Page 134 of Power

It had been over a decade, sure, but still. Dakota Blackwood.TheDakota.

The last name also drew Scarlett’s attention. “How did you know her last name?”

Axel threw his head back and growled, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“You know her too?” Scarlett’s eyes darted between us—from Axel to me. Evidently, Scarlett knew that I’d met Dakota in the past. But based on the shock on her face, she’d been under the impression our history was small. “How do you know her too?”

Before I could reply, Axel ignored her question and said, “Dude.” He tossed his bag of chips onto his chair and brushed off his hands. “Super glad you’re not dead. I gotta run.”

“Wait, you can’t rush off!” Scarlett stepped in front of him, evidently putting a pin in her line of questions to focus on the more pressing matter first. “You guys said you’d help me get Jace into his place.”

“I’ll be fine without him,” I assured her, suddenly fascinated by this development.

Axel, the man who once told a Victoria’s Secret model she wasn’t his type, was practically vibrating with anxiety as he tried to make another break for the door.

“No.” Scarlett planted herself in front of Axel like a tiny, determined roadblock. “You promised to help me. God forbid I get him up to his penthouse and he falls down or something.”

“The guy’s a billionaire. He can probably order a custom robot to lift his ass off the ground and have it delivered within the hour. Now move.” He tried to sidestep her.

“No.” Simple. Definitive.

Axel tried to step around her again. I cocked my head, watching him. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d ever seen him this flustered. After his antagonistic chip chomping, it was all sorts of satisfying.

“You promised, and you are not backing out of that promise.” Scarlett put her hands on her hips.

Axel towered over her. He could probably pick her up with two fingers and set her aside if he wanted to, but Scarlett was acting like she was ten feet tall, glaring at him with the ferocity of someone three times her size.

“Yeah, that was before you dropped a little bombshell.” Axel’s eyes darted to the door like he was calculating his chances of escape.

“How do you know Dakota Blackwood?” she asked, not budging an inch.

Axel glared at me. “How did you not tell me about this, dude?”

“I was busy being stabbed in the neck.” I gestured vaguely to my bandages.

“Before. Before you got stabbed in the neck. Why didn’t you tell me that she’s friends with Dakota Blackwood?”

“Didn’t know her last name until this moment. And even if I did, believe it or not, you’re not the first thing on my mind when I wake up in the morning, Axel. I have other things going on. Like running a company. And occasionally getting stabbed. Besides, if I tried to connect the dots with all the women you have problems with, I would run out of string before I hit the halfway mark.”

“She’s notsome woman. She’s THE woman. The only one Iwant to avoid more than I want to avoid the plague, tax audits, and my mother’s date setups combined.”

I arched my eyebrows. “Axel Pierce is trembling at the mention of a woman? How, pray tell, did she work this magic, and more importantly, can she teach me?”

“I’ve been friends with Dakota for a long time,” Scarlett said, a calculating look crossing her face. “She never mentioned you.”

“Bahahahahah.” Ryker slapped his knee, appearing from wherever he’d been lurking. “That’s brutal, man.”

“Shut up, dude.” Axel looked like he might tackle Ryker next.

“Ouch,” I said, wincing in exaggerated sympathy. “That has to hurt worse than my stab wound.”

“Good,” Axel said. “I don’t want her to talk about me because I never want to talk to her again. In fact, I never want to see her again, so if you could just move aside, I want to get out of here before she?—”

“Oh. My. God.” Dakota stepped into the room, her eyes trained on Axel with laser-like focus.

Axel shut his eyes, letting out a deep exhale with curses like a man facing execution. “Kill me now.”

“Can someone hand me that bag of chips that Axel discarded?” I smirked, settling back against my pillows. “I think I’m going to enjoy this.”