Outlaw's Baby: A Bad Boy Secret Baby Romance (7 page)

W
hat the fuck
is Cherie 
doing
 in there? She’s been in the office for ages!

I’ve been pacing up and down the club, growing increasingly pissed. People are shooting me odd looks. The waitress even tried to give me another drink to calm me down, but I’m far too riled up. It’s like a red mist has descended, and I don’t think anything will be able to shake it off until I see Cherie again.

What the fuck is she doing with the sleazy owner of this place? I don’t exactly know how the girls secure their jobs in a joint like this. My imagination is inventing all sorts of horrendous possibilities.

It’s safe to say that I’m pretty fucking mad right about now.

Just as I’m about to blow my top, she glides through the doorway like an angelic vision. Her eyes suggest something more, though. They suggest that something has happened. Rather than taking a second to think of an explanation, my brain produces an image of her lips gliding up and down 
his
 cock. I can see the smug, satisfied smirk of a guy I’ve only laid my eyes on once or twice. Cherie gazes up at him with her beautiful blue eyes, trying not to gag as he forces himself further and further down her throat.

“Come on,” she says, reaching out to me with one hand.

I can barely even a grunt a reply as I allow her to guide me from the building. I expect the fresh morning air outside to cool my mood, to make me think a little clearer. It does nothing for my temper. I should have known that, though. I know enough about myself to know that once the mood is there, it won’t be stripped away that simply.

And speaking of stripped… Fuck, the image of Cherie dancing on that stage is still burned into my retinas.

“I got an address—” She starts to speak, but it’s too late. I’ve lost it.

“What the fuck was all of that?” I say much louder than I intend to.

“What?” She’s stunned, and her skin pales a little as she automatically takes a step back away from me.

“I said what the fuck was all that about? You just go in there, strip your clothes off and then fuck off with some other guy?” I’m practically spitting now; my words are coming out so venomously.

“What do you mean?” she says. “I told you the plan. I thought you understood…”

“That you’d be wrapping yourself around some seedy asshole’s dick? No, funnily enough, I missed that part.”

I’m aware that I’m being stupid and irrational, but it’s gone too far. I can’t stop myself.

“You think I fucked someone?” She begins to laugh. “I went there to find out about my sister. You know that. Why are you so jealous, Axel?”

Her words cause the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. How dare she?

“Jealous…well, what the hell do you expect?” I don’t care how loud I’m speaking now. I’m certain that I’m attracting the attention of passersby, but I can’t make myself think about that, even if I know I should. “You just…you don’t even…”

“I went there to find out where my sister is.” She speaks in a calm, controlled manner as if I’m some sort of out-of-control teenager. “I had to speak to the owner. No one else could tell me anything. The only way I could do that was to act like I wanted a job. I 
had
 to do all of that. What did you expect? Did you want to me to ask the shift manager if you could come to the meeting with me?”

I purse my lips tightly together, not wanting to answer her. Actually, yes. That’s exactly what I expected. Goddamn it, how pathetic am I?

“Nothing even happened with the owner. I can’t believe you have such a low opinion of me,” she says, making guilt rip me apart.

Fuck. She’s right. What the hell was I thinking?

 Cherie screws her nose up at me as she waits for my reply. She's stirring up all the weird, burning energy that’s swirling around me even more. I don’t know what to say; don’t know how to apologize. So we remain there, locked in our bizarre standoff for what feels like an eternity. Cherie eventually caves with a deep sigh.

She opens her mouth to speak, but we hear a high-pitched voice traveling across the street. This completely sidetracks her. “Yeah, it is. It’s definitely him! That’s Axel Lake!”

I allow my eyes to follow the voice. I'm somehow suspecting that this stranger is talking about me. With all my emotions in such a fucking twisted mess, it takes me a while to remember that I’m a wanted fugitive. As soon as it hits me, a tired resignation sets in.

This is it. My life has finally caught up with me.

“Shit,” I hear Cherie mutter under her breath.

Shit is right.

I have a few seconds to mentally go over all my options. Can I deny who I am? No, my face is plastered everywhere. Everyone knows who I am. Can I convince this stranger that I didn’t kill the guy? No, I have the look of a hardened criminal. Plus, who is she likely to believe? The stiffs in suits on her TV, or the grimy guy who is going to say anything to keep himself out of trouble?

