Behind Her Smile

Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty Three: Pizza Delivery

"Make yourself at home. Bathroom is over there and makeup wipes are in the second drawer."

Dex laughs. Rosie is as subtle as a loaded gun. "I look that bad, huh?"

Rosie smiles as she jokingly says, "I was about to call animal control."

Dex shakes her head. "Fine. I'll clean up."

"I'll be in my room. I have to make a call."

"Sure."

Dex locks herself in the bathroom. She puts her hair in a clip she had found on top of the counter top and begins to wash her face with soap and water. She should really take a shower, but she didn't have an extra set of clothes. Maybe she could ask Rosie if she has an extra set of clothes. She is taller, but maybe she has something that can fit.

Dex unlocks the door and walks over to Rosie's room.

"No. It can't be tonight. It is not the right time!"

Dex is about to knock when she pauses. What can happen tonight?

"Understood. I'll see you later."

When she hears footsteps of Rosie coming, Dex panics. She knocks on the door. "Rosie!"

Rosie opens the door and Dex noticed she looked tense. "What?"

"Do you have an pajamas I can borrow?"

"Of course." Rosie visibly relaxes which just makes Dex more curious.

Rosie turns around to rummage through her drawers. "What was the phone call about? It sounded intense?"

Rosie pauses momentarily before she grabs a tank top and some cotton shorts. She gives it to Dex with another smile. "It's nothing. Just someone I am working a group project with."

Dex could tell Rosie is lying, but she didn't call her out on it. She better than anybody knew the importance to keep some things private.

Dex just nods and grabs the clothes. On the way to the bathroom she calls out to Rosie. "Fair warning, I am going to use up all your hot water."

Dex closes and locks the door before Rosie could stop her.

..................

"Can I have some soda?"

Rosie gives her a dirty look and sticks out her tongue. While looking at Dex, she licks the whole top. "Sure. Go ahead." Rosie says while holding the can out to Dex.

Dex nose scrunches up in disgust. Apparently Rosie is still mad that she had to shower in cold water.

There is a knock that has both Rosie and Dex look at the front door.

Dex turns to look Rosie who suddenly looks really pale. Maybe it is just the light. "Are you expecting somebody?"

"That must be...the pizza." Rosie says. "Why don’t you get it? Ill get some money."

"Sure. As long as I get the butter sauce." She says more to herself because Rosie had already disappeared into her room.

Why is she acting so weird? Dex shrugs. She'll figure it out once she had some food in her tummy.

Already her mouth is salivating. She hasn’t eaten anything since lunch.

Dex opens the door.

"Hola, Amor."

Her eyes widen as she sees the face of the person she had fought so hard to not to see. His nose is crooked, as if someone broke it and it wasn't properly set. His black hair is longer and waiver. The most obvious difference is his muscles. It is like he had grown twice as big.

She gulps. "Axel." The name came as barely a whisper. She would recognize him anywhere.

Dex tries to close the door, but it is blocked by his hand. She screams as she tries to push it close, but she isn’t strong enough. She puts her whole weight onto the door, but as Axel pushes, her feet begin to slide, no matter how much she tries to stop.

Tears become leaked out of her eyes. "ROSIE! Help!" She screams as she abandons the door and tries to run to the bathroom to lock herself in. She hoped Rosie locked herself in her room.

But she doesn’t make it.

"No!"

Two arms as thick as tree trunks wrap around her waist and shoulders. She takes advantage of her free hands to scratch and punch at the arms holding her. Axel didn't like that. With a roar, Axel lifts her off the ground and smashes her into the wall.

Dex groans as her vision blacks out for a few seconds. Blood sprouts out of her nose and an iron taste reaches her mouth.

Somehow Axel had managed to flip her around so he is hugging her. He lowers her to the ground. She glares hatefully at his face as he looks down at her with a mixture of anger and concern.

"Lo siento. Lo siento, mi amor." Axel murmurs to her.

Dex shakes her head in disgust. She balls her right hand into a fist. She tries to hit him in the jaw, but he sees it and grabs his fist before it could hit his face. "Let me go, you psycho!"

Axel face contorts in confusion, like he couldn’t understand why Dex is resisting. He uses his thumb to try to wipe off the blood off her face.

Dex bites his hand. Hard.

Axel pulls his hand back with a cry of pain. She uses his momentary distraction to dig her thumb into his eye. Axel howls and instinctively pushes her away. Dex stands up and tries to find an escape, but Axel had brought more men with him. They were blocking the front door and the bathroom. She is trapped.

Fortunately she is the kitchen, she grabs the sharpest knife she could find in the drying rack. She holds it in front of her as she tries to keep all four men in her line of vision.

Unfortunately, three of the men had guns pointed at her.

Axel looks at her in anger through one eye as the other one is being blocked by his hand. She could imagine it hurt like crazy right now. Probably not as much as her face hurt right now though.

She knew they wouldn't dare shoot her unless Axel told them to. But the way Axel is looking at her now made her nervous.

She tries to appear to his rational side. She prays he still has one. "Axel don’t do this. You can just leave and I will never tell anyone that I saw you. Just let us go."

Axel shakes his head. "I love you and I know you still love me."

Dex feels bile come up her throat. Love him? He thinks she loves him? After all he had done. After he had killed her brother? After he terrorized her and her family? She breathes in shakily at the intensity of her emotion. Her hand shake as she forces herself not to drop the knife.

Dex shakes her head. She is not saying that. That will only make him angry. "Axel if you love me, then you will let me go."

Axel turns red at her words. Dex feels her stomach drop in fear. "No! I will never let you go! If you wont come willingly, then I will just have to force you. This is your fault."

He motions to someone she had not seen. Dex blanches as she hears the whimpers of Rosie.

No. Not her. Please don’t kill her.

A fifth man of Axel's steps into her line of vision with a gun held right to Rosie's temple. Rosie looks pale and is trembling as she is being held in the grasp of the man.

"Drop the knife or she dies." Axels tells her.

No. Dex couldn’t let someone else she cares about die because of her.

Dex closes her eyes in surrender as she drops her grip on the knife. She starts to sob as she feels Axel hug her. She feels dirty as Axel kisses her forehead. "Good girl."

She bites her lip to stop herself from hitting him.

Axel grasps both her hands in his grip and takes out a piece of rope he had in this back pocket to tie them together. Dex winces as he tightens it with a tight knot.

She couldn’t even lift her head. She couldn’t bear to look at his pleased face. "Are you going to let her go now?" Dex asks brokenly. She hopes Rosie is set free, but she knew Axel is too paranoid to let her go.

She is surprised when she hears Axel say, "Let the girl go."

Rosie appears to be just as surprised as she is released. She doesn’t even move, she just looks at Axel.

"What are you doing?! Run!" Dex cries desperately. Why is she just standing there?

Rosie looks at Dex sadly.

Dex watches in confusion Axel hands her a gun. "Welcome back, Rose."

Her eyes widen. No. Please don’t be true. "You are working with him?!" She didn't want to believe it. She wanted Rosie to tell her it's not true.

But Rosie just looks at her with intense eyes that beg her to understand. Dex shakes her head in disbelief and denial. She didn't need to hear the words to see the truth in her eyes.

"I’m sorry, Dex."

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