Chapter Two

Not edited or proofread.

Axel

Harlan sighed from behind me as I slid my fingers along the top of the door, finally wrapping them around the key there. Dexter was supposed to be home, but his car was missing, and the house was silent. No doubt, he'd gone out to party or get high and drunk with his friends who were just as shitty as him.

I ran an empire, but there were a select few people I did personal deliveries for. Dexter was one of those. And while I was sure he thought he was some special fuck, he really wasn't.

I only did it to catch a glimpse of his girl.

Novella Eastyn.

The most beautiful woman I'd ever laid my eyes on. With one shy glance, one submissive look, she'd sunk her pretty little claws into me.

I was just waiting on the day that she left Dexter. Then, I'd make my move. Take her in and pamper her. Make her mine. Show her freedom in submitting to me and being mine in all ways.

I knew everything there was to know about Novella. She and her brother were the last ones left in their family. Her brother had murdered their parents in cold blood, though the reason given wasn't included in the report. Anyone I had on my payroll within the prison couldn't get her brother, Kyle, to open his mouth about what happened.

He was loyal as fuck to her, and that I could appreciate... even if it was fucking annoying.

I unlocked the door and pushed it open, immediately stopping in the entrance at just how silent it was. Novella was nowhere to be found, and I knew Dexter didn't take her anywhere with him. He was possessive as hell of her, and he didn't even trust his own friends with her. Couldn't blame him—she was beautiful as fuck—but honestly, if you couldn't trust the people you surrounded yourself with, why the fuck were they even part of your life?

"Where's your girl?" Harlan asked, his gun already out and in his hands as he moved around me.

I removed mine as well, ignoring the money on the side table and moving deeper into the house after quietly shutting the front door behind me. I stopped at the sight of the blood on the living room floor before quickly following it, my gun held ready in front of me.

"Oh, fuck," I snarled when I stumbled upon Novella's body on the floor of the bathroom. "Harlan!" I barked as I put my gun away and pressed my fingers to her pulse. It was there—slow and steady. Maybe a little slow, but she was alive. That was all I could ask for at the moment.

"What—shit," he cursed, kneeling as well. We began checking her injuries. Her nose and lips were bloody, but she didn't seem to bleeding from anywhere else. Bruises were already beginning to discolor her body, and rage pulsed through me.

It was through sheer restraint and a fuck ton of control that I kept that anger leashed.

"Need to get her to the hospital," I said, lifting her into my arms. "Call the hospital. Let them know I'm coming, and I need a private floor."

Harlan's phone was already to his ear by the time I started speaking, and he held the front door open as I carried her out of the house. The driver didn't even flinch as he opened the back door of my SUV so I could slip in. She slumped against my chest like deadweight once I was seated. Harlan slid into the front seat, hanging up his phone.

"The house was locked. Nothing was trashed. She's not undressed. Vomit on the floor and on her clothes," Harlan listed, ticking off his fingers as he turned in his seat to face me. "This wasn't a home invasion, especially since money is still sitting on the side table like usual."

I gritted my teeth. "Dexter fucking Rome," I snarled.

Harlan nodded once. "Only thing that makes fucking sense."

I rolled my neck around, drawing in a deep breath through my nose before slowly releasing it. "Get a team working on finding him," I ordered, my voice eerily calm.

A phone began to ring, and I frowned, not recognizing the ringtone. I patted Novella's pockets, finally pulling out a flip phone. I flipped it open, sighing at the collect call from prison.

Her brother.

Shit.

I answered the call before lifting the phone to my ear. "Novella's unavailable," I rumbled.

Silence rang down the line before a deep voice, eerily calm and void of emotion, said, "Tell me who the fuck you are right goddamn now."

I glanced at Harlan, who was frowning at me, before I told Kyle, "Axel Legend."

More silence, like he was mulling over my name, trying to figure out why I had his little sister's phone. Why his little sister was unavailable.

Maybe even currently plotting my death. Wouldn't surprise me. I had a feeling he murdered his parents for Novella, and if that was true, he wasn't afraid of bloodying his hands for her. And he didn't give a fuck what the consequences were for protecting her.

"Where's Novella?" he finally demanded to know.

"Unconscious," I told him bluntly. "I'm rushing her to the hospital now."

More silence. Kyle was cold and calculating. One phone call—mere minutes— was enough to let me know that. If he were on the outside, I'd have recruited him as part of my personal security detail in a fucking heartbeat.

"I assume you know how to reach me within these walls," Kyle finally mused. At my grunt, he continued. "I expect updates."

The line went dead. I flipped the phone closed before slipping it into my jacket pocket and looking back at Harlan. "Well... Kyle Eastyn now knows I have his sister. He didn't sound the least bit surprised that she's unconscious."

"Could be hiding it well," Harlan mused as the driver took the exit for the hospital. "Everyone who tried to get close to Kyle for you all said the same thing—he's a fucking psychopath."

A psychopath...

I glanced down at the bruised, battered woman in my arms, blood staining her pretty face crimson.

If Kyle was truly a psychopath, the two could not have been more different. Everything I'd seen of Novella so far showed she felt everything deeply. There wasn't an emotion that didn't play over her face.

"Make sure her brother is updated of everything that happens while we're here," I told Harlan as the driver eased to a stop outside of the emergency room doors.

Harlan followed me out of the car, shutting both our doors before falling into step beside me. "Got it."