Axel: A Hounds of Hell MC Romance

By Jamie Targaet

Sadie -- I finally found the courage to escape my abusive boyfriend, but I didn’t make it far. I’m holed up in a small Virginia town called Mercy. There will be no mercy for me if my ex finds me. Thanks to Axel, the gorgeous biker who towed my car to his garage, I have a place to stay and a job at the town’s greenhouse. I also have the hope that I might have a second chance at love one day, with Axel.

Axel -- When I got called to tow a broken-down car to my garage, I found the beaten and battered angel who owns it on the run from the devil. Here in Mercy, with me, she’s healing and learning to live again. When her ex figures out Sadie’s here, even his Mafia ties can’t protect him from me. His entire mafia family can’t take back what’s mine and there’s going to be hell to pay when they try.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Changeling Press
• Release date: Apr 12, 2024

Book preview

Chapter One

Sadie

Sadie Downing’s hands shook as she carefully wiped the blood from her face with a washcloth. Her eye hurt, the flesh around it swollen and bruised. It would be black by morning. Her nose still bled, and she was pretty sure it was broken. The split in her lower lip wasn’t new, but Bobby’s fist had reopened the wound tonight.

Catching sight of herself in the long mirror on the bathroom door, the tears came on. It even hurt to cry. She looked like a shell of herself in the reflection, rail thin in just Bobby’s T-shirt. Her arms and legs were littered with more bruises. Bobby’s spend dried on her thighs.

Oh yes, because immediately after the yelling turned to hitting, his anger would fade. Once she started to cry and cower he’d gaze down at her like she was a broken bird, rendered flightless by his cruel hands.

Bobby would pick her up then, cradle her like she was precious to him while she cried, lost in confusion. Then sex would follow. When she cried out, he mistook her pain for passion. By that point, she’d been grateful he’d never seemed to care that she really wasn’t participating.

When did everything go wrong tonight? Her mind replayed the moments before Bobby got angry. What had she done? What had she said that set him off? She’d been so careful.

Sadie had hoped that they could celebrate the promotion Bobby was certain he was getting at his job. She’d dressed up, made his favorite dinner. It was supposed to have been a good night. And she needed one with all the fights they’d been having lately.

Blinking back tears, she crept back into the bedroom they shared. Bobby was sprawled across the bed, snoring as he always did. As carefully and as silently as she could, she grabbed her bathrobe from the foot of the bed. Pulling it on, she headed for the kitchen.

The dinner she’d spent hours on splattered the walls, appliances, and floor. Broken plates and serving dishes also littered the floor so she was careful where she stepped. As quietly as she could, she pulled a trash bag from under the counter. She’d need to clean up the mess before she could go to sleep.

The problem was that she just didn’t want to clean it up.

I can’t do this anymore, she whispered in that quiet space. I can’t.

Her heart flew as anxiety bled into fear. She had two choices. She could clean it up and things would go on as they always had. Or she could leave it. But she’d pay for that once he walked into the kitchen in the morning.

Well, she had another option, didn’t she? But could she run? Could she get away from Bobby and never return?

He’ll kill you, her inner voice started chanting. Bobby will kill you and no one will ever know.

And if she stayed? Did she really want to live like this? Was she really willing to stick around until he managed to get her pregnant? Once that happened, trying to leave would be ten times worse.

Was she willing to stick around until Bobby killed her? It was a fear that sometimes kept her up at night. Normally, that fear would be her motivation for cleaning up the mess in the kitchen.

Desperation rose, pushing her to go back to that bedroom where he still snored. The clothes she’d worn earlier to clean up the house were in the hamper, and it was easy to grab those. With those clothes in hand and her shoes, she fled to the laundry room and got dressed as quickly as she could. Her coat and shoes were in the hall closet and that just left her with two other items she needed. Her wallet and her car keys. He’d destroyed her phone months ago.

The trick to keeping anything from Bobby was hiding it in ordinary places where he wouldn’t think to look. Her wallet was still there, buried in a bag of potting soil she kept in the garage. There was nothing in her checking account, but she had a credit card with no balance. She had a $5,000 credit line there. It wouldn’t get her far, but it was something.

