Page 104 of Axton
“Open relationship?” I asked.
“Yeah, some people even have open marriages. It’s not cheating if the other party is aware and doing the same thing. Some couples have agreements.”
I blinked at her. “So, after a decade of an open relationship, it’s okay to marry someone else? So, what happens when he’s bored with having just me? Is he going to run off to New York or go on some sex retreat? What the hell is a sex retreat anyway?” I could feel my heart shattering.
“I get it, Belle. He didn’t tell you and he should have, but everything happened so fast. Maybe he told her over the phone and wasn’t ready to tell you yet.”
I wiped my tears away. “You saw that last text, she didn’t know. She was asking him if it was over between them.”
“I don’t know, I am so confused. My brother is a good man, and none of this sounds like him. I will say there’s nothing wrong with his sex life before you, even though the thought makes me gag, but men enjoy exploring their sexuality. Do you have any idea how many threesome’s happen upstairs in that club? It may surprise you to hear this, but even I’ve had a threesome. Well, and a foursome. There was this one time…” I reached over and put my hand over her mouth and shook my head. I didn’t need details.
She removed my hand. “Just don’t hold his sex life against him when you weren’t even in his life.” She shuttered. “Okay fine, some of the stuff we read was bad, even for me, but maybe he was just confused.”
“Those texts were like a book of his sex life, Kayla. Vampire sex? Sex hunts, what the hell is a sex hunt?” I was so confused, and hurt.
“It’s for women. Some very strange women have fantasies about being stalked and hunted down then…” She gulped. “Raped. But you read the part where she made fun of him because he couldn’t do it. He only went for her because it was what she wanted.”
“Ten years, Kayla.” I got up and went to the bathroom for a roll of toilet paper, then went back to sit down. “You’re only saying this because you’re over the shock and trying to help your brother.” I ripped some toilet paper off and blew my nose.
“I want to help you too, Belle. I think you should stop and think about how all this started. Even you said the marriage wasn’t real, and he didn’t know he was going to fall for you.”
“What about my mama? I’m so scared for her. What if we are down here because things went wrong trying to save her? Merriam too, she’s literally my second mom.” I was a mess.Hungover and heartbroken, scared, and I missed Michael, but I was so hurt by those texts.
There was a beeping noise, and the door unlocked. I was scared who was coming in until I saw Patrick. “I see the two of you have decided to join the living.” He let the door shut behind him then plopped down onto the sofa.
“What happened?” Kayla asked.
“Oh, just one of the most dangerous gangs in the world with territories that stretch from LA to Spain attacked us. Commonly known as Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13. We annihilated them, of course.”
He leaned over and took a banana. “So, wanna talk about last night? Creed will be in soon, so you better come up with a better excuse than Axton cheating on a girlfriend with his wife. You know how fucked up that sounds, right?” He opened the banana and took a bite. “Mmm.” He looked down at the banana like it was magical fruit.
“What does it for you most, Patrick? The length or the taste?” Kayla asked.
“Fuck off.” He took another bite.
“Any word about my mother?” I asked.
He sighed. “Something happened but they’re being really tight lipped in the Command center, and Bolton, Wrenly, and Jennings took off in a jet. I think it was something bad, but two women I presume are your mother and Koty’s were dropped off this morning in a state police helicopter. I think they’re fine, but Creed said they would have to be questioned, and nobody can see them yet.”
I felt some relief, but what about my husband? “Any word about Michael and the rest of the team?” I asked.
“I haven’t heard a thing, but I walked by the command center, and they seem very upset. Creed lifted the hold and let everyone out of their apartments, but he is talking about putting us back on it, so I thought I’d check and see if you’re hungry for a warm meal before that happens?”
I glanced at the fridge. “We have frozen food to microwave. I guess I’m fine. Where’s my brother and Pammy?” I wasn’t hungry at all.
“Your brother is staying with Baros and Pammy is staying over at Magnus’s apartment.” He tossed the banana peel in the trash. The door buzzed again, and I looked up to see Creed. He looked absolutely terrible, and he had Pammy with him. He told her to take a seat and asked Patrick to stay. I watched as he walked over and took a seat next to Patrick.
“What’s wrong?” Pammy asked as she took a seat next to Kayla.
