with you until you get your shit together,” Ink offered.
“I can’t right now,” Ax barely managed to choke out.
Ink sighed. “I get it. If that were my woman in there looking like that, I would want to kill someone, too. Hell, it’s not my woman, and I still want to kill the fucker who did that to her.”
Ax shook his head. “She’s not my woman.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, brother. She’s always been your woman; you’re just too bullheaded to admit it.” Before Ax could deny it, Ink repeated, “Breakfast is on the table,” then disappeared out the door.
Once he could breathe without feeling as if his chest was caving in, he made his way back across the lawn and into the house. He found Steele, Sage, Petal, Ink, and a glowering Sledge all seated around the kitchen table.
It had recently been brought to the club’s attention that Sledge—a fellow member and close friend of Ax’s—was up to his eyeballs in debt. Ax knew things were bad as Sledge had a habit of spending beyond his means. That, and the fucker wouldn’t tell his shopaholic bitch of a wife no. Ax tried to warn him, but he wouldn’t listen. When Steele found out, he offered Sledge a bailout on the condition that Sledge gets his house in order. Apparently, that didn’t go so well for Sledge because he was now spending his nights at The Cave.
Petal spotted Ax standing in the doorway. “Alex! I saved you a seat!” she shouted. All eyes came to him. Of course, the seat had to be smack between Petal and Sage.
He approached the table and stroked his hand across Petal’s hair. “Thanks, Sweet Pea.”
Steele shot him a look. “I was just explaining to Sage how we thought it was best that she and Petal stay here for now.”
Ax responded with a grunt and took his seat.
Montana placed a platter filled with pancakes and bacon in the center of the table, and they all dug in.
“Does Lucy know you’re back?” Ink asked through a mouthful of food.
“Not yet. I-uh-haven’t had a chance to call her,” Sage told him. A moment passed before she added, “I-uh- don’t exactly have a phone.” The table stilled, all except for Petal, who was too busy eating to pay attention to the conversation.
“What do you mean you don’t have a phone?” he asked.
Sage’s eyes sliced to him before dropping to her plate. “Carlos took it,” she mumbled.
“Carlos got really mad when Mommy called Aunt Lucy,” Petal chimed in.
Ax caught Steele’s eye. Steele’s jaw tensed as he jerked his phone from his pocket and started dialing.
“You left that part out,” Ax murmured in Sage’s ear.
“How soon can you be at The Cave?” Steele asked. “Great, make sure you bring Lucy.” He disconnected the call, and announced, “Lucy’s on her way over. Now, what, besides a phone, do you need, Darlin’?”
Ax watched as Sage’s face turned three shades of red. “Everything,” she said in a whisper-quiet voice.
“What was that?” Steele asked.
Sage cleared her throat before repeating, “We need everything.”
“What about all your stuff?” Ink asked.
“We left it in Mexico,” Sage told him. Ax stared at his plate while trying not to choke on his rage. He’d already lost it once.
Steele nodded to the backpack hanging on the back of her chair. “Your purse in the bag?”
Sage looked like she wanted to crawl under the table. “No, Carlos took it when he took my phone.”
Ax’s jaw dropped. “Tell me you didn’t give that fucker access to your bank account.”
Sage’s flinch said it all. “I still have my driver’s license.”
“What were you thinking?!” Ax shouted, slamming his fists on the table.
Petal shot up from her chair and ran from the room.
“I’ll get her,” Steele offered.
Ax pushed back from the table. “No, let me.” Before Steele could stop him, he walked out of the room.
Chapter Seven
AX FOUND PETAL curled in one of the game room chairs staring out the window. The sad expression on her face made his chest hurt. How in the hell was he supposed to fix this?
Her head turned. The moment her pretty brown eyes landed on him, sadness switched to anger. “I hate Mexico, and I hate Carlos. I wish we would’ve never left because here is so much better.”
Ax was furious with Sage while at the same time sorry for her. She’d made a bad call and had paid dearly for it. She wasn’t the only one.
“Can I come in?”
Petal nodded, and he strolled across the room to where she was