“Shit,” he hisses, panic taking over his carefree fake bullshit.
“And by shit, I hope to fuck that means you must have misplaced your fucking brain and common sense? Do you not think that would be something, I don’t know, the person signing your goddamn checks to investigate that bastard should know?” My raised voice must have alerted Axel that shit is going down. Before I can even finish speaking, he is walking in, shutting the door, and taking a seat across from me.
“Look, Cage. Man, I didn’t think it was a big deal. The kid was fine. It sucks about his parents, but he went to the chick’s mom. It was all good.”
The growl that erupts from my throat is feral enough to scare any motherfucker. “That kid has a name, asshole. You better fucking send me full case files. Today. I don’t give a fucking shit if you have to rent a goddamn bike and pedal you ass over here. One hour. I want everything you didn’t fucking share with me a year ago!” Slamming the phone down should give me some satisfaction, but the rage boiling inside me just keeps heating up.
“You want to talk about it?” Axel questions.
“You want to tell me why the hell you’re here when you should be at home with your bride?” Changing the subject seems wise with the amount of anger I’m dealing with.
“You try staying at home when you are attacked every two seconds! That woman is insatiable. Never thought I would need a break, but my dick is tired man.”
“Jesus Christ, jackass. Can you not talk about that shit with me?”
“You asked.” He laughed.
“The fuck I did. I asked why you’re here, not why your dick isn’t working.”
“Right, enough about my wife. Want to tell me now what that was all about?” All the humor leaves his face. I can tell he is worried.
“You know Izzy’s friend, the nurse at Nate’s doctor’s place?”
“Yeah, what about her?” He questions, looking at me as if I did something wrong. “Jesus, tell me you haven’t made her your new plaything.”
“Do not fucking call her a plaything,” I growl at him. His eyes narrow at my tone and I would laugh if I weren’t still heated over the plaything comment.
“Okay. You want to explain that shit? I’ve never seen you two seconds from pissing all over the place to mark your territory.” He lets out a laugh and holds his hands up.
Do I really want to get into this with Axel? Sure, out of the five of us, he would be the one with the experience to tell me what I need to do, but having him know what a whipped bitch I am over one chick I just met is something different.
“Nothing to tell, yet.”
“And ‘yet’ means you took her home with you after the wedding. Let me guess. Spent the weekend together. Decided you want to run off into the fucking sunset and have little dogs that yap at the mailman. Maybe if you’re lucky, find a bowling league that meets every Friday. What the fuck man, this timid shit isn’t like you.”
“Fuck you, asshole!” I chunk an unopened pack of computer paper and laugh when it knocks him in the head. “You deserved that.”
“What the fuck ever. Izzy is going to have your ass for messing with my perfection.” He throws the package back on the desk and gives me one of his silent ‘you better start talking’ looks. Jesus Christ. He’s about to go all Dr. Phil. “What’s going on, G? You’ve been around but silent ever since Nate was born. I know something happened with that motherfucker your sister was married to, but you never wanted to talk. So . . . now you’re going to.”
“Would you like me to go put my fucking vagina on for this talk?” Sarcasm is dripping from my words. I need to hash this out, but fuck, this is awkward. Not many people know the details on Grace. Well, I should say the ‘after’ Grace. Axel told me over and over to let it go, to live the life Grace would want for me . . . but I can’t. I need to see Simon brought to justice. He didn’t get the justice I would have chosen, but I’m crying into my milk and cookies that he is rotting in hell either.
“No need to be an asshole, Greg. Just want to know how I can help.” He leans back in the chair, and I can tell he means it. Axel would catch hell from Izzy for not helping me, but more importantly, he is family. And family helps family.