Page 49 of All's Fair in Love & Wrath

Axel doesn’t see me like that, though. Like they said, he’s got those caretaker tendencies. Maybe he has a savior complex,and I’m just the damsel in distress. I gnaw on my bottom lip as I contemplate everything, even while my heart is pounding in my chest and my stomach feels like it’s caged a bunch of wild butterflies that are desperate to get out.

“What movie should we watch? Axel even got nail polish, babe. In like twenty different colors because he didn’t know what you’d like,” Kinsey tells me, picking up a box and shaking it.

“Reminds me of Camden. We have a real fucked-up history, but he made this huge picnic for me up on the hill out in the field, under a gorgeous tree. He didn’t know what I liked, so he got two of everything so I could try it all,” Saige laughs, shaking her head.

“And Rhys, he figured out what I liked pretty quick. I was engaged when we met, and he became my friend first, but he’d always bring me my favorite drink and breakfast. Now he still does it, except he likes to hand-feed me.”

“That’s really sweet!” Monroe coos. “Crew leaves me daisies. Literally everywhere. And he watches me. I still can’t find how he’s doing it, but I can feel it.”

“He watches you?” I repeat, my eyebrows shooting up to my forehead.

The girls laugh. “Crew is a little rough around the edges, but I love him. Pretty sure he has hidden cameras throughout my house and my work.”

My god, that seems like a huge invasion of privacy. “That doesn’t bother you?”

“Oh, no. I actually like it?” she says, clearly unsure if we’ll understand. I don’t want her to be uncomfortable, so I jump in, especially after realizing it’s clearly their thing.

“I think that’s amazing. He must be pretty obsessed with you,” I tell her honestly. If she’s giving consent, and they’re both happy, no one should judge her.

“Oh, he is,” Morgan adds for her. “Jesse was very similar to Crew. I guess he saw that they were cut from the same cloth. He met me at a party. I came here with a bunch of friends looking for some dangerous fun,” she says with an eye roll. “Jesse took one look at me and said, ‘That one’s mine.’ I never left.” Morgan bats a tear away, and my heart caves in on itself for her. Cain took him from her. Took my parents. My innocence. My life. He needs to die. The thought comes hard and fast and settles into my bones. I’ve understood death since I was a kid. I know my dad’s club did dangerous things to bad people, and I remember the first time Maddox came home after he killed a man for the first time. But even after everything I went through, I never had the thought of wishing death on him. Not until now.

Morgan shakes her head, straightening out her shoulders. She wears her armor well, putting it in place to function throughout the day. I hope she takes time to let herself process and feel. “What about you, Kinsey?”

“Reid? God, what doesn’t he do? But something that sticks out is him tattooing me. I let him have full control over the design, and he chose to do a gladiolus, which means little fighter. My nickname.” Kinsey blushes, recounting the memory.

Each of them seems so incredibly happy, so comfortable in their own skin. All of this is messing with my head. Their men did all those things because they love them. They’re all together and happy. Axel and I just . . . well, I don’t know exactly what we are. Friends? It’s certainly not more than that. He did this huge gesture because he cares, I just can’t explain why.

But for the sake of my heart, I need to convince myself it’s the savior complex and not me. I’m no one special.

Chapter Seventeen

AXEL

When Sienna returns to the bedroom, I’m eager as fuck to see her. I’ve never been desperate for anything until she walked into my life. Now I’m consumed with the thought of her, with wanting to get my eyes on her pretty face, with hearing her voice, with feeding her and making sure she feels safe. For thirty-two years, all I ever had to think about was myself and this club. Now I have this angel who appeared out of nowhere, when I least expected it, and settled right in the center of my universe. Everything rotates around her. I’ve been sucked into her orbit, and I never want to leave.

Fuck everything that came before us.

All that matters is right now, while we have it.

She walks into the room, her bottom lip trapped between her teeth, looking lost in her head. My heart falls. My hope for tonight was to help get her out of her head, clear her mind, and give her a reprieve from the constant state of fight or flight. Heavy on the flight.

“Hey. How was your night?”

She looks up at me and startles, like she forgot I’d be in here. Then she softens, her shoulders visibly relaxing, the expression on her face gentler than before. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but she looks relieved to see me.

“They’re really nice. I see why all the men love them. We only got through one movie because we were talking the whole time. I’ve never had that before, and it was good. Tonight was good, Axel. Thank you so much.”

I take a chance by walking into her space, stopping just a few inches away. She has to arch her neck to look up at me, her pretty blues so endless and open. On instinct, I reach out, gently rubbing my hands up the outsides of her arms from wrist to shoulder and back down again. Her eyes flutter closed for a brief moment as if she’s soaking in the touch. Jesus, has she not had any physical affection? I would understand it, especially after everything she’s been through. But humans need physical contact, and it seems Sienna has been depleted for way too fucking long.

Her mind is telling her that touch is wrong, but her body is screaming out to me.

When she opens her eyes, they’re glossy, her chest rising and falling harder now. My heart is pounding behind my ribcage, a relentless fucker, like I’m not giving him exactly what he wants right now. I’ve got to take this slow for her. Restraint I’ve never needed to use before when it comes to physical touch.

On my next pass, I don’t stop at her shoulders; I curve over them, cupping her neck with both palms, scratching my fingers delicately into the hair at the base of her neck. Sienna sways, but she doesn’t look away. Her eyes look up at me, silently pleading, saying everything her words can’t.

I’ve got you, baby.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, Sienna,” I whisper. Shefrowns, a heartbreaking, self-loathing expression. Then, like I had imagined it, the moment between us is gone. Sienna takes a large step away from me, her arms wrapping around herself, shoulders slumping forward.