Page 140 of Peaks and Promises

No, he wouldn’t. Disobedience would mean being stripped of his colors—kicked out of the club. Or forfeiting his life.

“Stryker has been more than generous,” Mom continued. “Axel has a lot of work to do to prove he’s worthy of it. And he’s been ordered to stop trying to get his son back.”

My eyes widened. Could she be serious? “Are you saying they ordered him to leave Nate alone?”

“Mm hmm,” she said, as if that wasn’t a big deal. “He’s causing too much trouble over it. If he wants a kid so badly, he can make another one.”

Despite my revulsion at the way she casually suggested he impregnate someone to replace Nate, relief washed over me like a splash of cold water. He was gone, and Mayhem had ordered him to stop trying to take my son. That meant he wasn’t coming back.

It was over.

“Are you there, or did you hang up on me again?” she asked.

“I’m here. Is Axel mad about all this?”

“He got a little riled up in a bar last night, but he didn’t do any real damage. Harley was there to calm him down.”

I didn’t know who Harley was—she could be anyone from a stripper to a club groupie—but I caught Mom’s meaning.

“Okay.” I let out a breath. “Well, thanks for answering.”

Her tone changed, turning high-pitched and chipper. “You bet, baby girl. Kisses.”

“Bye, Mom.”

I ended the call and slowly lowered the phone. Finally, club justice had landed on my side. In one fell stroke, they’d ended my crisis. They hadn’t done it for me, or my son, but that didn’t matter. It was over, and Nate and I could finally move on.

Reese came back to the kitchen while I was still staring blankly at the wall.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “What happened?”

Blinking, I turned toward him. “My mom finally answered. Axel isn’t here. He’s back at Mayhem.”

“What? Why?”

“The club ordered him to come back and stop trying to get Nate.”

He gaped at me for a second, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d heard. “Why would they do that?”

“Mom said he’s on thin ice for causing too much trouble. I guess he set a restaurant on fire somewhere? I don’t know, the conversation was a little confusing. But the bottom line is, Mayhem put a stop to it. He’s not allowed to come after Nate anymore.”

With a long exhale, he rubbed his hands up and down his face. “I did not see that coming.”

“I know, right? Saved by Mayhem is not how I saw this ending.”

He met my eyes. “You’re sure she told you the truth?”

“I don’t know why she’d lie about it.”

“So we put our guard down.”

I shook my head. “She’ll always pick Stryker over me, but I don’t think she’d go that far to help Axel. She’s not a good mother, but she’s not that terrible.”

His jaw tightened, and I had a feeling it would take a while before he’d relax his vigilance.

“I guess this means we don’t have to keep hiding at your parents’ house.” I started pulling the food out of the grocery bags and putting it back in the fridge. “Although I think Nate might be disappointed. He likes it there.”

When Reese didn’t say anything, I shut the fridge and glanced at him. His brow was furrowed, his eyes on the floor.