Axel*
The white gauze wrapped around my right knuckles was already loosening. I pulled the cotton tab tight with my teeth, staring out the floor-to-ceiling glass of the Aspen Ridge Spa.
Below, the thermal mineral pool steamed against the freezing Colorado air. Hazel was already down there, her dark hair pinned up, sitting on the stone ledge with her legs submerged in the turquoise water. She looked small from the third-story balcony. Small, and entirely too exposed to the family members currently circling the deck.
"The Tokyo restructuring lines are secure, sir," Gerald's voice came through my earpiece. "Elena's firm tried to ping our servers at noon, but the firewalls held."
"Keep the block active," I muttered, my eyes never leaving Hazel's silhouette in the water. "What about the gar
