Dark Desire

Chapter Nine

MARIANA

"He's not leaving his room." I called Axel some time during the week when I found a list of contacts in the phonebook at the console table. "Should I be worried? Does our deal still stand?"

"Give him time, miss Mirabella. I promised him we'll do everything slowly." Axel grumbled beneath muffled voices of women talking.

"Where are you? When will you come back?" I had no idea why Axel didn't come to work two days ago and left me alone in the house with a hibernating Wolff. Hmm, fitting.

"I'm at a book conference. I will be there by tonight. Until then, don't push him. Let him come to you when he's ready." He uttered a quick goodbye and hung up without waiting for my response.

I groaned. I had so many things I needed to discuss with him. For one, my tourist visa is expiring in two weeks. I didn't know if I should go out and do the designated paperworks to extend it to six months. When I reviewed the proposal, it said I was allowed to stay here for however long the contractor allowed me to. Since Wolff wouldn't see me, let alone talk to me, I had no way of knowing for sure. But I intended to stay. Leaving wasn't an option when I had no home.

•••

When Axel came home at 9PM and I relayed all my concerns, he only told me that he had to talk to Wolff about it first. For some reason, irritation rose under my skin.

"Seriously, you have to tell me what's wrong with him." I whined, picking up my second glass of wine for the evening. I discovered just moments ago that this house was indeed stocked with all kinds of alcoholic beverage. I shouldn't be surprised anymore. "Why won't he leave his room? Why is he so scared of hurting me?"

Axel's eyes darkened, his jaw ticking as he poured himself a whiskey. I watched him take a drink and another and another until he refilled his empty glass.

I sighed. "You have to tell him I'm not stupid. I know what I signed up for. I know it's going to hurt."

One of his brow arched as he peered at me through the rim of his glass. "How so?"

"It always hurts the first time. I'm a virgin, not an idiot."

He only stared at me. There was zero readable expression on his face. A few quiet seconds ticked by until I was certain he would never engage with the conversation. His loyalty to Wolff was unquestionable. I admired that.

I decided to change the topic. "So, who are you to him exactly? Or do I have to sign the NDA for that too?"

Finally, Axel let out a soft laugh, the strains on his face losing up a tiny bit. "We've been friends long before I became his assistant."

"Just friends?"

His lip curved at one edge. "What did you have in mind, miss Mirabella?"

I returned the half-smile. "Just Mariana, please. I thought you're related. Maybe brothers."

He took one last swing of his drink before abandoning it on the counter. "We might as well be. He's the closest thing I've had to a family." There was a softness in his voice, like a painful memory sat beneath his words.

It did make sense. The way he looked and treated Wolff, like he could see and understand his pain more than anyone else. I wished I had someone like that. Louis was a life-long friend I've shared good amounts of fun memories with but that was all there was. Fun. Yet, it was the kind of fun that still drove me away to search for something else.

I followed Axel towards the living room where he picked up his jacket and his suitcase. During the process, his suitcase slid to the carpet and unlocked upon its drop. A book and a few pens slipped out. I knelt down to pick them up just as he did. My attention lingered on the book and its thickness. It was hardbound, the cover the darkest shade of green. I grabbed it before Axel could.

"Can I borrow this?"

Axel stood up to eye-level, a frown touching his face. He looked like he was assessing the consequences of a decision he was about to make. He was also studying me, I realized. Then in one blink, his scrutinizing gaze disappeared. He nodded once.

I plopped onto the L-shaped leather sofa, wine still in hand as I started to open the book. I was merely on the first page when I heard Axel's voice at the door. "By the way, that's an erotica, Mariana." The door closed.

I flipped the pages until the last one came into view and Axel's picture stared at me. The author. I almost laughed because I couldn't, for the life of me, ever picture Axel as an erotica writer—no offense to him, but when my eyes landed on the name, I knew something was off.

W.K.Finn.

I didn't know what Finn stood for but I was pretty sure the W was for Wolff and the K was for Kurt—a name only Axel used to address Wolff.

Huh.

All things aside, I started reading. I laid on the couch, rolled to my side, flipped to my stomach, tucked my knees to my chest, curled on the floor...and by the time I was finished, it was three in the morning and my panties were soaked.