The woman reaches into her pocket, and my heart stops. Time seems to stop with it. Goddamn it, why did I have to scream at Cherie about something so stupid? Fucking jealous idiot I am. Why couldn’t I speak to her calmly, like a normal human being? Why did I have to fly off the handle? I 
knew
 that everyone was staring at us and I didn’t do anything about it, and now this woman’s noticed me.

I’m caught.

I can’t believe it. Time spent hiding, moving in the shadows, skulking around unseen…all gone to waste. All because of an idiotic moment of recklessness.

The woman pulls a black shiny object out, pressing buttons on it, all the while keeping her eyes locked on me. The object moves up to her ear, and even though I know exactly what’s happening, I can’t seem to do anything to stop it.

It’s hopeless.

Then she says the words I wanted to hear least of all in the whole world.

“Police, please.”

T
he next thing
I hear is sirens. I don’t know if this is literally a split-second later, or if I’ve zoned out for a while in a panic. All I do know for sure is that we need to get the hell out of here…right fucking now.

I turn to see Axel already pouncing on his bike—miles ahead of me, as per usual. He doesn’t indicate that I should follow him, but I’m sure as hell going to, whether I’m wanted or not. There’s no way I’ll be able to get away with racing around the city with a potential murderer. How could I act like I had no idea who he was, when apparently his face has been everywhere? They’ll haul me into the cop shop and question me for sure. I’m not quite sure if I’m mentally strong enough to withstand all of that. I wouldn’t want to crack, but I’m afraid that I would.

The bike swings around the corner at top speed, with me barely clinging on for life. We’ve moved so quickly that neither of us have had the opportunity to put on our helmets, which is a huge risk to take. What if we crash?

To be honest, that’s probably the least of our problems right now…

I never thought I’d be in a situation where potential death wasn’t the worst case scenario.

I lean into Axel’s firm back and dig my fingers into his taut torso, my heart hammering against my ribcage. This is insane. Totally and utterly insane. I knew when I started this journey it wasn’t going to be straightforward. But I sure as hell hadn’t planned for anything this extreme. But then again, I had thought I’d be spending all this time alone, so really, absolutely none of it has gone to plan.

“Where should we go?” Axel asks, showing a surprising sign of actually wanting my opinion. I don’t understand that; he seems like the type of person who is always
 
in control. He comes across as someone with more experience escaping the authorities than I do. So why does he want me to dictate where we go?

Fortunately, despite my reservations, I actually have an answer.

“Drury Lane,” I reply.

I have the address that the strip club owner gave me fixed firmly in my mind. I mean, of course I do…it’s my one small link to Bridgette. I can’t see any point in us going anywhere else, anyway—we’ll only be running around in circles with no aim. Plus, if no one can be certain that she still lives there, time is of the essence and I can’t afford any more mistakes.

Axel doesn’t question my instructions; he just follows them to the letter. Now that he’s had a moment to cool off from his tantrum earlier, he’s finally realized what I was trying to tell him. It’s sunk in that I might actually have an answer.

What the hell was all of that, anyway? The way he just went off on me was nuts. He didn’t even try to hear my side of things. It was quite clear that he was jealous, but why? He’s already pretty much told me that he can have any girl that he wants. That he uses that fact to his advantage. So why would he give a shit about me? Why would he even care if I had slept with that guy?

Not that I would. I couldn’t have even done it for answers about my sister. Especially not after being with Axel the night before. I could never do anything that seedy.

I know that Axel is helping me, but surely that’s more of a ‘thank you’ for deciding not to turn him in than anything else. Right?

Okay, I may be worried that I’m developing strong feelings for him—however unwise that might be—but I can’t imagine him as the falling in love type. He’s too much of a lone wolf, always throwing caution to the wind and figuring his own way out of danger, whatever that ends up being.

If the feelings are only one-sided, then I’ll be able to deal with it. My heart might break, but I can recover. That much isn’t impossible. I’ll know deep down that my naivety got me into that situation. Nothing more.

If there’s even the slightest chance he has any feelings for me, too…well, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t even begin to imagine…

By the time we reach Bridgette’s last known address on Drury Lane, the sirens are way out of earshot. Meaning that by some miracle, we’ve gotten away again. I have a horrible feeling that our luck is going to run out soon.

