23

Axel

I quickened my pace and began to stride back to the restaurant. A plan was forming in my mind. It would be dangerous. A fraud cop was on my case, and I couldn’t slip up. I’d have to be careful. And how would I even begin to convince her that it was a good idea, that she should jump into bed with me?

But if I really cared about my businesses and about my empire. About everything I’d built, and everything I’d carved out of thin air with my own bare hands, I wasn’t going to let it be taken away. Not without doing everything I could.

“Hey,” said an old man on the street as I came up to the front door of the restaurant. He was dressed in shabby clothes, with a beard. “It’s me.”

“I’m sorry,” I said quickening my pace. “I don’t know you.” The man just stared at me as I walked quickly away. I was wrapped up in my thoughts, in the thought of what I could do. If I played my cards right, there was a way. A way to save everything.

I went back inside the restaurant, running now, and sprinted up the steps to Zeke’s office. I didn’t think about the old man who’d called out to me on the street. I left him there, on the sidewalk.

In New York, that kind of thing happens all the time.

Linda

“Can I help you?”I said cheerily.

The old man turned to me. His hair was a little long and scraggly, his beard untrimmed. I could see his fingers were dirty. But he didn’t look homeless—not exactly. His clothes weren’t tarnished enough.

He turned and looked at me for a moment, and a lonely, sad pair of blue eyes watched me from his deep-set face.

“Can I help you?” I said again. I’d bumped into the old guy as I was leaving The Blue Orchid.

“My son used to work here,” he said, a little sadly, as he turned and looked at the building.

I shook my head and went home. Maybe he was just crazy.

It had been two weeks now since The Blue Orchid had been closed. And we still weren’t attracting nearly as many customers as we had before despite our best efforts. But that was only the least of my concerns.

I hadn’t heard much from Axel since our night together, that wonderful, magical night when I’d given myself to him with all the passion of my younger days. I’d seen him, of course, cooped up in the office with Zeke while they poured over legal tomes and licensing laws, trying to find some loophole with which they could defeat Luca’s plans.

But there was nothing. They knew it, and so did I. And so did everyone else at The Blue Orchid. Already some of the staff were talking about picking up extra shifts. We’d all had our shifts reduced, and more than a few of the waitresses were getting extra work.

I knew I’d join them soon if something didn’t change. But today was my day off, and for once, I was relaxing at home.

Macy was on a school trip upstate, and wouldn’t get back until later in the evening. I’d decided to take advantage of the free time by playing a couple of my old records. It was rare that I had a chance to relax. But I’ve never been the kind of person to sit still, especially when trouble’s around the corner. All the way home, I was tapping my fingers, my knee shaking. I was infectious with energy, and alive with the certain knowledge that Axel really did, well, like me. Not that I should have cared.

When I got home, I was relieved to find that Axel had called me. I called him back without a moment’s hesitation. I wanted something to do, anything, in fact. And I hoped he’d have a job for me.

“Linda?” he said, softly, and I felt a shiver of excitement run through me.

“Axel,” I said. “How are you?”

“Been better. But we’re not giving up. Not just yet. You wouldn’t happen to be free this evening, would you?”

“As a matter of fact,” I said, “I’ve got to be at the bus terminal in the city for nine. I could come around if you need help with anything?”

Part of me was hoping he’d invite me over to his place. That there’d be a repeat of the incredible evening in his grand apartment.

“Have you ever been in a speedboat?”

“A speed boat? Not that I can remember.”

I listened for what Axel was going to say next. And I could practically imagine him on the other end of the phone, grinning.

“How about you come down to the dock in Carrol Hill? There’s something I want to show you.”

“Okay,” I said, putting down the phone and shaking my head. I still hadn’t put two and two together.

***

The Toto was beautiful. Gleaming white, it hovered in the water as Axel led me along the jetty. It was a narrow, long craft with a pointed bow and a riotously red racing stripe across its side. But Axel frowned when he saw me laughing.

“What is it?” he said. But his grumpy tone just made me laugh even more.

“Toto?” I said, incredulously. “As in, the little dog from the Wizard of Oz.”

“I didn’t pick the name,” he said. “Besides,” he added quickly, “it’s bad luck to change the name of a ship. Don’t you know that?”

“Aye aye captain,” I replied cheerily and felt more than a little pride when I heard Axel growl under his breath. I loved teasing him. It had become my way of showing affection towards him.

“Come on,” he said. “I thought I’d take you for a spin today.”

He reached out a hand, and I took it and stepped down into the hull of the boat. Inside it was more comfortable than I expected, with cream leather seats and a wooden control panel, covered with electric dials and sliders.

“It looks like a spaceship in here,” I said breathlessly, as my feet slowly adjusted to the rocking motions of the bay.

From here, you could see all the way across the bay. On the far left, I could see Jersey City, and Staten Island in the distance. To the right, I could see the tall, gleaming spires of Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge, as its arches reached up into the sky. It was a bright day, and Axel produced a pair of sunglasses from the glovebox for me.