Creed sat forward with his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasped. “Last night, Axton and the whole team we sent were doing recon on a motorcycle compound in Northern Indiana.” He wouldn’t even look up at us. “At the same time, a few dozen gang members known as MS-13 tried to infiltrate Creed’s Lake. Our State Police Superintendent activated several troopers, the Gary SWAT team, and we ordered Axton to raid the compound. We presumed Jeremiah and the women were bait to redirect our attention and attack us here while we had a good number of men away. Unfortunately, it was the opposite. It was a trap and there were several underground tunnels that hid most of their men. They fooled our team to raid them, and our men weren’t prepared for what they encountered. They were able to get your mother and Koty’s out safely, but Jeremiah was killed. Unfortunately, they came under a lot of gun fire, and we’ve lost three operatives. On top of that, Magnus is in intensive care with a gunshot to his abdomen, Irons was shot in the leg, and Axtonhas a flesh wound on his hip, and he lost a lot of blood. A good friend of ours, Sniper, jumped in front of a bullet to save Axton and we aren’t sure he is going to make it. They’ve all been to surgery and Irons and Axton will be fine, but Magnus and Sniper need our prayers.”
I was already crying when his eyes met mine. “Your mother and Koty’s do not trust us. They believe we are evil, and don’t understand that we saved their lives. I’m sorry Belle, but I’m holding them for now. I can’t be in the room with them while my best friends almost died to save them and they’re cursing them to hell. I can’t leave my wife and kids, meaning I can’t be with my best friends in Chicago while they also need me.” He was trying to speak calmly to me. “I do not want to hear about last night. I was not happy to be ripped away from my newborn sons, my daughter, and their mother because the two of you decided to have an emotional breakdown. I get why you’re upset, Belle, but Kayla, you should have been more responsible with her.” He looked at Kayla. “She is your brother’s wife, and you were encouraging her to blow other men? Are you kidding me? Of course, she’s upset and confused, but she needed a friend, not any kind of negative influence. Your brother loves Belle, and I’m sure he has an explanation, but you do not know the hell he has been living all these years. There are things your brother has experienced that you couldn’t wrap your mind around. Be a better sister to the man that gave up everything his entire fucking life to make sure you had food to eat, a roof over your head, and paid for your education. Have some fucking respect for him and his marriage.” Creed looked at me again. “He lost a lot of blood, but he’s going to be okay. All I ask is you let him explain himself before you do anything you may regret. Don’t forget why my men were even at that compound in the first place.” He looked at Patrick. “You did the right thing last night.I’m about to hold all these doors so you better get to wherever you want to be when that happens. We have operatives coming in injured and I don’t have all the reports yet. The last thing we need is their families roaming around and seeing them before I have a chance to talk to them. Once I talk to all the families, including those who lost their husband and fathers, or even call their parents, I’ll lift it.” Creed walked through the door with Pammy behind him and I looked at Patrick. Pammy didn’t say one word about Michael.
Kayla was crying and took off for the bedroom. I went to stand but Patrick told me to let her be for a few minutes. “Belle, I understand how shocking it had to be for you to read those messages, but you’re very new to this world. As a man with curiosities of my own, and one that has made a lot of mistakes, I promise you he wasn’t doing anything wrong. I had a conversation with Creed when he took a break last night. He told me that Axton may have had what we call a fuck buddy, but he wasn’t ever committed to anyone. I was thinking about it, and all you saw were texts. You weren’t there for their conversations in person or their phone calls. I suspect that Kayla got just as caught up in it as you because she’s had some struggles of her own lately. I will not say who, but she had feelings for someone that is close to Axton, and she didn’t know he felt the same. He was under the impression she was as innocent as Axton said because he knew her for years, but he caught her doing something with another man. Creed doesn’t know, but I was with him when it happened. His devotion to Axton was why he never made a move, and I don’t think he will ever see her in the same way again. I think that’s why she was so anti-men last night and fed into your emotions. Just do me a favor and hear him out when he returns.”
I nodded as I looked down at my wedding band. It didn’t take away my insecurities, but I would think about what both men said. Patrick left me with my thoughts. I would have gotten over the images in my mind that those texts gave me. Kayla was right, what he did before me wasn’t my business. But how was a completely inexperienced girl like me supposed to compete with a woman he had ten years with and did all those exciting things with for all that time? How was I supposed to be with him while knowing he had ten years with another woman, and he didn’t even break it off with her before he said he loved me? My heart broke for her because Michael was a good man that helped a lot of people, and he was so easy to love. I was not a cruel person that wouldn’t care about the feelings of another woman. I also invaded his privacy, and it wasn’t because he gave me any reason not to trust him. It was because I was jealous that another woman was calling him. I would have had to take responsibility for my intrusion, but I deserved to know another woman that cared for him existed. I thought Natalie was the only other girl he cared for, and I couldn’t help but to be heartbroken. I also had a difficult time understanding how he could have sex with a married woman after the way he acted about a spiritual marriage between us.
He was injured, his close friends were fighting for their lives, and it was all because he was helping me. I felt guilty, but at the same time I was confused. Things happened very quickly, and I could see he had very little time to talk with her, but he should have made the time.
