Free Cowboy Gangster 03 - Outlaws of Love by CJ Bishop Page A

couldn’t live in two different worlds.
    “Cory,” he said low and stared out the window. “You know what our world is like. We have to be aware of what is going on around us, at all times.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes, drawing away wetness on his fingertips. “When I was with Axel, I was…”
    “Only aware of him?” Cory murmured.
    “Yes.” Clint turned and shot the boy a stiff look. “Exactly. And living like that…I may as well paint a fucking bull’s eye on my forehead. And on his, too. I’m no good to anyone when I’m fucking blinded by…” His jaw clamped shut and he looked away. He could feel Cory’s eyes on him and knew the kid had no trouble finishing off his sentence in his head.
    “You’re not alone in our world, Uncle Clint,” Cory said. “It’s okay to let down your guard a little and…let someone in. We have each other’s backs, all of us. You don’t have to be vigilant 24/7. We look out for each other.”
    Clint shook his head. “You mean the way I was looking out for you and Shay?”
    “That wasn’t any of our fault,” Cory insisted. “We were set up . We took every precaution, but that fucker knew we were there the instant we arrived. I told you, it wouldn’t have mattered which of us went in –one of us would have fucking died.”
    The young man’s voice squeezed with emotion, his voice wet with tears. Clint faced him. The boy was suffering from his own broken heart –yet holding it at bay as he made a valiant attempt to prevent other hearts from breaking as well.
    “Cory…”
    “Life doesn’t play fair,” Cory choked quietly. “On either side of the line, in either world. It doesn’t matter where you’re at, how alert you are…when it decides to fucking blindside you –it will. Walking away from what matters to you most and taking up arms of defense, it isn’t going to guarantee your safety –or Axel’s safety. Life is fucking life, Uncle Clint. And it is a bitch. You don’t beat it by…by breaking ranks . You stick together and you fight it together. ”
    Don’t you think I wish it was that easy? That I could take back every fucking word that ripped holes in Axel’s heart?
    “I’m sorry, Cory,” he whispered, his throat working as his heart weighed heavy in his chest. “But it doesn’t always work that way. I did what I had to do.”
    Cory groaned loud and shoved his hands through his hair. “Why are you so fucking stubborn? ”
    “It isn’t stubbornness, Corrigan,” he murmured. “It’s cold hard reality.” The words felt as heavy as his heart, but he spoke true. And once Cory understood the facts surrounding Axel’s assault in the alley…he would see the truth in Clint’s words as well.
     
     
     

Chapter 9
“Lost & Found”
    ♦
     
    “Do you really think it’s okay for me to come back?” Angel stood outside Axel’s apartment door, hesitant to knock. Axel had been emphatic earlier about Angel staying away.
    Gabe squeezed his shoulder. “Dane wouldn’t have said it was okay if it wasn’t.”
    He was glad Gabe had offered to come along. Dane was there, but it took some courage for Angel to make the trip back to the apartment. His mind had clogged with doubts. Did Axel really want him to come back –or was he just telling Dane what Dane wanted to hear?
    Sliding his arm around Angel’s shoulders, Gabe leaned past him and knocked on the door.
    Dane opened from the other side and immediately grabbed Angel, pulling him into his arms, hugging him so tight that Angel gasped. “I love you,” Dane whispered in his ear, a tremor to his voice. He squeezed tighter for a brief moment, forcing the air from Angel’s body, and then released him. There was a quiet anguish in his eyes when he drew back and for a split second, Angel felt a cold dread; it was the same anguish he’d seen in the man’s eyes when he was still caught in the pain of the past. But it took only a moment for Angel to realize this was different, and all he’d done