Chapter 49
Chapter Forty-Nine
“ B aby?” Axel’s deep voice booms from the other side of the bathroom door, followed by three firm knocks.
“Just a minute!” I call out, forcing my voice to sound steady.
I’m suddenly grateful I left the tap running—to drown out the sound of dry heaving. I just hope he didn’t hear. The last thing I want is for him to worry, especially before dinner.
We’ve had a blissful two months. Our relationship is still under wraps, aside from a few trusted confidants. But truthfully? I’ve never been happier. Being with Axel is nothing like I expected. Our love is strong, our passion scorching, and the sex... only gets better.
When I told Lexie, she already knew. She’d suspected it was just sex at first. But as I spent more time with Axel, she saw the change in me. She saw how happy he made me.
Jada? She had to sit down. The only reason she asked was because Axel’s office visits had become a little too frequent to ignore. At that point, I couldn’t lie anymore.
I still haven’t told the firm. I’m unsure if I even should. But after this morning’s revelation, I know it’s only a matter of time before it all comes out. And when it does, I’m sure they’ll show me the door. So I’m just... delaying the inevitable.
I check my reflection one last time. The black bardot dress flares at my hips and hugs my shoulders just right. I smooth the fabric, adjust my denim jacket, swipe on lipstick, and run a hand through the soft iron-waved curls that tumble over my shoulders. My stomach finally settles.
When I step out, Axel’s standing there with his arms crossed, waiting, impatient but beautiful. His white shirt stretches tight over solid muscle, and when our eyes meet, I catch the exact moment he notices me licking my lips.
He looks devastating in gray slacks and that short-sleeved shirt, tattoos peeking beneath the fabric. He’s all muscles and ink, trouble and temptation.
Shit . We really can’t afford to be late.
“Let’s go, baby,” he purrs, offering his hand.
I take it. Gladly. I always will.
The drive to Max’s place isn’t long, but my nerves make it feel endless.
Maxton Lucchese—Max—is one of Axel’s oldest and closest friends.
He’s a towering man, all broad shoulders and solid muscle, with a presence that speaks volumes even when he doesn’t.
And that’s the thing—he rarely does. Max is the kind of man who observes more than he speaks, his silence heavy with meaning.
Axel once told me it’s because Max only talks when there’s something worth saying. That he’s never been one to waste breath on small talk or empty pleasantries. But I can’t help but feel there’s more to it than that. Something lived-in behind his stillness. A weight. A wound.
From the little Axel shared, Max hasn’t always been this way.
There was a time—before whatever changed him—when he laughed louder, spoke more freely, lived less guarded.
And maybe that’s what draws Axel to him, what bonds them still after all these years—an understanding of what it means to carry things in silence .
We arrive at Max’s place—a 1920s-style brick home nestled in the heart of Brooklyn.
Bay windows stretch from the walls, and a wooden porch frames the front.
With pristine lawns, blooming flower beds, and a white picket fence, the place screams family.
It’s a surprising contrast to the man who lives here.
A child’s bike lies abandoned along the walkway.
Axel instinctively helps me over it, then wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me in closer.
He can probably feel how nervous I am. But it’s not tonight I’m worried about.
I’ve gotten used to meeting new people with him.
It’s what comes after—when we’re home again.
“You look beautiful,” he murmurs against my ear, breath warm, voice low. Goosebumps scatter across my skin. No matter how long we’ve been together, every touch still feels like the first. I lean into him just as the door opens.
A brunette with bright blue eyes and a dazzling smile steps outside and practically floats down the porch steps.
“You must be Cassie,” she beams, enveloping me in a warm hug. “Call me Jem.” She releases me only to greet Axel next, and he leans in for a kiss on her cheek.
The slam of the outer door draws our attention as it crashes into the wall.
“Ax!” a small voice calls out.
A tiny blonde girl barrels down the steps. Axel crouches just in time to catch her as she throws herself into his arms.
“Hey, little one!”
Something inside me clenches at the sight.
He lifts her up and tosses her gently into the air, catching her with ease.
She giggles—a pure, belly-deep sound—and I feel something flutter deep in my chest. Jem catches my eye, her knowing smile almost teasing.
I look away before she can catch the flush spreading across my cheeks.