“Which apartment is it?” Axel asks as he slows down the bike. I can tell he’s now feeling remorseful for his behavior earlier, but this isn't the right moment.

Not when I’m so close.

“237.” Adrenaline courses through me as I speak. In a few seconds, I might get to see my sister again. I might be able to find out the truth of what happened to her, and what’s still happening to her right now.  

“Come on,” I mutter, mostly to myself.

I can do this. I have to do this.

We get off the bike, head up the rickety stairs of the building, and walk past the blocks of second floor apartments. We're counting out the numbers as we go. It's eerily quiet, which is sending my anxiety levels through the roof. Like I'm the silly victim in a horror movie, and this is that horrible moment with the deathly music playing. Moments before the serial killer pounces and slashes me to pieces.

I shudder. I really need to stop letting my imagination run away with me, and I need to focus. This is real life, not some stupid movie. Plus, it’s not like I’m alone. Axel is here with me, and I’m sure someone built as powerfully as him could take out any bastard that tried to kill me. I just need to stop worrying.

“Here,” Axel finally says, yanking me out of my crazy thoughts.

“Right,” I reply, just as stiffly. My blood starts to run cool throughout my body, proving that I’ve probably just gone as white as a sheet. I’ve never been very good at keeping my emotions inside. They’re always plastered all over my face.

I stand frozen for a few seconds before Axel takes the lead and knocks hard on the door. He doesn’t give me a moment to collect myself, which is actually probably a good thing. It means that I can’t talk myself out of it. Despite that, the thump sends shockwaves right through me.

Stop it, 
I scold myself in my mind. 
Now is not the time to be afraid
. I need to pull myself together and just get through this. Whatever I discover in this apartment is much better than not knowing anything at all. The last four months of torture have shown me that much. I might be afraid now, but I don’t feel like I’m living on a knife’s edge so much anymore. My life has meaning again, and I need that.

When no one answers, I press my ear up against the door. “Hello?” I call out. If she’s hiding because she thinks we’re that monster, I want to put her mind at ease right away. “Bridge? It’s me, it’s Cherie.”

Nothing.

My heart flutters all the way down to my shoes as hopelessness consumes me. I know that I’d tried to tell myself this place might not hold all the answers. But deep down, I’d desperately been hoping that it would. This gossamer thin piece of thread is all I was hanging on to, and now it’s slowly vanishing to nothing. I don’t know 
what 
I’ll do.

“They might not be home. This doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” Axel says.

I nod, trying to smile weakly at his attempt at making me feel better, but all that comes out is a grimace. I want to see my sister so badly, to confirm that I’d been told the truth. I know I won’t be able to fully accept that she’s alive until I see her with my own eyes again.

Seeing my heartbroken expression, Axel speaks again. “Okay, so how are we going to break in?”

“Break in?” I hiss. “Are you insane? We can’t break in! Aren’t you in enough trouble at the moment? No, we just need to…”

My words trail off, seeing as I have no idea how to complete that sentence.

“We aren’t going in to steal anything. We’re just going in to find out more about a missing person. One who’s likely in danger,” Axel replies. I can see that he’s trying to press all my buttons to get me to agree with him. I don’t let it show, but it’s actually working. “And I already told you, I didn’t actually kill the guy.”

“Oh, god,” I blurt out, trying to stifle a laugh. Trust Axel to have to take this moment to defend himself. It’s strangely enough to break the bubble of tension that’s been surrounding me.

After a few seconds, I emit a small sound of agreement. “Do you know how to do it without being obvious? I don’t really want to cause too much damage if we can help it.”

The incredulous look Axel gives me immediately silences me. Of course a man like him knows how to discreetly break in to someone’s home…why did I even think that I needed to ask?

I try to avert my eyes as he fusses around with the rickety old lock. It looks like it might fall apart any moment anyway. I figure the less I know about all this, the better.

“Okay, we’re in,” he announces a moment later with a smug expression on his handsome face.

“Already?”

I don’t intend to sound impressed, but somehow I do anyway. I just can’t believe how easy that was. It makes me worry about my own safety…not that I have a door someone can unlock without a key. I don’t even have a couch anymore. All I have is a car that doesn’t work…

God, I cannot worry about all my crap right now. It’ll only send me spiraling down into unnecessary anxiety. One thing at a time— that’s the only way I’m going to be able to do this.

