Felicity doesn’t get past page four before she’s snoring lightly with her stuffed animal clutched in her hand. I continue reading, giving Emma more time to compose herself. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as she chews on her bottom lip, not paying attention to the book, and most likely lost in her own thoughts.
When I finish, I put it back on the nightstand, getting it ready for it’s next performance. Emma glances up and her eyes are glassy, breaking my heart which I now realize belongs to her. My thumb traces her tears, wiping them away just to be replaced by another.
“Don’t cry.” My tone is hushed, not wanting to wake up Felicity.
Felicity moves in her bed. I put my finger to Emma’s lips before picking her up off the rocking chair and not letting her go as I carry her outside. It’s time for us to talk, and by the determination on her face she knows it.
14
Emma
Watching Axel read to Felicity is the sexiest thing he has done since coming into my life, which is saying a lot because I’ve been on the receiving end of one of his lap dances. This is the second time he’s read my daughter to sleep because she’s had a bad dream and this time is better than the last. To see the true concern and love on Axel’s face for Felicity makes it impossible to keep my heart from him.
When I got up to sit in the rocking chair, his face showed we’d be talking later. I tuned him out while he read, trying to think of what to say to him when the book finished. In the end, I decided to tell him everything. He deserves to know what happened. He deserves to know what he’s getting into.
The tenderness Axel showed putting the book down on the nightstand before pulling the cover up over Felicity’s shoulder was my undoing. The tears couldn’t be stopped, when he wiped them away with this thumb it made them come even faster. Axel might be trouble, but he’s good trouble. All I have to do is let him in.
Axel carries me out into the warm night, placing me on one of the swings of the playset, and sits down on the one next to it. For a while we push back and forth on our feet, swaying in the night. I wait for him to question me. He has a right to know, but after minutes of quiet I realize he isn’t going to. He’s waiting for me to open up to him.
My hand lets go of the chain and I reach out to him. His strong fingers entwine in mine, a sense of security washes over me. He never forced me to open up to him, he told me he knew I could handle life. He just wants to help. He trusts me, and now it’s my turn to show him I trust him too.
“Harrison, Felicity’s dad, showed up here a couple of days ago.” Axel’s fingers squeeze mine, but he remains silent to let me finish. “Felicity was asleep. She has no idea he was here.” I frown, wondering if she somehow woke up and saw him, causing her to start having nightmares again.
“She probably saw how stressed you were. It might have triggered her nightmares.”
Axel’s uncanny way of reading my mind should be frightening, but it’s not. I like that he understands what I’m thinking without me having to tell him. He’s most likely right. Felicity would’ve been a lot more upset if she’d seen Harrison. I didn’t realize how stressed I’ve been, but of course Felicity would pick up on it.
“What did he want?”
“He wanted me to end the Triplets.”
“Why? Is he jealous?” Axel’s tone brings a smile to my face. Harrison’s the opposite of jealous, but hearing Axel it’s impossible to miss that he is.
“No, he isn’t jealous. Believe me when I say he wants nothing to do with me. He wants me to end the Triplets, because his club is losing business. As soon as we started dancing as the Triplets, our club became the busiest one in town. Harrison doesn’t like it.
Axel just stares at me, listening.
I continue, “I thought if I dropped out of the Triplets at least Lacey and Sindy could continue to make money. I don’t want them to lose out because of me.”
“What did he threaten you with?” Axel asks. I can barely make out his face in the dark, but the little moonlight shows his jaw is clenched tight. “Tell me where he is, and I promise he won’t bother you again.”
I shake my head in horror. “No, Axel. I don’t want you to confront him.”
He pushes up off the swing, coming behind me to grab the chains. “I have a lot of pull in this town, Emma. I can make him stop.”