Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
I felt like a deer in the headlights. Felt like my diary had been opened and read from cover to cover. All my secrets were exposed for everyone to see—and Axel had a fucking microscope.
“So why don’t you be a man and say it?” He stopped massaging his knuckles, his joined hands resting against his bottom lip.
My eyes dropped to the table between us, the goose bumps like hills and mountains up my arms. My heart beat at a quicker pace, like I was running rather than sitting in place. His stare was too much, like the sun was right in my face as I tried to drive.
“Come on, baby…”
My eyes lifted to meet his, and the same old flashbacks swept across my mind, picturing him with Cassandra, a woman who looked so different from me that I didn’t understand how he could be attracted to us both. It filled me with as much pain now as it had the moment it happened. It toughened my heart and covered it with scales. “My father said as long as you’re associated with the business, I would be associated with it. And the best way to hurt you…is to hurt me.”
The arrogance was slowly wiped away.
“So, I’ll never be safe.”
“You’re always safe with me.” His voice dropped, turning quieter and stronger at the same time. “I would never let anything happen to you. Ever.”
“If I hadn’t sent you my location—”
“You called for help. I came.”
My eyes were down again. “It’ll still be a part of my life, even if I have nothing to do with it.”
He lowered his hands and moved closer to the table, his elbows resting on the surface, his dirty plate still there. “If you don’t want a divorce, then what do you want?”
My eyes reached his. “Would you be willing to…walk away?”
His eyes shifted back and forth between mine. “Is this hypothetical, or are you actually asking me?”
“Does it matter?”
“It does,” he said. “Here are the two answers. Hypothetically, I would do anything to make you happy. I already planned on leaving this line of business when I had a family, so I’ve always been willing to make the sacrifice. I would make it for them—and I would make it for you.”
I’d expected resistance. Outright refusal. Some long-winded speech.
“Now, if you’re actually asking me, right here and right now, I would say I need more time. I just started this partnership with Theo, and everything has gone to shit. I can’t jump ship right now, not after what he did for me. I would need six months to a year before I could realistically sever ties. But the answer is yes.”
It was a reasonable response, so reasonable that I couldn’t ask for more. “There’s something else…”
“Tell me.”
I had a feeling he wouldn’t be as agreeable to this request. “That business means a lot to my father, and I know how devastated he is that you’ve taken it from him. You know I want to stay, so would you be willing to give it back to him?”
His expression hardly changed, but it somehow felt like an earthquake.
“If you’d be willing to leave it for me, why not just give it back to him?”
He looked away, giving a slight shake of his head.
“Axel—”
“No.”
“It means nothing to you—”
“It means everything to me because it means everything to him,” he snapped. “He knew how I felt about you, and he didn’t hesitate to use that against me. I will never give it back to him. Not for anything—even you.”
I swallowed, slapped by the disappointment. “What do you mean, he knew how you felt about me and used it against you?”
He gave a heavy sigh. “It doesn’t matter now.” He turned to look at me again. “I will give up the world for you—but I will give up nothing for him.”
“If we want to stay together, I’d like it if the two of you got along. I think giving him back the business would be a great gesture for the two of you to start a new relationship. You and I can run our restaurant together and start a family—”
“No.”
“Axel.” I tried to keep my voice as light as possible. “He’s never going to go away. He’ll always be a part of my life. There’s nothing you can do about that. So you may as well try…to make things better.”
He looked out the window again. “If only you knew…”
“Knew what?”
All he did was shake his head.
“Just think about it…is all I ask.”
Chapter 3
Axel
I secured the vest across my body. It only weighed ten pounds, but it was thick enough to stop a bullet or a knife. When I’d gone to the factory to save my wife, I hadn’t had the time to put it on, so I’d gone in blind and vulnerable. Now I had something to live for, so I was careful to watch my back and my front.