Axel’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and he seemed genuinely taken aback by my reaction.
“You screwing the bitch? The fuckin’ bitch who witnessed the deal and no doubt squealed to the fuckin’ dean!”
Rearing back, I shot forward, bashing my forehead into Axel’s nose. Axel fell back, his hands cupped to his face, and I took the chance to jump to my feet. As my boots landed on the mud, my feet slipped in a puddle. My hands hit the dirty ground, and when I looked up, Gio had gotten to his feet and was marching toward Lexi, who was frozen in the doorway.
“NO!” I screamed and set to running, when Axel tackled me from behind, bringing us both to the mud.
“Gio, if you touch her, I’ll kill you!” I said as loud as I could manage under Axel’s heavy weight.
Gio glanced back at me and took his penknife from his pocket, a streak of lighting in the distance reflecting off its blade.
“No!” I tried to turn my head to Axel, but his elbow had me pinned. “Axe, get the fuck off me. He’s gonna hurt Pix!”
“Pix? What the fuck does that mean?” he spat into my ear.
“She’s my fuckin’ girl, you dick! She’s my girl! And if anything happens to her, I’ll fuckin’ put you in the ground, brother or not!” I threatened.
Axel stilled, and I could hear the rain pelting against the ground and Axel’s heavy breathing… that and the sudden screams from Lexi.
Snapping my head to face Pix, I roared out in frustration when Gio gripped her by her hair and dragged her into the flooding yard, forcing her to face my way. Tears were streaming down her face, but those tears soon dried when Gio ripped along the seam on the back of her loose sweater, pressing himself along her back, smiling in my direction. “She’s your girl, Austin? The bitch that saw my business at UA?”
I froze and, through gritted teeth, said, “So you did tell him about her, Axe? I told you I had it fuckin’ handled! I just hoped for once you wouldn’t be a bitch and tell Gio everything.” Axel didn’t say shit in response and the betrayal of my brother only seemed to fuel Gio more.
“Yeah, Aust. Axe here told me all about it. I told you if you touched me again, you’d pay for it. And it seems this ugly freak is your Achilles’ heel.” Gio threw Lexi’s shredded sweater to the floor and ran his index finger down the length of her spine, all the time with that fuckin’ creepy grin on his face.
Lexi’s face went vacant, and my heart split in two. She was in her bad place. She’d checked out… all because he was touching her fuckin’ back.
My eyes closed, and I told Axel, “You have five seconds to get off me, Axe, or no joke, we’re done.”
I caught the sharp inhale of Axel’s breath. We might not share the same ethics or moral codes in life, but I loved him. He was blood, and he got the significance of what I was saying.
“Get the hell off her!” I heard a panicked male voice shout and, opening my eyes, saw Levi standing in front of Lexi, his arms stretched out toward Gio. At first I didn’t see the gun, but as Gio held up his hands, his face like stone, I caught Levi’s shaking arm as he towered over Pix’s hunched-over body, her eyes firmly fixed on the ground. She was muttering to herself; she was listening to the voice.
“Fuck!” Axel hissed, and he was suddenly off my back and lunging for Levi. Levi saw Axel coming and flicked the gun between Gio and our brother.
As I pushed off the ground, my black shirt and jeans now pitted with mud, I approached Levi slowly.
“Lev, calm down,” I said soothingly. Levi’s gray eyes were huge with adrenaline, and he indicated with a tip of his chin for me to come to him and Pix. Exhaling a pent-up breath, I dropped to the ground and, scooping her up, lifted her in my arms, sluices of rainwater pouring off her cold skin.
With a huge gasp, Lexi’s fingers gripped onto my skin and her too-white eyes fixed on mine. “Austin…” she whispered and looked down, wriggling in my arms as if she’d just realized I was holding her in the air.
“Austin, please, I’m too heavy,” she said, embarrassed.
My heart sank as she voiced her concern, and, bringing her to my lips, I whispered, “You’re no burden to me, Pix. Your weight ain’t nothing. You’re safe in my arms, where you fuckin’ belong.”
Lexi’s lip began to wobble and her eyes filled with fresh tears.
“Axe, you need to reel in your brothers before they forget who they keep fuckin’ with.” Gio was glaring over at Axel, and for once, I saw what looked like fear in Gio’s expression. He knew without Axel, his damn crew would crumble. Axel was the heavy glue that kept the Heighter boys in check. And no matter how much Axel loved the crew, I knew, no, I prayed there was one thing he loved more: us.
“Shut the fuck up, G!” Axel snapped and slowly approached Levi. “Levi, put the gun down. I ain’t gonna touch Austin’s bitch. He’s made his choice.”
Levi stiffened. “Her name’s Lexi!”