Page 15

Axel

Given the choice, I would pick ditching the rest of the cookout altogether to spend the evening alone with Brooke, but that’s not exactly an option.

These get togethers happen for a reason, and the club members would not be as close as we are if we didn’t make them a priority.

And I know without being told that Saint expects all senior club members to be in attendance, except for Gray, but even he is here tonight, so I hardly have an excuse.

Despite knowing I need to socialize, I can’t peel myself from this spot. My eyes have been on Brooke since the moment we returned to the rooftop, watching her laugh with her friends and joke around with the other members of the club.

God, she’s a pretty sight to behold.

I watch her from my seat on the opposite side of fire pit, the flickering flames casting a warm glow around us. She’s in the middle of a group, completely lost in a game of charades, her laughter ringing out like music over the crackling fire.

“Jade, look at my arms,” she says, laughing uncontrollably as she waves her arms dramatically at her clueless teammate. “You can do it. Come on, the guys are already in the lead!”

“Fish out of water?”

She heaves a dramatic sigh before breaking into a fit of giggles. “What about this says fish out of water to you?”

“I don’t know! You’re flapping your fins? I have no idea!”

Her teammates keep guessing and when their time is up, Brooke laughs at the disappointment she reads on their face.

My eyes are locked on her as she walks back to her place, giving room for the other team.

When she turns around to look at me, her brown hair dances in the light breeze, catching the glow of the fire and for a moment, I’m mesmerized.

She offers me a gorgeous smile before turning back to the game.

My eyes stay on her and just watching her is enough to send blood rushing south. This is not an ideal time to have a fucking hard-on, but I can’t fucking control my dick’s reaction to the sight of such a beautiful woman—my woman.

I start to take another sip of my beer when I sense a presence behind me. I turn and watch Gray take the seat next to me. He has a beer in hand as he settles in to watch the game next to me.

“Not playing?” he asks, taking a sip of his own beer as he nods toward the group, and I shake my head.

“I prefer to watch.”

“Same,” he says, titling his head a bit as he watches Kyle act out what appears to be the dramatic death of a…

goose? There’s honking and arm flapping involved, I have no idea what else it could be.

“I heard something interesting the other night,” Gray says after a moment.

“Something about a Rebel showing up at Rave and leaving with two girls.”

“Did you now?”

“Yep,” he confirms, popping the P. “Caused quite a stir among the door guards.”

“And where did you hear this?”

He chuckles. “I have my sources.” Which I assume is code for some informant he’s got in the gang that owns the night club.

My brow quirks up, but since that’s not something I want to talk about, I change the subject. “Any idea how you’re going to get in with the Vipers?”

Gray hums noncommittally, reserved as usual, even with his club brothers. “I have a contact who says he can get me in front of Stone, the president. But that’s not has me most concerned right now.”

“No? Then what does?”

“That they’ve been quiet. Blaze a couple of the guys dealt with some trespassers recently.

We still don’t know what they were doing snooping around our territory, and even after Blaze sent them home with their tails tucked, they didn’t retaliate.

It’s not like the Vipers to do nothing. Don’t you find that suspicious? ”

I mull over his words. I’ve been too tied up with Brooke to even think about it. If a Viper laid a hand on a Rebel, there would be hell to pay. That would almost be like declaring war with the club, and I would have expected some attempt at retribution from them, and yet…nothing.

“Maybe they are gearing up to start some shit,” I say. That is the only thing that makes sense.

“Could be, but we can’t be sure. I’ll figure out what they’re planning once I earn their trust.”

I nod before turning back to the game. “Have you taken the club’s insignia off your bike? I assume you’ll have to strip it of the club’s identity before you go in.”

“You’ve never seen me in action, have you?”

“I don’t imagine I’m supposed to, or you wouldn’t be doing a good job as a mole, now would you?”

“Touché.” He laughs, sipping his beer. “And no. I’ll be an entirely different person. So much so that it’s doubtful anyone from either club would recognize me. Recognition is a risk I can’t afford.”

“You’ll be careful,” I say, although my concern is useless.

This is not his first rodeo. I know enough of his history to know the one time he was caught crossing the line was a decade ago when he was barely eighteen and before he’d joined the club.

He’d ended up doing time, but something good came out of it as he met with a Steel Rebel in prison who introduced him to the club.

Since then, he’s been working for the us secure in the knowledge his brothers would get him out of a jam if he ever landed in one.

Luckily for him and us, he’s never found himself in that position.

Even so, it doesn’t stop me and the rest of us from expressing concern when the topic arises.

“I’ll be fine,” he says with finality, and more than anything, I believe it. “So, are you not going to tell me what you were doing at Rave? Or who you left with?”

Why am I not surprised that he wouldn’t let me get away without answering? “I’m surprised you don’t already know.”

“I didn’t ask, it would have seemed suspicious if I had.”

“Then how do you know it was me?”

“The mechanic,” he says with a laugh. “They were whining something about a fucking Rebel mechanic showing up to cause trouble.” I scoff at his words. It’s true that I’m well known in the city for the quality of my work, but I hadn’t realized I was so recognizable. “So, what were you doing there?”

My eyes shift to the group playing their game across the fire pit once more, and it’s Brooke's turn again as she climbs to her feet. She reads something on a card and nods before spreading her hands once more, giggling as she moves her arms in front of her body in a sweeping arch.

“The wave!” someone yells, followed by a series of other off-base guesses.

The time ends before anyone guesses correctly, which makes Brooke break into a groan.

