Her Dragon Protector, page 15
part #2 of Black Claw Dragons Series
“Shit,” I muttered and pulled the tray closer again. When I’d gotten up, it was directly in front of my seat.
Yanking my phone from my bag, I dialed Axel’s number. “He’s here,” I whispered as soon as he answered.
“Where are you?” He didn’t fool around with pleasantries, for which I was thankful.
“Hospital cafeteria.”
“I’m on my way. Do you see the security guard’s desk? It’s directly down the hall from the main door of the cafeteria.”
I looked around, no longer pretending I didn’t know he was here somewhere. “I do.”
“Can you get to it?”
People milled everywhere. The hospital was busy, being the only one around for fifty miles. “I think so. There are a lot of people here.”
“Wait for the hallway to clear, but don’t wait too long.” The sound of the police car’s siren filled the phone. “I’m on my way.”
He hung up, probably couldn’t hear me over the siren anyway. Before I could do anything on my phone, it rang again from a private number.
This was a new phone and Ava said she’d requested a number that had never been used before. Nobody had this number except the Kingstons. I hadn’t even called my family.
“Hello?” I said shakily. I knew in my gut before he spoke that it was him.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve.” Logan’s steely voice cut across the line like a knife to my heart.
“How did you get this number?” My hand shook as I held the phone up to my ear. “Why are you doing this?”
“You left and had me arrested. I don’t know how easy it will be for us to work past this, Charlotte.”
He thought we were going to get through this? “We aren’t working past anything,” I said through gritted teeth.
“I know where you are. You’ll be dropping the charges and coming home with me.”
Hard, cold laughter erupted from my mouth. “I’m not going anywhere with you, you psycho,” I whispered.
My shaking fingers finally pressed the button to end the call. His voice came through the earpiece while I tried, but I couldn’t tell what he said.
I dialed Ava. I needed to talk to someone until Axel got here. If I was on the phone, maybe Logan would hesitate to make contact. He’d said he knew where I was, but not that he was here. If he wasn’t here, then who moved the food?
“Hey, what’s up, friend?” Ava said.
“I’m at the hospital, had an interview. Logan’s here somewhere.”
She gasped. “How do you know? Did you tell Axel? Let me find Maverick.”
A sob stuck in my throat. “He called me. On this number.”
“Okay, let me get Mav.”
“No, Axel’s on his way. I’m sure he’ll tell Mav and James.” I explained about the phone call and food moving. “I’m about to make a break for the guard’s desk, but I didn’t want to do it without being on the phone with someone. Axel had the siren on and hung up. He doesn’t even know Logan called.”
She was as worried as me and spoke fast. “Oh, yeah, it gets loud inside the car. Okay. Just stand up and walk to the desk. Don’t slow down until you get there.”
I did just as she said, stood without warning and headed straight out the glass door of the cafeteria. My skin tingled the whole way down the short hall, but I made it to the guard’s desk without anyone approaching or touching me.
“May I help you, miss?” The elderly guard smiled at me from his chair. If push came to shove, he’d be no help, but being near someone official made me feel a teeny bit better.
“Would you mind if I waited here for my boyfriend?” I asked.
Ava giggled in my ear. “Sorry, wrong time to laugh, but he’s your boyfriend now?”
“Hush,” I hissed into the phone.
The guard looked concerned. “Of course not. Are you okay? Do you need assistance?” He stood and put his hand on my arm.
“I think I’ll be okay if I can stay right here,” I said.
He nodded and sat back down, looking around the lobby.
“Talk to me,” I whispered. Ava began rambling about Maddox’s graduation while I looked around the lobby. I didn’t see any sign of Logan, but my anxiety wouldn’t calm.
It took Axel fifteen minutes to get there. I stayed glued to the guard’s station with one hand on the counter the entire time. He came running in and pulled me into his arms. “Are you okay?”
