THE DON'S CAPTIVE MISTRESS

Forgetting

HAZEL

Axel slid his phone into his pocket. Then turned his head toward me.

“You didn’t pick up your phone.”

I blinked.

“What phone?”

“I was calling you,” he said calmly, as if I were the crazy one. “To tell you to get ready. You weren’t picking up.”

I stared at him, completely confused.

“I… don’t have a phone.” I began, “You took my phone from me, remember?”

He tilted his head slightly. Annoyed. Critical. Like he was evaluating whether I was lying or just stupid.

“I gave you a phone, Hazel.” His voice sharpened. “Or have you forgotten?”

My stomach tightened.

“I was actually waiting for you to come and say thank you,” he continued, I detected q hint of sarcasm in his tone “For the phone. And for the money in your account.”

I froze.... Money. Phone.

The ones he gave me after he humiliated me at the party, after he tried to sell me off to that man, Mac. The whole scene felt like a bruise I kept touching, hoping it would stop hurting one day.

Axel kept talking, his tone turning colder.

“But I never got that,” he said. “So I wondered....” he raised an eyebrow, “did you think the amount was too little? Or were you just being a brat?”

A sharp breath punched out of me. That’s when it hit me.

The reminder was intentional.

The timing was intentional.

Everything was intentional.

And suddenly, my stomach twisted violently. Was he… taking me to Mac? Was that what this was?

Was I being taken to pay back the money he put in my account?

Just minutes ago, I’d been almost numb, not caring where he was dragging me. But now.... Now my heart was pounding too fast. My palms felt sweaty. My throat was closing up.

Because if he was taking me there.... If this was about repaying some invisible debt.... If this was the price for the “phone” and the “money”......

Then I had no idea what was waiting for me. And worse, I had no idea what Axel expected me to do once we arrived where he was taking me.

My heart started beating so loud I felt like the whole car could hear it. I kept my eyes on Axel, trying to read him, trying to find anything on his face that would give me a clue. And the worst thing was that as he talked, he wasn’t even looking at me anymore. He just stared ahead like he hadn’t dropped a bomb in my lap.

I swallowed hard.

“Hazel.” He snapped my name sharply, making me jump.

I blinked and turned toward him.

“What?” I asked.

“The phone,” he said, tilting his head slightly, stabbing me now with that same unreadable stare.

I nodded slowly. “The phone… yeah.”

“And?” he asked, turning away again, resting his elbow on the car door as if we were having a calm, normal conversation. “Do you have an explanation to explain yourself? I’m still waiting.”

My heart beat faster inside my chest. I forced myself to calm down. Especially if he was really taking me to Mark. Especially if he was going to sell me off to someone.

“ Why didn’t you pick up?” Axel added after a moment. “I called you.”

“Yes,” I said.

“Why?” he asked without looking at me.

“Because I forgot the phone existed.” I decided on the truth.

He didn’t react. Not with his eyes, not with his mouth. Nothing. Just silence. I glanced at Nico through the window’s reflection. He wasn’t looking at me or at us, but his shoulders were tense. Tight. I felt like he knew something or maybe he sensed something. Maybe everyone knew what was going on except me.

Axel finally turned his head, giving me his full attention. His eyes dragged slowly over my face, and I saw that same look he’d given me back in the house, right before he stepped away and left me on the floor. It wasn’t my imagination. He looked at me like he wanted me.

But now… his stare felt different.

“So you forgot you had the phone?” he asked. “I am sure it rang. Why didn’t you pick it up?”

“Because I silenced it and put it in the damn drawer and never bothered to take it out.”

“Why?” he asked again.

Now he asked.

I swallowed, wondering if I should go with the truth or a lie....something he would probably want to hear. Instead, I shrugged, pretending it didn’t matter. He didn’t buy it.

“I asked you a question,” Axel said, voice low. “When I took you to the house, you always complained about freedom. About wanting contact. And I gave you a phone to contact, to have the communication you wanted so badly. And when I gave you what you wanted, suddenly you don’t want it anymore.”

He narrowed his eyes.

“Is that it, what you want things, but if I’m the one who gives them to you, you suddenly lose interest? Is that what you're saying?”

“No,” I said quickly. “It’s not it.”

“Then what is the problem?”

I swallowed again, desperate to say anything that wouldn’t make this worse. “I guess… I’ve stayed a long time without a phone. I forgot about it.”

“Okay,” he said simply.

Then he called, “Nico.”

Nikos turned around immediately. Axel nodded once. Nico reached into his jacket and handed something back toward me.

A phone.

The phone.

I stared at it, then looked toward Axel. He nodded once, a silent order.

“Take it,” he said.

I took the phone. My hand felt too light, too shaky. Axel’s fingers suddenly touched my chin, tilting my face up. The warmth of his skin shot straight down my spine.

“This is your phone,” he said quietly, his voice deceptively calm. “I want it with you at all times. When I call, I want you to pick up. Do you understand?”

I nodded, too numbly, too fast.

Axel, satisfied with my answer, released my chin and leaned back, already pulling out his own phone again. His thumb began flying across the screen, typing, working, forgetting I was even sitting beside him.