Destroy For Her - R.B. Hilliard Page 0,25

still wants you. And you know what? I think you want her too.”

“Em—”

“No! This,” she pointed to The Cave, “is sooo not me. I’m a hairdresser, not a biker chick. I wouldn’t know how to be one if I tried. I don’t fit in here, and honestly, I’m not sure I even want to. Now, would you please take me home?”

Ax shook his head. Whatever. He was done trying to reason with her. Reaching past her, he opened the door and waited for her to get in.

On the drive to her house, he thought about what she’d said. By the time he pulled into her driveway, he was ticked. She wasn’t planning on talking to him. She’d heard them talking, made assumptions, then jumped to conclusions, and decided she was through with him. Whether she was right or not was irrelevant.

Shifting the truck into park, he turned to find her staring out the window. “You were looking for an excuse to end it, weren’t you?”

She slowly turned to face him. “I thought I wanted something different, to take a walk on the wild side.” She laughed. “The wild side isn’t for me, and whether you admit it or not, I’m not the one for you. Your world makes me uncomfortable. When I saw the way she looked at you, like you were her reason for existing, I knew it would never work between us.”

Temper flaring, he snapped, “Christ, woman, what do you want me to say? Did I care for her? Yes. Were we fucking each other? No. Are we fucking each other now? No. I didn’t lie, and I sure as hell didn’t cheat, so what gives?”

She thought about it for a moment, then said, “I was once where you are now. I had a guy who loved me—who, deep down, I loved too—but because he’d been married to my best friend, I convinced myself I couldn’t have him. You know what happened? He moved on. Now, he’s remarried and has a baby on the way.” She wrenched open the door and slid from the truck. “A word of advice? Don’t do what I did. I’m sorry, Ax. Take care of yourself.” She closed the door, and he watched her walk away.

He felt winded—like he’d been in a brawl and had gotten his ass kicked. He waited until Emma was safe inside before pulling away from the curb. He considered heading back to The Cave but felt the need to regroup. A few beers and a good night’s sleep sounded good right now. He could deal with Emma later.

His phone rang about a mile or so from his house. When he saw Lucy’s name on the screen, he sent it to voicemail. Fuck Lucy and her big mouth. She was the reason he was in this mess in the first place. It rang a second time as he pulled into his driveway.

He almost sent it to voicemail again, but then thought of Sage, and decided to answer it. “What?”

“Where are you?” Lucy asked.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Sage has lost it. I’m not kidding. She just tried to convince me to raise Petal while she runs back to Carlos. I got mad and told her she was an idiot. Fair warning, she plans on hitting you up next.” She was talking so fast he barely heard what she was saying.

“Whoa, I need you to slow down and start from the beginning.”

“Okay, sorry.” She took a deep breath. “We talked yesterday afternoon, and I meant to tell her about Emma, but then work picked up, and I didn’t get a chance. She was blindsided, Ax, and I felt so bad. She wanted to go to her room, and I wanted her to stay upstairs. One minute she was crying about you, and the next, she was spouting shit about Carlos coming after her and how she needed to keep him away from Petal and the club. She’s got some harebrained idea in her head that if you and I agree to raise Petal, she’ll go back to Carlos, and life will be hunky-dory again. It’s bullshit, and she’s insane if she thinks I’d ever let that happen!”

He stared at the dash lights, wondering how in the hell he’d gotten to this place. Emma had hit the nail on the head. He’d convinced himself that he couldn’t have Sage, and it nearly killed him when she moved on. Now, for whatever reason, she was back. He’d already let her go once; he wasn’t about