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I was watching Faelea play with a hoard of children, who happily ran around the clubhouse without a care in the world. There was a couple near her age, so I was happy she was making friends.
“Where do you plan to send her to school?” Lindsey asked.
“There’s a few local to me, so I was going to research them,” I replied.
“Phoe owns her own private school. Ellen used to work all the time, but she’s part-time now. Two days a week and the rest of the week, she and Axel are usually here with some of the kids. They come across to HQ and kidnap them from there.” Lindsey smiled.
“Seriously?” I asked, concerned.
“Axel is the last founder Rage has alive. His wife is Ellen. Axel has a daughter called Willow, and he and Ellen adopted Wild and Cowboy. But they’ve got no grandchildren, so they kinda fell into the role of being every child’s grandparents. Axel bitches like no other come Christmas when Ellen shops for them all. But the youngsters will never have a better set of grandparents, blood or not. So if Axel wants to wander over and steal a couple of the kids from childcare for bonding, nobody has an issue. We encourage it as it keeps Axel out of trouble,” Lindsey replied with a bittersweet smile.
“Sounds wonderful. Axel, isn’t he the one who was injured? Who the party is for tonight?” I asked.
“Yes. He was shot by a sniper, and the bullet damaged his spine. It paralysed one leg of his, and boy, do we know it. Axel has always been active; we were terrified he wouldn’t make it. Then petrified he’d give up fighting. We dumped the kids on him daily to remind him he had something to live for. Axel doesn’t know, but for the last four weeks, the men at the garage have been working a hell of a kick-ass trike for him. He won’t ride two wheels again, but he’ll ride three,” Lindsey said, her face determined.
“Axel seems very much loved,” I murmured as I studied her.
She softened under my stare.
“He is the dad most of the guys didn’t have, the grandfather the kids don’t have and the father-in-law every woman dreams of. Axel’s heart will burst one day because it’s so overloaded with love. I’ve never seen such a capacity for love as Axel has,” Lindsey informed me.
“Can we go back to how he was shot? Nobody’s mentioned it,” I asked.
A black expression crossed Lindsey’s face.
“Many years ago, Rage was ruled by a dirty, nasty bastard. Drake and the guys fought to get the MC clean and did. But one of the original founders liked it dirty and wants to take the club back. Rage, RCPD, and their allies have all been targeted. Rage has withstood a couple of attacks and beaten the aggressors. There was retaliation from Rage and then Fury shot Axel and four police officers,” Lindsey explained.
“Holy shit, how do you live like that?” I asked, aghast. This was not the life I envisioned for me and Faelea. Being in some nutjobs crosshairs because he wants something he can’t have was my worst nightmare.
“Because every day, I wake up next to the man who loves me more than anything. Lowrider would lay his life down in the blink of an eye for me and the children. There is nothing Lowrider wouldn’t do for us. Rage is good, the areas we live in are clean, and the city has low crime. That’s because Rage works with the cops to keep crime down. They’re good men, a little rough sometimes, but each has a heart of gold and strong morals set in stone. Nobody here would ever hurt an innocent. They’d all lie down and die to protect the Hellions. And I thank God for each moment we have together.”
“Doesn’t living with the threat of death bother you?” I asked.
“Amberlea, we all live with the threat of death daily. I could walk out of here and get hit by a car. That happens far more often than a shooting. Or I could leave Lowrider, live in a prison, and never experience life. Lowrider and the brothers are doing everything they can to keep us safe. Their families are their world. I’m not going to allow Fury to tear Lowrider and me apart because of some warped plan he has to steal our lives,” Lindsey said firmly.
“That makes sense,” I drawled, thinking over her words.
A commotion near the door made us look towards it, and a hulking figure entered the clubhouse on crutches.
“Ellen, stop fussing!” the giant bellowed.
A much smaller lady placed her hands on her hips and glared. She reached up and smacked him around the back of his head, which he bowed to let her reach.
A smile crossed my face.
“Fuss! Fuss! I will give you fuss, you irritating old man!” Ellen replied loudly.
“Woman, let me sit down and greet my grandbabies. I’m hearing I got a new grandbaby girl,” Axel boomed, his gaze searching.
“Axel, sit the fuck down,” Drake said, exasperated, as he came from downstairs.
“Boy, one leg or not, I’ll open a can of whoop ass on you!” Axel declared, and his eyes lit on Faelea, who stood stunned, watching.
A huge smile crossed the walking mountain’s mouth, and he moved in her direction.
“You! You the new grandbaby?” he boomed, approaching.
