Defending Bridget - P.J. Fiala Page 0,50

Bridget looked at the women gathered and was impressed and awed by them. Of course, Jax was missing, having just had twins, she was resting at home with her mother, Pilar, helping out. Aidyn was sitting between Bridget and Sophie, staring at Tate. He was mesmerized by Tate. Then he'd look over and stare at Shelby sleeping in Megan's arms and watch her for a while, then turn to look at Tate again. After a half hour he said he was bored so Vivian took him upstairs to play games for a little while.

A few minutes later, Axel appeared in the doorway and searched the room for Aidyn. His brows furrowed but before he could ask she said, "My mom took him upstairs. He was bored."

His shoulders visibly relaxed then his eyes bored into hers.

"I need you to come downstairs, Bridget."

"Is everything alright?"

"I'll explain everything downstairs."

The look of worry on his face scared the crap out of her and as she stood her knees threatened to shake uncontrollably.

Sophie looked at her. "We're all right here if you need anything."

The other women nodded, and she swallowed and mumbled, "Thank you."

Bridget tried practicing calming breathing as she walked beside Axel down the hallway and to the elevator. She knew there was a floor one, but she'd never have guessed this was it. The doors looked exactly like the rest of the doors in the home. Stepping inside she blew out a breath.

"You're scaring me."

"I'm not trying to, Bridget. I'm not at liberty to share this information with you until we are in the conference room."

"Okay."

He reached over and took her hand in his and squeezed and she almost cried. What she wouldn't give for an honest to goodness hug right now. It had been so long. Aidyn hugged her, of course, and so did her mom, but Axel’s would be different, his smell, the feel of his body next to hers, the deep timber of his voice as he whispered in her ear, his strength. All of it. She wanted a hug.

It was as if he was thinking the same thing ‘cause he half turned to face her and she did the same thing. He bent slightly and pulled her in his arms and wrapped them tightly around her and she came undone.

The tears came at blinding speed as she wrapped her arms as tightly as she could around his shoulders. His arms squeezed her tighter and it was as if a wound was being healed. Hundreds of thousands of times she'd thought of him over the years. Every time Aidyn laughed he looked like his father. Every time Aidyn said, "I'm hungry." she thought of Axel, actually, Robert, but him. Even after she found out he was in prison, she wondered why and if he'd get out and look her up. She'd forgotten she hadn’t given him her name, her last name. All this time she'd hoped to see him again, not even remembering he wouldn't know how to find her.

Right now, with his arms wrapped around her, he stood and lifted her feet off the floor and the feeling was akin to what she though heaven would be like.

He whispered in her ear, "It's going to be alright. I'm here for you and Aidyn and we'll get through all of this. Then, we'll figure out what we do from here, okay?"

All she could do was nod against his head so he knew she heard, but she couldn't speak right now. Not without sounding like a blabbering fool. She sniffed as the elevator slowed its decent. Axel squeezed her one more time then let her slide down his body. She took a step back and looked into his eyes. He swiped under her eyes with his thumbs and smiled softly.

"I'm here, okay?"

"Yeah." She huffed out a breath and let it out slowly.

Inhaling she turned to the doors as they opened, and Axel waited for her to step out into the hallway before stepping out. He pointed down the hall and began walking toward the door with the frosted glass door, lit from the inside.

Reaching the door, he opened it and stood back, allowing her to enter first. There she saw the male members of GHOST, except for Dodge. Everyone else was present and nodded at her as she entered.

Gaige spoke first and he pointed to a chair to his left, "Take a seat, Bridget."

Axel pulled out her chair and she sat, her back stiff, her emotions teetering on the edge and