Axel: (A Gritty Bad Boy MC Romance) (The Lost Breed MC Book 2)

by Ali Parker

  Finally, we picked out some toys. By the time we walked out of the last store, Hanna was more comfortable with me, so much so that she took my hand when we walked across the parking lot to the car.

  I caught Ellie smiling at us as we walked.

  We stopped at Ellie’s apartment after grabbing lunch. There was no way in hell I was going o wait in the car with my new daughter, so we all went into the apartment.

  Cade greeted us with a lot of whining and tail wagging. He gave Hanna a big, sloppy kiss before hightailing it to the back door to be let out. Ellie took him outside, and Hanna went with her to watch the dog run around the backyard like a psycho. I watched Hanna and Ellie and the dog and noticed the feeling in my gut had shifted from anxiety to something else. Something I couldn’t quite put a finger on.

  All I knew was it wasn’t a bad feeling, standing there watching them all play together. In fact, it was a good feeling.

  I helped Ellie pack her bags and load them into the trunk. There wasn’t much space, what with all of Hanna’s things being in the car as well, but somehow, we made it all fit after playing a real-life version of Tetris with Ellie’s bags.

  Cade got into the back seat with Hanna and curled up in his seat, resting his chin on his paws.

  We pulled through the gate at close to six in the evening. I was hungry, and I was tired. Everyone else in the car seemed to feel the same way. Hanna had fallen asleep and napped on the drive from Ellie’s apartment to my house. Ellie woke her and carried her into the house with Cade trotting happily behind.

  I began unloading everything and making the trek to the spare bedroom.

  Ellie ordered pizza and put on cartoons in the living room for Hanna. Every now and then, she checked in on me in the spare room to see what kind of progress I was making. I had to disassemble and remove the old bed that was in there before moving in all the new furniture. Once that was done, I set to work putting together the single bed we had bought for Hanna.

  Pizza arrived when I was halfway done. I took a break to eat and joined the girls in the living room. Hanna loved the pizza, and I was shocked when she at two pieces, crust and all. Soon after, Ellie put her to bed on the sofa and joined me in the bedroom.

  I had made a decent amount of progress, but Ellie helped with all the finishing touches. She hung the pink netting at the head of the bed and made sure it was draped perfectly around the frame. She plugged in the night-lights and filled the dresser with Hanna’s clothes. She made sure the room looked like a place a little girl would want to be.

  Then, we went and got Hanna and carried her to her new bed. We tucked her in, and she never woke.

  I stood in the doorway with Ellie, looking in on my sleeping daughter. I wrapped my arm around Ellie’s shoulders. “Thank you for all of this. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

  “You’d call Johnny.” Ellie chuckled. “And the two of you would have done the best you could.”

  “I hate to think what that would be like.”

  Ellie shrugged. “Probably not as bad as you think. Ye have little faith.” She rested her head on my shoulder. “Day one was a success. Let’s get some rest. We’ll be back at it early tomorrow morning.”

  She turned away from me, and I watched her go down the hall. She paused in the doorframe of my bedroom and looked back at me. “You’re going to be a great dad, Axel. Don’t even waste any thoughts on the opposite.” She cocked her head to the side. “You coming to bed?”

  “I’ll be there in a minute,” I said.

  Ellie smiled and nodded and disappeared into the room. I stayed where I was, arms crossed over my chest, shoulder against the doorframe, and looked in on my sleeping daughter.

  I waited for the anxiety to come rushing back to me, but it never did.

  Chapter 22

  Ellie

  I glanced at the tack on the dash. Axel was driving the speed limit to the exact number. I smiled to myself and looked out the window as we drew closer to the new shop. Trees passed by at a much slower rate than what I was used to.

  Hanna was in the back seat, her legs swinging happily as she listened to the music on the radio. Every now and then, I caught her humming along to one she recognized, and my thoughts were drawn to her mother.

  I wondered what Evelyn had been like. Had she and her daughter gone for car rides and sung along to all the ones they knew, at the top of their lungs, the way I had with my friends when I was growing up?

