Page 103 of Axton
My head was pounding, and my mouth was dry. I never felt like death like I did when I opened my eyes. “Kayla.” My voice barely worked.
“Go away.” She groaned.
“Kayla, there is so much wrong right now.” I tried to swallow, but there wasn’t anything to swallow.
“It’s a hangover, Belle. Drink some water and take some Tylenol.” Her voice was raspy.
“No, look where we are.” I was in the apartment of the bunker.
“It’s called a bed, now go back to sleep.”
Something was very wrong. We were in the bunker, and my head hurt, my stomach was upset, but it was something else. My chest felt tight, like there was a hand squeezing my heart. “Something is wrong, Kayla. We’re in the bunker and I can feel it, something is off.”
“What?” Kayla fought to open her eyes but put her arm over them. “Shit, how much did we drink last night?”
Michael, the texts, the woman, everything, it was all off. My world was off its axis and my heart was aching. “I need to find my brother.” I started to cry. “But why are we in the bunker?”
Kayla gradually moved her arm and looked around. “Holy shit, something happened.” She looked at me. “Oh, Belle no.” She hugged me. “We will talk to Mikey as soon as he gets back.”
I shook my head. “A woman is out there hurting because of me, only God knows what happened here, and my mama.” I cried for her.
“Maybe it was a misunderstanding.” Kayla was a lot more open minded than the night prior.
“You read those texts, Kayla. Michael was as dense with her as he is with you. She loves him, and he didn’t pick up on it, and he was doing sexual things with married women just a week before we met. He was planning to go to a sex resort the day he came to the hospital. What is wrong with him?”
“I think he has had problems for many years, Belle. Did he tell you about Natalie and their baby?” She continued to hold me. She didn’t know that baby wasn’t his child.
“Yes, but married women? Husband’s watching him with their wives? I thought he had respect for marriage. I couldn’t be with someone that needed more than one woman. I grew up around too many men that needed more than one wife to satisfy them. Ican’t compete with that woman, Faye, or whatever her name is. I have no experience and doubt I can satisfy him.” My heart hurt because it was screaming at me. It was trying to tell me that he was in love with me and none of that mattered. But realistically, I had to protect myself and listen to my mind, not my heart.
“I’m so sorry, Belle. Maybe talk with Valerie.” She suggested.
“What about my mama? Did something go wrong? Is that why we’re here?”
“I don’t know, Belle. Let’s just get up, splash some water on our faces and hydrate.” She pulled me from the bed, and I paused.
“Where are my clothes?” I looked down to see we were both in our bras and panties.
She groaned. “This can’t be good.”
She took me to the bathroom where she told me to rinse my face, I did but I also drank from the faucet. She did the same then went to the dresser and we both found Michael’s t-shirts and sweats to put on. When we walked to the living room we saw two muffins, two bananas, some water, two bottles of juice and a bottle of Tylenol sitting by a note.
Hydrate, eat something, and get cleaned up. Creed has put you both on house arrest and you cannot leave this apartment, even after the hold lifts. We came under attack last night, and thankfully, I was able to get your drunk asses into the bunker. The two of you can sit and think about your behavior, and I’ll check on you later.
Patrick
“Fuck him.” Kayla said. “It’s fine when the men in this place fuck around with Felicity’s girls and get wasted, but since we’re women, we get grounded. It’s bullshit.”
“Um Kayla, I’m married and you’re not a resident here. Michael made it clear that you didn’t have access to Club X. So, yeah, we broke the rules.”
Her eyes grew. “Oh yeah, that’s right. Oops, I forgot about the whole not taking part if you don’t get monthly testing here in the medical center. Shit, did I participate?” She bit her bottom lip and thought about it.
My heart raced. “Did I?”
We blinked at each other for a few moments then plopped down on the couch. “I would say I’m never drinking again, but I hate lying to myself. I’ve done it one too many times.”
I blinked and a tear fell.
“Don’t cry, Belle. I’m sure your mother is safe, and Michael will have a good explanation. Like maybe they were in an open relationship. That’s really the only thing that makes sense.”
