The Rocker Who Wants Me (The Rocker... Series) (12 page)

Axton

The house was starting to suffocate me. I felt like if I didn’t get out of the house, off the farm—fuck, out of Tennessee—I was going to lose my shit in a bad way. I kept counting down the days until we would be out on the road, and they weren’t. Coming. Fast. Enough.

The only thing that helped with the overpowering feelings was Dallas. Sure, she tried to ignore me during the day, but at night I always found her easily. We usually ended up out on the porch, either sharing a beer or sharing our lips. I always sent her to bed alone, then took care of my aching body in the shower before falling into bed and texting her for at least an hour before one of us would fall asleep. All in all, I felt like we were moving in the right direction.

Today, for some reason, the suffocating feeling was worse than usual. Nothing seemed to help and I knew that I needed Dallas to distract me before I started climbing the walls and scared Marissa. Upsetting Marissa in any way would only force Wroth to kill me, and as much as I wanted this feeling to go away, I didn’t want to be dead.

Moving through the house, I discovered that she wasn’t anywhere to be found. Liam hadn’t seen her all morning because it was technically her day off. Marissa and Wroth had seen her at breakfast but nothing since. Finally I found Zander, Natalie and Linc in the family room watching some old movie that I was sure Nat and Linc loved but Zander was forcing himself to watch because he was trying to ease his way into Nat’s pants. As much as I cared about Z, I wouldn’t blink at ratting him out to Nat’s brothers. I couldn’t help but grin as I wondered how pretty his face would be once Drake and Shane got finished with him.

“Anyone know where Dallas is?” My gaze went to Linc because he was whom I was really asking, but I knew that he wouldn’t answer. Linc was loyal to Dallas to a fault and that only made me respect him more. The fact that he hated me right now didn’t bother me. As soon as I got Dallas back he would be my friend again because he supported anything that made Dallas or any of the other women in his life happy.

It was Natalie that raised her head. “Her dad is in the area. She went over to visit with him.”

“Where?” Maybe I could go out and meet her. I liked her dad, and he had seemed to tolerate me the few times I’d gotten to meet him.

Natalie frowned, trying to remember. “Huntington Estate? Yeah, I think that was it.”

Zander’s head snapped up in time to watch the blood drain from my face. “Fuck, man.”

I suddenly felt like vomiting. No. No. No way. I wasn’t going to let her get frostbite from my bitch of a mother. No way was I going to let that hoity-toity bitch sink her teeth into Dallas. My girl’s skin might be tough, but if Sharon Huntington got her teeth into her she would leave . My jaw suddenly hurt and I realized that it was because I was clenching it so hard.

If Dallas was at Huntington Estate, then that meant I was going to have to do something I had sworn never to do again in my lifetime.

Go home.

I didn’t say another word to the three sitting on the couch. Instead I found the keys to Wroth’s SUV and drove like the hounds of hell were behind me as I raced toward the other side of town. I passed the run-down streets that Devlin and Zander had grown up on, the new high school that had been built only a few years ago—but that I hadn’t ever attended, since my mother had insisted on a private school an hour’s drive away—and then the country club members’ homes. All of those pretentious assholes were friends in one way or another with my mother and I hated them simply by association.

A drive that should have taken twenty minutes ended up only being nine. When I skidded to a halt in the driveway, the tires squealed. The SUV was barely in park before I was running up the steps to the stupidly big house. Seriously, when I was a kid there had only been my parents and I living there. Who needed a ten-bedroom house when you only had one kid?

The door was locked and I had to either ring the doorbell or kick the damn door down. I would have rather kicked it down and would have done exactly that if the housekeeper hadn’t answered the door so quickly. When I focused on the older woman standing there in her maid’s uniform, I felt a small kick to my heart that it wasn’t Margret, the housekeeper who had basically raised me.

“May I help…” I pushed past the woman, “…you?”

“Dallas?” I called her name as I stomped through the house. If she was here then there was only one place to look first. My mother only entertained her guests in that stupid formal sitting room of hers. When I reached the door I heard the cold voice of my mother.

“…degrading your body.”

I entered the room to find Sharon Huntington looking down her straight nose at Dallas as she stood beside her father. It was obvious that she hadn’t been there too long if Dallas still had her coat on. The coat covered up most of Dallas’s tattoos, but that didn’t disguise the facial piercings.