  The thought made my throat tighten, and I had to push it away to repel those emotions. Hanna didn’t have her mother anymore, but she had Axel, and I knew he would be an excellent father to her. He cared, and that was all that mattered. I could teach him all the other stuff, but I couldn’t teach him how to care. He had to bring that to the table himself.

  Based on how slow he was currently driving, he had that part down already.

  We parked in front of the shop, and I got out of the car. I unbuckled Ellie from her booster seat. She shuffled along the back seat and hopped out. I took her hand and turned her to face the shop. “This is where your daddy and I work.”

  Hanna had still yet to call Axel “Daddy.” I was using the term as casually as I could in conversation. When I had first started doing it, Axel would go stiff and stare wide-eyed at me. I assured him this was best. Hanna had to know that she still had family here. She knew what the word daddy meant. She just had to get to know him, and the only way that would happen was if she had the time to spend with him.

  “It’s big,” Hanna said, her eyes big as she looked through the open bay doors of the shop. There was a lot for a little girl to see in there, from car parts to tools to the people who would be working. I knew they wouldn’t be like what she was used to being around.

  “It is big,” I said, and we started walking forward with Axel beside us. “It’s new too. We’ve only been working here for a few days. So, we’re new here, just like you.”

  “Like me?”

  “Yep,” I said, giving her a big smile. “This is new for all of us. That makes it fun.”

  “Fun?”

  I nodded. “Oh, yes. We have lots of fun here. You’ll see.” I winked, and she giggled.

  Axel paused and took my hand. He pulled me to a stop. “I just remembered, I have some things to take care of. Will you be okay here by yourself for the day?”

  I nodded. “Of course. Hanna can stay with me. I’m sure she’ll be a good little helper. Won’t you, Hanna?”

  Hanna nodded up at me. Then, she looked at Axel. Her lips were pursed like she was in thought. She was a wise little three-year-old. That was for sure. “You’ll come back?” she asked.

  Axel looked at me before returning his gaze to his daughter. He dropped to a crouch in front of her before answering. “Of course, I’ll be back. Don’t worry. Ellie will take care of you. You guys will have a fun day. Okay?”

  “Okay.” Hanna nodded.

  Axel rose to his full height, wrapped an arm around my waist, and pulled me into him for a kiss. It startled me. I hadn’t expected him to be so willing to kiss me in front of anyone who might be watching. The kiss was short but sweet, and before he pulled away, he kissed the tip of my nose.

  I caught a smile playing in the corners of his mouth as he turned away and headed back to the car. I stared after him until he got into the car. I waved as he pulled away and then looked back down at Hanna, who was staring after the taillights as Axel pulled out onto the street. “You ready to get our hands dirty?”

  Hanna nodded, and the two of us walked up into the shop.

  We were lucky in the sense that no one was there except for Jamie. She was in the office on the phone booking a customer’s car in for some sort of service. When she saw me, she mouthed “hello,” and then her eyes darted down to Hanna, who had both arms wrapped around my right leg. I shrugged as if to say it was a long story, even though it wasn’t. It was a pretty short story.

  When Jamie got off the phone, I gave her the rundown. Jamie was a su
cker for kids, and she introduced herself to Hanna with a big smile. The little girl took an instant liking to my friend, and soon, the three of us were sitting on the couch in the office chatting about random things. Mostly, we talked about Hanna’s favorite TV shows and toys.

  Eventually, I had to get to work. Jamie brought the cordless phone into the shop with her and sat on one of the stools in the shop with Hanna in her lap. She teased the little girl by pretending to steal her nose and then put it back. It reminded me of the games my dad used to play with me when I was Hanna’s age.

  It was difficult to get any work done with Hanna around. I found that she held all my attention, and all I wanted to do was get to know her better. She was a sweet little girl with a charming and sweet personality. Evelyn had done a good job raising her in the three years she had with her daughter. She was well-behaved, at least, had been so far, and she was smart. She understood what people were saying to her, and if she wasn’t too shy, she had no problem answering them.