“It was a rainbow. Guys, we’re losing!” The girls cry out in disappointment before someone points out that the men are ahead by only a single point.

This makes everyone grow even more competitive as they all start to razz the opposing team.

“That was exhausting. I think I need a drink.”

A couple of the other girls call for a break as well, and Brooke flashes me a smile as she and the others walk past us toward the bar.

“She’s the reason,” I say with a sigh. “Brooke and her best friend went to Rave. I followed to keep an eye on them, and when things started to get out of hand, I get them out.”

Gray sighs. “I don’t want to know how she got her hands on a fake ID. She’s been pushing boundaries lately. Should we be worried?” he says, turning to meet my gaze, and I’m reminded that I’m far from the only man here who cares for Brooke.

I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter how she got it. I destroyed it. She won’t be hitting up anymore night clubs either.”

“Is that right?” Gray cocks a brow at me.

“That’s right,” I confirm, meeting his stare head on. He studies me for a while, reminding me of the look Saint gave me earlier before looking away with a laugh.

“I guess everyone expected this,” he says, taking another sip of his beer. “She’s always had her eyes on you. No one stood a chance against the infamous Rebel mechanic. I was less certain about you, though.”

“What about me?”

“Do you love her?”

I pause, searching through my mind for a way to put into words what I feel for Brooke. She’s easily the most important person in my life. Has been for a while, perhaps even before Kane asked me on his death bed to look after her.

The thought of not having her in my life threatens to send me into a tailspin. My feelings for Brooke are stronger than I can articulate. It goes beyond love, but I don’t have a word for it. Obsession, maybe?

“I care about her,” I tell Gray. If I am to profess my love, then Brooke is the first person who will hear it.

“She deserves better than me. Some guy her own age that’s going to give her everything she deserves, not some obsessive fucker who wants to kill anyone that dares look her way. But I made her father a promise.”

“That’s…not what I expected,” Gray muses.

“Yeah, well, it’s how I feel about the girl. I can’t help but think Kane would have wanted a better man for his little girl.”

“Would it have made a difference if he were still here and objected to you being together?”

“No,” I say without hesitation. Kane was my hero, but the feelings I have for Brooke are easily stronger than any opinion anyone has of us. I would have worked my ass off to prove to my mentor and best friend that I was worthy of being with Brooke, but I wouldn’t have let her go.

“We both know Kane loved and trusted you. Otherwise, he would never have asked you to look after her. He could have easily asked Saint or any one of us to look out for Brooke. We all would have been willing, but he asked you.”

He did.

And I’m going to make it my life’s mission to protect the girl, make her happy. Give her a life where she never has to feel alone. I’ll do my damnedest to make sure she never wants for anything.

The talk with Gray clears a bit of the lingering doubt in my mind, and I realize that I need to speak to Brooke.

I turn around to look at the bar, surprised that they are not back by now.

I assume that she just went to the bathroom and force myself to wait a little longer, chatting with Gray about club matters before I decide that I can’t take it anymore.

I’m about to head out to search for Brooke when I notice Ingrid and Jade walking back in our direction. I breathe out a relieved sigh until I notice that Brooke still isn’t with them.

Where is she? Did something happen? Is she sick?

My brows are knit in confusion and worry as I push out of my chair and approach the girls. They stop in their tracks when they notice me, and at first, I don’t make out their expressions, and when I do, I realize that they are glaring at me.

“Jade, Ingrid,” I start, ignoring their glares. My worry for Brooke overrides whatever personal beef they have with me. “Where is Brooke?”

“You would love to know, wouldn’t you?” Jade says, accusation in her tone.

“Yes, Jade. That’s why I asked.” She might be the presidents girl, but I’m not going to be intimidated by her.

“Why? So you can break her heart again?” It’s Ingrid this time. “Haven’t you done enough?”

I blink at the girls in confusion. Moments ago, Brooke was smiling at me, and now I’ve supposedly broken her heart? These girls are making no sense, and I find my patience slipping quickly. “Ladies, where is Brooke? Is she okay?”

“No, she’s not. Thanks to you.”

I clench my jaw and gather the tattered shreds of my composure. “How about you tell me what it is you’re talking about and where Brooke is. I’m sure whatever is going on is a simple misunderstanding.”

“Brooke went to ask if you wanted another beer and overheard you and Gray talking. She came back sobbing,” Ingrid says after a moment, then Jade chimes in.

“She didn’t tell us what she heard, but it was enough to make her cry. We offered to leave with her, but she said she wanted to be alone,” Jade says with another glare. “You really are a jerk, you know that? Brooke is head over heels for you, but you just had to go and break her heart.”

I tune the girls out for a moment, searching my memory for what Brooke could have heard Gray and I say that would upset her so much.

“If you don’t love her, then leave her alone so she can find someone who does!”

Those words send a heavy boulder settling in my stomach, and I turn back to the girls.

They must read the fury and possessiveness in my expression because they both back up a step.

“Brooke won’t be finding anyone else. The only way someone else can have her is over my dead body.

” I turn to look in the direction of the elevator. “She’s everything to me.”

“Well, she seems to believe otherwise,” Jade says, her voice softer now.

And that’s my fault. Fuck, I shouldn’t have waited to tell Brooke how I felt. That what I feel for her is deeper and stronger than just lust, stronger than love even. The thought that Brooke is somewhere second guessing me is enough to have me running after her.

I turn back to Gray, and he motions for me to go. “Get out of here. I’ll see you next week, and when I do, I want to hear that you fixed this. Tell Brooke I’m sorry if something I said upset her.”

Fuck, I have to fix this.