“This is Cassie,” Axel introduces, turning the girl toward me. “Cassie, this is Gracie.”
“Hi, Gracie,” I offer with a smile .
Gracie doesn’t respond, just clings to Axel and whispers something in his ear. I can’t make it out, but whatever it is, it makes him chuckle—his gaze flicking to me with warmth before he nods in response.
“You look like you could use a drink,” Jem says with a wink, tugging me gently toward the house. She’s not wrong.
In the kitchen, Max has already poured us both a glass of wine. I stare at mine like it might bite.
Max leans against the counter, watching as Gracie leads Axel to the open-plan living room. They don’t say a word as they pass, but I can’t stop staring—Gracie’s tiny hand wrapped in his large one, tugging him toward her world of dolls and storybooks. And he goes, willingly.
Heart. Melting.
Jem catches me staring. Again. She doesn’t say anything, just smiles.
“Ready,” Max calls, pulling a chair out for her at the table in the dining area.
The house is cozy, full of warmth. No photos on the walls, but the kind of quiet love you can feel in every corner.
Jem is radiant, with bright eyes and soft pink lips, the kind of woman whose smile lights up a room.
Max is smitten. I watch him find any excuse to touch her—a hand on her arm, a brush of fingers across her back. Like Axel with me.
Dinner talk shifts from light to dull the moment business comes up, and Jem and I make a graceful escape.
Back in the kitchen, I glance over and see Gracie now has Axel reading to her. She’s placing sparkly hair clips in his dark strands and he lets her—no protest, no complaints. He just smiles and listens, totally focused.
“He’s so good with her,” Jem says as we start clearing dishes.
“She doesn’t usually take to people, but she clearly likes him.”
I nod, unable to stop watching him. The way he listens to her every word, no matter how softly spoken—it’s like he understands her better than anyone. He’s gentle. He’s patient. And it’s... beautiful.
I love him. Utterly, hopelessly, undeniably. And I think Jem knows.
“I know that look,” she whispers, leaning in. Her voice is low, careful.
“What look?” I try to play innocent, but my mind flashes to this morning. The nausea. The panic.
She glances over her shoulder, checking the coast. I follow her gaze. Axel sits on the floor, ankles crossed as he leans back against the couch, glittery plastic clips now decorating his hair. He doesn’t care. He meets my eyes and raises a brow. That look he gives me... it’s electric.
Max steps in to take Gracie to bed, and I notice the moment Axel watches them go. There’s longing in his eyes. A flicker of something deeper. Something he won’t say out loud.
Jem nudges me, elbow gentle against my ribs. “That broody look.”
I snort, half under my breath. “I don’t have a broody look,” I mumble, but we both know I’m lying. I can feel it in the way my jaw is locked, my shoulders tight, like I’m trying to hold something in that doesn’t want to stay put.
“You didn’t even touch your wine,” she teases, swirling the half-full glass in front of me like evidence.
“I’m just not a fan of wine.” The lie tastes bitter on my tongue, but I manage to keep my voice steady.
She raises a brow, unimpressed, like she’s reading every page I’m trying to keep closed. “You can’t lie, Cassie. Has no one ever told you that?”
I stay silent. I don’t need to answer. It’s written all over my face anyway—whatever Jem sees there makes her expression soften.
She leans in just slightly, dropping her voice. “How far along are you?”
My eyes widen. The words slam into me like a gust of cold wind. My throat closes around my next breath, the answer lodged somewhere behind my ribs.
Jem watches me closely. For someone I just met, she sees everything I’m trying to bury. Her eyes are kind but sharp—she doesn’t look away. “You haven’t told him, have you?”
I shake my head. I can’t speak. If I try, I know my voice will crack and spill everything I’m trying to hold together.
Her smile is warm enough to calm the shaking under my skin. “You’ve got nothing to worry about,” she says, voice soft but certain. “He’s a natural.”
Before I can swallow the knot in my throat, strong arms wrap around my waist from behind. Axel’s warmth presses into my back and it’s like the breath I was holding finally escapes. I melt into him on instinct. His lips brush the sensitive spot at my neck and my whole body sighs.
“What are you two talking about?” he murmurs, voice low, words sending a shiver across my collarbone.
