Chapter 97 Between anger and desire

Chapter 97 Between anger and desire
Axel's POV

All of the feelings that ravaged my being of recently had been foreign to me entirely, I'd never been one to fall victim to the matters of the heart, and usually, I took them too lightly for their outcome to

affect me.

But with Lisa, it was as though my heart crossed every single warning cone I'd put up, pushed all the guards surrounding my heart, and what ent all the way fucking in. How much I loved her felt like it

was the necessity to breathe in oxygen every damn second.

How on earth could a person feel this deeply for another? I wondered.

The fact that I'd lasted through a conversation about how she'd made me feel despite how much it hurt, proved that I indeed still felt our connection hadn't been severed yet.

Here she was, after eavesdropping and listening to the new plan she now wanted to help cement it since she knew her father best compared to me and Prince. Her pleas only upset me because she didn't have a right to be offering to fix what she fucked up in the first place.

It made my mind boggle when I felt myself begin to slowly give in to her continuous pleas, two facts had compelled me further into accepting it.

First of all, I had to admit that she was right about her father's cunningness and the fact that he'd most likely never believe any move we made if he wasn't shown hardcore evidence, and we needed him to believe us- more than anything, for the mission to be successful.

Secondly, I knew more than anyone that she was fucking stubborn and wouldn't back down and I wasn't ready to go back and forth with her on this, a little help wouldn't hurt anyone yeah?

Just then it hit me- I must really be a fucking fool, I thought to myself and ruffled my hair in frustration as it indeed registered that I was the truth. Did I just accept help from Lisa Volkov knowing that

she could decide to fuck us up at any point?

Just fucking great.

After having a good rethink of how we'd landed in this position- her trying to speak to me after the video call with her father, and my reluctance toward her becoming increasingly glaring, I knew that I needed to wrap up the mission very quickly!

As I walked down the hallway and distanced myself further from the basement where I'd left Lisa, I began to recall how bloodied up she'd looked. Even though it was a great custom makeup and none

if it was her blood, I still didn't like how helpless she'd looked.

Despite her betrayal, it doesn't put me at ease seeing her in pain or as though she was helpless, so that was another viable reason why I practically ran off when she wanted to keep me in there longing, looking at her that way for much longer would only have unsettled me.

After Lisa had pleaded desperately to contribute to the plans to get her father to surrender the shipment, she'd managed to lay heavy emphasis on being able to provide hard evidence of her being

tortured her father.

We'd agreed to it and decided that we'd apply some custom makeup on her that would make it seem like she'd been badly beaten up. Lisa had animal blood spread all over her clothes and her skin, they were made to look as though she also had sores and wounds that had lasted for days without being cleaned up.

Also, since we'd decided to begin by sending Lisa's fingers to his doorstep, two of Lisa's fingers were bent downward and taped lightly while some specially sourced monster life-casting makeup was used to cover her fingers and make them seem like they'd been cut off.

Just as my hand lands on the doorknob of my room, my phone begins to vibrate in my pants and I halt to pick up the call. A sly smile crossed my face as soon as I saw that the caller ID was Volkov,

just what did he have for me now? I slid the answer button and placed the phone against my ear.

"Bastard!, if you don't release my daughter to me this very moment I'll make sure you--" "You'll do nothing." I cut him off abruptly as soon as I figured he was still attempting to bully me.

"Instead of these pointless threats, the only thing I'll listen to you about henceforth is when you're ready to return the shipment you've stolen." I finished with a stern voice and hung up on him before

he could manage to reply, he needed to be put in his place.

I finally twisted the doorknob and pushed open the door to my room and walked him after replacing my phone in my pocket, shit had just gotten more intense and I was nowhere near backing down.

As I lay in my bed to take a short break since I'd not had much sleep recently, my mind wandered to thoughts of Lisa without me having willed it to. I thought of how watching her tear up constantly the last time we spoke at length had almost made my knees the overwhelming urge to comfort her.

She was still the most precious thing in that world to me, I was angry as fuck at her but the love I had for her surpassed the possible limits of my anger. With love comes the insatiable urge to care for the one you love, and that's why something constantly drew me toward Lisa, always.

I stared blankly at the ceiling in my room and thought of how much everything could slowly fall back into place after I'd successfully gotten the shipment back from Lisa's father. My mind was a mess as I knew that the longer Volkov took to surrender, the closer we got to the 12th hour when he'd get the DNA test results of the body parts we'd sent him.

In more ways than one, I was certain I wouldn't lose to him this time around because the last time he won, the game wasn't fair. He'd used manipulation to get through to me and get a whiff of our

plans, so this time he didn't stand a chance against me.