“I don’t believe I asked for your opinion on what I’ve done with
my
body. Actually, I don’t remember asking you anything. So let’s try to keep our opinions to ourselves. If you keep your dislike of my piercings and tattoos—by the way I have twenty-two—to yourself, I will keep the fact that you are a snotty bitch to myself.”

I froze in my tracks. Had I really worried about Dallas being unable to stand up against my mother? If I had, then I had surely lost my mind. Dallas could stand up to anyone or anything. She was stronger than anyone I knew.

“Austin, darling, please tell me that this rude girl is not your daughter,” Sharon commanded, turning her disdainful eyes on the older man.

Suddenly I was very glad I had come, if for no other reason than to watch as Austin Bradshaw went from calm and collected to raging daddy bear in the blink of an eye. Even though I didn’t know much about the man, there was one thing that he made clear to anyone that he met. Austin worshipped Dallas. She could do no wrong in his eyes. Her tattoos and piercings? They just made her more beautiful. Her ballsy attitude? Damn, she sure did remind him of himself.

My mother had just made the ultimate mistake where this man was concerned. “She is, actually. She also will inherit every penny I have when I die. That little fact didn’t sit well with her momma, and it probably won’t sit well with you either. Dallas is mine, and I love every inch of her. I tend to make it a rule not to hit women, but you keep insultin’ my girl and I will make an exception.”

Sharon’s face turned blood red and her mouth opened and shut like a fish for a long moment before she narrowed her eyes on Austin. “Why you…”

“Well, it seems that I didn’t have to worry after all,” I spoke up, finally forcing every eye in the room on me.

Dallas’s eyes widened when she saw me, but she didn’t say anything. Austin inclined his head in greeting while my aunt stepped forward and embraced me in a tight hug. “Anthony! Oh my goodness. It’s so good to see you.”

I hugged her back for a brief moment before stepping back. “It’s good to see you too, Tink. And the name is Axton, remember?”

“Your name is Anthony,” Sharon snapped. “It’s the name I gave you.” I rolled my eyes at her as she gave me a once over, taking in the sight of my still dyed black hair, my pierced lip, the tattoos on my neck and the sleeve on my arms visible because I hadn’t stopped long enough to put my coat on in my rush to get to Dallas. “Don’t expect me to acknowledge you by any other name.”

“No one asked you too, mother,” I assured her, not sparing her another glance as I turned my gaze on Dallas. “Are you okay, baby?”

“You have got to be kidding me?” Sharon raged, but no one paid her any attention.

Dallas raised a brow, her lips starting to twitch as she tried to keep from grinning. “Your name is Anthony?”

I grimaced. “It was, once upon a time. It used to be Anthony Xavier Huntington. But I couldn’t see anyone in the rock world taking me seriously so I shortened it to Axton, added on the Cage and here I am.” I winked when the grin finally broke through. “Which do you like better?”

“Oh, the Axton for sure. The other name feels like you should be adding ‘The Third’ at the end. Sorry, I don’t go for guys who have numbers after their name.”

Behind her, Austin chuckled. “Definitely like you better as Axton, boy. It fits the man I know better than that bullshit name.”

“Well, it sure is a small world.” Tink laughed as she moved to stand next to Austin once again. “So, my nephew and your daughter…?” Austin shrugged and they both started laughing again. “So, that would make them cousins.”

“What the fuck?” I caught hold of Dallas’s hand as she turned on her father. She was so distracted by the new development that she didn’t seem to care that I was touching her. “What do you mean cousins?”

“Step-cousins, actually,” Tink clarified. “At least you will be once I marry your father.”

“When the hell were you going to tell me, Daddy?” Dallas demanded, sounding less outraged and more hurt. “I didn’t even know you had met someone.”

Austin gave her a sheepish grin. “Sorry, darlin’. I wanted to make sure Tink took me seriously and wanted the same thing I did before I talked to you. Don’t worry, though. The wedding isn’t until next year, so you two have plenty of time to get to know each other.”

“That isn’t the problem. You didn’t even tell me, Dad. I don’t know anything that is going on in your life anymore. And how do you know this woman isn’t like Mom? Mom was all kinds of sweet and innocent until you married her, and then she turned into cunt monkey number one. Just like cunt bags over there.” She nodded toward Sharon who gave her a chillingly evil glare, making me snort as I fought back my laugh. Yeah, I shouldn’t have worried about Dallas and my mother at all.

