Chapter 22 #2
I've never seen him move like this. In the garden, in the safe room, I saw him fight.
But this is different. This is fast, brutal, utterly efficient.
He breaks the man's arm with a sickening crack that I can hear even over the music, then moves to the next one before the first has even hit the ground.
Sergei's beside him, equally vicious, moving like violence incarnate. More of Axel's men pour into the club from multiple entrances, and I realize they must have been following us the entire time, waiting outside.
The fight is over in seconds.
The Russians are on the ground, bleeding or unconscious or both.
The crowd has completely scattered, leaving just us and the bodies and the still-pounding music that seems obscene now.
And Axel's in front of me, his hands on my face, checking for injuries with fingers that are shaking despite their gentleness.
"Are you hurt?" His voice is shaking too, rough with fear. "Aurora, are you hurt? Did they hurt you?"
"No, I'm okay, I..."
"What the FUCK were you thinking?" The fear transforms into rage so fast it's like a switch flipping. "You snuck out? Went to a club? After everything I told you about staying safe?"
"I just wanted..."
"I don't care what you wanted!" He's shouting now, not caring who hears, not caring about the people with phones probably recording this. "You could have been killed! Do you understand that? Those men were going to kill you!"
"I'm sorry..."
"Sorry? You're SORRY?" He steps back, runs both hands through his hair like he's trying to physically hold himself together. "Get in the car. Now. All of you."
The drive back is silent and terrible. Axel's in the front seat, staring straight ahead, not looking at me even once. I'm in the back between Chloe and Tiana, both of them pale and shaking, Chloe's knuckles already swelling from the punch she threw.
We pull up to the estate. Axel gets out, slams the door so hard the entire car shakes on its frame.
"Inside," he orders, his voice flat and dangerous.
Chloe and Tiana follow me in without a word. Axel dismisses the guards with a sharp gesture, and suddenly we're alone in the massive foyer that feels too big and too empty.
"You two." He points at my friends, his finger steady despite the rage radiating off him. "Guest rooms. Now. You're staying here tonight where I can keep you safe."
"Axel..." I start.
"Not. A. Word." He's shaking with fury, his whole body tense. "Not one word until your friends are somewhere safe."
Margareta appears as if summoned, takes one look at the situation, and immediately leads Chloe and Tiana upstairs without asking questions. They both look back at me, their faces worried and scared.
Then we're alone.
"My office," Axel says, his voice deadly quiet now. "Right now."
I follow him through the house, my heart pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat. The second the office door closes behind us, cutting us off from the rest of the world, he explodes.
"What the hell were you thinking? Sneaking out of this house? Going to a club in the middle of the city where anyone could find you?"
"I just wanted one night! One night to feel normal!"
"Normal?" He laughs, and it's bitter and harsh and broken. "You're pregnant with a mafia boss's baby while your father has disowned you and enemies are circling like sharks smelling blood! There is no normal anymore!"
"So what, I'm just supposed to hide forever? Never leave this estate? Never see my friends?"
"If that's what keeps you safe, then YES!"
"That's not a life! That's a prison!"
"It's protection!"
"It's control!" I'm shouting now too, months of frustration pouring out. "Just like my father! Making decisions for me, telling me what I can and can't do, treating me like I'm too stupid to make my own choices!"
"Your choices almost got you killed tonight! Your choices almost got your friends killed! That man had his hands on you, Aurora! He was dragging you away, and if I'd been thirty seconds later..."
"Because I wanted to dance with my friends! That shouldn't be a death sentence!"
"In this world it is! In MY world, going to a club without security, without telling anyone where you are, makes you a target with a bullseye painted on your back!"
"Then maybe I don't want to be in your world!"
The words hang between us, sharp and cutting and impossible to take back.
His face goes cold, completely shutting down. "Then leave."
"What?"
"If you don't want to be here, if you can't follow basic safety rules that are designed to keep you alive, then leave. Go back to your father. See if he'll take you back after you chose me."
"You know he won't."
"Then figure something else out. But I'm not going to stand here and watch you kill yourself because you can't stand being protected."
Tears are streaming down my face now, hot and angry and terrified. "You're being unfair."
"I'm being realistic. You went to a club. You were recognized. Those men were going to kill you, Aurora. Kill you and our baby, just to hurt me. Do you understand that? Do you understand what would have happened if I hadn't gotten there in time?"
I do. The terror of it is still fresh, still making my hands shake, still making my stomach churn with nausea that has nothing to do with pregnancy.
"I'm sorry," I whisper, my voice breaking.
"Sorry doesn't fix this." He moves toward the door, and I can see him physically holding himself back from saying more. "Sorry doesn't bring you back if you get killed because you wanted one night of fun."
"Where are you going?"
"Away from you. Before I say something I can't take back."
"Axel..."
But he's already gone, the door slamming behind him with a finality that echoes through the room.
I sink to the floor, not caring that it's undignified, not caring about anything except the sobs tearing out of my chest. Because he's right.
I was reckless. I was stupid. I could have been killed.
Could have lost the baby. Could have gotten Chloe and Tiana killed just because I wanted to feel normal for a few hours.
But I'm also right. I can't live like this. Can't spend the rest of my life locked away in a beautiful cage, afraid of shadows, never leaving, never living.
There has to be a middle ground. Has to be a way to be safe without losing myself completely. Without becoming someone I don't recognize.
But right now, sitting on the floor of Axel's office with tears running down my face and fear still coursing through my veins, I have no idea what that looks like.
All I know is we're breaking. Both of us. Under the weight of fear and anger and impossible choices that have no good answers.
And I don't know how to fix it.