Then there was the matter of her car keys. Bobby hid them months ago. She’d searched for weeks before she found them, hidden in a toolbox he never really used. Hope swelled in her chest when she found them still there.

Tightening her coat around her aching body, Sadie gazed at her car in the shadows of the garage, a twenty-year-old sedan that hadn’t been driven in months. Would it start? Did it have any gas?

Swallowing hard, Sadie had to make a decision. Either she stayed and her future days would be as brutal as today had been. Or she needed to leave.

And so many things could go wrong here. What if the car didn’t start? What if it was low on gas? What if the sound of starting the engine or the garage door going up woke him?

Summoning her courage, Sadie’s fingers tightened around the keys. She was going to do this and once she started, she couldn’t back down. After hitting the garage door button on the wall, she frantically unlocked the door of her older car. Her heart pounded in her ears as she jumped in, started the engine.

Sadie could have cried when the car started. A quick glance at the gas gauge showed she had just under half a tank.

Thank you, she said tearfully to whatever guardian angel was watching over her, watching the garage door slowly rise.

The second she thought the car would clear the door, she hit the accelerator and didn’t look back.

* * *

Axel

It was a cold February morning. Alexander Harper had just sat down with his first cup of coffee when his phone hummed in his pocket. When he pulled it out and looked at the screen, he saw the call was from Cowboy Pete’s, a local gas station just off the interstate.

This is Axel, he said, using the road name he’d been given by Razor when he’d been a prospect.

Hey, hon. How are you? He recognized Elsie Damron’s voice. She’d worked at the gas station since he was a kid.

Cold, he said. What can I do for you today?

A young lady stopped for gas a little while ago, Elsie explained. She filled it up but now her car won’t start.

You give her bad gas? Axel asked, grinning.

No, Elsie said. Well, I hope not. There’s smoke rolling out from under the hood. Looks like it’s overheating to me. Can you come take a look at it?

Yeah. Axel knew the quiet morning was too good to be true. Putting the call on speaker, he placed his phone on his desk, grabbing a tie from his desk drawer to pull his hair back from his face. Did you already call Tyler? I appreciate the business, but it would be a lot closer, and cheaper, to tow it to his place.

Yeah, I know, Elsie said, her voice dropping to a loud stage whisper. But I think you would be better for this particular situation.

Okay, I’ll head that way, he told her. What’s she driving?

He’s going to come get you, Elsie said to someone there with her. To Axel, she said, Yeah, it’s an older sedan. A Lincoln, I think. What model year is your car?

Axel couldn’t make out what the other person said.

It’s a 2002 model, Elsie told him.

Give me thirty minutes, Axel said, ending the call.

Taking his coffee with him, Axel headed back into the shop. His twin brother Ryder was working on an SUV brought in yesterday. Ryder looked up when he saw Axel approach.

Where you off to? Ryder asked.

Got to tow someone in, Axel told him. I’ll be back.

When Axel reached Cowboy Pete’s with the tow truck, there were several cars there. They had a halfway decent grill inside the station, and it was a popular breakfast stop for town regulars and travelers alike. He pulled into the lot and parked, heading in to have Elsie point out the lady and her car.

Elsie grinned when she saw him at the counter. Thanks for coming, hon. She’s a couple of spaces down from where you parked. The black Lincoln.

You bet, he told her, spotting the Lincoln in the window behind the counter where the older lady stood.

Axel? Elsie called as he headed for the door.

Yeah?

If I can do anything for her, you let me know, okay? And the kind older woman meant it.

Will do, he told her, curious now about what he was walking into.

The black Lincoln that now parked just three spaces to the right of him with no cars parked in between. It looked like someone was sitting in the driver’s seat. Walking up to the car, Axel tapped on the driver’s window. The lady jumped in the seat, startled. Axel saw a flash of red curls before she peered up at him through the window.

