SEVEN DAYS TO SAY FOREVER

Chapter 11: Behind Closed Doors

*Hazel*

The heavy oak door of the master suite didn't just close behind us; it felt like it sealed us into a pressurized chamber.

I stumbled forward, my heels sinking into the deep wool rug as my knees finally threatened to give out. My left hand felt completely hot, the skin still burning from where Axel had tightly gripped my fingers in front of the entire family.

"Axel," I breathed, turning around to face him. "Are you completely insane?"

Axel stood by the door, his hand still resting on the polished handle. The unreadable, cold expression he had worn downstairs in the library didn't change, but his shoulders dropped an inch. He slowly reached into his suit jacket, unbuckling the leather shoulder holster, and placed the black pistol into the safe inside the wardrobe.

"I did what was necessary to stabilize the room, Hazel," he said, his voice flat, professional, and entirely level.

"Necessary?" I scoffed, a sharp, disbelieving laugh breaking past my lips. "You pulled a weapon on my stepsister’s fiancé, Axel. And then... you stood in front of my stepdad and told the entire world that you are in love with me."

Axel paused. He slowly turned around, unbuttoning the top of his waistcoat, his eyes searched mine. "You wanted to tell them the truth? You wanted Clara to blast that proxy contract to the press and watch your interior design firm collapse before lunch?"

"No!" I snapped, pacing across the room, my silk trousers rustling in the quiet space. "But you didn't have to say *that*. You changed the entire game, Axel. How are we supposed to walk back from a confession like that? How do we break off a fake engagement when you’ve publicly stated that the contract is irrelevant because of your feelings?"

"We don't walk back from it," Axel murmured. He stepped away from the wardrobe, his long strides closing the distance between us until he was standing just two feet away. I could smell the faint scent of rain and cedar on his jacket. "We execute the plan. We stay the course until the wedding is over, and then we handle the exit narrative."

I looked up at him, my heart hammering violently against my ribs. The anonymous text message from last night flashed in my mind again like a warning flare. *He didn’t come to Aspen because you’re his best friend.*

"Is it just a strategy to you, Axel?" I whispered, my voice cracking slightly. "Or is Elena right? Are you just keeping me close because my studio is sitting on your corporate acquisition list?"

Axel’s expression froze. His gaze didn't leave mine, but a shadow of profound frustration crossed his face. "I told you downstairs, Hazel. Elena manipulated that recording. I bought your debt facility to hide you from her firm. I have never looked at you and seen a line item on a balance sheet."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" I demanded, stepping closer, my hand rising instinctively to press against his chest. "Why keep it a secret for six months? If we’re best friends, why did I have to find out from a burner phone at a rehearsal dinner?"

"Because you are too proud," Axel whispered, his voice dropping into a low register that sent a shiver straight down my spine. He didn't pull away from my touch. Instead, his large hand rose, his fingers hovering just a fraction of an inch above mine, before he carefully, deliberately covered my hand with his own, pinning my palm against his chest.

"If I told you that Blackwell Capital had to cleared your studio’s debts, you would have torn up the checks. You would have walked away from me to prove you didn't need my billions."

He leaned down slightly, his breath warm against my temple, his gray eyes searching my face with a raw anxiety I had never seen in him. "I didn't keep it a secret to exploit you, Hazel. I kept it a secret because I couldn't bear the thought of you looking at me like I was just another corporate predator trying to buy your world."

My chest tightened.

"And the confession?" I whispered, my eyes dropping down to his lips before I could stop myself. "Downstairs. Was that part of the plan too?"

Axel’s grip on my hand tightened subtly. A thick, heavy tension filled the silence between us, the crackle of the fireplace the only sound in the entire suite. He didn't answer immediately. He just stared at my lips, his jaw tightening as if he were fighting an internal battle against his own restraint.

"Don't push me for answers you aren't ready to hear, Sterling," he groaned, his voice frighteningly quiet.

Before the moment could fracture completely, a loud, aggressive pounding vibrated through the heavy oak door.

"Hazel! Axel!" Clara’s voice screamed from the hallway, completely stripped of its usual sugary coating. She sounded entirely unhinged. "Open this door right now! The caterers just arrived with the ice sculptures, and Dad wants a full family meeting in the grand pavilion. We are not sweeping this under the rug!"

I pulled my hand back sharply from Axel's chest, my cheeks flushing a deep, radiant crimson as I stepped away from him.

Axel let out a long, ragged exhale, closing his eyes for a split second before every trace of emotion vanished. He reached for his charcoal suit jacket, throwing it over his broad shoulders with practiced, elegant ease that made me almost drip.

"The family wants an execution," Axel said, a slow, predatory smile touching the corners of his lips as he looked at me. "Let’s go give them a performance."

"Axel, wait," I said, grabbing my evening clutch from the dresser. "Dominic still has that proxy contract. Even if your confession stunned them, Clara isn't going to drop this. She’s going to look for holes in our story."

"Then we don't give her any holes," Axel said smoothly, reaching down to intertwine his fingers with mine. His grip was solid, warm, and completely unyielding. "From this moment on, we are entirely inseparable. If she wants to watch us, we'll give her an absolute show."

We walked out of the suite, down the long corridor, and stepped out onto the glass-enclosed grand pavilion overlooking the snowy peaks. The entire Westbrook and Reed clan was gathered, sitting in tense silence around a stone fire pit. Dominic sat in the corner, a dark bruise forming on his jaw where Axel had pinned him, his eyes burning with pure malice as he stared at our joined hands.

Clara stood in the center, holding her phone like a weapon. "There they are. The happy couple. Dad, “I searched every society page and every public filing. There’s no engagement announcement. No license application. No press release. Nothing.”

I felt my heart give a sudden, painful thud, but Axel didn't even blink.

He led me to the center of the pavilion, looking around the room with a calm gaze. "That's because Blackwell Capital handles private filings, Clara. But if you require immediate verification..."

Axel turned to me, his arm sliding around my waist to pull me flush against his side. Before I could even register the movement, he leaned down, his eyes dark with an intense, burning heat, and captured my lips in front of the entire family.