Cowboy Gangster 02 - Gunnin' for Love (CMS) (MM) (16 page)

“I don’t have time to explain,” Clint said, less harshly than he’d spoken to the person on the phone. He concealed his knife then headed for the bedroom door. “I have to go.”

“Clint,” Axel choked. “God…please, tell me
something
.”

The cowboy halted and walked back to Axel. He cupped his face and kissed him deeply. “You look sexy as hell standing here in the buff,” he whispered and kissed him again.

Axel gripped his wrists. “When…when are you going to be back?”

“I don’t know,” Clint said. He hugged Axel and gave him one more kiss before releasing him.

“But you…
will
be back…won’t you?” His throat worked, blurring his vision.

Clint looked at him. “Yes.” There was no hesitation and Axel was willing to take anything at this moment.

Grabbing up his shorts, Axel quickly stepped into them and followed Clint to the front door. He needed more answers, needed to know that wherever Clint was going –he wouldn’t be in danger. But there was no time to ask.

“I’ll call Gabriel on my way out,” he said and pulled Axel to him, kissing him once more. “I’ll have him send Dane and Angel over to stay with you until I get back. Until they get here,” he said, his tone stern. “
Do not
open the door for anyone.”

“Why?” Axel whispered, suddenly more afraid.

“Because it’s the city,” Clint said. “And it’s the middle of the night. Unless you absolutely know who is knocking, you don’t open to them.” He cupped his face. “Promise me.”

“Okay,” he trembled. “I-I promise.”

Clint nodded and opened the door. Axel grabbed him and kissed him deeply, hugging him tight. When he finally pulled back, tears were thick in his eyes. Clint blink at his own tears and forced a smile. “That’s the one go on.”

“Please be careful,” Axel whispered, gripping his arm, wanting to pull him back inside and close the world outside. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”

Clint nodded and stepped out the door. “Remember, God won’t have me and the devil don’t want me.” He touched Axel’s cheek and added softly, “I’ll be home soon, baby…wait for me?”

“Forever.” Axel swallowed thickly.

And then his cowboy was gone –rushing out into the cold, dark night.

♦

The two-hour drive felt endless with the night pressing in ominously like a hellish beast snapping at their heels, ready to rip their world to shreds. Cochise sat silently in the passenger seat. Short of asking Clint what Cory had said, he hadn’t spoken a word since they left the city –just stared out the passenger window, eyes hard and distant. And barren of tears. Clint had never seen the man so much as get misty-eyed since he’d met him. But again, the Egyptian had yet to see Clint shed a tear. And he hadn’t –for nearly two decades –until he’d met Axel. He had yet to determine if the emotions the kid stirred in him was a good thing or bad thing.

Clint had dried his eyes and banished all traces of his tears by the time he’d picked up Cochise. Anthony and Angelo had been informed of the events and were waiting with Cochise when Clint had arrived. If he had shown up panicked and in tears –it would have frightened both men; it took a lot to make the cowboy panic and none of them had ever truly witnessed the phenomenon.

All questions concerning Shay had been carefully diverted. Clint didn’t know the full situation…Shay might still be alive. And neither Anthony nor Angelo needed to be told otherwise at this point.

The headlights of Anthony’s car remained visible behind them, never dropping out of sight.

“That motherfucker Venetti set them up,” Clint spoke low, his chest rumbling with rage. “I told Anthony I didn’t trust him. If this was a hit by the fucking Albanian mob, I swear to God I’ll personally butcher every fucking one of them.”

Cochise shifted and kept his eyes on the darkness outside. “They haven’t been active since we disbanded them ages ago,” he mumbled.

“As far as we know,” Clint said tightly. “If they went underground, regrouped…who the fuck knows how large their organization is now.”

Cochise exhaled low. “They’ve been under our watch the whole time. We would have noticed any suspicious activity. Nathan wasn’t a fucking idiot, and neither is Anthony.”

“They tried re-banding once.”

