Free Saving Axe (Motorcycle Club Romance, Cowboy, Military) (Inferno Motorcycle Club) by Sabrina Paige Page B

I can do in the kitchen, is chop stuff up.  Oh, Crunch's nickname is because he's a numbers guy.  He's always done accounting stuff.  Number cruncher, you know."
    "A biker accou ntant?"  It seemed funny to me.
    April slid her knife blade down the length of a cucumber.  "Oh, yeah, honey," she said.  "Back in the day, Crunch used to do accounting for a couple of businesses.  Totally self-taught.  Course, those businesses weren't completely on the up and up, you know?"
    "Oh, I see."
    "And then he made a few bad choices, hacking into places, took money from one of the businesses," she said.  "Of course, the guy was a real asshole, deserved to have the money stolen.  But Crunch, he got lucky, got picked up on a federal charge before the guy he was working for took him out."
    "Oh,"  I said.  I didn't really know what else to say.  This wasn't exactly regular dinner conversation.
    "So what about Axe, then?" I asked.  "You guys called him Axe.  What does that mean?"
    "Axe is Axe because of who he is.  Sniper, you know?  Couldn’t exactly call him ‘gun’.  He's the Sergeant-at-Arms for the club."
    "I don't know what that means."  I didn't know what any of this stuff meant, honestly.  I'd been around military guys, was used to all that lingo, but I didn't know what any of this meant in the context of a biker club.  I mean, I'd been around plenty of guys who rode motorcycles, but none of it was like this.
    I was curious, but also afraid to ask many questions.  I just wasn't sure if I wanted to know all that stuff about Cade.  I was equal parts drawn to it and repulsed by it.  Of course, that was true about Cade, too.
    "That's rig ht," she said.  "I forget when I'm talking to civilians."   Civilian.  That was a word I wasn't quite used to being called, even after a year out of the military.  "Axe is the sergeant-at-arms.  He's the President's right hand man, makes sure everything's kosher.  He enforces things."
    "Enforces," I said.  "You mean, enforces when people get out of line?"  I didn't want to say kills , but that's the distinct impression I was getting.
    She nodded.  "He used to be a Marine.  Military types make good club members."
    Yes, I could see the appeal of leaving an organization with a strong leadership hierarchy to go into a similar one.  So Cade had been a Marine sniper, and now he was killing people for a gang of criminals.  Jesus.
    Cade was definitely not the guy I knew back in high school.  The sniper part was one thing - hell, I'd deployed with the Marines, known a few snipers, all good guys.  But this biker bullshit?  I didn't need to mess with that, even if April and MacKenzie and Crunch seemed like a nice normal family.
    Even if it seemed like there was a hint of the Cade I used to know, the one I used to love, lurking underneath the battered and beaten exterior.
    He was a criminal now.
    A killer.
    I heard the screen door swing open, and MacKenzie clomped across the kitchen floor to ward her mother.  "Momma," she said.  "We saw the water, and there were frogs and I saw the horses and it was really cold water.  Look, my pants are all wet."
    April looked down at her.  "So they are.  Let's go get you changed.  Stan, I cut up all the stuff and it's on the counter.  Afraid I can't do much more.  I'm pretty useless beyond that."
    " That's perfect.  I'll take care of the rest," Stan said.  "I think Mac had a good bit of fun out there."
    Stan turned toward me.  "I'm glad you came for dinner, June."
    "So am I," I said.  It was true.  I liked being here.  I liked April, and MacKenzie, and Stan.  "It's nice of you to get everything together, cook like this."
    Stan threw potato chunks in a pan and filled it with water.  "You have no idea," he said.  "This house has been empty for a while, June.  It's nice to have people here to fill in."
    "I bet you're glad to have Cade home, too, huh?"  I asked.
    "I'm glad he's here.  No matter what the outside circumstances