Angels In Leather

CHAPTER 11 AXEL Hatred be my friend, stay with me ‘till the end.

I take another shot, but the burn doesn’t help any. It only adds to the fucking fire in my chest. I tried to kill her. I put her life at risk just to get information. I went over the limit of crazy, and became a fucking psycho. And there was a moment there, just one fucking moment, when I thought she was dead...and something happened...inside me.

I was scared.

For a brief second, I felt fear.

I lift the glass, and I fill it with more of the amber liquid before shooting it back. When the fuck did I end up here? I don’t have time to hate myself, and I certainly don’t have time to feel a tiny spark of emotion for someone who despises me. I close my eyes, and tighten my grip on the bottle in my hand.

What the fuck am I doing?

MEADOW

“I have to go with you,” I say in a monotone voice.

I don’t look at Axel as he stands in front of me with Cobra and Jax by his side.

“Then let’s go,” he says, no emotion in his voice. He leans down, and uncuffs me. “I don’t need to warn you about not running.”

“I don’t have any need to run. I just want this over with, so I never have to hear your name again. Better yet, so I never have to see your pathetic, cruel face,” I spit, walking toward the door.

I don’t see his reaction. I don’t want to. I just want this over with.

I’m done imagining there’s something good left in his cold heart. I hear Axel following me as I navigate my way down the halls and outside. The sun hits my face, and I immediately breathe it in. I’ve missed it. Axel takes my arm, and leads me to a big SUV. I climb in the back without a word.

Axel gets in the driver’s side, and I catch him glancing at me in the mirror. I turn my face toward the window, and I don’t look back until we pull up at the bank I gave him the name of. I get out of the car, and I walk inside. Axel is on my tail. I wait for ten minutes for a free person, and when a young lady calls me over, I walk with numb legs.

“I’m here to get the contents out of my safety box.”

“Of course,” she says, and begins the process.

Twenty minutes later, I have a tiny USB drive in my hand. I turn to Axel as soon as we get outside, and I shove it at his chest, hitting him with a thump.

“I hope this is everything you ever wanted, Axel. I’m done. I never want to see your face again.”

I turn, and I take only one step when the shot rings out. I feel a thump against my leg, and I feel my body going down in slow motion, my body buckling beneath me. A burning pain radiates up my leg, and a ragged scream leaves my throat. Someone has shot me. Axel pulls out a gun, and suddenly Jax and Cobra are out of the SUV.

“Put her in the SUV,” Axel orders.

Jax runs over to me, tucking his arms under my legs and lifting me up. He places me in the back of the SUV, and surprises me by pulling off his shirt and pressing it to my leg. He slides in beside me, keeping up the pressure. I scream, and wrap my fingers around my thigh, squeezing, as if it will take away the pain. It feels like someone has put a hot poker through my leg.

I hear guns exploding outside.

A moment later, Axel and Cobra leap into the car. Axel plants it, and the car lunges forward. The tires skid, and the car fishtails across the road. I hear another shot ring out, and the loud sound of a bullet hitting metal fills the car. My screaming has turned into sobbing, and I’m trying desperately to breathe through the pain.

“Who the fuck was that?” Jax asks, still pressing his hand to my leg.

“It was fuckin’ Beast.”

Who the hell is Beast?

“The fuck is he doin’, shootin’ her in the middle of the street?”

Axel growls, and slams his hand against the steering wheel. “It’s a fuckin’ warning. He wants that USB, and he’ll do whatever he can to get it.”

Cobra spins around in his seat. “How bad is it, Jax?”

“She’s bleeding real good,” Jax grunts.

Axel glances at me in the mirror. “You good?”

He’s asking if I’m good?

I nod my head, not wanting to open my mouth. If I do, I’m afraid I’ll start screaming again.

“Did it go right way through?” he asks Jax.

Jax lifts the shirt off my leg, and I wail loudly.

“No boss, it’s just a graze, but he got her good and proper.”

“Shit,” Axel growls. “Let’s get back, we can sort it there.”

Sort it?

Sort what?

My head spins, and I feel my fingers slide out and take hold of the only thing close by: Jax’s leg. He stares down at me in horror, but his eyes soften after a moment, and he places his hand over mine. I pant through my teeth, keeping them clenched tightly for as long as I can to stop myself from screaming. The car moves quickly, and I can hear Axel frantically talking to Cobra in the front of the car. The last thing I hear before darkness takes over, is Axel stating, “She needs a hospital.”

My eyes open slowly, and I hear the constant sound of beeping beside me. I blink a few times, and as my vision clears I see the pale cream walls and the bright fluorescent lights above me. I’m in a hospital. That much I know.

I move my body slowly, and a dull thudding pain radiates through my thigh. I got shot. Someone shot me. I shake my head, trying to clear the dizziness that has settled there, and I open my eyes to see a nurse fluttering around with a machine beside me.

“Hi.” She smiles when she sees my eyes open. “How are you feeling?”

“I...” I croak, with a dry, scratchy throat. “I’m okay.”

“How’s the pain?”

I shift again, and shake my head. “It’s not too bad.”

“You were very lucky. The doctors stitched you up, but they had to repair some damage done to your skin. It was quite messy.”

God.

I nod. It’s all I can do. I’m still in a mild state of shock. The nurse walks over and places a small device on my finger.

“There’s a man waiting outside for you. He’s not left.”

My heart speeds up. Axel?

“A-A-Axel?” I whisper.

She nods. “Yes, that’s him. He’s been barking orders around, and not letting anyone but us in. He’s quite an over-protective boyfriend, isn’t he?”

“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.