The sound of the doorbell cut off whatever Austin was about to say in defense of Tink. Instead it was Tink who stepped forward, a grin on her still beautiful face. I was fortunate that I had taken after my father’s side of the family. I looked more like Tink than Sharon, and for that I would be eternally grateful to the DNA fairy. “I know all about your mother, Dallas. And while I agree that she is a lot like my dear sister-in-law, I don’t consider myself to be like them in the least. But don’t take my word for it. I’d like to get to know you and show you that I’m not like either of them.”

“I don’t know…” she began only to be cut off as there was a commotion in the hall before the room was suddenly overflowing with a testosterone-filled beast. Linc entered the room followed by Natalie and then Zander and Devlin.

Linc was assessing the room, looking for all threats to Dallas. “You okay, Dallas?” he demanded as he pushed between me and my girl.

“I’m good,” she assured him. “Just another drama filled day. Nothin’ unusual to see here.”

“Linc,” Austin said, stepped stepping forward to shake his hand. “Good to see you, son.”

“Mr. Bradshaw.” Instead of shaking his hand, Linc embraced Austin. “You sure Dallas is okay? Zander said that she might not be since Axton’s mom was a real bitch.”

“I’m standing right here, people!” Sharon screeched. “And I want all of you out of my house. Now. I will not stand here and be insulted by trash like you.”

“Oh shit,” I heard Linc mutter as he stepped as far away from Dallas as quickly as possible. He caught Natalie around the waist and started backing her toward the door. “Duck and cover. Duck and cover.”

“Trash?” Dallas’s voice didn’t raise higher than a murmur as she turned flame filled eyes on my mother. “Who you callin’ trash, you bitch?”

“Dallas…” Austin attempted to calm his daughter, but he didn’t try very hard.

“You,” Sharon went on as if no one else had spoken. “You are trash, you skanky idiot. And just how high is your IQ? It couldn’t be very high from the way you keep dropping your g’s like that. Anthony, please tell me you aren’t planning on marrying this hick? I was hoping for grandchildren that would at least be smart enough to have a civilized conversation with.”

“Shut up, Mother,” I growled. “You know nothing about Dallas. She’s an amazing girl.”

“Amazing in bed, obviously, since she has caught your attention. You always did tend to think with your penis and not your head.”

Dallas was slowly easing toward Sharon. If it weren’t for the fact that I knew my mother would press charges faster than it would take her to land on her ass after the punch to the face I foresaw Dallas giving Sharon, then I wouldn’t have bothered to stop her. The filth flying out of my mother’s mouth was just one of the many reason I had never tried to make contact with her over the years.

“I was actually kind of disappointed when you broke up with that Moreitti girl. Despite her poor choice in career she looked like a respectable enough young lady.” Dallas’s entire body seemed to freeze up, and I saw all her anger evaporate. She just stood there, obviously having been gutted. Fuck. I hated the woman that gave birth to me more in that moment than any person on the planet. “At least she could speak proper English.”

The sudden scream that rent the air came out of nowhere. We were all stunned as Tink stepped back from Sharon who was suddenly on the floor. “I’m so sick of your mouth. That’s my future stepdaughter you’re insulting.” My aunt snarled and I wanted to hug her tight in that moment. “Good luck trying to keep this place up without me. And don’t worry about the horses. They will be moved by the end of the week.”

Tink turned to Dallas and wrapped her arm around her shoulders before urging her out of the room. Dallas kept her head down as she walked past me, Zander, and then Devlin. I wanted to punch something at the defeated look on my girl’s face. That wasn’t the Dallas I knew and loved. That was the girl that her mother had tried to make her. Meek and helpless. I knew it wouldn’t last long, that she was just hurting, but she should never have to feel like that again.

As Austin went to follow after his two females, he bent and whispered something only Sharon could hear. Whatever he said made her face go pale as death. Austin straightened and left without another word to anyone.

I waited until the room was clear of everyone else before I trusted myself to move. Rage like I’d never felt was making me shake, but by the time Devlin left the room I had myself under control for the most part. I crouched down in front of my mother. Maybe I should have felt something like regret or even pity for the woman lying on her ass with her nose bleeding, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. “Just so you know, I do plan on marrying Dallas. She’s the smartest woman I’ve ever met and she is ten times the woman you have ever picked for me. She works her ass off as a nurse and doesn’t put up with my bullshit. I love her and I’m not letting her get away. Too bad for you, now that you’ve turned even Tink against you, that you will have no one, while I will have everything I ever really wanted.”