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“The bullet shattered the bone in his arm, and it’s taken five surgeries to fix it. He’ll be in pain for the rest of his life.”
“Jesus…” I felt like shit as I stared at the side of his face.
“That was the nail in the coffin.” He looked at me again. “No coming back from that.”
“I’m so sorry.” If someone had done that to my father, I would be beside myself. It would haunt me forever.
His blue eyes looked at mine, devoid of emotion. “It’s not your fault.”
“Did you kill the guy who did this to you?”
He inhaled a slow breath. “No.”
“Why?” I snapped.
“Because I can’t,” he said. “It’s complicated.” He looked out the window again, relaxed in the chair, his body massive with all those muscles on top of muscles. “Theo is one of the only people who’s always had my back. I have other guys who mean a lot to me, but it’s different with him. We both come from broken families, so we made a family with each other.”
“That’s sweet.” I thought about my date with Theo, every interaction that seemed off. “Now I understand why he acted like that.” I smirked because it was a little embarrassing that I’d thrown myself at him and he knew he couldn’t act on it.
“Acted like what?”
I wasn’t sure if I should tell him, but I suspected Theo had probably already mentioned it. “I kinda came on to him a couple times, but he never took the bait.”
His expression remained the same, but his eyes were a little harsh.
“At the time, it didn’t make sense. Why ask me on a date if you don’t want to seal the deal after dinner? But now I realize he was never going to cross that line because of you.” I had been disappointed that Theo wouldn’t put out, and his rejection had made me question my appeal. Now I felt better knowing it had nothing to do with me at all.
Axel remained quiet, his eyes shifting back to the window.
“You’re angry.”
He spoke with a quiet voice. “I’m not angry.”
“Nothing happened?—”
“I’m not angry about that.” He turned back to me. “Why would Theo ask you out if he couldn’t act on it?”
I stared back at him.
“Doesn’t make sense, right?”
My heart started to clench.
“Just something to think about.”
16
AXEL
I walked into the back room of the strip club and found Theo in one of the armchairs, talking to one of his guys while his eyes watched the brunette spin around the pole in front of him. The cigar rested between his fingertips before he brought it to his lips.
“You lied to me.” I smacked it out of his hand then watched it fly across the room. “Fucking asshole.”
All of his guys pulled out their guns.
Theo was visibly stunned, but he raised his hand then lowered it to tell the guys to lower their guns. Then he got to his feet and stared me dead in the eyes, the music still playing, the girls still dancing, probably because they were used to this sort of thing. “Lied about what?”
“You sad nothing happened.”
It took a second for him to understand the accusation. “Because nothing did happen, Axel.”
“So you’re saying my wife didn’t try to fuck you?” I snapped. “Because that fucking sounds like something.”
Theo looked at his guys and lowered his hand again, getting them to stand down. “Come on, let’s talk.” He led the way out of the private room and into the main portion of the strip club. He walked outside, heading to the front of the unremarkable building that hid the truth of its contents with its lack of signage. It was quiet except for the sounds of cars and motorbikes that passed on the street.
I rounded on him right away. “What the fuck, Theo?”
“Why did she even tell you that?”
“Because she said everything made much more sense after she realized how close we are. I asked her to elaborate.”
“You shouldn’t have asked her?—”
“You shouldn’t have lied to me,” I snapped, wanting to shove him in the chest.
“Would you rather me tell you she wanted to fuck?” he asked incredulously. “You want me to hurt you?”
My hands moved to my hips, unsure what to do, how to take out my anger. “I want to know exactly what happened.”
“Why?”
“Because I do?—”
“Why?” he repeated. “It’s just going to make you feel like shit.”
“Did she have feelings for you?”
“No,” he said without hesitation. “In fact, I asked her out again, and she said she was only interested in hooking up, so if I wasn’t interested in that, I should leave her alone. She may have wanted me for the night, but we both know it’s because she couldn’t have the man she really wants. So calm the fuck down.”
My hands cupped my face, and then I slowly dragged them down as I gave a growl.
