Page 24 of It Hurts Me

“My favorite. Sounds fucking amazing.”

She gave me a quick nudge in the side before she nodded toward her daughter.

“Sorry.” I took a drink.

“I’d appreciate it if you tried to get along with my father, Theo.”

“Trust me, I am getting along with him.” If I weren’t, he’d be bleeding all over the tile.

She gave me a hard look.

“You and Axel are out of the game, but I’m not. There are consequences to his actions—and I’m still dealing with them.”

After dinner, Scarlett and Dante took the kids upstairs to get them ready for bed.

Axel and I left the kitchen so the butler could take care of the dishes and clean up. We entered the study and took a seat in the comfortable armchairs. It was the only room in the house where we were allowed to smoke, so that was where we lit up.

“So.” Axel crossed one ankle over the opposite knee.

“So.” I let the smoke fill my mouth and nostrils before I released it in a cloud.

“How are things in the underworld?”

“You aren’t in the game anymore, Axel.” I brought the smoke into my mouth again and let it simmer on my tongue.

“But you are, so a part of me always will be.”

“You don’t need to worry about me.”

“If I don’t, who will?” He let the cigar rest in his fingertips as his arm lay on the armrest.

I’d been alone a long time, but the loneliness had worn off. Now, I thrived in solitude, preferring to spend my nights alone or with a woman who knew she would never mean anything to me.

“What’s your plan with Bolton?”

“Corner him and make him talk. But he’s hard to nail down.”

“What if you hire him?”

I released the smoke and let the cigar rest between my fingertips.

“Hire him to kill someone. And when he shows up to meet you—kill him.”

“Not a bad idea.”

“I can do it for you. I never had dealings with the Brotherhood, so they don’t know who I am.”

“You’re out of the game, Axel.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t want to help you.”

He was more loyal to me than my own men. Our blood was different, but it felt like it passed through the same heart. He was the last person in my life I genuinely cared for. Everyone else was a situationship, but he was family. “I appreciate the offer, but that’s never going to happen. I would never do that to your wife.”

“She would understand. She loves you too, Theo.”

I’d liked Scarlett the moment I met her, the way she commanded a room and stated what she wanted without hesitation. She looked me in the eye and told me what she wanted, having the kind of confidence that was uncommon in a woman. Even though she and Axel had been broken up for months at that point, I knew she was still his woman, so I walked out on her. It was the precursor to the relationship we had now. She really did feel like a sister. “You have a beautiful family, Axel. I would never risk what you have.”

He smirked. “Yeah, I do.”