Cowboy Gangster 03 - Outlaws of Love (11 page)

He pushed his face into the softness of the pillow, his cries muffled as they grew stronger with Clint’s lingering scent. His body strained with his sobs and he wanted to scream from the pain shredding his heart. He choked on a cry and tried to breathe, but his chest squeezed tighter and tighter.

His cell phone rang suddenly, making him jump and causing the pressure in his chest to momentarily release. He sucked in a deep, shuddered breath and coughed when the air forced into his lungs in a rush. The cell went off again and he choked on a sob, wiping his face with his arm as he grabbed the device off the stand. He didn’t recognize the number on the display and started to turn off the phone, then hesitated. He cleared his throat and answered it instead.

His voice shaky and thick with tears, he whispered, “Hello?”

♦

If there was anything left of Cory’s heart –it came apart the instant he heard Axel’s voice. In that single broken
hello
he felt the young man’s own shattered heart.

Uncle Clint…what have you done?

Cory swallowed hard and struggled to keep his words even, steady. “Axel?” he said quietly. “It’s me. Jimmy.”

“Jimmy..?” Axel trembled then went silent. In the background, Cory could hear him trying to gain his composure, stifle his tears.

His throat closing, Cory blinked against his blurring vision. This was why Clint had left the room. He knew what he’d done to Axel –and he didn’t want to be reminded. He didn’t want to face the aftermath of the destruction he caused to the boy’s heart.

“Axel…” He bit his lower lip to calm his trembling chin. “What’s wrong?”

Axel’s pain was too much and the kid broke down, unable to conceal it.

“Talk to me, Axel,” Cory shuddered. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

“I can’t…” Axel cried, his breath catching hard as his words fell apart. “Please…come home…”

Cory drew in controlled breaths and released them slowly as his tears thickened and overflowed, streaking down his face.
Damn you, Uncle Clint –how could you leave him like this?
“Axel, I…I can’t come home yet.”

Crying harder, Axel choked out, “Why?”

“I…I was in an accident, Axel,” he said thickly, then added hurriedly, “I’m gonna be okay, but I have to be in the hospital a few days.”

Axel’s breath shuddered as he gained a semblance of control. “An…accident?”

“A car accident,” Cory told him. “I’m in pretty bad shape, but I’ll be okay.”

“When…when can you come home?”

“Probably around the end of the week.” He exhaled slowly. “Axel…tell me what’s wrong?”

The young man’s composure began to crumble again. “He left me, Jimmy,” he whispered, crying softly. “He just…left.” He broke down again.

“The…cowboy?” Cory closed his eyes, his throat tight, working against his emotions. “Did he say why?”

Axel choked on a sob. “He…he said he didn’t belong in my world…and I didn’t belong in his.”

“That…was his reason?” Cory asked stiffly. “That’s all he gave you?”

Sniffing, Axel’s voice trembled, “That’s what it came down to.”

“Did he say anything else before he left?”

Quiet sobs quaked Axel’s words as he whispered, “He said he was…sorry.” His sobs grew louder. “I don’t want him to be sorry, Jimmy…I just want him to come back.”

Fuck!
Tears ran down Cory’s cheeks. “Just…just hang on, okay?” he choked. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Are…are you alone?”

Axel swallowed hard and cleared his throat. “No,” he shuddered. “Angel…my stepbrother…is here. And his boyfriend, Dane.”

“Good,” Cory said thickly. “Will they stay with you?”

“They asked me to come and stay with them for a few days.”

“Then go,” Cory urged. “It will be better for you to be away from the apartment for now. If you can, stay with them until I get back, okay?”

“Okay,” Axel whispered.

“You’re gonna be all right, Axel,” Cory murmured as fresh, warm tears streaked his face. “I’ll make sure of it. I promise.”

Axel was quiet a moment, then said brokenly, “I don’t feel like I’m gonna be all right.”

♦

Angel leaned against Dane and hugged his body. “Who do you think called him?” he asked quietly. “Who does he even know, besides us and…?”

“I don’t know,” Dane murmured and wrapped his arm around Angel’s shoulders, pulling him closer.

“Do you think he’ll stay with us at our place?”

Dane sighed and shrugged. “Don’t know that either.”

“And Gabe said you were wise,” Angel mumbled.

“Smart ass,” Dane chuckled and kissed his head. Angel laughed. “He said I was wise, huh? How come he never told me to my face?”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to give you a big head,” Angel grinned.

Dane smiled darkly. “Too late,” he murmured against Angel’s hair. “
You
already have.” He dropped his face and nuzzled his neck. “Again and again and again…”

Squealing as Dane nibbled his skin, Angel smacked his chest. “You have a dirty mind.”

“And
you
love it,” Dane growled and nibbled some more.

“No way!” Angel laughed and squirmed in Dane’s confining arms. “I don’t know why you think that.”

Dane nipped his earlobe. “Oh, maybe because of the way you assault me with your hot little body every time I talk dirty to you?”

“I don’t do that,” Angel denied.

“Oh really?” Dane smirked. “Well, my better half concurs with me.”

Angel rolled his eyes and laughed. “And who’s gonna believe
him?
”

“Oh, he can be quite convincing,” Dane wiggled his eyebrows. “Trust me.” He lifted Angel’s face and kissed him firm on the mouth. “And you know it to be true.”

Groaning, Angel shook his head. “Unfortunately, I do.”

“Unfortunately?” Dane pursed his lips. “Should I tell him to
stop
trying to convince you?”

“No!” Angel moaned and twisted around, straddling Dane’s lap. He kissed him hard on the mouth. “Don’t ever do that.” He grinned and kissed him again, letting it soften and deepen.

