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“You’re the fella Jane drools over, aren’t you? The one whose picture she has on the wall?”
Fantastic. Thanks for that, Axel. I was planning on tearing the photo down before Luke saw it.
“He’s the most successful programmer of all time. Having a photo of him on my wall is not weird.”
“You must be Axel.”
Luke walks casually over to him. Axel is used to people showing flickers of fear when he aims that ready-for-violence look at them, but Luke stands with his fists at his sides, his shoulders square, emanating nothing but confidence and power.
“What’s it to you?” Axel says, trying to sound tough, but the tremble in his voice gives him away.
“Let me tell you what’s going to happen,” Luke growls. “Jane’s going to pack her things. Then we’re going to leave. You won’t like what happens if you say or do anything disrespectful.”
Axel laughs, but it’s forced. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”
Luke ignores him, glancing at me. “Go on, Jane. I’ll wait out here with the tough guy.”
I move past them, Lily throwing me a confused expression. If Axel had never moved in, we could’ve talked about this as friends, but that opportunity ended the first time Axel trashed the place.
Walking into the bedroom, I carefully remove the photo of Luke from the wall, fold it, and put it in my pocket. Then I begin to pack.
CHAPTER FOUR
Luke
“Where are you taking her?” the woman asks, moving from foot to foot, glancing at Axel as if he’s going to start something.
“She’s qualified for an elite programming project,” I tell them, enjoying the look of disappointment and disgust on the jerk’s face. “It involves housing, which means she doesn’t have to put up with your bullshit anymore, Axel, is it?”
He thinks he’s so tough, with his bare arms, tattoos, and the flintiness in his eyes. I’m just waiting for him to do something, my body primed and ready. I’m more filled with fierce intent than I’ve ever been. It’s the feelings Jane triggers in me, combined with everything else.
“Careful,” Axel says.
“I’m curious. What happens if I’m not careful?”
He looks around as though for backup. I’ve got no doubt that he’d do something reckless if he had a few men ready to throw in with him. I hunger for it.
“Just… watch your mouth.”
“You threw a laptop at a woman half your size,” I snarl. “You could’ve seriously hurt her. You don’t tell me anything, you fucking worm.”
He surges toward me, then stops a few feet away when I don’t respond. I can tell he’s used to people flinching when he approaches them like this. I just stare.
“She’s not half my size, anyway.”
“Axel,” the woman says.
“What?” He grins at me. “You’ve seen her. Sure, height-wise, maybe, but in terms of overall mass…”
I walk right up to him, stopping when I’m staring him in the eye. He’s only a few inches shorter than me.
“You don’t say a goddamned word about her. Bullies. You think you can do anything you want.”
I’ve always hated them, ever since I was a kid. I wasn’t always this big.
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll lay you on your back.”
Axel snaps and lashes his hand out. Good. I take the punch across the face, moving with the momentum so I don’t experience the full force of the impact.
He swings again. I duck, then drive into his body with a fierce kidney shot. He coughs and doubles over, and then I grab the back of his head in a clinch and bring my knee up to kiss his nose. He grunts and falls to the floor, gasping.
“Luke?” my woman yells from the doorway.
“It’s fine, Jane. Keep packing.”
Axel struggles to his feet, blood bursting from his nose. He raises his hand and tries to stop the flow.
“Broke… my… nose…”
“Should’ve taken your own advice and watched your mouth,” I tell him. “If you say another word about Jane, it’ll get worse.”
“I’ll call the cops!”
“You swung first,” I snap. “Don’t make me hurt you again.”
“Aargh!”
He throws himself at me, all wild hands and no technique. I weave to the side and sweep his legs. He falls again, collapsing onto the couch and rolling onto the floor, landing on his back with a thunk. A photo falls from the wall with the impact.
“Are you done?” I growl, kneeling next to him.
He claws at his face, nodding, sputtering, gasping.
“Yeah… that’s enough. Jesus, man, I was just…”
“No, you weren’t just doing anything. You thought you could get away with being a prick. You’re a bully, Axel. I’ve met your type before, more times than I can count. If I’d been smaller and hadn’t trained how to fight, instead of pretending, I knew how you’d keep insulting…”
My woman, I almost say.
“Jane. You owe her an apology.”
“Come on, man.”
“Before we leave, you’re going to apologize, or God help me, I’ll mess you up. I’ll choke you out and hit your kidney a few more times. You’ll likely be coughing up blood when you wake up.”
