Page 65 of Wallflower No More

I wake to the sound of whispering voices, and it takes a few minutes for me to get my bearings. My dad sits to my right and Axel to my left. Each holding my hand on their respective sides. My dad speaks first. "Hey, baby girl."

“Hey daddy.” I try to smile, but the wrap-around around my injury proves that difficult, so my hello comes out a little muffled. Everything is so sore.

Daddy gets up and kisses me on my forehead. "I'm going to tell the nurses you're awake. You need to eat. I'm going to find out what I can bring you."

Axel squeezes my hand. "Mr. Rufus, they said liquids for now."

I groan. "I'm hungry."

He laughs. "I know, baby, but it's just for a few days. When you're better, I'll take you out, and you can feast."

When my dad leaves, Axel leans over and kisses me. He sighs. "Scarlett, I almost lost you."

A tear slides down my cheek. "We almost lost each other."

Kissing my hand, he says, "But we didn't, and we won't ever. You'll be lucky if I ever let you out of my sight again. You thought I was crazy before? Baby, you aint seen nothin’ yet."

I roll my eyes. "Axel, you don't have to worry about me leaving your side until Brody and Jenson are caught." A look passes over his face, but he quickly masks it. "What?"

He shrugs. "We'll talk about it later."

I shake my head. "Axel. What?"

He looks toward the door. "When we get home."

"Axel, I have right now."

"They're dead, Scarlett." He looks me in the eye and doesn't even flinch.

His declaration renders me speechless for a long moment. "How do you know that?"

"Because I took care of it." He replies before telling me everything that happened while I was asleep. It’s a hard pill to swallow when you learn what the man you love has done, and you understand that you should be appalled or scared or both, but all you are is relieved instead. Brody and Jenson would have killed me without a second glance, and Axel couldn't chance their wealthy families bailing them out. I may not fully agree with it, but I understand it all the same. They killed London, and almost killed me. They needed to be stopped.

"What if you get caught?" That's my only worry after his confession.

"No baby. It was explained to me that when they take care of things, they plant a corpse flower over the top, and since it's an endangered flower on government sanctioned land, no one can ever dig it up. Doing so would make it a federal crime." Axel rubs my cheekbone with as much reverence as he did that first day at the library.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything. This absolute fuckery we find ourselves in is something I'd never thought would be my life, but all Axel did was try to protect me, that's his love language. " I'm thankful to your friends, and I honestly like them, but you know those guys are all fucked up. I mean, government sanctioned..."

He laughs. "Yeah. They're even more crazy than me."

"They are important to you, aren't they?" I outline his face with my fingers, he basically groans after every caress.

He kisses my lips. "Yes. They are unconventional but still good men. Scarlett, you won't leave me, will you?"

I kiss him back with an intensity I didn’t know I had until I thought I would never get to kiss him again. "Axel, no. Never. Nothing you could do will ever make me change my mind about you." And I mean that. He's mine forever.

Chapter 35

For London

Everything Fearless 24/7

Scarlett Quinn has dropped a bombshell on all of Longhorn country. Some heads are about to roll.

PS. Several more girls have come out against Brody and Jenson. If you have any information on the asshole's whereabouts, call the tip line now.

Scarlett