“And we put a fucking stop to it,” Cochise hissed. “They know the fucking consequences of attempted reformation. I’m pretty sure that last little massacre got our point across.”

Clint shook his head and gripped the steering wheel harder. “This just feels fucking suspicious. Our boys take a job for an Albanian defector and end up…” His throat tightened and vision started to blur. He blinked back the tears. “I call
bullshit
. Carlo Venetti is still fucking connected. And the fact that he requested
me
for the job only makes it more fucking plausible that that motherfucking family is behind it.”

Silence settled heavily between the two men. Cochise kept his attention on the night outside the car.

Clint tried to ward off the fear that the Albanians were orchestrating this. If they had set this up –had they been behind Axel’s attempted hit as well? Clint and Cochise were the two prominent Sanitini family members most directly responsible for the Albanian takedown, and it hadn’t been fucking pretty. Repeatedly, they had left bloody carcasses in their wake as a message to the rogue family to back the fuck down. Innocents had gotten caught in the crossfire, cut down right alongside the guilty. Was this the message they were sending back with an attack on Axel? How many “innocent ones” in Clint’s life were already marked? Gabriel’s entire club family was at risk –simply because Gabriel was connected to Clint. Gabriel’s pain became Clint’s as well.

He swallowed hard and stared straight ahead at the darkness pressing with suffocating force around the glow of the headlights. How many would be slaughtered in the name of The Cowboy?

♦

Axel hugged the pup in his arms, his face pressed into Clint’s pillow. He breathed in the man’s lingering scent. Fear coiled in his chest and compressed his heart. It scared the fuck out of him to see Clint like that. Clint was a rock –
his
rock –and to watch him break and crumble shook the foundations of Axel’s new world. It frightened him to realize just how “human” Clint was, to witness his vulnerability with such stark clarity. Maybe it was the reality that sometimes Clint might need protecting…and Axel wasn’t capable of protecting him. He had always felt helpless, every second of his life –but never so much as right now.

The pup squirmed within his embrace and Axel shifted, touching his face to Jonah’s head. He stroked the pups back as tears slid down his cheeks and was licked away by the pup’s warm tongue. Axel huddled deeper in the blankets, drawing the covers up higher, nearly over his head. He didn’t like being here alone –without even Jimmy down the hall. He wished he would come back tonight.

I want “Clint” to come back.
But he wouldn’t, not tonight anyway. He hadn’t said what was wrong or where he was going – didn’t even know when he would be coming back.
But he said he “would” be back.
Axel didn’t know everything about Clint, or his life, but he was certain of one thing –Clint didn’t lie. If he said it, then it was something Axel could count on.

The thought brought a measure of comfort as he recalled Clint’s profession –
“I’m yours.”

“Don’t worry,” he whispered to Jonah, his throat tight. “He’ll be home soon. He’ll be okay and…and he’ll be home soon. You don’t have to be scared.” He stroked his fingertips over the pup’s soft head, tracing a tender path between his large, dark eyes. “Our cowboy would never leave us.” He smiled and fresh, warm tears seeped down his cheeks. “I think…I think he loves us.”

The pup wriggled closer and licked his face again –as if agreeing with Axel’s summation wholeheartedly.

A sudden knock at the door turned him rigid with tension, his heart pumping harder. He tried to force himself to calm –Clint had said he would have Gabriel send Dane and Angel over.

He crawled out of bed and pulled on his jeans over his briefs, and carried Jonah with him to the living room. He hesitated to open the door, remembering Clint’s words of caution. “Who is it?” His voice shook and he wasn’t sure his words were even audible to whoever was on the other side.

“It’s Dane and Angel,” Dane’s slightly muffled voice came through.

Axel unlocked the door and opened it, stepping back so they could enter. Angel was the first to speak, his face strained with concern. “Are you okay?”

Axel nodded silently, but was sure his damp face and red eyes told a different story.

Closing the door, Dane looked at him. “I don’t know what’s going on, but we’ll stay with you until Clint gets back, okay?”

