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"Interesting." I love a girl that's confident in what she wants and can take it. "Just Johnny for you?"
Claire holds her hand over her heart. “He’s more than I ever could have asked for.”
I wonder what it’s like, to bethatin love. Just the shift in her tone when she talks about him is enough to show how much he means to her. And after what I heard they went through, I can only imagine how strong their connection is.
“I’m happy for you,” I tell her, because it’s the truth. It doesn’t take more than five minutes with Claire to see what kind of person she is.
She’s pure, genuine, kind.
She didn’t have to sit there and hear me out while I questioned her, and yet she did anyway, because she could tell I needed her in that moment. And here she is, making sure we stay in touch and bringing me into her friend group.
I hate that it brought our shared trauma to bring us together, but luckily there’s one silver lining to this whole situation.
“Listen, I have to go, but I want to thank you for this. Really. I’m sorry for rehashing the past.” I squeeze her forearm one last time.
“Don’t worry about me,” Claire tells me. “And hey, you’re going to make it through this.”
As much as I want to believe that I will, I’m not so sure. No matter how this plays out, I’m going to lose AxelandSavini. And then there’s the wildcard of if I lose my life.
I walk out of the diner and slam into a hard body.
“Fuck,” I blurt out.
Hands clasp my shoulders, steadying me. Wild eyes stare into mine. "Banks."
Axel pulls me into his arms, holding me so damn tight I can barely breathe.
I mumble into his chest and savor the warmth of his embrace.
"I was so fucking worried about you when you kept ignoring my calls." Axel lets go but keeps me at an arm's length to study me over. Through gritted teeth, he says, "Did he fucking do that?"
I touch the cuts on my neck. “It’s fine. I’m fine.” I blink up at him. “How did you know I was here?”
“When you didn’t answer, I got freaked out and had my buddy trace your phone.” He shakes his head. “Never mind that, what are you doing here? Are you crazy?” Axel glances behind me and into Bram’s diner. “Come on.” He weaves his hand through mine and tugs me away from the entrance.
Only, he doesn’t realize that he leads me exactly to where my brother was killed.
I tense up and let go of him, not stepping any further into the alley.
“Talk to me, tell me what’s going on.” Axel turns around to face me.
This is it, the moment where I spill everything and lose him. When he finds out the truth, will he kill me and leave me for dead in this alley the same way Jared died? Is he a murderer like Savini? Or just an errand boy like Jared was?
“I…” If I say nothing, I lose him, if I tell him what I’ve done, I’ll lose him, too. There’s no potential outcome where both of us don’t get hurt.
“Whatever it is, you don’t need to be afraid of me, Banks.” Axel tilts my face up at him. “I’m not the one who you should fear.”
A chill runs up my spine.
“Savini will kill you. I don’t know what you did to provoke him, but he’s on a rampage today. You need to leave town, lay low for a little while until things blow over.” Axel wipes a tear that rolls down my cheek. “I’ll protect you, I will. But you need to tell me what happened.”
I shake my head. “You won’t if I do.”
Axel grabs my hand and puts my pinkie in his. "I fucking promise. I'm not going to let him hurt you. No matter what."
I stare down at our interlocked fingers and slowly rock my head back and forth. “I’m not going to hold you to it.”
“Just tell me, please, you’re fucking killing me.” Axel runs his palm over his tattooed neck.
