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  Because whether or not Axel wanted to be with her, she didn’t want him hurt. Or threatened. She loved him.

  She’d called the cops when she’d seen the motorcycles pull him over, but since she was from out of town, she hadn’t been able to say exactly where they were. Then, when the police dispatcher had told her to stay in her car once she’d reached the warehouse, she’d ignored him, thinking she could help Axel somehow.

  Yet she’d only made herself a liability in this showdown. Her eyes went to Axel. She met his blue gaze, hoping he knew how sorry she was for intervening. For acting impulsively and thinking she could fix everything once again.

  “You’re brilliant,” Axel told her, the U-shaped scar on his face stretching as he gave her a grim smile. “Because I’m going public with my past. Kyle knows all about it anyhow, so if I don’t come back tonight, he’ll go to the media for me. Either way, I plan to share the trouble I got in as a kid in order to help other kids stay out of danger.”

  “Really?” Jennifer knew his career would take a hit. That the announcement would be a distraction during the playoffs when the whole team needed to focus.

  “Don’t be stupid,” the old Finnish biker yelled at him. “Three million is nothing to pay. You owe the Destroyers for taking you in. You swore allegiance then turned your back on us when a better offer came along.”

  Jennifer edged closer to Axel, even though a handful of guys still surrounded him. Restrained him from coming toward her.

  “You can’t blackmail someone who freely admits what they’ve done,” Axel clarified. “But you can damn well be busted for trying, thanks to the live video feed. Good thing a prominent New York producer got it all on film.”

  Curses flew in Finnish. The cigarette fell out of the ringleader’s mouth. Even the local bikers looked surprised. Confused at the outburst since they didn’t seem to understand Finnish any better than she did.

  But every last one of them understood police sirens. And the long, high wail sounded close outside the building.

  “Jen.” Axel grabbed her while the bikers who had held him scrambled for the exit. “Come here.”

  He pulled her around the towering cases of alcohol, then drew her down to crouch behind the bar.

  “We’re the good guys, Axel,” she reminded him, her shoes sticking in spilled beer. “We don’t need to hi—”

  Gunfire broke out before the sentence had fully left her mouth.

  She would have screamed, but Axel crushed her to his chest, holding her tight. Putting his body between her and the bar, providing an extra barrier for the bullets. Fear spiked. The acrid sent of gun smoke wafted on the air.

  “It’s okay. It’s outside,” he assured her, the shots replaced by more shouting and sirens. The sound of motorcycle engines firing. “You called the cops?”

  She breathed in the scent of his skin, her fingers clutching at his muscles straining the fabric of his cotton button-down. She focused on him instead of the chaos and fear. He was so familiar. So strong and capable.

  Nodding, she swallowed back the panic, her spine pinned against liquor boxes and a fallen bar stool.

  “I had to. After I followed you, I saw all those motorcycles surround you. I knew you’d be mad that I got the police involved, but I couldn’t just let those guys take you. I was so scared.”

  He hugged her again, his powerful arms making her feel safe in spite of the scuffle outside.

  “You? Scared?” he asked, pulling back to cup her face in his big, roughened hands. “I would have never guessed.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” she chided, hoping he was hugging her because he wanted to hug her and not just because he was glad she was okay. “Who wouldn’t be scared to face down a biker gang? And that snot-nosed teenager frightened me so bad I almost fell out of the tree.”

  She showed him the scratch on her arm where a branch had nicked her. Her heart beat erratically and she wondered if she could be in shock. Did people go into shock from seeing their loved ones threatened?

  “I told you to stay at Kyle’s,” he told her, his voice turning harsh and ragged. “Damn it, why didn’t you listen? You could have been killed.”

  “Don’t you yell at me, Axel Rankin.” She willed her heart to slow down. Her breath to ease up before she started hyperventilating. “I’ve had about all I can take for one night.”

  She scowled at him until he stopped scowling at her. All she really cared about was finding out whether or not he wanted to be with her. Had he walked away from her because he wanted to scare her off tonight? Or did he truly feel that it could never work out between them?

  Just as she was going to demand an answer, there was a loud bang nearby and a shout over a bullhorn.

  “Police! Come out with your hands up!”

  14

  THANK GOD THE SENIOR ranking officer on the job was a Phantoms fan.

  Axel sat in a downtown police precinct an hour later, grateful he and Jennifer hadn’t been arrested. They’d been brought in for questioning about the events of the evening, however, and been separated so the police could compare their stories. Axel hadn’t seen Jennifer since they’d been patted down by the police who’d entered the warehouse. The officers had found an impressive weapons stash, ensuring the Destroyers would be brought up on charges. Jaako Latt had been implicated by all the local bikers, the gang’s oath of loyalty not standing up so well for the Finnish ringleader. Apparently some of the Philly members hadn’t been too pleased that they’d risked their necks for a foreigner who planned to blackmail a former member and keep the profits to himself.

  Or so Ax had heard from his new police friends. He just wished he’d get an update on Jennifer now that it seemed as though he could put his past to rest.

  “You know you’ve got to call Dad,” Kyle told Axel for the second time since he’d shown up at the station. Axel had phoned Kyle as soon as they were brought in, and although Kyle was furious that Axel had met with the Destroyers without him, he’d shown up in record time to help him out.

  They sat in front of the desk where Axel had given his statement, and up until a few minutes ago, a crowd of officers had circled around them, each with input on how the Phantoms should play their first opponent in the playoffs, the Boston Bears. The crowd had dissipated after a call came in with a lead on where some of the other bikers had taken refuge after the bust at the warehouse. Phones rang almost continuously in the understaffed precinct, and the scent of coffee and take-out food hung in the air. Kyle’s phone beeped with a new text message every five minutes.

  “And tell him what? I nearly got arrested? Almost got someone I care about killed?” Axel leaned back in the creaky wooden chair, wishing Jennifer would walk out of one of the other rooms. He needed to see her. Reassure himself she was okay. He’d have nightmares about her showing up at that clubhouse for a long time. “Or did you want me to warn Dad that I may get booted out of the league for being a crap role model to kids everywhere?”

  “Look. Ax.” Kyle kicked the bottom of Axel’s chair with one foot, forcing the legs down to the ground. “I’ve got to tell you something.”

  “I know there was nothing you could do about Jennifer sneaking out of your house.” He didn’t want Kyle to feel bad about how things shook down. “She must have left seconds after me, so you were probably still down in the media room.”

  “I feel terrible about that, man. But there’s something else.” He stroked a hand across his chin, a gesture Axel recognized from way back. A guilty tell.

  “What?”

  “When you called me tonight, I called Dad.”

  “Damn it, Kyle, you had no right—”

  “I know, but I’m not sorry. He’s a smart guy and he knows stuff we don’t, okay?” Kyle pulled some paperwork out of his back pocket. Unfolding the sheaf, he smoothed out the crinkles. “Dad said we should hire a publicist. Someone to be ready if you needed help spinning this whole thing.”

  “I don’t want to spin anything.” Axel had b