Chapter 41: Chapter 41

XLI

I sit in shock. Mouth wide open, all the missing pieces coming in place.

Of course.

That's how he can afford it all, he probably has much more money left somewhere. I wouldn't be surprised if he owned a house somewhere in California.

That's why he was gone. That's why he replied only when I said I'll call the police!

Those guys are probably in the same business.

Oh my god, I'm in love with a criminal.

Tears break out, and I begin to hysterically cry, whole body shaking.

Panic sets in Axel's eyes and he stands up, knocking over the chair he was sitting on.

"No, no, no, don't cry, please." he whispers, his hands wiping away my tears as I ugly-cry in front of him, kneeling in front of my chair. »I hate it when you cry.«

And then, the sadness turns into anger.

"You fucking idiot!" I shout, waving my hands around, trying to hit him. "What the hell were you thinking, getting yourself into a mess like this?!" I continue and he captures my hands in his, stopping the hittings.

"I needed money-"

"So you would get a job at McDonald's! Or live with your aunt and uncle!"

"I wouldn't earn enough to make a living. And I couldn't stand being with them." he replies, his voice somewhat calm, still trying to calm me down.

"So you turned to crime?!" I shout and rip my hands from his, covering my face with them.

"Oh my god, I'm in love with a criminal." I say, repeating my previous thought.

His stong hands immediately pry my hands from my face, shock all over his face.

"Y-you love me?" he stutters, green eyes wide.

"Yes, you goddamned asshole!" I shout. "Isn't it obvious?!"

He shakes his head. "No, not to me."

"Well, you're an idiot." I repeat, hitting him once more. "I'm so pissed at you and your poor life choices right now. What do you smuggle? Tell me it's not girls." I demand.

"No, fuck! I'm not that bad! It's just crack."

"Oh, and that's not bad?! Drugs?! Am I supposed to be happy?!"

"Can you please keep it down a bit. I don't want the whole fucking restaurant to know about this." Axel hisses.

"Sorry I'm a bit upset! My... Whatever you are to me, is a drug dealer." I hiss back.

"Boyfriend." he says, without hesitation. "Your boyfriend. I mean, if that's okay with you."

I sit there, mouth open looking down at him.

This is when he decides he wants to be with me? A minute after he tells me he's done a bunch of illegal stuff?

"Do you have any sense of timing at all?!" I ask and watch him shake his head and shrug.

"No, but considering I love you, too, I think we should finally use the label you wanted so fucking much." he explains and I throw my hands in the air and roll my eyes.

"You are unbelievable." I tell him.

"So, is that a yes?" he pushes.

"Can I have a moment to think?! Please? You told me you import drugs illegally from Canada, that you love me and asked me to be your girlfriend in the span of two minutes, Axel."

He sighs and nods, getting up from the floor. He lifts up his chair and sits behind the table. I lean my forehead on the table, repeatedly hitting it against the surface softly. Just then, the waiter arrives back with our food and when I look up at him, he stops him his tracks for a moment before putting the plates on the table.

"Would you like a tissue, miss?" he asks.

Oh right, the mascara.

"No, thank you. I have it with me in the purse." I reply and he nods.

"May I ask if everything is okay?" he asks and Axel frowns.

"Everything is fine, now get the fuck away from my girlfriend." he booms, the poor waiter almost jumps.

I sigh in exasperation at the title, but don't say anything.

However, the blond boy doesn't back up. "I was asking her, if you don't mind."

Damn. He has some balls.

"I'm okay." I smile. "Thanks for asking."

Axel looks pissed, but he thankfully doesn't say anything as he watches the poor guy leave. I think he realizes that I might not react very well if he does annything else tonight.

However, his jaw is chenched and eyes squinted as he watches him leave.

"Dick." he whispers to himself.

The calamari look delicious and I grab the fork, putting the first one in my mouth.

Oh god, that tastes good.

I moan, loudly and Axel's eyes widen.

"That good, huh?" he asks and I nod. "Wait till you try my d-" I glare at him, stopping him before he could finish that sentence.

