“How are we supposed to share her?” Grayson responds.
Axel’s lips curl up. “Did you feel jealous when you watchedme fuck her?”
Grayson hadn’t meant to walk in on them. He just didn’t know where they were, but when he did, when he found Sunday naked and being pounded into the bed, Grayson hadn’t even seen Axel or cared. His entire focus was Sunday. “Just that it wasn’t me,” he admits.
“And besides, you have always cared about her, maybe not romantically. But she was Auggie’s little sister, we all did what we could to keep her safe and even then she was a little spit fire.”
“She didn’t even notice,” Grayson recalls. On more than one occasion he had stepped in to keep the evil of this town at bay. To keep her out of Mark’s and Maxwell’s sight. To steer Rayden as far away as he could.
“No, she didn’t,” Axel admits. “But it’s better that way.”
“What about Darius? Do you think he will forgive himself? You know he’s blaming himself.” Grayson had always felt bad for their youngest brother. The one with the evil dad. The one who was the sweetest and kindest of them all. The one who finished school early to keep their family afloat.
Axel shudders. “Not for a while. And in some ways, he might not ever. But Sunday will help. It’s clear the trauma only served to push them even closer.”
Grayson casts a glance out the window, the sun is setting and it casts the sky in an ominous pink glow. “I miss them. Tripp and Augustus.”
Axel gets to his feet, walking around the desk and tugging Grayson into his arms. “Me too, brother. Me too. A part of my heart will always ache from their absence, but we have each other. And we need to live, not only for our sake, but theirs too.”
“You’re right.”
Axel pulls apart, stepping back. “What about our birther?”
“Our mother?” The question catches Grayson off guard, but he shakes his head. “She wasn’t down there. No evidence that she was with the Thornes.”
Axel snorts. “So she left us by choice.”
“You know she was a victim in this too.” But it’s an old argument and he doesn’t want to rehash it now. “She’ll return eventually.”
Axel heaves a sigh. “I’m going home, I don’t want to be away from Sunday any longer. You should come back soon too.”
Grayson tenses. “I will, but I’m going to give her time. As much as she needs to heal and recover from this.”
Axel doesn’t respond as he turns to the door, but just as he’s about to leave, he casts over his shoulder. “I really think you’re underestimating her.”
Grayson falls back into his chair and continues what he was working on.
He’ll return home, but first he needs to order inventory, get the “now hiring” ad up, check the dry stock, set up a staff meeting, figure out when to reopen the restaurant, and a million other pending items that had been thrown to the wayside.
It takes time but he slowly works through the list.
Grayson doesn’t realize how exhausted he is until his blinking slows.
I’ll just take a short nap and then I’ll head home.
42
October 10th
It is past midnight by the time Axel returns home. He rode halfway across town and back before finally settling his mind enough.
Even with Sterling locked up—Maxwell and Markdead—he still doesn’t want to be too far from Sunday.
Memories of his dick sinking into her spur him on. Leaving his motorcycle in the driveway, he lets himself inside before making his way up the stairs two at a time. He goes to her room first but growls in frustration when she isn’t there.
Checking her bathroom next, he glances and sees the condom wrapper in the trash.
Darius.