“Bye!” Ava called when she heard him. I looked down at my phone to see that she’d hung up.
Axel walked us over to a bench settled near a fountain at the entrance as people streamed past us. “I’m fine. I feel silly, but when my food was moved.”
He pulled back and looked at me in alarm. “Your food?”
I explained the feeling of being watched and my plate being moved across the table while I got ketchup. “And he called me.” I couldn’t stop the tears then.
He growled, and this time I was sure it was a growl. I leaned back to stare at him in shock. “Axel…” When I looked at his face, two whiffs of smoke puffed out of his nose. My jaw dropped in shock, but as fast as they appeared, I blinked, and they were gone. I had to have imagined it. In the weeks I’d known him, I’d never noticed any sign that he was a smoker.
Axel hugged me again. “Come on, baby. Let’s get you out of here.” He shifted to put his arm around me and escorted me to his car. I clung to him until he opened the front door to let me slide in. “Jury and Madd can come get your car later today.”
I nodded, relieved to be with someone that could take care of the situation for me. I didn’t have to worry now.
As he walked around the front of the car with one hand on his gun, I processed the fact that he’d called me baby. At least that was hot. I loved being called pet names.
“Axel,” I said carefully as he pulled out of the hospital parking lot. “I’m under a lot of strain, but you growled earlier. And I would’ve sworn I saw smoke come out of your nose.”
He looked at me briefly before returning his gaze to the road. “Smoke?” He chuckled. “I’ve been known to growl when I’m angry, and Logan threatening you makes me angrier than I think I’ve ever been in my life.”
Even with his admission that he’d growled, something that surely was a sign of a violent person, I didn’t feel threatened. Axel made me feel safer than I’d ever felt in my entire life.
“I’ve got to call the Santa Fe police department as soon as we get home,” he said. “We need all hands on deck for this. Dad and Maverick are deputizing a few volunteers to patrol the town as well as our properties.”
That comforted me. “I just want a shower. I feel gross, like him seeing me tainted me somehow.”
He took my hand. “You’re not gross. You’re exquisite. But I understand what you mean. A shower might help you clear your head.”
We didn’t say much else on the drive. He walked me into the house, and I pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Go make the calls. I’ll be in the shower.”
At least Logan couldn’t get to me here. I was safe. This house had three large, capable men in it, with Maverick just down the road with Maddox. And if Logan somehow got past all of them, I’d be ready this time. I had a big knife in my bedside table drawer. It had been an old boyfriend’s. He’d told me it was illegal to carry a blade that long, but then when we broke up, he’d left it at my place.
I’d kept the damn thing.
I turned the water as hot as it would go in the massive shower. Stripping, I threw my clothes in the corner, then stepped under the scalding spray.
Damn, it felt good. The water splashed off my head and skin as I stretched and let my worries wash away.
Logan knew where I was.
But that was okay. Axel and his family, and the police department were prepared to defend me. And that was their job to do so, as officers.
Didn’t men find women all the time that were hiding from them? Didn’t they beat them or kill them? Maybe so, but I had zero intentions of being a victim. I wasn’t about that life.
What if Axel was asleep and Logan snuck in? If he had a gun or something, I’d have to go with him. My mind started going a little crazy.
What if he shot Carla? Or Hailey? He’d go to Ava’s first, surely. They were in danger. If I left now, maybe I could draw him away.
But then what? He’d chase me the rest of my life, or until one of us killed the other? Running wasn’t a good option either.
The worries piled on me until I lowered myself to the floor. Tears poured out of my eyes, mixing with the water from the shower and washing away.
I had to leave. Staying here meant Logan hurting my friends. The only people I cared anything about in the world. I had to run, or the only option would be going back with Logan.
No. I wouldn’t do that. And I wouldn’t run, no matter what. I would be strong. I would fight.
Sobs burst from my chest. My options were bleak. Wouldn’t I ever get to be happy? Couldn’t I ever choose the right man, the right job, the right life choice?