“Just girl stuff,” Jem says with a bright laugh, covering for me with an ease that makes me wonder what else she knows.
Axel hums, unconvinced but not pushing. “Well, I’m ready to go when you are.”
I hang the towel I’d been twisting between my fingers back on the chair and turn to face him fully, looping my arms around his neck just to feel his closeness anchor me.
“Are you sure you want to leave the house looking like that?” I tease, letting my eyes flick up, lingering on the rainbow clips tangled in his hair.
He follows my gaze, groans, and rolls his eyes, but the smile he tries to hide is all mine.
And I laugh—free, weightless, completely, hopelessly in love.
As we drive back for the evening, my gaze drifts to the world outside the window.
Parks blur past, alive with children running wild and laughing.
Beyond them, gated gardens stretch wide, dogs roaming freely behind their fences.
For a fleeting moment, I wonder what it would feel like to live somewhere like this—far from the chaos of the city, in a place that feels built for families and fresh starts.
“Axel,” I murmur. “Are you happy?” The words feel like a risk. Like I’m peeling something open that’s better left closed. But he doesn’t hesitate.
He glances at me, frowning so sharp it cuts across his whole face. For a second, he looks angry. Not at me—but at the question itself.
“Baby?”
For a second, I worry it might stay that way. But then it softens, his expression melting into something gentler.
“You think I’d be here if I wasn’t?” he says, voice low and dangerous. “You think I do anything I don’t want to do?”
A slow smile pulls at my lips, and the tight knot of anxiety in my stomach begins to loosen.
The car rolls to a stop. Axel turns toward me, lifts my hand, and presses a kiss into my palm like a vow.
“You didn’t just make me happy, Cassie. You ruined everything I thought I knew about being alone—and made me want it all anyway. You gave me something real. I don’t even know who I was before you.”
I shake my head, swallowing thickly as I gather the courage to say what’s been sitting on my chest for weeks. We’ve never talked about family before—not really. I don’t know how he’ll react, and that fear grips me in silence.
The air between us grows heavy. I can’t find the words. But Axel breaks the tension first.
“Cassie?” he repeats, voice low and threaded with confusion. He reaches for me, pulling me close, his arm winding around my waist. His strength steadies me. His lips brush my forehead, and just like that, the fear slips away.
“Would you still be happy,” I whisper, “if we had a baby?”
It’s the most vulnerable I’ve ever felt. The words hang there, fragile and exposed, and I brace myself for whatever comes next.
But then Axel smiles. And it’s not just any smile—it’s wide, boyish, unguarded. Even in the dim interior of the car, it lights up everything.
“You’re serious?” His voice is a rasp. A warning. A prayer.
I nod, biting my bottom lip, unable to speak. That's all I can manage.
He doesn’t wait. His lips crash into mine with urgency, his kiss stealing the last remnants of doubt from my body. His tongue tangles with mine, fierce and full of meaning. I feel everything in that kiss—every memory, every moment, every promise we’ve yet to speak aloud.
When he finally pulls back, breathless, his voice is rough with emotion.
“We’re having a baby,” he says, almost to himself. Then again, louder. “ Fuck . We’re having a baby.”
“You’re okay with that?” I ask softly, fingers trailing up his chest. “You belong to us now,” I add, chuckling as I place my hand over my stomach.
Axel intertwines his fingers with mine in that exact moment. There’s no hesitation. No second-guessing. Just him—us.
When he presses his forehead to mine, smiling so hard it makes my heart beat double time, I know I’ll never need to question this man again. Not his love. Not our future.
And then he says the words that make everything fall into place.
“I’ve belonged to you since the second I laid eyes on you,” he whispers. “This just makes it permanent.”
He leans in again, forehead against mine, his voice like gravel soaked in heat. “But you belong to me, too. Doesn’t that scare you?”
I shake my head, knowing the truth deep down is more than I can ever put into words.
“No,” I breathe. “What scares me is how lost I was before you found me.”
His fingers curl around mine, firm and grounding, as if to say he’ll never let go. And in his silence, I hear everything—his loyalty, his darkness, his vow.
We’re not perfect. We’re not safe. But we’re real.
And that’s the kind of forever I’d choose, every time.