Sweet Hope (Sweet Home #4)(59)

Feeling a hand stroke soothingly along my thigh, my gaze darted to Axel who was concentrating intently on the road. My heart felt like it would burst. He wasn’t one for showing affection, but that one gesture, that one touch of support made my eyes fill with tears of gratitude for having him in my life.

“Text Austin and Lexi, carina,” Axel whispered. I nodded my head, doing what he asked. My hands were shaking like leaves in a storm as I fumbled with the touch screen. I managed to string a sentence together, telling our friends what had happened. Seconds later, a reply came from Lexi saying they would meet us at the hospital.

As I turned my attention back to Rome, he looked... broken. Memories of the night in College when Molly had lost their first child ran through my mind. He couldn’t do that again. Molly was his universe… she was his more.

As I sat, I intently watched Rome beg his wife to be okay. I knew he hadn’t registered exactly who was driving us to the hospital or why Axel was in my car to begin with. But I knew one thing for sure; when Molly pulled through, because she would pull through, Rome would now know who had captured my heart… and before the night was over, so would all my friends...





Chapter Sixteen


Ally


Rome and Molly were rushed straight through into the OB unit as soon as we arrived. Molly had begun to move slightly—the fidgeting of her fingers and low breathy moans, but it was enough to give me hope that she would be okay. Axel and I had parked up the car and made our way inside, a nurse telling us to go to the waiting room.

As I walked, lost in a daze, Axel guiding me through a maze of sterile hallways, I began to notice nurses and doctors warily eying Axel. He kept his head down, seeming to block it all out, but I noticed. They were judging him. They were seeing the tattoos on his face, his intricately inked arms and hands. Add this to the fact he was heavily muscled and formidable in size, they were obviously viewing him as dangerous.

Each security guard we met turned their head as Axel walked by, eyes assessing. And with each encounter I grew more and more annoyed. My best friend could barely wake up, my cousin was falling to pieces, and the man who had kept his cool and brought us to help, was being judged a threat to people in this hospital.

Feeling my hands clench in frustration, my heart began to race. As we passed two security guards in an empty hallway, they turned on their heels and began to trail us as we made our way to the unit where Molly had been taken. My emotions wrought, I decided I’d had enough.

Spinning round, I met the shocked eyes of the two men, and confidently asked, “Why are you following us?”

They stood stoic trying to stare me down. As Axel placed his hand on my arm to pull me back, their gazes focused on him. It broke me. The way they were staring at this man who was fast becoming my world, who’d had nothing but chaos and tragedy in his young life, well, it shattered my heart.

Wrenching my arm from Axel’s firm grip, I stepped forward only imagining how I must have looked with my hair in disarray and black mascara tracks dried on my cheeks. “Is it because of him?” I asked coolly pointing at Axel whose face expressed no emotion.

“Just doing our jobs, miss,” the larger of the two replied.

I laughed without humor and stepped forward again. “Well before you judge my boyfriend, know that this man has just saved the life of a pregnant woman who couldn’t wake up. He’s a good man. Has more talent in his little finger than you two could ever dream of. And just because he looks the way he does, you think it appropriate to stalk us while we are heading to hear if our friend is going to be okay?” I hissed and seethed as their faces remained impassive.

“La mia luce,” Axel said from behind me, his voice stern and low, “Vieni qua.” My heart raced faster and faster still as I stayed on the spot, glaring. Then Axel threaded his hand through mine, shocking me to all hell.

My gaze automatically went to our joined hands. I sucked in a breath at his public display of affection.

Axel had never held my hand. He never came near me when people were around... not like we were ever really around people anyhow, but this surprising action left me completely speechless.

Axel used his hold on my hand to pull me close to his chest and he pushed his free hand through my hair. Our dark gazes collided and he whispered, “We need to go upstairs to check on Molly. We need to meet Lexi and Austin. Don’t do this, just leave it alone.”

Water filled my eyes at how calm and accepting he was at the way people regarded him without even knowing him. I couldn’t bear it. He was worth so much more than people thought. Yes, he had the gang tattoos. He looked, to most people, sinister and dark, but he was so much more than the armor he wore. I wanted to scream from the rooftops that he was so so much more! He was creative, artistic… and even though he tried to portray himself otherwise, he was a good man who cared for his own.

He cared… somehow I had to make him realize it too. I had to crack open the high wall he had built around him.

Wanting to wrap my arms around his neck and hold him close, I resisted. “But they shouldn’t be allowed to take one look at you and judge you as a danger. They can’t do that! It’s not fair!”

Axel's eyes closed momentarily and he inhaled. “Ally,” he said as he breathed out slowly, “Fuck them. Let them follow us. They’re nothing to me… I’m used to it.”