Page 47 of Total Obsession

"What's on your mind?" Zoey asked me, her voice sweet and startling me out of my internal monologuing.

She was nursing another glass of wine that I'd gotten for her after we'd cleaned up. She seemed calm and happy.

I gave her a soft smile. "Nothing."

She gave me a look that instantly brought me back to our times in the gazebo together. "Axe. I know we've been apart for years, but I'd like to still think I know you enough to know when you're upset about something."

"Just some work things, that's all," I replied, trying to deflect.

"Is there anything I can help with?"

I gave her a soft kiss on her cheek. "It'll all work out in the end."

fourteen

ZOEY

Soft chimes from a Grandfather clock rang throughout the house stirring me from my sleep. I rolled over to try and nestle against Axe's shoulder.

Only to find the oversized bed completely empty.

There was a dim light coming from beneath the bedroom door. I climbed out of the bed, and as quietly as I could, made my way to the door. I tried to press my ear to it to hear through, but no dice.

My heart was beating so fast, but I wasn't sure why. Axe seemed so secretive about his job. I just wanted to know more about what he did or who he worked for or why he had access to a massive private jet. It's not that I didn't trust him, it's just that I didn't understand him at all.

And I wanted to.

Even just a little bit.

I touched my hand to the coolness of the metal door handle and as quietly as possible pressed it down. I opened the door, praying that it wouldn't squeak when I did. Thankfully the hinges stayed quiet, and I was able to slip out of the room and into the hallway.

Axe was clearly on the phone with someone a few doors down. I held my breath as I took silent steps down the hallway until I was finally close enough to hear what he was saying.

"The meeting's already been set up with the Cubans," he said. "It's too late to cancel it now. It was at your father's request. If you don't show up, they're going to take it as a slight."

He paused.

"I don't see why you're objecting to this, Primo. You're the one that keeps going on about wanting to form different alliances with other families. Now a meeting is arranged and you're suddenly unwilling to show for it?"

Another pause.

"Alright, good," Axe said. "I'll meet you at the airport tomorrow morning. We'll head there together."

He clearly hung up the phone, and I thought I might need to run back into the bedroom, but his voice on another call had me stopping to listen again.

"Giovanni, yeah, it's me. Say, I got a business opportunity for you. Can you meet tomorrow?"

A pause followed by a short chuckle.

"No, no, it doesn't have anything to do with your father's business. I'm just in town and have an old friend who's looking for an investor partner. I thought you might be the right person."

Another pause.

"It's totally legitimate, I swear. . . Alright, good. I'll text you the address and time. See you tomorrow."

Somewhere deep in the back of my mind, there was a little voice that I'd been silencing a lot lately screaming at me that it wasn't safe for Axe now that I'd overheard his phone calls. Yet, at the same time, I was too curious about just what was going on to do the smart thing and run back into the room and hide.

He'd said he was in private equity, which didn't really mean a lot to me. Did this really sound like investment meetings?