his head and do the time.

Kat clears her throat. “Um, Axe?” she says again.

“Need something?” I ask without looking at her. My tone is dismissive. It shouldn’t be, but my patience is thin tonight. My business troubles aren’t the only thing on my mind, and I’m not stupid enough to think my mood has nothing to do with her, that her being in my bed last night didn’t rattle me to my fucking core.

A thirty-year-old man with a teenager sleeping on his goddamn chest.

“At dinner you said… um, that I could sleep here. On your couch,” she adds quickly. “You said if Jesse wasn’t back—”

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