My mind flooded with worry, anxiety, and self-doubt.
“Charlotte.” Axel’s voice broke through my anxiety attack. “It’s okay.” He shut off the water and wrapped a large towel around me. Before I knew what he was doing, he had me up in his arms.
“I’ll get you all wet,” I said between sobs.
“I don’t care.” He carried me to my bed and then ran back to the bathroom. When he came back, he had another towel in his hands.
The sweet man helped me get under the covers, then took the second towel and scooted in close to me, toweling my hair off gently. “I’m here,” he whispered. “I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.”
The tears kept falling. “I’m so sorry. I’ve put everyone in danger.” He shushed me and put the towel over my shoulders. Wrapping his arms around me, he laid us down, cradling me against him.
“I’ll protect you with my life,” he whispered.
My heart lurched at the thought of him being hurt. I pulled away and rolled over to face him. “Please don’t do that. The thought of you dying…”
Axel smiled and brushed the hair from my eyes. “I guess you’re falling for me already, huh?”
I rolled my eyes but didn’t deny it. As I snuggled into his chest and enjoyed the feeling of protection and safety, I realized he was right.
I was well on my way to love. And there was no way to stop it if I even wanted to.
17
Axel
Compromise was the foundation of all good relationships. At least, that’s what my dad always said.
When Charlotte insisted that she wanted to start the job at the hospital, even with the risk of Logan getting to her there, it took everything in me not to scoop her up and fly her to a remote cabin and hide her away.
She said she’d spent too long hiding. He couldn’t keep her from having a real life. Eventually, she had to function like a real person.
In some ways, she was right. It had been weeks. And she’d waited another week from the incident at the hospital to start the job.
She’d reasoned that she was never alone at the hospital. She was on a busy floor and would always be with a patient or coworker. Especially at first, as she’d be training.
I didn’t feel any better about it.
We’d had one of Carlos’s guys deputized, and he patrolled the hospital during Charlotte’s shift. I made him promise to spend most of his time on her floor, but there was some regulation that said if we sent officers, they had to be available for the entire hospital. Plus, Charlotte said she didn’t need a bodyguard, and that she’d be embarrassed if everyone found out he was just there because she had a psycho ex.
I’d given in begrudgingly, as long as she agreed to text me every two hours. She promised to try her best.
Carlos’s guy was texting me every hour. It gave me peace of mind.
Asher had been restless and upset since the moment we dropped Charlotte off for her shift. That had been our other request. That she let me or Jury or one of my family drive her to and from work.
She hadn’t liked that, but she finally agreed. It was the best compromise we could come up with until someone got their hands on Logan and put him in jail.
Maverick had insisted I meet him at the diner for lunch. I walked over from the station and waved at the hostess when I walked in and saw Mav already at a table.
I wanted to ask him about the smoke Charlotte had seen anyway.
“How are you holding up?” he asked after I put in my order. “You look like hell.”
I felt like hell. “I can’t stop worrying. Can’t focus. And when I found out he called her, she caught a glimpse of Asher.” I didn’t elaborate, he knew what I meant.
He raised his eyebrows. “You’ve got to tell her soon. You’re serious about her, aren’t you?”
I gave him a sarcastic look. “Were you serious about Ava?”
He held up his hands and chuckled. “I know. It’s natural for you to have reacted like that, but if she doesn’t know what’s going on, she’s likely to freak out.”
I sighed, and we both paused the conversation when the food was set in front of us. We were speaking in vague terms, but still, better to be safe.
“The more you fall in love with Charlotte, the more anxious Asher will be until you, uh, complete the deal.” He meant claimed her. Until I claimed her, Asher was likely to give me more trouble like letting smoke come out of my nostrils.
“How did it go when you showed Ava?” He’d never told me the story of how he’d told her and Maddox.
