Page 90 of Peaks and Promises

“Axel.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Summer.”

I nodded at her name tag. “I see that. Let me know when you’re done.”

She looked me up and down again. I could see it in her face. She’d already decided we were fucking later. “I will.”

Nope. Not a wasted trip after all.

I took a drag of my cigarette and blew smoke at the No Smoking sign tacked to the motel room wall. The beat-up armchair was scratchy on my bare ass, but I hadn’t bothered to get dressed yet. Summer lay sprawled out on the bed, passed out. She’d been okay. Nothing to get excited about.

With a soft murmur, she shifted, pulling the sheet over herself before settling back down. My eyes narrowed in a glare. She was looking too comfortable.

And too much like the other Summer.

The coal of anger in my gut flared hot. I’d ridden all that way for a mediocre fuck with a dumbass girl who thought she was staying the night?

What a waste of time. Summer had taken my kid, and I was no closer to finding them. And that seriously pissed me off.

Rage seared through my veins, making me itch for destruction.

I finished my cigarette and dropped the butt in my half-finished beer. I thought about waking the bitch in my bed, but I didn’t give a shit about her. Besides, if she was still there when I got back, I could just fuck her again. Mediocre or not, pussy was pussy.

I got up and tugged on my clothes.

Her eyes cracked open as I slipped on my vest. “What are you doing?”

“Going to get more beer.”

“Should I come?”

“No. Stay there.”

Tucking her hands beneath the pillow, she smiled and let out a contented sigh. “Okay. I’ll stay.”

My teeth ground together. That smile looked too much like the other Summer. It made me want to break a fucking window.

But if I trashed my own motel room, I risked bringing down heat on Mayhem. That was a bad idea.

The diner, however? No one would suspect me of burning it down.

And that was exactly what I was going to do. I couldn’t get retribution from Cutthroat for being wrong about the waitress. Or on Hammer for telling me. But someone had to pay. The fury raging inside me demanded satisfaction.

So the fucking diner would burn.

CHAPTER 20

Summer

The house smelled like new carpet and fresh paint. It was small—a cute bungalow with two bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and a garage that was just large enough to hold Reese’s big SUV.

I sat at the little four-person dining table with a cup of coffee. It was late afternoon, and I’d probably regret the caffeine when I tried to go to bed later. But my shift had started early that morning and I wanted the pick-me-up before Nate came home from spending the day with Marlene.

All the practicalities were coming together. What was left of our stuff from the old apartment had arrived. Most of my things needed replacing, but Reese had already bought new furniture and stocked the kitchen. His partner had taken care of my car, and I had an envelope full of cash to buy a new one.

Not new, obviously. But new to me.

We’d only been in Tilikum for a few weeks, but we had a safe—and adorable—place to live, I had a job, Nate would start school in the fall, and Reese’s family had stepped in as an amazing support system. It was a level of stability, and community, I’d never had before. If it hadn’t been for the lingering worry that Axel would find us, I might have said things were darn near perfect.