However, I'd rather not dwell on the outcome of the mission while it's still in motion, I can only watch it play out in my favor. I decided to get a little workout in because that always seemed to get my

mind off things for a while so I'd regain my sanity.

I'd taken off my shirt and gotten through a few workouts when my phone vibrated on my desk to signal that I was getting a call. I stood up quickly and reached for it and I saw that the call was from

Prince, I answered immediately.

"So, good news man," Prince said enthusiastically and my ears perked up in anticipation of what he'd say next.

"It seems like our plans have been proven fruitful." He maintained his light tone and I began to get a little impatient.

"Volkov reached out just a few minutes ago to meet at an exchange point he picked, I'm guessing he plans to hand over the shipment there." He informed me finally and I let out a sigh of relief, and almost immediately a wave of skepticism washed over me.

"Man, if he's dictating the exchange point, it means that we have to be on our best game when we arrive there you know?" I raised a point to his attention and he hummed as though he was

encouraging me to go ahead.

"He's not someone we can trust to keep his word, so you'd need to take our very best men with you, and ask them to put a halt on whatever they're engaged in." I continued and he listened quietly,

taking my orders to note. "Also, you'd need a very reliable plan B in case things go south and he tries to pull an attack instead of handing over the shipment" There was no way we'd let them get ahead of us this time around, everything had to be thought out to the latter, and handled with precision.

"Yes, I've very much considered the possibility that he could double-cross us, he's never up to any good" His reply was a confirmation that since the thought had crossed his mind as well, he'd put

plans into motion that would protect them in case he started an attack.

"Great, keep me in the loop, always." I reminded him and ended the call before I placed my phone back on my desk and turned it over to keep working out.

A knock interrupted my first push up immediately. I got back into my workout routine and I rose up from the floor. I assumed I was a maid or guard that had been at my door, but I wondered what for, I hadn't asked for anyone and I didn't appreciate being disturbed.

Another rapping knock on the door led me to raise my head and face the door as it tore me from my train of thought.

I sighed and called out, "come on in, it's open."

However, instead of it being a maid or guard as I'd expected, it was Lisa who slowly waltzed into the room and shut the door carefully behind her. My jaw tightened angrily at the sight of her leaning

against my door, why wouldn't she fucking let me be? I groaned inwardly.

"Uhm, Axel-You left earlier so-" she cleared her throat as if she'd forgotten how to breathe, I eyed her with a quick glance I threw her way.

"So, yeah- I uhm-came to find you." She finally completed her statement and I wondered why she'd hesitated earlier, did my anger scare her that much already?

I raised my face to look at her and she seemed to have a skeptical look across her features, even her hands were being rubbed anxious at her side as she stayed transfixed where she was. Had she

already bore a hole into the ground and gotten stuck in it after mere minutes of being here?

Slowly, I noticed that her eyes weren't staring at my face, instead, I was able to trace them to my bare chest which I'd forgotten was exposed. So her words had been caught in her throat because

cho'd coon my chest glistening right after my workout?

Her lashes lowered even further down and I figured that her eyes had rested on my pelvic region for a while. Was she trying to make out my bulge? Fucking hell.

My breath caught in my throat while I watched her cheeks redden, she always flushed pink when dirty thoughts ran through her mind. So I knew for sure that she was thinking of all the things she'd

do to my body and that excited me more than it should've.

Unlike what I'd expected, the thought of her ogling my chest while. was barely fired up an odd sensation in my pelvic region, one only Lisa could trigger by barely being stared at by her.

The moment I realized that I was actually turned on by being stared at, I angrily pulled my shirt from where it was and yanked it over my head in a swift motion. She was always proving to be a fucking

distraction, one I would've welcomed if the circumstances differed.

As soon as my shirt covered her view of my chest, she swallowed loudly and looked back at my face like she'd not just eye-fucked me. I cleared my throat to regain my sanity, what was it with her that

shook my very foundations over and over?

"I just

"Why are you here?!" I demanded sternly and her eyes lowered nervously.

needed to t--"

I cut her off almost immediately, "you know what?"

Her confused stare met mine as I asked, of course, it was rhetorical.

"Don't even bother telling me why you're here, doesn't mean a thing to me" I'd changed my mind the second she began speaking, the more she spoke to me- the easier it'd be for her to weasel her way

back into my head.

No way I'd let that happen.

"Luckily for us both, you'll be out of here by tomorrow so go get ready instead of bothering me," I told her off in a pissed-off tone and her face fell as she heard what I'd said.

God, not those fucking puppy eyes.