It bugged Axel that he felt the need for babysitters, but he didn’t want to be alone. Not tonight of all nights.

“It’s the middle of the night,” Dane said. “Why don’t you go back to bed and try to get some rest. We’ll be right here if you need us.”

The thought of sleeping in what he now viewed as his and Clint’s bed –without Clint there, too –made his stomach hurt and heart ache. He wouldn’t sleep, he was sure of it. He would just lay there and think about Clint…worry about him.

“I’m…too awake to sleep right now,” he mumbled and hugged Jonah closer.

Angel and Dane exchanged a glance. Dane touched his shoulder. “Clint will be okay. I don’t think he’s in any danger. And even so…” he smiled. “He’s about the most badass guy I’ve ever met. He can take care of himself.”

You didn’t see him tonight.
Axel kept the thought to himself and nodded. “I know,” he whispered.

“Well, since I doubt any of us are in the mood to sleep,” Dane said. “We can always finish watching our movies.”

“Okay,” Axel said quietly as he and Angel sat down on the sofa while Dane picked out one of the rented movies and put it in.

“Hey,” Angel smiled and gripped Axel’s arm lightly. “You are coming to the wedding, right?”

Axel frowned. “Who’s wedding?”

His smile widening, Angel said, “Mine and Dane’s.”

“You’re…” he glanced at Dane. “…Getting married?” He stared at Angel. “Really?”

“Really,” Dane grinned as he sat down next to Angel and wrapped his arm around him. “You should’ve seen my proposal.” He winked. “Think
‘stripper’
style.”

Angel groaned and looked at him dryly, then faced Axel and laughed softly. “Don’t listen to him. He was really quite romantic…if you can believe it.”

Dane chuffed. “It still took place on stage…without any clothes.” He chuckled. “Which, of course, is my idea of romance.”

“Yes,” Angel drawled. “For you, the absence of clothes equals romance.”

Sliding his arms around Angel, Dane hugged him hard and kissed his cheek. “Haven’t heard any complaints out of you.”

A sudden sharp ache stabbed Axel’s heart as he longed to feel Clint holding him so tight right this very second. He ducked his head and pet the pup. “I think it’s great,” he murmured and looked up. “You deserve this.” He watched them for a moment as Dane smiled and nuzzled Angel’s neck. “What does Maddy think of you getting married? Is he going to live with you?”

“Actually,” Angel looked at Dane then smiled at Axel. “Max and his husband-to-be, Horatio Kaplan, are going to adopt him.”

“Adopt…” Axel swallowed thickly, a sting seeping into his eyes. “Maddy’s going to…have a real father?”

“
Fathers
.” Angel smiled. “Two dads. Two
amazing
dads.” His eyes misted. “Maddy’s always wanted a family…and I always wanted that for him. Max said he would have adopted me, too, if I wasn’t already an adult, but still claims me as his son.” Angel leaned against Dane and pulled the man’s arms tighter around him. “And the family extends beyond just Max and Horatio. We have an entire club family.”

God knows, the boys deserved the biggest and best family they could get. They sure as hell hadn’t gotten a worthy family when they’d been grafted into the Anders’ rotted family tree.

“I’m…I’m really happy for Maddy. And you.” He glanced down and slid his fingers through Jonah’s fur. “You and Maddy deserve a hell of a lot better than you ever got from us.”

“Us?” Angel reached over and squeezed his wrist. “Don’t do that, Axel,” he said softly. “Don’t align yourself with Wade and your dad. I told you, you’re not like them. When they were treating us like shit…you were being a brother to us. Whether you realized it at the time or not.”

Until I turned on you
. Axel’s vision blurred. “But I
did
align myself with Wade,” he whispered unsteadily.

“And then you came back to us,” Angel reminded him. “It’s the end game that matters.
They
lost.” He squeezed Axel’s wrist affectionately. “But you didn’t.”

Dane hugged Angel closer and kissed his head, then smiled at Axel and spoke with honest emotion. “Do you see why I have to marry him?”