  “Hanna,” I said as I leaned under a motorcycle, “do you see that silver thing right there? With the C shape on the end?”

  Hanna looked at where I was pointing and nodded. “If Jamie flies you over there, can you pass it to me?”

  Hanna nodded again.

  “Okay,” Jamie said. “Prepare for takeoff!”

  Hanna giggled as Jamie bounced her knees beneath the little girl. Her giggles increased in volume as Jamie scooped her up and held her up in the air, pretending like she was an airplane. Jamie made flying noises, and Hanna squealed with delight as she was swooped over the wrench I had asked her to pick up.

  She missed on the first attempt to grab it. Jamie dropped her down low to have another go at it, and she managed to get a hold of it.

  Jamie flew her toward me, and Hanna gave me the wrench.

  “You’re such a good little helper!” I cried. “Thank you!”

  “You’re welcome,” Hanna said politely after Jamie sat back down with her on her lap again.

  “You have such nice manners, Hanna,” Jamie said.

  Hanna nodded. “Mama says manners are important. You don’t get anything if you have bad manners.”

  “My mom taught me the same thing,” I said, nodding. “And she was right. Manners are very important.”

  Hanna nodded.

  Jamie bit her bottom lip as she stared at me. I had told her in private about Hanna’s mother. Jamie had gone into the bathroom to cry it out before returning bright-eyed and smiling. Now, at the word “mama” coming out of Hanna’s mouth, it looked like Jamie might cry again. I had to make sure I stopped that from happening. I was afraid of how Hanna would react. I had yet to broach the subject of her mom or her mom’s death, and it was something I wanted to do with Axel present. I had to wait until we were all ready to have a conversation of that magnitude.

  So, I changed the subject.

  “What’s your favorite thing to eat for dinner, Hanna?”

  Hanna gave me a sloppy shrug. She looked so cute, it was hard not to laugh. “Um. I don’t know. I like spaghetti.”

  “Spaghetti? Me too! It’s actually one of my all-time favorites. Would you like if we had spaghetti for dinner tonight?”

  Hanna smiled. “Okay.”

  “Great. I think your daddy likes spaghetti too.”

  “Who doesn’t like spaghetti?” Jamie chimed in, leaning in to tickle Hanna’s ribs.

  The little girl shrieked and giggled and squirmed in a desperate attempt to get away. We all laughed, and soon, it all began to feel natural.

  And then a thought struck me. Having a daughter wouldn’t be so bad. In fact, it was kind of nice to have a little person hanging around all the time. She made everything feel lighter and less important because she was the only thing that mattered now.

  After a couple hours of work, we put Hanna down for a nap on the couch in the office. We locked the front door and posted a sign for customers to come in through the shop doors, so no one would scare Hanna by accident. The only way anyone could get into the office was through the office door in the shop, and we’d locked that. Hanna could get out from the inside, but only Jamie and I had a key to get in.

  I wiped my brow after finishing up with the motorcycle I was working on and took a seat on an overturned crate that had been holding spare parts.

  Jamie gave me a skeptical look. “This is a bit more than what you signed up for, isn’t it?”

  “You mean Hanna?”

  “Obviously.”

  I nodded and wiped my hands on my thighs. “Yeah, it is. But it’s not bad, either. And it’s Axel. I don’t think there’s anything that could scare me away. I’ve wanted this for so long, and she makes everything better, in a strange way.”

  Jamie lifted her eyebrows. “Interesting. But no more hot date nights.”

  “Says who?”

  “Everyone I know who’s ever had kids.”

  I scoffed. “Yeah, well, if you want it bad enough, you can make it happen. Besides, I don’t need to go on nice dates with Axel. I just want to be with him. If that’s in the form of eating spaghetti in our PJs while watching cartoons, that’s fine with me.”

  Jamie grinned. “You’re going to be a great mom, you know.”

  I blinked at my friend. “Sorry?”

  “Well, you’re basically filling that role right now. And you’re really good at it. You can tell by the way Hanna looks at you. She trusts you.”

