He doesn’t recognize me. Oh God, he doesn’t recognize me because I changed my hair. My heart pounds, and a moment of hope rushes through me. I reach for the door, ready to run, when Colt murmurs, “Meadow, pretty sure there’s somethin’ you haven’t told me.”

“Meadow?” Axel rasps.

I turn, and I meet his shocked expression. His eyes widen, and he skids his stool back. His powerful body launches up and over the bar, sending everything within reach flying. The shrill sound of glasses smashing fills my ears.

That’s when I run.

“Don’t you fuckin’ dare,” he bellows, but I’m already out the door.

I push through the offices out the back, slamming and locking as many doors as I can. My adrenaline spikes, and I duck through the back kitchen and out the back door. I hear Axel’s roar of frustration, and the sounds of smashing coming from inside. Shit. I run across the staff parking lot, and duck into the nearest alley.

“You fuckin’ stop, now,” Axel yells, rounding the corner and charging down the alley after me.

I pick up my speed, running as fast as I can. I reach the street and I skid to the left, shoving through the ocean of people as I try to escape the angry, determined man behind me.

“South of the city, she’s on foot, dark hair. Get moving!”

Axel is ordering his men in. I close my eyes, drop my head, and just run as hard as I can manage. I charge around another corner, and across the road. Cars beep and screech to a halt as I dodge my way past them. I stumble as I hit the gutter on the other side, and I go down with a pained cry. My knees scrape across the gravel and my hands go instinctively out in front of me to stop me from landing on my face.

It’s the moment Axel needs. It’s the moment he’s been waiting for.

He’s behind me before I can even get to my knees. People on the street don’t even stop to see if I’m okay, they just keep about their business. Axel’s hands go around my body, and he hurls me up, pressing me into his chest. He spins us both around, and begins pulling me toward the closest alley. I dig my heels in, not willing to accept defeat. Not willing to give in.

“Let me go,” I cry, squirming.

“Stop doing that,” he growls.

I decide to try pleading. He’s not listening to anything else. “Please, just let me go, Axel, you don’t have to do this. Just stop. Please. For whatever friendship we had all those years ago...”

He flinches, and his entire body stiffens. “I said fuckin’ stop squirming. If you keep it up, so help me God, I’ll put you on your knees and fuck you until you can’t breathe.”

I stiffen, and my entire body slackens. What did he just say? I blink rapidly, trying to process his words. Why would he say something like that? Why would he even think it? He drags my body into an alley, because I can no longer make my legs work. They’re weak, and I’m exhausted.

“You wouldn’t hurt me like that,” I rasp, quietly. “Would you?”

He stops, and spins me around, staring down at me. His eyes are hard, and I can see deep in their depths that he would hurt me like that. My entire body breaks out in fear. “I’m a fucked-up man,” he growls. “I’m not the person you remember. You don’t know me anymore. You don’t know the kind of shit that’s in my head now.”

I twist one more time, feeling panic rise in my chest. He’s right. He’s not the man I once knew, and I can’t risk staying with him. If he finds out I don’t have the USB, there could be a big problem. I put it in a bank yesterday, in a safe locker where no one could touch it. Axel is taking me, but he has no idea that it’s for nothing.

“I said stop fuckin’ squirming,” he roars. “Goddammit, stop!”

I stop, but not before I feel his cock brush against my ass. It’s hard against his jeans, and my body shivers. I’m not sure if it’s in response, or out of pure fear. My struggling arouses him, and that both scares and excites me. It sparks something inside my body that I don’t quite understand, and right now, I don’t want to understand it.

“No,” he whispers, his breath near my ear. “Not possible.”

What’s he talking about?

He shifts his hips, and tightens his hold on my body. “Don’t fuckin’ move.”

I whimper, and he growls deep in his throat. “Fuck,” he murmurs. “You like it.”

What?

No.

His fingers slide down my over my shirt, and his finger grazes over the swell of my breast. Fear courses through my veins. He wouldn’t rape me...would he? I swallow, unsure of the feelings running through my body right now. Beneath the pain, and the hesitation, there’s something else. A slight want that I can’t make sense of. I turn my head, and Axel’s eyes meet mine, and the cold, deadly depths devour me. I look away; I can’t face this. I can’t face this uncertainty that I’m feeling.

I can’t be as twisted as him.

I can’t be enjoying his body against mine...oh god...can I?

“Boss!”

I lift my eyes to see four men in black leather jackets walking down the alley. Reality hits me like a brick, snapping me out of my haze, and I kick back, giving Axel a shock attack. My foot connects with his shin, and he bellows, releasing his arms. I spin, and my fist flies up, upper-cutting his nose. He roars in pain, and his hand goes over his face to halt the spurting of blood. His eyes meet mine, and they’re filled with uncontrollable rage. Blood drips through his fingers, and I shiver with fear. I’m not sure that was a good move.