“Why, thank you,” I said, charmed by his thoughtfulness. I put the glasses on, and the white glare on the water receded a little. Axel was at the other end of the boat, and I watched as he bent low, his powerful back arching as he stood up quickly, pulling a cord.

There was a splutter and a rumble, and then the boat’s engine flared into life. He strode confidently over to the pilot’s seat, next to me, and I watched him angle the wheel away, skillfully maneuvering us out of the bay.

“Since when do you know how to drive a boat?” I said. Even at this low speed, the wind was already whipping my hair.

“I know how to do a lot of things,” said Axel, and his blue eyes seemed to pierce right through me. Instinctively, I reached out for his strong arm, and rested my head on his shoulder as the boat rumbled on, gaining a little in pace.

“You might want to put your seatbelt on for this one,” Axel said, reaching over and clipping his own down into a lock.

“Seatbelt?” I said. “I didn’t know boats had seatbelts.”

“They have to,” he said. “When they go as fast as this one does.”

“Is that a threat?” I said.

Axel looked behind him as he put the engine into reverse, and backed us round until we were bobbing precariously on the Hudson River’s waves. “It might be,” he said, and I saw a hint of a smile play on his lips.

Then, in one swift movement, he kicked the boat up a gear, and we lurched forward at an incredible pace.

The boat didn’t glide swiftly through the water. Instead, its prow bumped against the waves, and the high-pitched roar of the engine made me clasp my hands over my ears with shock. I opened my mouth, and let out a yell of excitement. “WHOAH!” I screamed as we thundered across the water.

And then, I saw the city sliding past me. Manhattan, its towers and blocks, the ferries and sailboats on the water. Axel expertly charted a path through the water, his mind moving at a speed I could barely comprehend. I felt the boat tipping upwards, as the engine drove even harder, and Axel kicked us into a higher gear.

“WE’RE GONNA TIP OVER!” I said.

“NO WE’RE NOT,” he boomed, and before I knew it, I could see the buildings in midtown, the spiked top of the Chrysler building and the skyscrapers sliding past on my left.

Then, I saw us approaching the Brooklyn Bridge. Up close, from all the way down here, it was enormous, its dark iron pillars and enormous arches rising so far above me I couldn’t lift my head high enough to take it all in.

My eyes blurred over the speedometer, as I watched the needle rising.

“WE’RE AT FIFTY-FIVE KNOTS,” said Axel, noticing my eyes fixed on the speedometer.

“HOW FAST IS THAT!” I yelled at him. It was the only way to communicate over the roar of the engine, the crashes, and the bashes of the waves around us. A thin spray of water snaked up around us and splattered the protective screen in front of the cockpit.

“NOT SO FAST,” replied Axel. “70 MILES AN HOUR? I CAN GO FASTER IF YOU LIKE?”

“NO!” I said. “THIS IS FINE!”

As we passed under Brooklyn Bridge and came up by midtown, I felt the boat slowing, and eventually, I saw the prow of the boat bend down as we came level with the water. Completely unfazed by the incredible speed at which we’d been traveling, Axel steered the boat into the harbor, towards a jetty on Manhattan’s side of the East River.

Once we’d come to a stop by the jetty, he pulled up a rope by the deck and looped it into a lasso. He lobbed the knot over the side of the boat, and I watched, amazed by the accuracy of his throw, as the rope landed over one of the capstans on the jetty and Axel pulled it tight. And once again, I savored the view, the curves of his muscular arms and strong shoulders, and felt an amazing sense of triumph at having been carried across land and sea by Axel Linden.

***

The car felt still and peaceful after the incredible time on the speedboat. In the back seat, as we were driving into the city, I reached out my hand and put it onto the seat between us. Axel extended him in turn, and I looked into his eyes.

What was I thinking? A part of me was still questioning my motives. I knew that it was wrong—even dangerous for me—to be going down this path. But I was already in that cloudy-eyed world where it seemed like nothing could go wrong. Maybe I was still on a high from the speedboat ride. Or maybe it really was Axel’s presence, so calming to me.

“Let me take you to dinner,” said Axel.

“Sure,” I said. “As long as we’re done by eight-thirty. I need to go pick Macy up.”

“No problem,” he said in a soft, reassuring voice.

We got to the restaurant. I recognized it immediately from something I’d seen on TV once. It was one of those super-fancy places with Michelin stars and tiny plates of food. I’d seen them before.

“You ever go to Panera Bread?” I asked Axel, as we were seated at one of the tables, and the menus, heavy and dark with black leather cases, were slipped onto our laps.

Axel laughed. I loved it when he laughed and the sound was warm and rich. We’d been seated in a private room in the restaurant.

“That’s a good one,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve been for about ten years.”

“You know,” I whispered conspiratorially, “the food probably isn’t as good as here, but the bill’s about a hundred times smaller.”

“I get that,” said Axel. “But money doesn’t really matter to me. Even if the best is overpriced, why not have it if you can?”

I sighed. Already the magic of the moment had been disrupted. I just couldn’t get my head around it. Why was Axel so keen to show off his money?

“It doesn’t impress me, you know,” I said, warily. I didn’t want him to think I could be bought or seduced into liking him.

“I’m aware. That’s why I like you so much.”