LOGINHAZELI closed the bedroom door behind me and leaned against it for a second, staring ahead blankly.Not exactly? What kind of answer was that?I stared at my reflection in the mirror. What even was this family? Or whatever they were? Because somehow every answer I got only left me with ten more questions. With a frustrated sigh, I walked toward my closet and pulled out something simple to wear. If I were going to spend the day trapped with Lisa, I was at least going to be comfortable while suffering.A few minutes later, I walked back out of my room.... And froze. Because Lisa was standing beside Nico with her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently.Actually, No. She wasn't standing beside him. She was standing way too close to him, like personal space does not exist. The second she saw me, her eyes travelled slowly from my head to my shoes.Then back up again. And she looked disappointed. "Oh," she said.I blinked."Oh... what?""I thought you'd wear something uglier."I stared
HAZEL Cassio shook his head.“You’ve got a lot to learn, little girl.”“Let’s go, Remo,” Remo practically growled.He seemed eager to get out of the house or eager to keep this conversation on a stop.Cassio rolled his eyes dramatically before turning around and walking toward the door.“We don’t need you,” he snapped over his shoulder.Remo didn’t answer, He just continued following him out.A few seconds later, the front door shut behind them and the house was in Silence. I turned to look at Nico with a question in my gaze.He only shrugged casually.“I told you everything was fine. See, nothing to worry about.”I narrowed my eyes.“Were those two the ones fighting in Axel’s office?” I asked.He merely shrugged again.“So are you going to change so we can go shopping?” he asked.I rolled my eyes at him.“Fine. I just need a few minutes to get myself together before I spend the whole day with Lisa.”“You’re forgetting that I’ll also be there,” Nico said as we started walking up the
HAZEL Nico leaned against the doorway and grinned.“So,” he asked lazily, “are you ladies ready to have fun?”“I think I’m gonna go upstairs to my room first,” I said quickly as I stood up. "I need to get something."And before anybody could stop me, I quickly walked out of the dining room. But after two or three steps, I still heard footsteps behind me.I turned around to find Nico following me.“Are you going to be following me everywhere now?” I asked.“You seem to forget I bam your shadow,” he replied dryly. “Yes, I'll be following you everywhere, that is my job. I was told to be wherever you are.”“No, you were told to take Lisa shopping,” I responded.“With you,” he added. “Lisa can take care of herself. You can’t,” he replied instantly. “And that’s why I’m coming along.”“If she can take care of herself,” I muttered while continuing toward the stairs, “why can’t she go do this shopping or whatever on her own?”“Because she needs someone to take her around since she’s kind of
HAZEL “Mamma mia,” Cassio muttered innocently. “What? I’m being friendly.”“You don’t know how to be friendly,” Cara muttered under her breath.Lisa snorted softly in agreement. I moved toward one of the empty seats far away from all of them, trying not to draw attention to myself. And just because Axel had wanted me sitting next to him so much before.... after all he had literally altered the chair the last time I sat away from him.Maybe, call me conditioned....But I hesitated briefly before sitting down carefully, half expecting the chair to snap or tilt or something ridiculous. But none of that happened.My gaze just naturally drifted toward Axel, after I had taken a seat. And of course, he was already watching me.Lisa casually placed her arm on top of his and placed a distracted kiss against his hand before he finally looked away from me again.Something ugly twisted in my stomach.“Did you sleep well?” Cara asked suddenly, completely out of nowhere.The question caught me off
HAZEL I sighed heavily and took a deep breath before finally opening the bedroom door and stepping out into the hallway.The mansion was already alive downstairs. I could hear voices and movement and the faint smell of coffee and breakfast drifting upward. For a second, I genuinely considered turning around and locking myself back in my room.But then I noticed someone was standing beside my bedroom door, and yelped, my hand flying straight to my chest.“Nico, what the hell are you doing here? What the hell?” I asked, breathing hard. "You scared me."“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, holding back a smile.“Oh my God,” I groaned. “What the hell are you doing here?”“Can’t you guess?” he said, motioning toward himself standing near my bedroom door.And immediately, I got it.“You’re my bodyguard again?”“Yes.”“But I thought you hated it..... You hated me.”He let out a quiet laugh and rubbed a hand over his face.“Let me just tell you that I did. I have been babysitt
HAZEL And I also knew I didn’t really have anything useful to say about family.... His family. I didn’t understand their world enough for that. I didn’t know their history, their rules, their loyalty, or whatever twisted line existed between love and violence in this family. Who knew what mafia laws about blood, family, and betrayal even looked like?I was just walking blindly through it all. Hoping and waiting for the day Axel finally sets me free.The silence stretched again after that and only the soft clicking of his keyboard filled the office. I pulled the blanket tighter around myself and shifted deeper into the couch, finally allowing my body to relax a little. The fear from earlier still sat inside me, heavy and ugly, but somehow the office felt safer now.Maybe because Axel was here. Maybe because no matter how terrifying he was, he still felt solid and Controlled. Like nothing could happen to me while he was in the room.My eyes drifted toward him again. I wondered if he e
HAZELAxel pulled the underwear out of my mouth, the air hitting my lungs like a physical blow. "Holy shit!" I spat, feeling an electric orgasm coming.I know this was like my second orgasm and I had only one other penetrative orgasm to compare it to, but it was the best thing I had ever experienc
HAZELAmanda was cleaning up while I was pouring myself a glass of juice when Angela walked into the kitchen.“Hazel,” she said. She didn’t look at me.So this was Angela’s angry face, because I knew she was angry at me. It felt like she had already picked sides. Natasha’s side. And she was angry a
HAZELAngela quickly ran after Natasha.“No, wait, Natasha....you can’t quit. You don’t want to act so mad.”Her voice carried down the corridor as Natasha stormed out, Angela hurrying after her.The kitchen fell deathly silent. The maids wouldn’t look at me at first. Their eyes stayed fixed on the
AXELFuck.Fucking fuck.There I go, messing up my good, carefully curated plan.I had already made a decision. I was going to stay away from Hazel as far as I could. That was the plan. I was going to keep her at a distance. And after a while, everything was going to go back to normal. The weirdnes