He lifts his hands up in defense. "Okay, fuck. I was just joking."

I swallow the food and take the first sip of my wine.

Tastes a bit sour, but has a sweet aftertaste. I like it.

"How did you get in the ... business?" I ask, wanting to ask as much as possible while I still can.

"After my parents died, and it all went to shit, I was in a really shitty state." he begins, looking down on his plate. "I hated my relatives, all of them, except Amber, and they all hated me. Once, while I was smoking behind the store I was working in, some dude came up to me. You know him now by the name Greyson."

I gasp. "What did he want?"

Axel sighs. "He told me that he's been watching me and that he knows my story and how I live by myself. He wanted to know how I have the money for that. So I told him that I'm just barely getting by and he offered me this... Job. He told me that there's good money and that nobody ever gets caught. I declined at first, but then after a few months, when I was in real financial shit and had a shitload of loans, I saw him walking by me on the street and I came up to him, asked him if I could have a word. I told him that I would like to do what he offered me and he seemed really happy about it, so it naturally made me feel even better. He said we'll have so much money that we'll bathe in it." He forces a smile. "Sounds fucking awesome, doesn't it?"

I nod. "It does, yeah." I admit.

"We did this for the past two years, a trip here and there, across some border, one or two times a month. Each time would get me around fifteen grand. It was all okay, the dealers didn't want anything to do with me, and I didn't want anything to do with them. I wore sunglasses and a hood over my head so that my identity was as covered as possible, and I didn't speak a lot, so I had no problems with people tracking me down or anything.

"It was simple; Greyson got me the crack, I drove it and got it across the border, and then gave it to the guys there. I set the location to meet up and changed the the phone I used for this stuff every trip, it's not like I didn't have the money. Everything was okay, until about a month ago when I said that I didn't want to do it anymore."

That made me smile, there might still be a way out of this.

"Greyson got himself two new guys, and I had enough money to last a lifetime, so I wanted to stop. I didn't think there would be any trouble, but of fucking course, there was. They were afraid I would go around, blabbing and saying stuff about the gang. They beat me up. You came to my rescue that night." He smiles at me. "It was the first time in a long time that I got the feeling somebody actually gave a shit about me."

"I do." I say. "You know, care about you."

"Then be my girlfriend." he says and I sigh.

"I have to think about it first."

"What's there to think about? We fucking love each other and we sleep together every night anyway."

I shake my head. "You can't expect me to give you an answer so soon after your revelation, Axel. This is serious to me."

He has his lips pursed when I look at him, hiding the piercing. "Okay." he says after a while. "I kind of understand."

"Thank you." I smile. "Now tell me what happened next."

He sighs and goes on with his story. "I didn't think I would ever do it again, but they gave me another mission to do the next weekend. Obviously, I said no. I should've known those fuckers weren't so dumb though. After you saved me, they discovered my weakness, you. Before they had nothing to blackmail me with because there was nothing I gave two fucks about, but now there was. Naturally, they used it. They told me all sorts of things they would do if I didn't go. So I went."

I wince at his story. That's what he meant with my safety.

What did they tell him they would do with me? Torture me? Rape me?

Kill me?

I let out a long breath.

"Don't worry, Soph. I'd never let them touch you and I'm never leaving you alone again, do you understand? Besides, they won't do anything as long as I continue smuggling."

"So you won't stop?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"No, I can't. I have to find some way around it first."

I close my eyes and gulp.

"This is so fucked up." I whisper.

Axel stays silent, nothing to say back because he knows that it's true. We finish our food in the next ten minutes. The wine and everything tastes perfect. When Axel pays, not even letting me argue, and we go outside, I begin to thank him for everything, sure that the date is over. He gives me a weird look and smirks.

"Oh, you're not getting rid of me that easily."

With those words, he leads me to the back of his car, and takes off the cover over his opened truck. I gasp. In it, there are at least twenty pillows and about 4 covers.

Oh my god, he remembered."Surprise." he grins.