“He’s not my boyfriend,” I say, shaking my head furiously.

“Oh, I just thought...”

“Why wasn’t I informed she was awake?”

I hear the loud, dominating voice, and turn my head to see Axel standing at the doorway, wearing the same clothes he’d been wearing when all this went down. He’d really stayed with me? I chastise myself inside. Of course he isn’t here because he cares, he’s here because he doesn’t want any bikers finding me before he can make sense of the situation.

But if he didn’t care, just a little, he would have just let me go. He’s got what he wants. Right?

Axel walks in and stops by the bed, staring down at me. His aqua eyes look tired and he’s staring at me with a blank look that gives nothing away. “The pain?” he asks, his voice monotone.

“It’s okay,” I say in the same tone.

He nods, then lifts his head and looks at the nurse. “When can she go?”

She looks confused. “Well, we’d like to see her in for a few days so we can check the wound, and...”

“Is there antibiotics she can take away?”

She stammers. “Well yes.”

“And are there instructions on cleaning the wound?”

“Yes, but...”

“Then we are going. You can’t hold us here.”

I gape at him. “Are you serious?” I snap. “Just leave me here, Axel. We both know you don’t really want to take me.”

He shoots daggers down at me, and I quickly close my mouth. “Don’t tell me what I do and do not want, Cricket.”

I turn my eyes away from him, and watch as he argues with the nurse. She finally gives in, and gets a doctor, whom he also argues with. In the end he gets his way, and I find myself dressed after a few hours and hobbling down the hall. Axel has a hand full of medications, and a hard, angry look on his face.

The minute we get outside, I turn to him. “Tell me one thing; why are you keeping me around when we both know you’ve got what you want?”

He doesn’t answer. He just unlocks his car and shoves the door open, looking at me expectantly.

“Goddammit, Axel, can you at least do one thing for me, and answer my question?” I cry, crossing my arms.

He leans down, so we’re nearly nose-to-nose. I can smell him, and something inside my body sparks to life. “I’m not going to let you get shot, no matter what I feel for you. Now, get in the fuckin’ car.”

I narrow my eyes at him, and I know he can see challenge in them. With a low rumble in his chest, he leans down and scoops me up, putting me in the car before slamming the door and turning away, walking around to the other side. When he climbs in, we sit quietly, neither of us saying anything for majority of the trip.

Finally, I get up the courage to be the first to break the ice.

“Who were they?”

He glances at me, and then stares at the road again. “The enemy.”

“Really? That’s all you’re going to give me?”

He sighs with frustration. “They’re someone who wants the information on that drive as much as I do. They’re someone who has been chasing you for as long as I have, but I’ve constantly been saving your ass by stopping them. They want you as leverage now, and they’ll do whatever they can to get to you.”

He’s been saving me?

I don’t understand.

“You’ve...been saving me?”

His face hardens, and he doesn’t answer me.

“Axel?” I push.

“What I did doesn’t matter. All that matters is what we do now.”

I growl, and turn and stare out the window. He refuses to budge. It doesn’t matter what I do or say. Nothing will break down that wall he’s built so high.

Nothing.

CHAPTER 12

AXEL

Don’t try to break me, unless you’re willing to take me.

“Put her back in the room, don’t lock her up. If she runs, she’s signing her own death certificate,” I snarl, pushing Meadow toward Jax the minute we step inside the clubhouse. “Put everyone on full alert. We’re on lockdown.”

Jax nods, and Meadow glares at me. She got my point, and she got it loud and clear. She runs—she dies. It’s that simple. I turn my eyes away from hers, and walk into my office where Cobra and Colt are waiting. “What do we know?” I ask, kicking a stool back and sitting down on it.

“We know they’ve been keeping track of her, my guess is through something that’s person of hers, likely her phone. They knew we would be at that bank,” Cobra says.

“Get her shit and burn it, destroy her phone. Lock this place down. I want no fuckers gettin’ information in and out. No one leaves until I deal with this shit once and for all.”

Cobra gives me a hesitant glance. “You sure you wanna do this, boss? You and Beast don’t have a good history...”

“That’s exactly why I need to fuckin’ end him.”

Cobra nods, and Colt stands. “What about Meadow? Is she in danger?”

“She ain’t your concern, boy,” I growl.

“Don’t get on the defense, boss. You don’t even fuckin’ like her. I, however, do. And I don’t want to see her shot down, because you can’t pull your stubborn fuckin’ head out of your ass.”

I stand, lunging toward him and wrapping my fingers around his throat. He gasps, and struggles. “Who has the authority around here, boy?”