Axel glanced back to Gio. “I’m getting Lev. Then we’re gonna take a ride past the Kings. Tonight’s the night my baby bro earns the right to wear that stidda on his cheek.” Axel then looked at me. “That goes for you too, kid. You’re coming.”

As though everything switched to half motion, two thoughts instantly zipped through my head. The first was that Pix was in that trailer, and if Axel saw her, he was gonna rip her apart. The second was there was no way in hell Levi was getting in that bastard car. He’d already had one brush with death tonight. He wasn’t gonna get another.

Fear and protective instinct had me speaking words I’d vowed never to say again.

Just as Axel began opening the door, I stepped forward and pulled him back. “I’ll ride with you, deal coke with you again, on one condition.”

Axel glanced over my head at Gio, and when I had his attention again, I looked him dead in the eye. This was between real family, real blood.

“Lev won’t be dealing no more. He won’t be going on ride-alongs and he definitely won’t be packing heat. You make me your vow now on that deal and you get me back.”

“You’ll be back? One hundred percent?” Axel asked, an excited gleam in his dark eyes.

“One hundred percent,” I replied, my promise seeming to shatter my dreams as it slipped from my lips. As Axel and Gio held out their hands, I almost faltered in the deal. But as I closed my eyes and thought of Levi nervously taking Lexi’s outstretched hand and Mamma crying tears of happiness as she watched him find comfort in that touch, all my hesitation faded.

Two handshakes later and, standing in the pouring fall rain, I felt a piece of my soul die.

A part of me knew it was the worst thing I’d ever done in my life. The other was just thankful that my little brother would now have a chance at more. To make something of himself. To get out of this life.

“Carlo, get the car. Tonight, we ride,” Gio ordered, and Carlo, still gripping to his wounded arm, began walking in the direction of Gio’s trailer to pick up his old Challenger.

Axel put his hand on my shoulder as Gio almost vibrated with the excitement of his revenge on the Kings. “So here’s the plan—”

The sound of the trailer door slamming open and hitting the wall had me spinning around in shock, and there stood Lexi on the top step, panting hard and green eyes huge with fear.

As if she wasn’t seeing anyone else, her gaze zeroed in on mine, and voice shaking, she said, “No, Austin, don’t do this. Please don’t do this!”

Gio stepped forward and hissed, “Who’s this ugly bitch?”

I saw red.

Jumping forward, I spun Gio around, punched him square in the jaw, and he dropped to the wet, muddy ground. Stepping over his sprawled-out body, I made a move to get to Pix, when Axel grabbed the collar of my shirt and smacked me against the Prius’s hood.

“What the f**k is she here for?” he snapped, his voice guttural with rage and his face only an inch from mine.

Kicking my legs, I tried to throw him off, but with no luck. The position he had me in ensured I couldn’t move. I did catch Lexi screaming for him to let me go, though, and it just about killed me.

“Leave her the f**k alone!” I shouted.

Axel’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and he seemed genuinely taken aback by my reaction.

“You screwing the bitch? The f**kin’ bitch who witnessed the deal and no doubt squealed to the f**kin’ dean!”

Rearing back, I shot forward, bashing my forehead into Axel’s nose. Axel fell back, his hands cupped to his face, and I took the chance to jump to my feet. As my boots landed on the mud, my feet slipped in a puddle. My hands hit the dirty ground, and when I looked up, Gio had gotten to his feet and was marching toward Lexi, who was frozen in the doorway.

“NO!” I screamed and set to running, when Axel tackled me from behind, bringing us both to the mud.

“Gio, if you touch her, I’ll kill you!” I said as loud as I could manage under Axel’s heavy weight.

Gio glanced back at me and took his penknife from his pocket, a streak of lighting in the distance reflecting off its blade.

“No!” I tried to turn my head to Axel, but his elbow had me pinned. “Axe, get the f**k off me. He’s gonna hurt Pix!”

“Pix? What the f**k does that mean?” he spat into my ear.

“She’s my f**kin’ girl, you dick! She’s my girl! And if anything happens to her, I’ll f**kin’ put you in the ground, brother or not!” I threatened.

Axel stilled, and I could hear the rain pelting against the ground and Axel’s heavy breathing… that and the sudden screams from Lexi.

Snapping my head to face Pix, I roared out in frustration when Gio gripped her by her hair and dragged her into the flooding yard, forcing her to face my way. Tears were streaming down her face, but those tears soon dried when Gio ripped along the seam on the back of her loose sweater, pressing himself along her back, smiling in my direction. “She’s your girl, Austin? The bitch that saw my business at UA?”

I froze and, through gritted teeth, said, “So you did tell him about her, Axe? I told you I had it f**kin’ handled! I just hoped for once you wouldn’t be a bitch and tell Gio everything.” Axel didn’t say shit in response and the betrayal of my brother only seemed to fuel Gio more.

“Yeah, Aust. Axe here told me all about it. I told you if you touched me again, you’d pay for it. And it seems this ugly freak is your Achilles’ heel.” Gio threw Lexi’s shredded sweater to the floor and ran his index finger down the length of her spine, all the time with that f**kin’ creepy grin on his face.