Bound by Obsession (Shadowed Souls #2)

7. Chapter Seven

W alking down the street hand in hand with Dax is refreshing. Just the two of us, out in the open.

I’d half-expected the others to be arms-crossed and impatiently waiting for us to leave the storage room, but they were nowhere to be seen. Only the manager and a few disgruntled members of staff with bottles of disinfectant in hand. We were quickly handed our belongings and escorted out, much to our amusement. I reckon today was the most mischievous Dax has ever been, judging by the wide smile and air of energy about him. We’re two seconds from starting to skip down the street when a hair salon presents itself. I skid to a stop, a frown pulling at my mouth.

"What is it?" Dax tilts his head. I cling onto where our fingers are linked.

"Um, it's probably silly," I avoid his gaze but Dax gives me a knowing look as if nothing I say is silly. "I've just remembered that my roots are showing. My mom has been taking me to have my hair dyed since I was adopted, in an effort to hide me in plain sight I suppose. But I don't need to hide now that Fredrick knows where I am. So…I don't really know if I should keep up the pretence or not."

Pulling me into his arms, Dax forces me to look up at his small smile.

"Forget pretences, and stop worrying about what you should and shouldn't do. How do you like your hair?" The answer slips from my tongue immeadiately.

"I like being blonde."

"Then lead the way," Dax slides his hand to the small of my back and urges me towards the open doorway. That's how I find myself draped in a protective cloak and sitting before a huge, lit mirror with Dax on a swivel seat by my side. The hairdresser works in the background, bleaching my roots while Dax's hand plays with mine.

“I just want to apologize again,” I say, my cheeks flaring. The steady beat of my heart thumps within my ears. “If I made you feel insecure about the whole Garrett thing.” Dax snorts, his face stretching with a grin.

“That would be ironic.”

“What do you mean?” I push a strand of fallen hair aside to see his face. There’s a twinkle in his crystal blue eyes, a simple shrug on his shoulders.

“Me being insecure of the most insecure person I’ve ever met.” My head tilts before it's swiftly urged back into place. Dax’s hand doesn’t release mine, however.

“Garrett?” I raise a brow. A dull sense of unease blooms. Dax's chuckle is lost to the sound of a hair dryer whirring nearby, our conversation becoming masked. He's still grinning, like he’s containing a secret that I should have figured out by now.

“Yes Garrett. The man who can’t admit his feelings to himself, let alone voice them to anyone else. You should always be aware of the loudest man in the room, he has the most to hide.”

“I just- I’ve never thought…” I trail off. Damn, how could I have missed it? Dax tilts my chin upwards and smooths the creases out from between my eyebrows with his thumb in the way he always does.

“Tell me, how many times have you seen Garrett with his shirt off?” My face falls. Dax nods slowly, watching the understanding dawn within me. My gaze drifts towards the mirror without really seeing, my mind reeling as if I’ve just tossed my heart out of the window. Garrett’s insecure without a T-shirt on - why? What could be underneath that he’s so worried to show, especially since he’s had his hands all over my scars?

I fall into a reflective silence, the rest of the session slipping by. Dax strokes my hand until it's time to wash my hair out, in which he turns to reading some complementary magazines. Vaguely, I respond to questions when I'm asked, nod when it's polite and ignore the disquiet settling within. Even after I'm thanked the salon's staff and credited a ridiculous tip to Wyatt's account, I walk back to the hotel by Dax's side in more of a daze.

Once in the elevator, hands are roaming again. Dax distracts me with ease, his desire piercing the confusion. Tender caresses of his knuckles against my neck. Gentle strokes of my fingers across his biceps. I lean into Dax’s chest, gifted with a slow kiss. By the time the elevator pings and he leads me out, I'm smiling warmly again. I shouldn't make this revelation a big deal in my head, Garrett is still Garrett and when he's ready to open up to me, he will.

Except Dax and I both come to an abrupt halt as noise fills the hallway. Male voices yell, a concoction of curse words and slurred shouting seeps from between a door halfway down and accompanied by a loud crash. Our door. Dax tries to hold me back but I twist my grip free, running the length of the carpeted corridor. He could have caught me but I know Dax. He doesn’t try to hold me back. Instead, he appears to press the keycard to the lock. As the light blinks green, I shove my way inside.

“What the hell is going on in here?!” I shout, my voice cutting through the chaos like a knife. The scene inside the room is a mess of tipped furniture, a lamp lying shattered on the floor. Huxley and Garrett are nose-to-nose, fists clenched, while Axel stands to the side, his face flushed with irritation. They all turn to look at me, the tension in the room palpable.

For a split second, there’s silence. Then they all start to speak at once, a triad of voices dripping with venom and frustration.

“I was just suggesting we should visit the spa downstairs and this meathead punched me in the face!” Garrett points to a red welt on his cheek.

“This asshole thinks he can keep distracting us from the fact that we’re not doing anything. Wyatt is out there somewhere, missing, and we’re playing ball and-” His hand is thrown in my direction. I hear what he refuses to say as if he screamed it in my face. And screwing around in stock rooms . Reeling himself back, focusing on the anger burning in his eyes, Huxley’s fists tremble. “Wyatt is missing, and no one cares enough to look for him.”

“Wyatt left of his own accord!” Garrett shoves his shoulder into Hux’s midsection, the pair of them slamming into the wall. Punches are thrown towards kidneys until Axel pushes his way between them.

“That’s enough, both of you,” he growls. His face is tense, his posture on the edge of snapping. Keeping the struggling men apart, his biceps and shoulders ripple but Axel doesn’t falter. “We all love Wyatt. When he wants to be found, he’ll let us know.”

