“You’re not going to tell her anything. You’re going to leave right now and get the hell out of town. And you can send me any information you have on who wants my baby sister kidnapped.” There was a wealth of protectiveness in his words.
Axel approved of Brooks’s attitude. Hadley should be protected. He didn’t want to leave but the other man was right. He wouldn’t actually be leaving town until he knew she was safe, but he would stay away from her. “I set up multiple cameras around the perimeter of her place. I can send you the login so you can monitor her. And I can send you the information on the two dead men. But I…I’m not leaving until I know she’s safe. Unless you’re planning on going to the cops, you can use me to track down who wants her kidnapped. Or to keep her safe. Whatever.”
Brooks snorted at the very idea of getting law enforcement involved. “No cops. So…that was you at the school?”
“Yeah… Why doesn’t your father have her in a better place? Somewhere with more security?” Because their family was loaded. And it pissed Axel off that she wasn’t in some ivory tower with armed guards and a hell of a lot better security than she had.
“Are you kidding? She insists on paying for herself if we go out to lunch. She’s so stubborn.” His expression softened for just a second. Then Brooks’s gaze traveled past him for a fraction of a moment and Axel turned to see Skye walking toward the front door.
There was no way the woman could see past the tinted windows of the truck, not when it was this late, but she still saluted him with her middle finger before rushing up the stairs. “What’s she doing here?”
“When she sent me the information on the man who was hanging around Hadley, I got here as soon as I could. I was your distraction while Skye did recon to see if you’d brought anyone with you. And we’ll take care of things from here. Now send me what you’ve got and get the hell out of town.”
Axel didn’t say anything as Brooks got out of his truck and slammed the door.
Leaning back against the seat, Axel watched the other man step inside Hadley’s house. He should leave, he really should. But first, he grabbed the Chinese food and headed to her front door. Putting it on the front stoop, he turned to leave and the door swung open. Hadley stood there, her expression confused and hurt.
Seeing the hurt on her face…she might as well have slapped him.
“Was our first meeting planned? Or was it accidental?” she blurted. Behind her, Skye and Brooks stood there, clearly pissed.
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “The whole coffee-spilling thing was accidental, but meeting you, yeah, that was definitely planned.” Of course he hadn’t planned to fall for her.
Her eyes were full of accusation as she stared up at him. “Was anything we shared real?”
He blinked at her question. “Yes. Everything we shared was real. I didn’t lie about my name or any of the other stuff I told you. Except…what I do for a living.”
Behind her, Skye cleared her throat. “Just bring the food in and get inside.” She gently took Hadley’s upper arm and tugged her back as Axel stepped inside with the food. He handed it to Brooks, which just seemed to annoy the man even more.
Without taking his eyes off Axel, Brooks set the food down on the small foyer table. Axel had eyes only for Hadley.
“So why are you here, really?” she asked, her arms wrapped around herself. Wearing jeans and a button-down flannel shirt and her hair pulled up in a ponytail with no makeup, this was the college girl he’d seen from the original file on her. This was the innocent-looking woman he’d had to come meet in person because there was no way in hell she should have been targeted for anything.
“My name is Axel O’Sullivan. Like I said, I didn’t lie about that. I used to work for the FBI. Now…” He drew in a breath, steeled himself for her reaction. Because it wasn’t going to be pretty. “I kill people for a living.”
Chapter 10
—One day or day one.—
Hadley blinked at his harsh words, sucking in a sharp breath. Yep, her reaction was exactly as he’d predicted. Exactly as Axel deserved. He’d known that his time with her was limited, but it didn’t lessen the sting any. Not when she was everything he’d ever wanted. Even if he hadn’t known it until he’d met her.
“Seriously? You’re skipping over all the details?” Skye asked. “Come on, everyone let’s do this in the kitchen. The food smells good and I’m freaking starving. And you are going to tell her more. Because I read your file and it’s interesting. So you don’t get to tell her that you’re some jackass assassin without giving her all the details.”
Having no choice, Axel followed, and tried not to feel like he was going to his execution. He hadn’t planned on telling Hadley anything else because it would’ve sounded like an excuse, as if he was trying to justify what he did for a living. And he didn’t want to do that. Because he wouldn’t try to justify it. He’d made choices and he lived with them. Even if he was alone.
Inside the kitchen, Hadley was the only one who sat at the small island countertop while Skye started pulling takeout boxes from the bags.
“The orange chicken is Hadley’s,” he said, looking at Skye.
Skye gave him a curious look but simply nodded as she started grabbing plates. Brooks didn’t do anything other than hover near him, looking angry. Not that he was scared of the other man. No, the only person he was scared of was the gorgeous young woman sitting right in front of him.
“So you…kill people?” Hadley’s voice shook slightly.
“He killed two men who wanted to kidnap you. Probably do worse than that to you. We had someone run the blood of one of the guys he killed and he was not a good man. He’d have definitely hurt you.” Skye’s words were so matter-of-fact that everyone turned to stare at her. She lifted a shoulder. “Not the most noble profession but he did protect you.”
Axel blinked at her words. He wasn’t even sure how the woman knew what he’d told Brooks earlier until he saw the small earpiece in Brooks’s ear. Damn it, of course that was how they were communicating. Which no doubt meant there were more people outside. Probably putting a tracker or some bullshit on his truck. So he had to ditch the truck soon. And damn it, he should have just burned that car. It had to be how they’d gotten a blood sample of one of the dead hitters.
Skye picked up a potsticker. “Tell me I’m wrong,” she said when he didn’t respond.
He looked at Hadley, saw a trace of fear in her gaze and simply said, “Both men wanted to kidnap you.”
“Are you the bearded guy from school?”
He nodded.
“Thank you for what you did.” Her softly spoken words surprised him.
“You don’t ever have to thank me for anything.” Definitely not for what he’d done.
“So are you going to tell her why you quit the FBI?” Skye asked, pushing a plate of food in front of Hadley.
Hadley barely glanced at it before her gaze fixed back on Axel.
“Difference of opinion on how procedures should be handled.” And that was all she needed to know.
Skye rolled her eyes, exasperated. “Fine, I’ll tell her.”
“Damn it, Skye, just leave it alone,” Brooks snapped. “So he can just leave. It doesn’t matter what his reasons were. He doesn’t belong here and he’s not welcome.”
Skye looked at him, her head tilting slightly to the side. “Really? He saved Hadley. Of all people, you’re gonna judge him? Because you and I have no room to judge anyone when it comes to—”
Brooks cut her off with a sharp shake of his head.
“So,” Skye continued, turning away from Brooks to face Axel, “from what I gather, you discovered that one of the top men in a criminal organization your team was trying to bring down was a serial rapist and murderer.”
“How—”