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I glanced at Axel. He had his arms crossed, one shoulder against the door frame, his gaze steady.We protect our own.I wasn’t actually dating Axel and yet somehow, I had already become part of his family anyway.
Alexandra gestured to the bags on the table and crowded on the floor.
“You still haven’t told me what kind of statement you’re making tonight, Beth. Do you want to look like a sweet, innocent angel in the arms of the devil? You could pull that off easily.”
She swept a lock of hair off my shoulder. It felt like Alexandra was my older and wiser sister who I could turn to for anything and everything. I’d always wanted a sibling.
Axel was quiet. I expected him to make a comment of his own and tell me what I should wear. But he didn’t say anything. This was my decision to make.
“I want to look untouchable,” I said. “Only someone like Axel is brave enough to put his hands on me.”
A knowing smile spread across Alexandra’s face. She scooped two bags off the table and passed them to me.
“Try these on and let me know what you think. The bathroom is down the hall and to your left.”
Chapter Six
Axel
For the next hour or two, Beth and Alexandra’s voices drifted down the hall from the bathroom, occasionally punctuated by laughter. One time, I attempted to nonchalantly wander by the door for a peek at their progress. Alexandra shooed me away, threatening me with a tube of violently red lipstick.
Inviting Alexandra onto the scene only seemed practical to me. Before she met Brewer, she’d spent a stretch of time on the run from a sadistic ex-fiancé. If anyone would understand Beth’s situation, it would be Alexandra.
But the look of hurt and betrayal on Beth’s face had put me on my heels. Did she really think I would rat her out and ruin our plans? Even after our conversation at the diner when I explained why I chose to help her?
I took a seat in the living room, getting comfortable as I waited. Maybe Beth’s trust in people was more fragile than I’d originally thought. I had to be extra careful with her from here on out.
“Where’s Axel? He needs to take a look at you.”
The sound of Alexandra’s voice pulled me back to the present. Just as I rose to my feet and turned around, I was greeted with Alexandra and Beth standing on the living room threshold.
I barely recognized Beth. She wore a cherry red corset top trimmed in black lace, tied tight across her back until her breasts were perfectly mounded. Her pants were black leather, with laces all the way down the side of her legs, showing skin from hip to ankle. Her beautiful blue eyes were rimmed in shockingly black kohl and her silky blonde hair was pulled back sharply into a high ponytail mohawk. Along one arm scrolled elaborate, delicate Henna ink, swirling from her wrist up to her shoulder.
Beth cocked her hip with that same familiar shy smile I was beginning to know so well.
“What do you think?”
I blew out a breath of surprise, lost for words. Alexandra hummed with satisfaction.
“I’d say he’s speechless,” she said in a loud whisper.
***
I kept a firm grip on Beth’s hand as we stepped into the crowded bar. On any other Saturday night, I would have been at the Alpha Riders clubhouse with my brothers. Not forging a path through a sea of bodies. The booze was better at the clubhouse anyway. So was the company.
But this was about Beth and breaking the suffocating mold she’d been locked into for her entire life. Not my comfort.
There was nowhere to sit—every chair and booth was occupied, which left standing room only. It didn’t really matter. We wouldn’t be sitting anyway. Turning to face Beth, I looped an arm around her middle, resting my hand on her lower back in an attempt to protect her from the press of people.
The music was so loud that I had to bend toward her, my lips practically brushing her ear when I spoke. At my apartment, Alexandra had taken a picture of us together—the rebel couple, ready for a night out on the town. Beth had posted it to social media before we left and she hadn’t stopped checking her phone ever since.
Gently, I slid Beth’s phone away and dropped it in her purse.
“I’m going to grab us some drinks to get started, all right?”
She nodded but she still looked overwhelmed, her gaze darting over the surrounding crowd. After ordering a shot of whiskey each, I watched as Beth tossed it back and grimaced, her face flushing bright red.
“Whoa,” she croaked. “Thatburns.”