  “Yeah.” I looked at my hands. I liked Hanna too.

  Potentially, she might be part of my life forever. This might be the rest of my life.

  Chapter 23

  Axel

  Jax answered the phone on the second ring. His voice was thick, and I knew I had woken him from a deep sleep.

  “Hey. Get your lazy ass out of bed. Meet me at the old shop.”

  “What the fuck? Dude, how early is it?”

  “It’s past nine.”

  “Nine?” Jax exclaimed. I had to hold the phone away from my ear, he was so loud. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing calling me so early? You know I need my beauty sleep.”

  “You’re already pretty enough, you fuck. Now get up. I need you.”

  “All right,” Jax groaned, and I heard him getting out of bed. Then I heard the mutterings of a female companion who I imagined was lying naked beside him in bed. “I’ll be right there, Axel. Don’t get your fucking panties in a bunch. I just have to eat something.” I heard him mutter something to the girl he was with. She giggled, and I shook my head.

  “If that something is pussy, it can wait. Seriously.”

  There was a short silence on the other end. “Fine. I’ll see you in ten.”

  Jax hung up the phone, and I put my car in drive and headed toward the old shop.

  The property was barren save for a pile of charred lumber set to the northeast corner. I stood there to wait for Jax.

  He arrived exactly ten minutes after hanging up the phone. He parked his truck in front of the lumber and hopped out after turning off the engine. He fixed me with a dark glare as he walked around the hood of the car.

  “This had better be important. You have no idea how good the tits were on the babe I was with. Hollywood kind of tits, you know? So perky and—”

  “I just found out I have a daughter, man.” The words spilled out of me and hung in the air between us like a heavy fog.

  Jax’s eyebrows crept upward. “What?”

  “Yeah. I have a daughter.”

  “Fuck.” The word was quiet, and it summed up everything I was feeling at that moment.

  “Yeah.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  Jax scratched the back of his neck as he sorted through this new piece of information. Finally, the questions came to the surface. “Who’s the mother?”

  “Evelyn. She was the one—”

  “With the Camaro. Yeah. I remember. What the fuck happened? Did you meet up with her recently to fuck?”

  I shook my head. I su
ppose his questions made sense. “No. She died, man. Car accident. Her daughter—my daughter—is three already. I never knew about her until the cops showed up at my place and told me she was mine.”

  “Shit.”

  I nodded.

  “She’s three? And Evelyn … poor Evelyn. She was a good girl, that one. Way too good for you or the likes of us.”

  “I know.”

  Jax sighed. “What are you gonna do?”

  “Well, she’s mine, and I’m going to raise her. Ellie has stepped in and is really helping out. I don’t know what I’d do without her. But this changes everything.”

  “Well, no shit, it does,” Jax scoffed. “All of a sudden, you have a toddler. From motors and pistons to diapers and soothers. Cool man, real cool.”

  “She doesn’t wear diapers anymore.” I scowled.

  Jax chuckled. “Well, there’s one win for you.”

  It didn’t feel like a win. None of this felt like a win. It felt like I needed to prepare for the worst, and it was because of how terrible the timing was of Hanna’s arrival. Evelyn would be furious with me. She never would have wanted her little girl to end up with me. I knew that for certain, and she certainly wouldn’t have wanted her coming into my life when someone like Watson was back in town.

  I didn’t want that, either.

  I had been pushing away an ominous feeling that things were about to change for days now. Ever since the shop had burned down, I knew the lives we were living were going to shift. They had to. After Johnny and I went after the Black Hearts with our bats, that much was solidified.

  Then, Jax had told me Watson had taken over the Black Hearts. Had I known that beforehand, I probably never would have bothered talking Johnny into making a move. I would have listened to his advice and stayed low, keeping my opinions to myself so I could handle Watson on my own.

  I still had to handle him on my own. It was my responsibility. Only I knew how ruthless he was, and I refused to let the others get tangled up in his web of cruelty. I had to put a stop to this before everything got out of hand, and having Hanna in my life made that even clearer to me.