Chapter 74 Blind trust
AXEL
I parked my car in a spot that was always reserved for me in the driveway of Prince's security corporation, he always had a long line of potential customers rolling in daily in hopes to hire him as their security detail so the driveway was packed to the brim most of the time, as a result, he'd reserved some parking spaces daily for clients he pledged a 100% loyalty to, like the Ivanovs.
I opened the door of my car and stepped onto the curb, ready to strut into the building with my authoritative aura buzzing about me. In no time, I was outside the elevator that would take me to the fifth floor where Prince's office was located. I stepped in after it opened and set the elevator for the fifth floor while I leaned against the side of the elevator as it shut close and began moving. In no time, I was out of the elevator and I walked towards Prince's office. As you'd expect, on my way several workers shot a greeting or a polite bow my way as they recognized who I was. I opened
the door of the office and I noticed it had been redesigned in a more luxurious fashion since the last time I was here, there were new sleek black cushions that graced the waiting room and matching glass black stools that almost looked like they were made from black onyx crystals.
His secretary greeted me and let me in without question even though there were others in the waiting room.
I made my way into the main office where I was met with a unique zebra costumed carpet, an elegant black shelf behind his desk which was a black marble designed desk, a chandelier that hung
from his ceiling and illuminated the room with soft lighting, one of a kind art pieces in different corners of the room and office chairs with black furs that would make anyone want to sit in them and
work all day.
Immediately he noticed me, his eyes lit up and he stood up from his desk and made his way towards me. He was dressed in all black, as usual, and I shook my head at him playfully as I noticed that his appearance perfectly matched his office.
Redesigned your office to match your dark soul?" I laughed as he looked around as if he didn't know it was all black before I mentioned it.
"Man shut the fuck up" he laughed louder than I'd expected as he extended his hand for a handshake. "What? Is the plan to darken my soul too? Don't touch me" I moved away from his extended arm and he retrieved it gingerly.
"Nice burn, idiot. But I don't think your soul could get any darker, that's why we get along so well" he retorted as he walked back to his seat at his desk.
"But somehow, yours is a dark endless void, so spare me," I said as I sat and relaxed into one of the unbelievably comfortable chairs in front of his desk. "Yes, the dark endless void with the darkest soul that somehow qualifies as your best friend" he answered and I knew there was no need to drag it any further at that point.
"What's the occasion? You finally decided that we are worthy of your presence out of the blue today after being tangled in the sheets for days on end with the love of your life." He teased me while he
raised his brows mischievously.
"I'm far more creative than to stay tangled in the sheets for days when it comes to sex, do better okay?" I wouldn't let him have the last word, as always.
"Yeah? just admit that that's where your game ends, tangling up in the sheets and maybe some teenage cuddling?" he threw his head back in laughter, why was he having so much fun teasing my
ass right now?
"Man, don't let me come for you okay? I'm either doing it against walls, in the shower, in a car seat, or against a table." I bragged about my sexual prowess which somehow only made Prince laugh
even more.
"Okay, okay. Certified whore and lover boy, I've heard your plea to be seen as a sex god, drop it" He laughed again and this time I joined in because I knew he was only pulling my legs, successfully
doing so too.
"While we're calling me a god, how's this god doing with his incoming shipment? Any recent news or details yet?" I asked seriously as the tone switched from teasing to business in mere minutes.
"Yeah, yeah. Everything is in place and all we need to do is to stick to the plan for pick up and drop off on D-day and everything will be splendid" He reassured me and since he's never failed me, I was sure there was nothing to worry about.
"That's great to hear, how're we doing on the security front? We never really finalized that because you needed to source more men to be on the lookout during the drop off" I raised my concern and
his face warped in confusion which surprised me.
"Wait, I sent the details of the newly updated arrangement on that and since you didn't reply I took your silence as a go-ahead. Didn't you get my text?" He asked me and the confused expression he
had earlier been what I mirrored this time around.