He burst out laughing. “That’s a story not for a public place. But if you love her and you believe she loves you; she’ll accept it. What other choice would she have with the truth right in front of her?”
I munched on a fry and considered his words. “When did you get so smart?”
He snorted. “I’ve always been smart. You just like to ignore it.” He didn’t sound angry, though. Just teasing.
We talked about other things as we ate, Maddox’s graduation, Hailey’s upcoming slumber party. Jury’s college career. I realized as I took my last few bites that it was so easy to just hang out with Maverick.
“I’m sorry, Mav. I’m sorry I let a rift grow between us.”
He looked at me, surprised.
“I shouldn’t have let my jealousy and self-doubt cause years of problems. I’m truly sorry.”
Maverick smiled and sighed. “I’m relieved to hear that. I’ve only wanted us to be friends like we were when we were kids.” He poked my hand. “I just want you to be happy. I never meant to take your life away.”
He hadn’t done anything to overshadow me on purpose. I’d find a way to work through it if he did. “Water under the bridge?” I asked.
His grin broadened. “Under the bridge.”
Maybe we could move on and be real brothers again.
We parted soon after, Maverick to go home for a while and me back to the station. I’d arranged to get off just in time to go pick Charlotte up from her shift.
I idled the cruiser at the front door, watching for any signs of Logan or another car that might need to pull up to the door to pick up a patient. A few minutes after I stopped, Charlotte jogged out of the building and hopped in. She leaned over and pressed a kiss to my mouth, then smiled. “Hey, you.”
Having her at my side again gave me an instant ease I hadn’t felt all day. We were meant to be near one another. “You seem happy,” I observed as I pulled away.
“I am. I’ve only worked three shifts, but they’ve gone so well. I love the nurses on my floor.” She beamed at me. “I’m worried about Logan, of course, but if we can get him in jail, I think I’ll love this hospital. This job.”
Her happiness and ease warmed my heart. Now if only we could get her asshole ex out of the picture, we could start building a life together. “Hungry?”
She nodded eagerly. “Your mom. I swear, she’s the sweetest woman I’ve ever met.”
I chuckled. She’d never seen her after she had to clean Jury’s bathroom.
“She packed me a lunch. It was delicious, but the way my day went, I ended up grazing from the lunchbox a little at a time. I stayed full enough most of the day that way, but now I’m starving.” She tugged on her scrub top under her coat. “But I sweated pretty much all day.” The sun visor squeaked from rarely being used as she pulled it down. “Ugh.” She smoothed her hair the best she could as I glanced between her and the road.
“You look beautiful. You always do,” I said. “But we don’t have to go anywhere fancy.”
“How about a burger drive-through?” She looked around the cruiser. “Are you allowed to eat in here?”
I chuckled. “Oh, yes. Do your worst. It can’t come anywhere close to the worst this car has seen.”
Then I had to tell her the story of the woman that I’d picked up a couple of years back, high out of her mind, stark naked, walking down Main Street in the middle of the night.
She’d peed in the backseat of the cruiser. “And that’s why they make them out of that material. So you can open the doors and hose them out.”
Charlotte wrinkled her nose and looked through the cage into the back seat. “Gross.”
“Yeah.” I stopped at the speaker to Burger Master. “Burger?”
She giggled and peered at their big menu board. “Double cheeseburger, no onion, large onion rings, large chocolate milkshake.”
I repeated her order to the little microphone-speaker combo, then asked them to double it. “I’ll have the same.”
As we drove around the building, I fished out my wallet to pay. “No onions, but add onion rings?”
She shrugged. “I am who I am.”
Damn, I loved her for that.
We parked at a nearby overlook to eat and enjoy the view.
“I have to talk to you about something,” she said between sips of milkshake.
My stomach dropped. Those words rarely led to a good conversation.
“I need your help.”
That sounded more promising. “Anything.”
“It’s time for me to move out of your parents’ house.” She eyed me as she took a bite of her huge burger.