Axel goes through the door first, presumably to see if there’s any immediate danger. I tiptoe behind. All this feels so wrong. I know that I shouldn’t be here, but I also know that there’s nowhere else in the world that I should be right now.

“They still live here,” Axel says, almost right away. He sounds so certain that I almost weep.

“How can you tell?” I ask, my heart skipping a beat.

“Mail,” he replies. “There isn’t a stack of it piled up at the door. And there’s an open letter addressed to your sister from two days ago, sitting right there on the table.”

“How…?” I start to ask before quickly changing my mind. I don’t think I really want to know how he knows so much about the ways to tell these things. “Okay, so now what do we do?” 

Clearly he’s going to know what to do much better than me, so I might as well use his expertise.

“Well, we’ve established that Bridgette still lives here. That guy in the picture,” he says, pointing to a photograph on the mantelpiece. “Must be Lucas. He doesn’t look too bad.”

I follow where his finger is aiming and quickly see that he’s right. We could be wrong of course, but Lucas just seems to have the look of someone quite decent. Plus, the apartment is nicely furnished and tidy, so it isn’t some sort of horrendous drug den. That's a fear that I hadn’t realized I even had until this very moment.

“Unless there’s anything specific that you want to look for, then I guess we just wait until they get home.” Axel sighs.

I nod mutely before following his lead and sitting down on the nearest chair. All we need to do now is wait, so why does this feel like the hardest thing in the entire world? I could almost burst with the tension of it all.

A weird energy starts to fill the room, and I notice that this is the first time we’ve been alone since our... Since last night.

“I…”

“Do you…”

We both start to speak at the same time before falling into an awkward silence again. What the hell has happened to us? Haven’t we been through far too much to suddenly feel uncomfortable around one another? This is just bizarre.

“Would you like me to see if there’s anything to eat or drink?” I finally ask, trying to lighten the atmosphere and make things feel a little more normal.

Axel shakes his head, and I glance up into his brooding eyes to find a dark expression overcome his face. I quickly realize that he’s certainly hungry—just not for something to eat.

I don’t know what to do with myself. I’ve never been under the scrutinizing gaze of someone who so clearly wanted to devour me before. It makes me feel powerful and powerless all at once.

I open my mouth to speak, to say anything. Before I get the chance, his mouth is on mine and he’s kissing me like it’s the first and last time he’ll ever kiss anyone.

At first I become completely submissive to him, allowing him to lead to where this is going. The fact that my sister and her new boyfriend could walk in at any moment completely escapes me. I don’t think I could stop right now, even if they did…

But then his hands start to trail all over my body, under my clothes and finally onto my breasts. Something about the groan that escapes his lips as his fingers find my nipples makes me feel powerful. I become a sexy seductress, and I want to show him this side of me—one that is only very newly discovered.

I pull his shirt off over his head, admiring the way that his muscles ripple. I tug off my own while he unhooks my bra. Exposing myself in this way to someone new is something I usually only do under a bedspread in the dark. I’m shy about it.

But not this time.

Instead I wriggle out from underneath him, twist him round and sit in his lap. I take a second to admire him, drinking him all in. I rest my forehead against his, looking deep into his eyes, before placing a soft, sweet kiss on his lips.

Then I completely change from the sweet innocent girl to the confident sex goddess. I slide down his body until my knees slump on the floor with a soft thud. I don’t break eye contact with him as I unbuckle his belt, shove his jeans down and finally pull him free of his boxers.

His thick length stands to attention and I can’t help but ogle its beauty. I’ve never been one for admiring a dick, but Axel’s makes me want to stare for hours. As I run my fingers up and down his shaft, I can see him biting his lip to stop himself from letting out a groan.

He’s wondering what I’m about to do next, which means I’ve got him just where I want him. I move my lips closer, pressing another sweet kiss on him, only this time it’s on his cock. He moans, writhing beneath me. His edgy desire is all-too apparent in the way he’s tensing his thick, muscular thighs.

I smile to myself before moving in for the kill and wrapping my mouth around him. His cock almost completely fills my mouth, but it isn’t in an unpleasant way. I bob my head and trace my lips up and down, flicking my tongue as I go and loving every single second of it.

Who knew that I was going to be the type of girl who enjoyed giving blowjobs? I certainly never suspected that of myself.