Havok: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance - Riley Rollins Page 0,103

her pulling the still-wet t-shirt over her head, sliding it down over her chest. She pulled it down quickly and slapped my arm. "Axl!"

I laughed. "Damn girl," I said. "That thing better dry out fast or I'm not gonna be able to think about anything else today." I stared at her nipples, outlined in the damp fabric.

"Enjoy it while it lasts, pervert," she said.

"Alright," I said, using all my willpower to pry my eyes away. "Seriously, though, we've gotta make our next move. And I know what it is."

"What?"

"Vargas. That fat guy back at the junkyard. Remember him?"

"Yes."

"This shit ain't gonna end 'til he's gone. History. He's a warmongering freak and the shit between our clubs is gonna get worse long as he's around."

"You're going to kill someone else?" said Holly. Her expression was one of worry.

I paused before answering. "Yeah. I got to."

"Isn't that just going to fan the flames?"

"Don't think so," I said. "All Reapers are shit, but their VP ain't as shitty as Vargas. Worked with him before, a practical guy, not a fuckin' maniac. Someone the Sons could work with. And from what I hear, he wouldn't pursue vengeance on the Sons if something happened to Vargas. Hates the guy himself, wants to take over the Reapers."

"And," I added, "Could be my only chance to get back in my club's good graces."

Holly frowned. I could tell she didn't like this at all. But it wasn't a choice. "Do more people really have to die?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "Yeah they do."

24

Holly

I didn't want any more violence and killing. All night, I'd had nightmares about yesterday. In my head, I kept going back and forth about what happened. Whether I'd been justified in what I did. Whether I'd be able to live with myself, knowing that I'd taken a person's life. Whether I'd have been able to live with myself if I hadn't done what I did.

I was conflicted, and I was more than a little afraid of what I was capable of.

This wasn't the direction I'd envisioned my life taking. And Axl was not the kind of man who would have fit into my old life.

But this was my new life and there was no going back. College, graduation, and my documentary, which were the most important things to me just a week before, now seemed a distant memory. When the Reapers had come after me in my own house, it changed everything.

Before that, I still could've somehow gone to the cops. But after Axl rescued me, going to the cops would've meant turning him in. And I couldn't make myself do it then.

Now it was too late even for that. Now, going to the cops would mean turning myself in as well.

I was in this deep. Way too deep to think about getting out now. And against my own best interests, I was falling for Axl. I was changing. And I didn't know who—or what—I would to be when I came out the other side.

It scared me and I tried to fight it. I looked in his eyes, feeling the breeze pass over my damp t-shirt. It cooled my body, providing a much-needed respite from the heat.

"Axl," I said, "More death can't be the answer."

He shook his head. "You're wrong, doll. It is the answer."

"Why? Look where it's gotten us. Living out of a stolen car, in a crappy tent in the middle of the desert."

"Holly," he said, "It's either out here, or six feet under. I told you before. This life chose me, and it chose you too. Adapt or die."

"I can't stop thinking about yesterday," I confessed. "It's really bothering me. Like, a lot." I felt like I might cry, but I steeled myself and resolved not to let it happen in front of Axl.

He sighed. "Walk with me," he said, and reached out. I put my hand in his, and we started to walk around the perimeter of Devil's Canyon.

"Lemme tell you about the first time I killed a man," he said. It felt really weird to hear him say that. And even weirder to identify with it.

"I met the Sons when I was sixteen. Just got my license, and my foster dad got me a cheap Japanese dirtbike. Rode it everywhere. Loved that fuckin' thing. Anyway, I started hangin' out with other guys who rode bikes, and kept crossin' paths with Ryker and another young cat named Dash. Found out they were part of an MC—the Sons. They had a