AllFreeNovel
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Maybe the occasional ache in my leg is my penance, my reminder for the pain Ruiz feels every other day of the week.
It’s not even his fault, really… the rage he carries around with him ever since we were last in town.
The woman he loved is dead.
The woman I love is still alive, safe, and thriving.
Dating.
Fuck.
Reaching into my pocket and taking out my phone, I unlock the screen and scroll through my messenger chats. Not to find Hannah’s name. Not even Nicole’s.
Instead, I stop at the third important woman in my life and tap on her face. The screen goes black, then a beat after that, the line connects, and I get to see Juniper in real time.
“Uncle Axe!”
“Hi, Bug.” I set my phone on the table, propped up against my beer bottle, and start picking at my dinner. “How are you doing, beautiful? I miss you.”
“I miss you too.” She slides off the stool inside her mother’s kitchen and passes Preston. He’s practically her stepdaddy these days. “Mommy said I shouldn’t call you tonight, since you’re flying home tomorrow anyway.”
“Well, you didn’t call me. I called you.” I shovel a heap of food into my mouth and talk around the mess. “What’ve you been up to?”
She wanders into the front entrance of her house and plops onto the bottom stair, so I get a view of the staircase at her back. She’s so used to taking calls—recently, from me, and over the last couple of years, from her biological father—she’s accustomed to carrying her tablet off to find a pocket of privacy. “I stood up to my bully today.”
My eyes widen in surprise. “You did? Did you punch her in her stupid face?”
“Axel Feeney!” Nicole’s stern tone makes me smile. “I can hear you. Don’t teach my daughter bad things.”
“I didn’t punch anyone,” June sniggers. “But I stood up to her and told her to leave me alone.”
“You did?”
In my peripheral, I catch movement at the food hall door, so I turn my face for a beat and find Ruiz exiting with his tray and a three-quarters-full beer. Expecting him to turn left and go somewhere else, I frown and watch as he meanders to my table and sits on the other side.
“Uh…” Confused, I swallow and look him up and down. “Hang on a second, okay, Bug?” Then I meet his eyes. “What are you doing?”
He tips his beer back and sips. “Minding my business. You should try it sometime.”
“Sounds like a bully, Uncle Axe!” Juniper’s words, though serious, come out on an almost cheer. “Stand up to him.”
Ruiz’s eyes drop to the back of my phone, but his lips curl into a smirk.
“I’m taking a personal call here, Lieutenant.” I speak his rank, but my tone expresses anything but respect. “And as of an hour ago, I’m technically no longer part of the crew. So excuse me when I kindly invite you to fuck off.”
“Uncle Axel!” June admonishes. “Cussing is the lazy way to argue.”
“Shush.” I mute my call and look to Ruiz once more. “Get up. Please.”
“Nah, I’m good.” He settles in comfortably and begins eating. “But take your call. I kinda wanna hear her chatter about her day. It’s better than the shit they’re talking in there.”
I watch him. Stare into his eyes and search for the catch in his words. But when he only shrugs, and June waves on my screen, I narrow my eyes and unmute the call. “Bug…” I clear my throat and bring my gaze back to her. “I’m here. Calm down.”
“Did you scare that man away? He sounded mean.”
“Yeah.” I flick my gaze back up to his and scowl when he grins. “Bullies are cowards, and cowards run away when they’re confronted.”
He chuckles under his breath and tips his beer in my direction.
