The silence is a long one this time, and I imagine my brother’s head is spinning like a cartoon right about now. I bite my bottom lip while I shift my gaze away from Viking to thecounter as I tap my finger against it, waiting for my brother to calm down.
He doesn’t, not really.
Instead, he tells me that he’ll be right over and ends the call. Lifting my focus up to Viking, I place my phone on the counter and jut my chin up slightly. I have a feeling I’ve just made a grave mistake, but I’m also never going to admit that out loud.
CHAPTER FIVE
LAINEY
Viking grunts justas there is a knock on the door. I announce that the lasagna is ready and decide that the last thing I want to do is open the door to my pissed-off brother. So Viking can do that, and I’ll just get dinner out and ready to eat.
I hear my brother’s feet stomping through the house grow louder as he approaches. I take a deep breath and hold it for a moment, then let it out slowly as I turn around, heavy and hot lasagna in my hand.
“Hey,” I cry out.
His expression is thunderous. Well then, I guess this won’t be as simple as I thought it would be. I open my mouth to attempt to explain myself as I place the hot pan on top of the trivets that are sitting on the counter, but quickly snap my lips shut when he begins to speak.
And thunderous doesn’t even explain the absolute boom of his voice. “What the fuck is going through your fool-assed head?” he demands.
I attempt to explain myself, but snap my lips closed when he holds up his hand, his palm facing me in an attempt to shut me up. I press my lips together, trying to keep from saying something, because I don’t think he’s ready to hear my voice just yet.
“You know what?” he asks. “I don’t want to know. I don’t want to know why you think it would be a good idea for you to just hand yourself over to them. You don’t even know who the fuck they are. And you’re not gonna know, because it doesn’t fucking matter. You are absolutely not getting involved.”
Viking grunts somewhere in the distance, but I don’t look at him, because my focus is on my brother and only my brother, because fuck Viking. Narrowing my eyes on Axton, I take a step toward him, but instead of screaming or being loud the way he is, I speak calmly, firmly.
“I’m already involved, Axton. I’m actually the main one involved, and if this is better for everyone, then who cares?”
He wraps his fingers around the back of his neck as he shakes his head from side to side a few times, then he clears his throat. He looks down at his feet, then lifts his eyes to meet mine.
“You don’t know what you’re saying, Lainey. If you do this, I can’t protect you anymore. You would be his. You know how when it comes to the club, women are property?” he asks.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I nod once, because I have a feeling I know what he’s going to say.
“It’s the same for them. Except if you’re with anyone in the club, they at least have to look me in the eye if they did something to you. Those guys, they don’t have to do shit. And they don’t have to answer to anyone. Not even Bullet.”
“Okay,” I whisper.
“Not okay,” he snaps. “You think I can’t tell when you’re just trying to shut me up? I came down here, I’ve told you my thoughts, now please explain yourself.”
God, I really hate it when he’s like this. It’s annoying as hell. Mainly because he only does this when he thinks he’s right, and he’s so damn smug about it. If I were the kind of person who would slap someone, this would be the moment and the someone.
“My dinner is getting cold, so I’m going to say what I’m going to say and that’s going to be that, okay?” I ask. “This doesn’t need to be a fight or anything.”
He jerks his chin but otherwise doesn’t speak, which is my signal to go ahead. But I know that he’s not really listening to me with an open mind. He’s already decided what he thinks is the right thing to do, and it’s nothing that I’m about to say.
“I’m thirty-two,” I begin. “I’ve got no prospects, and with the bakery and my life here, I probably never will. I don’t want to leave Thunder Rock. I don’t want to leave you or my friends, my family. I love my life here, but I do want someone to share it with, and I want children one day. My window is closing, Axton. I know it is, and if this helps the club, helps you, helps Millie and everyone else, let me do it.”
He shakes his head. “I won’t hear of it. You’re my little sister,” he says, lowering his voice as he takes a step closer to me. “And I want you to have everything you deserve in life. A piece of shit trying to kidnap you in order to force our hand at whatever the fuck he’s got going on isn’t going to happen.”
Then his arms wrap around me, and he gives me a hug, a big one. A brotherly bear hug. I haven’t had one of these in a while, so I close my eyes and accept it. When he’s finished, he takes a step backward, his fingers curling around my shoulders as he gives me a gentle shake.
“Eat your dinner, get some sleep, do your bakery. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I whisper.
Axton flicks his gaze up to Viking, jerking his chin. “Talk to you for a second outside?”
Code for…I’m going to talk about Lainey, tell you how to handle her, and how I want this situation to go.That’s fine. I’ve never been in complete charge of my own life anyway. And I never will be.