The young woman’s left eye was black and swollen almost shut. Her nose was swollen and bruised, her lip split. Someone had beat the fuck out of this little lady. Slowly, she opened the door and got out of her car. Her careful movements told him her face wasn’t the only thing that hurt her this morning. Axel stepped back to give her room as she closed the door and leaned back against it.

The way she wrapped her arms protectively around herself and the fear in her green-eyed gaze had him pausing. Now he knew why Elsie called their garage. Tyler wasn’t a bad guy, but he was gruff and lacking in most social niceties. The young woman before him looked like she’d been through hell and was expecting more. Hi there, Axel said. Elsie called me to come look at your car. What’s going on?

It overheated I think, she said quietly. It was okay for a couple of hours. But then it heated up and started smoking. I stopped to let it cool off the first time. Then I stopped here to get gas and let it cool off again. But when I tried to restart it this time, it wouldn’t.

Pop the hood for me? Axel asked.

She scrambled back into the driver’s seat, searching for the hood latch. Just when he was about to offer to do it for her, she found it. Axel lifted the hood and removed the radiator cap. Walking back around to where she sat behind the wheel with the driver-side door open, he said, Try starting it.

It did start but looking into the radiator, he saw the coolant start to bubble up like a milkshake. Walking back toward her, he saw white smoke coming out of the tailpipe in the rear. Well, that wasn’t good news. Turn it off, he told her.

She did as he said, climbing back out of the car.

Yeah, that’s a blown head gasket, Axel explained. The smoke coming out of the back is coolant getting into your exhaust system. It’s not supposed to do that.

Can you fix it? she asked. H-how long will it take?

I can fix it, he said. How long it will take depends on a couple of things. I need to find a replacement for the head gasket and if there’s any damage to the engine, we might need parts for that too. Once we have the parts we need, I can have it fixed in two or three days.

Axel could tell that wasn’t the answer she was hoping to get. It was probably a good idea to get all the bad news out at once. It’s also going to be expensive, Axel told her. You’re probably looking at two to three thousand dollars to fix it.

Those big green eyes were getting shiny with tears and Axel felt a tiny bit of panic creeping in. He was no damn good with tears. Never had been. He had to find some way to make the situation the little lady was in less terrible.

Where are you headed? he asked. Do you have any friends or family we can call who can come help you out?

Dropping her gaze, she shook her head.

Where are you heading? Axel tried again.

She shrugged for an answer.

Do you know if your insurance covers towing? he asked. If nothing else, it looked like he was going to be towing her back to his garage.

She shook her head. Pretty red curls swung with her movements.

Do you have your insurance information in the car? We could call, he offered.

I don’t have it, she told him.

Didn’t have a destination. Didn’t have insurance information. What the hell was the situation here? When he gave her the cost of towing the car, she reached into the pocket of her coat, pulled out a credit card, and handed it to him. It was brand new and shiny. Axel doubted it had ever been used. Thank you, he said. I’m going to run this, and we’ll be on our way.

She scrambled back into her car like a scared mouse. Axel shook his head as he headed back to his tow truck, reaching in to get the card reader they used for payments. The name on the card was Sadie Downing.

What the hell had happened to Sadie?

The transaction went through, which surprised him. He walked back to her car, tapping on the window to return her card. Again, she scrambled out of her car, looking around nervously.

Axel just had to ask. Are you okay? The local hospital is on the way back to the garage.

I’m fine, she said a little too quickly.

Okay. He would leave it at that. Why don’t you go ahead and climb in the tow truck? I’ll get your car hooked up and we’ll get going.

Thank you, she said, quickly making a beeline for the truck and climbing into the cab.

It didn’t take Axel long to hook up her car and get them on the road. Sadie, if that was her name, huddled quietly in the far corner of the cabin with her head leaning on the window. While he normally appreciated the silence, just now it was awkward. He really wanted to ask her what happened. Who did that to her face?

One thing was pretty certain. She was on the run, and she was afraid. Looking at her, he understood why.

When they made it back to the garage, Axel raced around the front of the truck before she could climb out. He helped her down, watching her wince at the movements. Just how bad was she hurt? Would she be okay? Could he talk her into going to the ER?

"We have a