“Mmmm,” Dane groaned low and wrapped his arms around Angel, hugging him closer. His hands instinctively rubbed down over the boy’s rear and squeezed his ass cheeks through his pants. After the intense emotional talk with Axel, Dane was aching to make love to Angel…remind himself of the miracle of their love.

Angel drew back with a soft gasp that never failed to hit Dane square in the crotch, hardening him immensely. “We should stop,” Angel shuddered. His lips trembled against Dane’s mouth, plucking tiny kisses from him. “Axel doesn’t need to see this right now.”

Exhaling hard, Dane nodded and lifted Angel off his lap. “You’re right,” he groaned. He adjusted his crotch and cleared his throat. “But I won’t be able to stop myself by tonight. So whether we’re here or at our place…we’ll just have to be extra quiet and discreet.”

Dane didn’t have a lot of faith in pulling that off, though. They might be able to start out slow and quiet, but it was damn near impossible to stay that way –for them both.

The bedroom door opened and Axel came down the hall, pausing at the edge of the living room. His eyes were red and puffy as he glanced at them. “I’ll stay at your place,” he whispered with a tremor in his voice. “If that’s still okay.”

“Of course,” Dane nodded.

Axel looked away then retreated back down the hall to the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him.

♦

Clint hadn’t spoken more than a few words to the Egyptian when he’d returned, inquiring only about Cory. Upon leaving Cory’s room while he made his call, Clint found Cochise in the parking lot where he’d left him earlier, sitting on the metal bench outside the waiting room.

“I called Anthony,” Cochise muttered. “Let him know you were back. They’ll be here in just a few.”

Nodding, Clint sat down on the far end of the bench and rested forward on his knees, his stare blank and rooted to the ground. He dreaded going back into Cory’s room after Cory talked to Axel. Clint realized that this wasn’t going to be a clean break. Cory clearly wasn’t going to allow that, and after speaking with Axel…he would surely come down on Clint harder than ever.

“Did Cory tell you anything about the shooter?” Cochise asked low, tight.

Clint scratched his temple. “Some,” he mumbled. “Not enough to identify him. When Anthony and Angelo get here, maybe we can find out more. I don’t think he told me everything.”

“So why are you out here?”

Clint sighed and rubbed his face. “He had to make a personal call.”

“A personal call?” Cochise murmured. “To who?”

Clint didn’t answer and continued to stare at the ground.

Properly interpreting Clint’s silence, Cochise asked stiffly, “Did you get things squared away?”

Pressure squeezed Clint’s chest. “Yeah,” he rasped with a rigid tone.

“Our world would destroy him,” Cochise said. “He doesn’t belong here.”

“I said I dealt with it,” Clint hissed through his clenched jaw, his throat aching. “Now fucking drop it.” He stood quickly and walked across the parking lot to his car. Whether the man was speaking true or not, Clint wasn’t in the mood for the fucking
truth
right now. Not when it told him everything he didn’t want to hear.

He leaned against the driver door and stuffed his hands in the front pockets of his Wranglers. He tried to shut out the sound of Axel’s cries and pleas, the sound of his heart breaking –but there was no getting away from it.

You did it before, you can do it again. Just shove it down and bury it deep –and just fucking forget.

That might not be as easy this time with Cory on him about Axel.

Easy? It was easy before?

Clint closed his eyes, resisting his thoughts. He had enough to deal with concerning Axel, and finding the shooter. He didn’t need to be digging up shit that was long dead and buried. Problem was –sometimes even the “dead” got restless. And something about Axel had disturbed their slumber.

You know what it is,
his mind insisted, but Clint turned away. The past was not a place he journeyed into anymore…yet he could feel it creeping up on him, prickling the tiny hairs of his neck and chilling his blood.

He said something about a storm coming…and it raining blood …until what was taken from him was paid in full –and the debt was great.

Clint had taken a lot from a lot of people. If this was a personal vendetta against him…he had one hell of a long list of suspects to sift through.

So bury thoughts of Axel and get to fucking sifting –before this motherfucker makes his next play and you lose another member of your family.

♦

Tension was thick in the air, visible in Clint, Cochise and Cory, as they all gathered in the hospital room. The looks Cory shot at Clint were sharp and piercing. Clint deflected them by turning his eyes anywhere but on Cory directly. What the hell had happened between them? He didn’t understand the problem with Clint and Cochise either.

He glanced at Angelo, who appeared as puzzled as Anthony. He turned his focus on his son. “Are you up for telling us what happened last night?” Though the boy’s face was dry, there was a dampness to his eyes that betrayed former tears.

“Yeah,” he whispered with a stiffness to his tone. He repeated to them what he’d told Clint.

Anthony’s gut twisted with dread. “You couldn’t see any distinguishing details about him?”

“Not much,” Cory said. “He was wearing a long coat…like those riding coats from the old western movies, and…a cowboy hat.” He leaned against the pillow and stared up at the ceiling, his eyes distant as his voice lowered. “I remember thinking he looked like a gunfighter…from the old west. “Was there anything else you can remember?” Anthony asked his son.

Cory started to shake his head then hesitated, frowning. “There was…something,” he murmured distantly, his brow pinching in concentration. “It seemed…insignificant at the time, I think, but now…”

“What was it?”

Frustration strained his face. “I can’t remember. Maybe it was nothing. I don’t know.”

“Maybe after you get more rest, you’ll remember,” Angelo said quietly.

“Maybe,” Cory whispered. His eyes, glossed with a thin film of wetness, lingered on Clint.

Clint cleared his throat and carefully avoided Cory’s stare. “We’ll backtrack from Venetti. Someone knows something. We’ll find this motherfucker.”

“What about the men I brought in?” Cory asked. “If all this is connected, maybe someone in their circle knows something about the hit. They struck me as the type to brag.”

“Yeah,” Clint murmured. “That Ryder had a mouth on him.”