Missing
1246 Words
AXEL
Axel watched as Hazel stomped out of the room, mad and angry… and he smiled.
Kat was still talking, going on and on about the party and about his birthday, her voice buzzing somewhere in the background. He tuned her out entirely as his mind replayed the way Hazel had looked at him… furious, eyes blazing, like she wanted to set the entire room on fire.
If only Hazel knew how angry he was right now.
He was feasting on it. He couldn’t even pinpoint where that anger was coming from… though he had an inkling.
Kat’s hand touched his jacket, pulling him back to the present.
“So what do you say?” she asked brightly. “Just say the word and I’ll take care of everything. You won’t have to lift a single finger.”
He watched her. He wondered if he even wanted this. The only parties he ever hosted had a purpose… business, power, leverage. He didn’t just bring people, especially enemies, into his home just to eat and drink. Every gathering had to benefit him. And right now, the idea of filling his house with people did nothing but irritate him.
So he simply shook my head and walked away.
He headed toward his office. The moment he entered, he focused on that new deal he’d been considering with the Irish. His mind sharpened, attention shifting into that cold, calculating place where emotions had no business.
A knock sounded. Without lifting his gaze, he said, “Come in.”
Remo, my right hand and oldest confidant, walked in, wearing a smile he immediately disliked.
“Hey,” Remo said, dropping into the chair across from him. “Have you heard from Tiernan?”
“Not yet. I’m still going over their proposal. Doing research before I agree to anything,” I answered.
“That’s good.” Remo nodded.
They discussed the deal for several minutes. Straightforward. Efficient. But as the conversation thinned, Remo stood, walked to the decanter, poured himself a drink, and came back.
Axel knew that look. The one that meant now we get to the real reason you’re here.
Remo sat, swirling his glass.
“As I was coming to the house,” he began, “I met Nico.”
Axel didn't turn my eyes towards him.
“He was pissed.” As Remo spoke, I didn’t look up right away. I kept my eyes on the contract in front of me, the paper already creased from where I had been holding it too tightly.
“He was pissed?” Axel repeated casually. A man could drown in how calm my voice was.
Remo took a sip of whiskey, leaning against the desk.
“Yeah. It looked like he was about to break something. Or someone.”
My jaw ticked once. Just once. Barely there, but Remo caught it. Remo always caught everything.
“And why is that?” I asked.
Remo shrugged. “That’s what I was hoping you’d tell me.”
I finally looked up. The look I gave Remo wasn’t annoyed. It wasn’t frustrated. It wasn’t even angry.
It was flat.
Black.
Silent.
The kind of look that emptied a room without raising a voice.
Remo cleared his throat. “I mean… Nico doesn’t get pissed for no reason. You know that.”
Of course I knew that. Nico was disciplined. Loyal. Steady. The kind of soldier you build foundations on—it was why I had chosen him to protect Hazel.
And Hazel… Hazel is a wildfire.
I didn’t know what I wanted with her half the time.
Remo continued, slower now, choosing his words with care.
“And when a man like him looks like that? It usually means he’s hurting. And when a man is hurting? It’s because something he cares about got f****d with.”
My eyes sharpened—not wide, not surprised, just sharper. Like a blade being pulled out of its sheath.
Remo waited.
I didn’t speak.
I didn’t need to.
I stood. Not abruptly. Not dramatically, I just stood, buttoned my jacket, and walked past Remo.
“Axel.” Remo called.
I stopped in the doorway but didn’t turn.
“You know she didn’t mean to start anything,” Remo said. “She’s not from here. She doesn’t know how this works.”
My voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
“Everyone knows how consequences work.”
Remo stood up and walked after me.
“Come on, you know this thing you pulled wasn't right? Everyone heard about it. Why did you do it?”
“What thing?” I asked, though I knew what Remo meant.
“That situation at the party,” Remo said, his eyes narrowing. “Where you… offered her up.”
“Yes,” Axel replied, jaw steady, “but then later, I made it clear that no one should ever disrespect me like that again.” His voice cut sharp.
Remo nodded once.
“Still, the girl seemed shaken by it.
Axel shook his head, done with the topic.
“Let me just go upstairs. Wait for me outside so we can leave.”
“Where is she anyway?” Remo asked.
“I don’t know. Probably in her room.”
“Okay,” Remo answered, and he headed out to wait in the car.
Axel went to his room, grabbed what he needed, and started to leave. But something, some unexplainable pull, made him pause. He didn’t know why, but he wanted to see her. Just to check.
He went to Hazel’s room…. Empty.
He stood there for a second, jaw tightening.
She was probably outside in the back garden.
He headed out, and on the way he ran into Angela.
“Angela,” he stopped her, “go look for Hazel and tell me where she is.”
Angela nodded quickly and hurried off.
Outside, Remo was leaning against the car. Axel nodded to him, and the two slid into the car. Remo immediately started down the drive.
A few minutes later, Axel’s phone rang. Angela.
The moment he heard her voice, he knew something was wrong.
“I can’t find her,” she said. Her voice was shaking. “Nobody has seen her. I asked around everywhere. I don’t know where she is.”
“She ran away?” Axel’s voice sharpened, ice-hard.
“I… I don’t know.”
“Get everyone to look for her,” he snapped, and hung up.
He turned to Remo.
“Turn the car around. We’re going back to the house.”
“What? Why? What happened?”
“They can’t find her.”
“Hazel?” Remo sat up straight.
Axel didn't answer; he was already dialing.
Nico picked up.
“Where is she?“ He gritted
“I just got out of the shower,” Nico said. “I don’t know…”
Axel didn’t wait for the rest. He hung up, his jaw set, every muscle locked tight. The rest of the world blurred.
All he could see was one thing: Hazel was gone. And she shouldn’t be.
Not here.
Not in his territory.
Remo looked at him, understanding the shift in the air—the quiet, sharp, lethal kind.
“It’s fine, we'll find her.” Remo tried to say it, but the words felt thin.
Axel wasn’t listening. His voice was flat, cold, and final when he spoke:
“Call everyone. She doesn’t get lost in my house.”
- Writer
