Burning me

Chapter thirty one - Axel

It felt so good hearing her voice. Her sweet angelic voice I simply adored. I could've never expected hearing what I heard next.

I just got out of bed after freckles called. I went straight to the bathroom, knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep anymore at 6 am. I took a shower which took around twenty minutes since I was bored, after which I put on a pair of sweats and a shirt to go for a run. I thought I could use some exercise to take my mind from my freckles. At least before Christmas where I'd eat as much as Mom cooked.

And it went as smoothly as expected. I exhausted myself to the limit at the gym.

Just when I was about to enter the house, my phone rang. It was freckles, nearly two hours and a half since she first called.

Now, it was either that she missed me, or something was wrong. My mind went straight to the latter because of a bad feeling filling my gut all of a sudden, all types of bad things going through my head. I picked up in a heart beat.

"What's-" I was at the half of my question when I heard her sniffling, incoherently talking. "Freckles?"

"I-I-I don't know what to do…" She sobbed into the phone, saying the only coherent sentence.

I inhaled deeply. "Babygirl, babygirl, take a deep breath, okay? Inhale, exhale, c'mon, do it with me." She usually had these panic attacks when she cried. And she usually cried when she had nightmares.

Yeah, she still had nightmares, but rarer than before. A lot rarer.

"Inhale… exhale… inhale… exhale…" I repeated with her, trying to calm her down.

She breathed along with me in long, steady breaths, trying to focus on calming down. When she did, I shifted the phone in my hand to put it at my other ear as I leaned on the wall. That bad feeling only got worse. "Now tell me what's wrong?"

She stuttered her breaths for a bit, before she replied. "M-My father expects- expects me to get married to- to some stranger f-for the Mafia, Axel…"

My heart stopped at the sound of what she just said. Married? My freckles? To someone else? My breath hitched, my eyes closing tightly. I fell slowly down the wall, stopping at the feel of my butt hitting the floor. I covered my mouth with my hand, completely shocked by this.

"I-I don't know what- what can I do, Axel? I can't get- get married to some stranger!" Her breathing quickened again, along with the speed of the words getting out of her mouth.

"Okay," I inhaled sharply, "freckles, take a deep breath and tell me how is this possible? I thought- I thought Enzo was the heir."

"He- He's not Dad's biological son. Dad found that out a few months ago and he divorced Mom when he found out she had an affair with one of his men. A-And he just told us about this." Her voice pitched in distrust. "He- He said he already found someone for me. How could he?"

"Freckles, what bothers you mostly? Talk to me…" I pleaded, knowing already what bothered her mostly in this.

"My own father sold me, Axel. For the Mafia. It- It's always about the Mafia. The Mafia's traditions, the Mafia's rules. Bullshit! Fucking bullshit!" Anger rose in her beautiful voice, sounding so damn pleasurable. "And now there's this guy who wants to marry me. I have no idea who he is, but he already has rules for me, Axel. Rules. And we don't even know each other!"

Now that is plain freaky.

"Dad said he ended a deal with him. That I would be able to divorce two years after the marriage if I gave him a heir, but that's- that's stupid! A child would need love, attention! It can't just be a thing you use when you die! And what if I don't have a boy? What if I have a girl? I don't want her to grow up this way! To grow up in a world where she thinks this is okay! This is not okay! A forced marriage is not… okay! It never would be…" Her voice weakened with each word, cracking right open.

I rubbed my forehead, trying to settle my headache. "Freckles, you are not getting married to anyone. And you definitely aren't giving anyone a heir." I exhaled roughly. "What else did your Dad say?"

"That he doesn't have a choice. That this is the tradition. And we can't break tradition." She replied distantly.

"Now, you do have a choice, love. You always will. Traditions are meant to be broken at some point. I will deal with this. I promise you."

"What if I don't have a choice?" Her voice shook with fear.

"You do have a choice, love. I am your second option. Now talk to your father. Tell him about us. I will talk to my father and arrange a deal." I reasoned, finding a way out.

"Really? You'd do that for me?"

"You're the love of my life. I'd do it ten million times if it meant you'd be mine. No matter the consequences." I stated, getting up from the floor and cracking my knuckles.

"I love you, Axel. So, so much…" She sniffled, her sweet tone returning.

"Don't make this a goodbye, freckles. I'm expecting a video chat in a few hours where you tell me what did your Dad say. And then we'll get to business. Got me?"

"Uh-huh. And it wasn't a goodbye, Axel."

I smiled hanging up the call. I knew that. I just wanted to assure her. Yeah, that's what I wanted…

I needed to make sure that wouldn't be a goodbye and for that, I needed to have a chat with Dad.