Page 34 of The Saviors: Part One

“Cole,” Axel growls in a warning. “Don’t start this shit.”

I shake my head and flop back in my chair. “Six goddamn years, and you still act like what we did wasn’t wrong.”

“Because it wasn’t wrong. We did it to save her. Now let it go.”

I laugh without humor. “Like you have?”

“I have. She didn’t need us fucking up her life.”

I take a deep breath, bracing myself for what I’m about to say next. “I think we should make contact with her and make sure she’s really okay.”

Axel’s body goes rigid, and I can feel him glaring at the side of my head. “Have you lost your mind? She’s fucking married. Why would we crash back into her life to fuck that up?”

Interesting.I never told him I looked her up, so he’s also kept track of her. “How did you know that she’s married?”

“I just know. It doesn’t mean anything.” A truck roars to life in front of the house, and Axel grits his teeth so hard that I’m surprised they don’t crack. “He’s leaving again?”

“Jesus Christ. Did you not listen to anything I just said? We have nothing going on tonight, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“What if something does come up? We’ll be a man short.” Two men short, but now’s not the time to point that out. “Then what?”

“You call him on his cell phone,” I say sarcastically, earning another glare. “You need to leave it alone.”

“Sean needs to stay home.”

“You sound like a jealous wife and a gigantic asshole right now.” Axel gets up without a word, heading toward the house. “You’re going to push him away.”

“Fuck off.”

“Good talk. Love you too.” He flips me off and slams the door behind him. If he’s pissed now, I can’t wait until he realizes Kai is gone too.

I sit here, staring into the distance for a while before I hear the door slide back open. I don’t look up, expecting Axel, when Nolan sits beside me. “What’s up?” I ask.

“Axel found out that Kai left with Sean, and I didn’t want to be around when his head exploded.”

I chuckle. “You know he’d never hurt you, right?”

“For sure, but he’s still scary as hell when he gets like that. I figured it was safer out here.” He’s probably not wrong about that. I might even sleep out here to avoid the temper tantrum I know Axel is throwing. “What’s going on with him, Cole?” Nolan asks quietly.

“A lot of shit. It will get back to normal after we catch Charlie.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Am I staying with you guys now? I like Ari and them, but I don’t have a permanent place to stay.”

My fucking heart plummets. When we found Nolan, it was a stroke of luck that he wasn’t a bad guy. Just a kid mixed up in the wrong shit. Since being with us, we’ve been on jobs that we have to leave the country for and didn’t want to leave him alone, so he stayed with Ari. I never thought what that might do to him. “Fuck, I’m sorry, Nolan.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I get it. You guys are important, and I can stay with Ari. It’s fine.” Now I feel like even more of a piece of shit.

“Do you want to stay with us?”

Nolan shrugs. “Yeah. I mean, you guys saved me, and I like it here with you and Sean. But it’s not a big deal if I can’t.” But it is, I can tell by the sound of his voice.

“You can stay with us. I’ll take you to Ari’s to get your stuff. There’s plenty of room here.”

“Really?” Nolan asks, excitement in his voice. “I promise, you won’t even know I’m here.”