"What? No. I don't think I got any message like that from you. I'd not have needed to come here until the days leading up to the operation if I'd seen it" I said still genuinely confused and waiting for a
reasonable response as to why his message didn't get to me. "I'm pretty sure I sent you a detailed message about the new updates on the shipment, you know I never fail to keep you in the loop concerning new happenings on any job. You should check your
recent texts from me though." He said with so much certainty and I trusted him so it must've been something I overlooked on my part.
We were still both confused so I decided to check our text chain and confirm if he sent me a text earlier that I'd missed. As soon as I clicked on his name in my chats, I noticed that he'd sent me the
details but I genuinely didn't remember ever seeing the notification pop up and that bothered me slightly.
"Shit, here it is. I'm so sorry man, my bad. How'd I miss this though?" I apologized while I also tried to read the message on my screen to get up to date with the new updated details I'd missed out on
somehow.
"Well, well, well... You were so busy fucking your enemy's daughter tirelessly that you missed my message. Classic lovesick Axel, I guess" He resumed teasing me but I was in no mood for it because I was focused on the text while equally wondering how I even missed it in the first place.
A sudden memory flashed through my mind and I recall how I'd found my phone with Lisa on the day this message came in and how unbelievably flustered she was when I stepped into the room. I didn't read too much meaning into it then because I guessed that she must've been bored being left alone and was somehow attracted to the picture of herself that graced my screen as wallpaper. On the other hand, I trusted her too much to make a big deal out of seeing her with my phone in her hands when she wasn't exactly doing anything inappropriate or incriminating. But now as I thought
about it, she must've been attracted to my phone when she saw the notification with Prince's message pop up on the screen.
In a way, that didn't bother me because even though that had attracted her to the screen she knew how important the shipment was to me and how dangerous it was for her so there was no way she'd do anything to jeopardize that, especially knowing how much she loved me, so I shoved the nagging feeling in my mind far away that very instant. "That's not it man, relax" I finally found the words in my head to reply to Prince whose suspicion seemed to have been growing even though he masked it with.
A little teasing.
"Look, Axel, my intel brought me verified information recently that the Volkovs are very interested in the shipment we're preparing to receive soon, so we need to be careful and as secretive as possible
about the vital details to avoid any fuck ups, we both know we can't afford to lose it" Prince's voice of reason rang through the room, but he wasn't offering any information I didn't know of, so it was
simply
a friendly reminder.
"I know that yeah? But Lisa is different, she doesn't give a fuck about shipments and all that mess that a mafia wraps us up in to be sincere" I defended her before he could get to his point, but knowing Prince he'd make his point loud and clear anyways.
"Hmm, I hear you loud and clear but hear me out too. I don't think you should trust Lisa blindly because even though she's rebelling to be with you, she's a Volkov first and every other thing including
you come second. If her family is interested in this shipment, then she might be willing to give them information to jeopardize it" His countenance was serious and his stare was directed at me
piercingly while he spoke but that did nothing to waver my trust in her.
"I understand why you'd think that. But Lisa would never do that to me, what we have is not worth ruining over a shipment our families would want to fight over, she knows that if she helps out it'll
only ruin our plans to re-unite our families and I know she knows better than to fuck that up this early into the relationship" I stood my ground and defended Lisa again, it might make me sound crazy but I knew Lisa and there was no bad bone in her body directed at me, so there's no way that would happen. "Man, don't sit there talking to me looking pussy whipped" he chuckled lowly managing to tease me despite the heated conversation we were having.
"Look, to be crystal clear I'm not asking you to not trust Lisa at all, all I'm saying is that you can't trust her blindly this early into the relationship. You both only recently made your relationship formal
and I remember being the reason that happened because I made you come to terms with your true feelings for her" He continued and countered the point I'd made earlier while he also reminded me of the importance he played in bringing Lisa and me together officially.
"Shit, I know that okay? And I acknowledge that you're not asking me to trust her less because you want to sabotage what we have and I appreciate that, you know. But, I also know Lisa more than anyone despite knowing her for such a short time and she'll not ruin this shipment, trust me" Again, I stood my ground because, despite the nagging feeling I'd felt earlier, I knew Lisa would never
betray me.