Chapter 14 #2
I don't even see it happen. One second, the man has me, the next, Axel's got the man's arm in both hands, breaking his grip with a vicious twist that makes the man scream. Then Axel's hands are around his throat, and he's lifting and slamming him into the wall.
Once.
The wall cracks.
Twice.
The man's trying to fight back, clawing at Axel's face, leaving bloody scratches down his cheek. Axel doesn't even flinch. Doesn't seem to feel it.
Three times.
The man's movements are getting weaker, more desperate. His face is turning purple.
Axel slams him again. And again. And again. Each impact accompanied by a wet crunch that I know I'll hear in my nightmares.
Finally, the man goes limp.
Axel drops him. The body crumples to the floor like a broken doll.
But Axel's not done.
He bends, picks up the man's fallen weapon, and puts two bullets in his chest. The shots echo in the hallway, final and brutal.
Making sure he stays down.
Then he turns to me, chest heaving, blood spattered across his white shirt and face. Some of it his from the scratches. Most of it is not.
"Are you hurt?" His hands are on me immediately, running over my arms, my shoulders, checking for wounds with fingers that are somehow still steady despite what he just did. "Did he hurt you?"
I can't speak. Can't do anything except stare at the dead man on the floor, at the blood, at Axel's hands that just killed someone with nothing but raw strength.
He killed him. Killed him with his bare hands and then shot him twice to make sure, and he didn't even hesitate—
"Aurora. AURORA." Axel's gripping my shoulders now, shaking me gently. His voice cuts through the shock. "Are you hurt?"
"N-no." The word comes out strangled.
"Good. That's good." He cups my face, forcing me to look at him instead of the body. "We're moving. Right now. Can you run?"
I nod because I don't trust my voice.
He takes my hand again and pulls me forward. I'm stumbling, my legs like water, barely holding my weight. But he's got me. His grip is unbreakable, and he's not letting me fall. Won't let me stop. Just keeps pulling me down the hallway, away from the bodies, away from the blood.
We reach a section of wall that looks like everything else: expensive wallpaper, ornate molding. Nothing special. But Axel's hand goes to a specific panel and presses something I can't see.
A door I've never noticed before swings inward.
Hidden panel. Secret entrance. Of course, this house has them.
Axel punches in a code on a keypad just inside, his fingers steady despite the blood coating them, and shoves the door open wider.
"Inside. Now."
I don't argue. Can't argue. Just stumble through the doorway into a room I didn't know existed.
It's small. Reinforced. Concrete walls at least a foot thick. Steel door. No windows. No way in except the way we came.
A safe room.
Axel pushes me all the way in, follows right behind me, and slams the door. Heavy locks engage automatically. I hear them sliding into place one after another, thick bolts of metal sealing us inside. The sound is final. Absolute.
Then, sudden silence.
The quiet is so complete after all the gunfire and screaming that my ears ring with it. Or maybe they're just ringing from the shots. I can't tell anymore.
"Hey." Axel's in front of me. "Hey, look at me."
I can't. Can't look at anything except the blood on his shirt, his hands, and all I see is Mom's blood, spreading across the white carpet, so much blood, too much…
"I can't, I can't breathe—"
"Aurora…"
"She was right there. Right there and I couldn't—couldn't help." I'm gasping. Choking on air that won't come. "So much blood. Why was there so much blood?"
"You're having a panic attack." His hands are on my face, steady and warm. "Aurora, you need to breathe. In through your nose. Come on, baby. Breathe with me."
Baby.
The endearment cuts through the panic for just a second.
I try to breathe. It's ragged, too fast, but it's something.
"That's it. Again. In and out. You're safe. You're safe now."
"They killed her." The words tear out of me. "The Kozlovs. They came to the house. Just like this. Guns and masks and—"
"When?" His voice is gentle.
"I was eight. Hiding under the dining room table." Tears are streaming down my face, mixing with snot and I don't care. "I watched them shoot her. Watched her fall. Watched the blood pool and I couldn't—I was too scared to help her."
"Aurora."
"I should have done something! Should have tried to save her instead of hiding like a coward!"
"You were eight years old." His voice is firm now. "You were a child. Hiding wasn't cowardice. It was survival."
"She died alone—"
"She died knowing you were safe. That's what mothers do." He pulls me into his arms. "She would want you to survive."
I collapse against him, sobbing. Great, ugly, horrible sobs that shake my whole body.
He holds me through it. One hand in my hair, the other around my waist, keeping me together while I fall apart.
"I'm sorry," he murmurs. "I'm so fucking sorry. For all of it."
"Why—" I hiccup. "Why are you trying to end the engagement?"
He's quiet for a long moment.
"Because I heard Leo. On the phone. Bragging to a friend about what he's going to do to you after the wedding." His arms tighten. "About breaking you in. Making you pay for rejecting him in college."
My blood goes cold.
"He was bragging about assaulting you again," Axel continues, voice rough. "About owning you. And I—I can't let that happen."
"So you told my father?"
"I told him I want to end the engagement. That Leo isn't suitable. I didn't tell him why. Didn't tell him about us, about the baby." He pauses. "But I need to apologize to you."
"For what?"
"For my son trying to assault you in college." His jaw clenches. "For raising a monster who thinks he has the right to your body. For not seeing what he was before I arranged this nightmare."
Fresh tears spill over.
"And Leo's fighting this cancellation," I whisper.
"Yes. Because he's obsessed with owning you. With proving he can have what he wants." Axel pulls back to look at me. "And because he thinks I want you."
My breath catches.
"He accused me of wanting you for myself. And I didn't deny it."
The air between us shifts.
"This is insane," I breathe.
"I know."
Outside, the gunfire stops.
Silence.
Then Viktor's voice comes through the intercom. "Boss? All clear. Volkovs are down or retreated. We're securing the perimeter."
Axel hits the button. "Casualties?"
"Two of ours are wounded. Nothing fatal. Luca's fine. Leo's locked himself in his room."
"I'll be out in five."
He looks at me. Blood still on his hands, his shirt. Evidence of what he did to protect me.
He killed three men. Killed them without hesitation.
"You okay?" he asks.
Am I?
I just relived my mother's murder. Had a panic attack. Watched Axel kill men with his bare hands.
"I don't know," I say honestly.
"That's fair." He helps me stand. "Come on. Let's get you somewhere safe."
We open the door. The hallway's a war zone—bullet holes, shattered glass, blood smeared on walls.
Three bodies are where Axel left them.
But we're alive.
And for now, that's enough.