Axel

XXVI

XXVI

The Airstrip

T R I N I T Y

       "You know this is a death sentence right?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes, my back turned to Axel De Bastardo as I continued stuffing my clothes into my bag. Friday came around fast, especially with the endless strategizing we all did to ensure that this meeting went as smoothly as possible. We still managed to make the motel our safe haven but once we got the girls back, we would need to head back to the safe house and regroup. Not bothering to respond to him, I grabbed my knives from the nightstand and stuffed them in the side of the bag. I was still angry at him for picking a fight with me earlier this week. I still wore the bruises and scars, just like he did, so there was absolutely nothing left to say to him.

I heard him scoff behind me and I glanced at him to see him grab his black duffle bag before storming out the door.

"Woah," Sharp's voice came from the door as he stepped out of Axel's way with his hands up. Shaking his head, he stepped into the room with a brow raised at me.

"He's still mad I take it," he said.

I chuckled sardonically and shook my head.

"Well sucks to be him then," I commented, "he needs to stop acting like a 5-year-old and get on board with this. It's the only way to get the girls back safely and we don't need any more Moretti blood on our hands."

"There's never too much Moretti blood," Sharp joked.

Rolling my eyes at his response, I snapped the bag close and threw it over my shoulder.

"Just take it easy on him," Sharp commented as we both walked to the door, "I'm being serious. This... hate for the Moretti family stems deeply for Axel. His family was completely destroyed after the Morettis killed his mother and the cartel stopped at nothing to end the Moretti family. It's a war that lasted for decades before Moretti's son, Lorenzo, became the new head of the family. He may not have been his father but he's still a Moretti. Axel will never trust Lorenzo because of that fact, so the mere fact that we're going to this meeting says a lot."

Well, that part I knew because of the bastard's sad excuse for a father. In our first encounter, he explained how the Morettis had captured his wife and killed her before he had a chance to save her.

We shared a look with each other for a few minutes as I thought about his words, a level of understanding passing through us before we both walked through the door. Leaning against the railing a few feet from the door, Gwen twirled a lollipop in her mouth as she looked down at Axel through her shades.

"Where's Aiden?" Sharp asked Gwen as he stepped closer to her. She shrugged her shoulders without looking at him. I watched him grab her chin so she could look at him and they stared into each other's eyes for a minute or two. Shifting my gaze away from their intimate moment, I closed the room door behind me and tucked the key in my back pocket.

"You alright?" I heard him ask her and Gwen nodded at him before looking around him at me.

"What happened to you guys?" she asked me, "you both look like you went through a tornado."

"Is everyone downstairs?" I questioned, dodging her question and moving closer to the railing.

"Yep, they're soaking up the sun," she said nudging her head to the group downstairs.

I looked down at the team as they mingled amongst themselves and for the first time in a long time this week, I felt like we could take on whatever surprises the Morettis had in store. Ed, Izzy, and Obediah stood by one car chatting amongst themselves and Axel leaned against his own car with his arms folded as he stared off in the distance.