Page 143 of Double Standards

So raw. So un-Axel.

There’s no mask. No carefully measured silence or cryptic half-truth. Just him, bleeding honesty into the space between us. It shakes me more than if he’d raised his voice or lost his temper. This is the man who controls rooms with a glance. Who speaks in commands and never,neverlets himself be seen like this. And yet, here he is—open, vulnerable, looking at me like I already hold his heart in my hands and he’s just waiting to see what I’ll do with it.

“I can love you, if you let me, because I want to give you the world.”

My lips part, but nothing comes out. My brain scrambles to respond, to find the right thing to say, but my chest is too tight. Too full. His words echo in my ribs, reverberating against every wall I’ve ever built to keep people like him out.

But Axel isn’t just anyone.

He’s the storm and the shelter.

And for the first time, I’m not sure which scares me more.

“Canlove me?” I repeat, brows furrowing.

“Only if you let me.”

God.

I can’t keep the distance anymore. I don’twantto. I throw my arms around his neck, pressing into him like he’s the only thing keeping me upright. His scent fills my lungs—leather, spice, that intoxicating thing that’s justhim.My breath hitches. I’ve missed this. Missedus.

“Does this mean Hunter can stop following me now?” I whisper with a shaky laugh, my forehead resting against his lips.

He chuckles, low and warm. “Not a chance.”

I pull back, and his eyes drop immediately—to the bruise under my eye. The humor in his expression vanishes. His wholebody goes rigid. I can feel the rage radiating off of him, tightly leashed but pulsing hot just beneath the surface.

Before he can spiral, I cut in. “I need to report this to the police.”

He freezes. “You can’t do that, baby.”

I narrow my eyes and drop back into my chair, crossing my arms. “Why not?”

His stare pins me down. “I need you to trust me.” There’s something behind the words. Not just the obvious meaning—but something deeper. A test. A line being drawn.

I hesitate. “Ax?—”

“It’s your turn to trust me.” he states. “Can you do that?” This time it’s a question, laced with demand.

“…Yes.”

He leans in, bracing his arms on either side of the chair, locking me in. “Trust me on this.”

I breathe out slowly, letting the tension crackle between us. When his thumb brushes my lip, I don’t stop him. Ican’t.And when I smile—small, involuntary—he looks like he could fall to his knees.

“What’s in it for me?” I murmur, letting just a hint of mischief creep back into my voice.

That smirk I love—dangerous and smug—curves across his face.

“Get on the desk and I’ll show you.”

I barely have time to nod before he’s on the move. Grabbing me by the hips, he plants me on the desk, his hands gliding up my thighs, bunching my skirt around my waist. Pushing my back to the desk, he lowers himself to his knees, spreading me open with deliberate ease.

I suck in a breath as the chill in the air brushes against my exposed skin, making me gasp the moment it hits the slick heat of my center.

Slowly, he slides my panties down, predictably stealing thelace once they reach my ankles—because of course he does. Axel never leaves me anything to hide behind.

“You’re going to get me fired,” I whisper, breathless, but he doesn’t even pretend to care.