“I don’t think so. I go through my lawyers for that, not you.” The last thing I want is for Brandon and Axel to be around each other. I had a few pictures of Axel when Brandon and I first started dating. He might look different now, but it wouldn’t take Brandon much to realize who he was, and that would not end well.
“We’ll see, Izzy. Leave it alone for now.” He gives me another hard look before brushing me off and looking back over to the group standing in the kitchen. “Greg, tell me about the set-up at her house.”
“Full system with every upgrade. There is no getting into her house without her wanting you there . . . when she sets the damn thing.” The last part is said with its usual frustration over me never remembering to set the alarm when I am home.
“Damn it, look at me, Izzy.” I look back into his eyes. “I’m going to let that slide, for now, and only because this shit just started, but from now on, you set it. When you leave, when you come, when you are there, it is fully armed. No questions.”
“Whatever . . .” I mumble. I know he’s right. Doesn’t mean I have to be nice about it.
The conversation continues around me. Axel dishes out more duties and they talk about the next step in getting Brandon out of my life. It seems to be agreed upon that I need to push stronger on the divorce and see if that can’t end the connection. I have been pushing as strongly as I can, so that gets tossed out quickly. Finally, Axel says that someone needs to personally go talk to Brandon about signing.
“No, not happening,” I say, cutting off Beck, who is about to reply to Axel. “Let the lawyers handle this. I’m not asking for anything. The only thing I need is for him to sign.”
“Baby girl, he hasn’t signed in six months. What makes you think he will just automatically wake up in the morning and sign?” Greg asks.
“Shut up, Greg,” I spit back at him.
He flinches but recovers quickly.
“I’m serious, Axel. You are not going to talk to him.” I hold his eyes until he breaks contact and looks over at Maddox.
“Fine,” he spits out before looking over at Maddox. “Book a flight and go visit this asshole. Get the fucking signature. Whatever you need to do, and take Coop with you.” He looks back at me and, with an arrogant tone, asks, “Is that okay with you, Princess?”
“I hate you,” I spit back at him, earning me a laugh.
God, this is going to be a nightmare.
I look over at Dee and motion her over. Time to find out why she is here.
“Well . . . spill,” I whisper in her ear.
“Nothing to spill,” she says with a bright blush sparkling her cheeks. “Beck and I had some fun last night. No big deal.”
I knew it! “Oh, we will be talking about this later. I can’t believe you, Dee! Do you even know anything about him?”
“Come on, Iz. It was just some fun—not going to happen again. He is one of those anti-relationship men. Fine by me. I was just looking to let out some stress anyway. And you need to let up on these guys. They aren’t the enemy, Izzy. Please let them do their jobs.” She lets out a huff of exasperation before walking back over to the group and throwing in some suggestions.
What in the hell is going on?
CHAPTER 12
It’s been a little over two months since Axel barged in on me at the tattoo parlor. Two months of his constant hovering and throwing his demanding bullshit in my face. I am sick of it; he’s been annoying me every single day. Nothing else has happened with Brandon, and the biggest shock of all was getting a call Friday morning telling me that he signed. I am officially a divorced woman.
Finally.
Maddox and Zeke, or ‘Locke and Coop’ if you ask the men, went back to visit Brandon Monday. They came back and said that they had no issues and Brandon seemed nice enough, agreeing he needed to sign the papers. Agreeing? What a joke. I don’t know what they did to push this along, but I am thrilled it is over.
Maddox and Beck have become pretty permanent fixtures at Dee’s and my house. Beck is there for obvious reasons, and they all start and end with Dee. Little hussy. Maddox and I have struck up an odd friendship. I can tell he doesn’t let people in often, but for some reason he chose to let me past his stoic exterior. For whatever reason, he seems to need the friendship as much as I do. I am starting to learn all his moods, and he can tell right when I need a good calm-down. Bottom line, he is a good friend and a wonderful distraction. Plus, having him around as the ‘protector’ is the perfect excuse for why I don’t need Axel around.