“Of course you’re siding with your delusional boyfriend,” Huxley roars and successfully earns himself a busted lip. I let Axel have that one. Looking over my shoulder, I nudge my chin towards some chairs in the hallway, either side of a thin table. Dax retrieves them for me, placing them in opposite corners of the room.

“Huxley, Garrett, take a seat. Axel, on the bed. If asses leave perches, Avery leaves the room - got it?” A grumble of acceptance rings out, reluctantly slumping onto the bed and chairs, still simmering with barely contained anger. The distance between each of them allows me to pace in the free space at the foot of the bed. Dax attends to picking up the lamp’s porcelain pieces so I don’t step on them.

I take a deep breath, trying to steady my racing heart. “Now, Axel, please explain to me what’s going on.”

Huxley looks away, his jaw clenched as Axel speaks up. “Gare found out there’s a spa in the base of the hotel. He was setting up a surprise for us all to go down there this evening.” Axel jerks his head towards an overturned paper bag on the bed, a bundle of swimwear spilling out. Garrett kicks a rogue piece of porcelain.

“I was going to bleach my asshole for you and everything,” he mutters under his breath. I close my eyes to find the will of patience to ignore that statement. Axel does this with more ease than I can.

“Hux wanted to head back to the police station and see if we can find out any more information about where Wyatt went. It sparked an argument,” Axel’s hazel eyes slide in Huxley’s direction. I twist to face the bulky man hunched in his seat, his blond waves falling forward over his face.

Huxley raises his gaze from the floor, his voice calmer but no less intense. “No one seems to care that one of our brothers is missing. We can guess where he is and pretend he’s safe, but until I know that for sure, I can’t fuck about playing ball and sitting in a spa.”

Garrett opens his mouth to protest, but I hold up a hand, silencing him. “Not your turn.” I pretend to miss the flare of desire igniting his dark eyes. Garrett’s list of kinks is endless, and me taking the role as dominator must be pretty high on that list.

“Regardless of recent developments,” Huxley eyes me closely and my cheeks heat, “Wyatt wouldn’t leave his boys.” Shifting in his seat, he faces Garrett straight on.

“Remember that time you ran away to join the circus, and we were so angry that you’d be so selfish. Axel was in pieces and no one could calm his nightmares. Wyatt spent every waking moment hunting for you with some ex-bounty hunter he hired, and every night spooning Axel. He didn’t give up on you, yet you’re so quick to forget about him.”

Garrett’s jaw is tight, his eyes darting to me.

“You may speak now,” I nod. He exhales loudly, his words rushing out in a flurry.

“For the record - on that occasion, Axel told me to leave. We had that big blow-out fight about him hiding in the closet and I said I’d rather be bench pressed by the Strong Man than hide in it with him, and he was all ‘go on then’,” Garrett drops his voice an octave. “This is different. Wyatt left us of his own accord. He packed his bag and walked out the door without a second glance back. He didn’t even say goodbye. I left a whole note detailing my plan.”

“So you’re not looking for him out of spite?” Huxley narrows his eyes.

“I’m not looking for him because he doesn’t want to be found. His phone is always dead or off, he’s blatantly ignoring us. So yeah, I’d rather spend my time in a sauna with Avery in my lap and Axel’s cock in my mouth, because I’m going to live my damn life.” Garrett’s face splits into a smile and he shrugs. “Smoke and mirrors, baby. If you don’t like the cards you’re dealt, reshuffle. That’s what Wyatt’s done and he doesn’t give a shit that he’s lost a few in the process.”

A heavy silence settles within the trashed hotel room. A part of me feels like a fool for becoming wrapped up in Garrett’s ploy to distract us all, but another part understands why he did it. Why he always does it. Garrett is obnoxious at the best of times, but he holds our best interests at heart. He’s not the asshole he tries so hard to portray.

I pinch the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache coming on. The Shadowed Souls are a gang, created by a man strong enough to lead them. They need direction from someone who understands their trauma and quirks better than I ever could. Despite Garrett’s nonchalant appearance, they all need Wyatt.

“Huxley. I understand. I truly do. Wyatt is your leader, I’m not. I can’t give you guys the strict parameters like he did, so I need you to help me out. If your gut is telling you Wyatt isn’t safe, then let's come up with a way to find him.”

Huxley’s lips part, his surprise evident. He was prepared to have this fight with all of us, believing he is the only one in Wyatt’s corner. I wouldn’t put myself on Team Wyatt, but I’m not doing this for him. I’m doing it for them, the men I’ve become entwined with. They fight to keep me safe, so I’ll fight to keep them together.

Dax steps forward, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “But if we do find Wyatt and he doesn’t want us anymore, you need to let it go, Hux. Whatever happens, the five of us can still find a way.” My heart squeezes tightly. We can find a way. If Dax realizes the weight of his statement, or how much it impacts me, he doesn’t let on. I gaze around the room, the twinge of emotion pricking the back of my eyes. It’s them. They’re my new family.

There’s a beat before Huxley finally nods. “Agreed. As long as everyone makes the effort. We’re a team, nothing has changed.” He glares at Garrett, waiting for him to reciprocate. Garrett’s expression softens slightly.

“We’re a team,” he repeats and nods. Axel shifts over the mattress, resting a large hand on Huxley’s thigh.

“Tell us where to start.”

As they start to talk, more calmly this time, a wave of relief washes over me. I lean back against Dax, feeling his steady presence behind me, and smile. We’ll be okay. Whatever happens, we will manage. Whether Wyatt is in the picture or not.