Page 84 of Peaks and Promises

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, not my best day. I probably should have gotten stitches, but I let Josiah put some bandages on it so my mom wouldn’t see how bad it was. That’s why it scarred.”

She laughed. “You poor thing.”

“I lived.” I hesitated. I hated that I had more bad news. “That was my partner, Gunnar, on the phone.”

“Did he get into my apartment?”

“He did. Unfortunately, it looks like Axel got there first.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, no. What did he do?”

I pulled out my phone and showed her the pictures.

She covered her mouth with her hand. “If we’d been there…”

“You weren’t. We got you out in time.” I slipped my phone back in my pocket. “Gunnar is going to get some guys to pack up everything that isn’t ruined and get rid of the rest, if that’s okay with you.”

“That’s fine. I’m not sure what else he could do. I feel bad leaving all that mess to someone else, though.”

“Don’t worry about that. He’ll take care of it. If you want him to sell your car, he can take care of that, too. You could buy a new one here.”

“That works. I didn’t really like that car anyway.”

“He said he’s sorry he didn’t get your apartment cleaned out sooner. He had to finish up with another client first.”

She waved her hand. “He doesn’t need to be sorry. It’s Axel’s fault. Besides, he might have done that right after we left. Do you think he knows we’re gone?”

“It’s hard to tell. Gunnar will keep an eye out for him in case he’s still in town. But he might have gone back to Mayhem’s headquarters by now.”

“What am I going to tell Nate? He already hates Axel. He’s going to be furious.”

“Let him be angry. He should be. Axel’s a dick.”

“He is, but I know Nate. He doesn’t know how to deal with his anger.”

“Let me guess. He shoves it down until it eventually explodes and he punches a kid at recess?”

“Exactly. It’s not healthy, but I don’t know how to help him. He never wants to talk about it.”

“He doesn’t need to talk. He needs to get it out physically.”

She crossed her arms. “And since when are you the expert?”

“Since I knew a kid who was exactly like him.”

“One of your brothers?”

“Me.”

“What did you have to be angry about?” She tilted her head. “You grew up here.”

“I had a dad who walked out on me and my brothers. And a body that grew too fast. I had brothers who were strong and athletic, and I was the awkward chubby kid.”

“Sorry. I shouldn’t assume that just because your family’s nice, everything was sunshine and roses.”

“It’s fine. I realize I’m not a parent, so I have no idea what I’m doing—even as a fake stepdad. But I do know a little bit about what Nate’s going through.”