THE NEXT DAY
MORNING
Lily walked down the stairs with the book in her hand, she had just a few pages left and she couldn’t wait to be done.
She got to the living room and paused as she read a paragraph. She was done reading the paragraph and she looked up to see Axel staring at her.
He was dressed casually but it looked like he was about to leave the house.
“Axel.” Lily called with a smile and walked towards him.
“Good morning.” She greeted him with a smile.
“Morning.” Axel replied then tried to walk away from her but she hurriedly stood in his presence.
“What?” He asked with a stern look and Lily’s smile faded a little.
“Nothing.” She replied and moved away. Axel clenched his jaw and turned to her.
“What is it? What do you want?” He asked, calmly this time. Lily avoided eye contact this time.
“Are you leaving now?” She asked.
“Hmm.” Axel responded.
“Okay.”
“Was that what you wanted to say?” He asked and she shook her head in response. Her head was bowed a little.
“Speak up, Lily.” He ordered and she looked at him.
“I… I… Just wanted to tell you that I am almost done with the book and I… I… ” She stuttered as she thought of the best words to say what she wanted to say.
“You what?”
“I touched myself last night.” She muttered but Axel heard it.
“Okay, we will talk about it when I am back.”. He replied and she nodded.
“Till night?” She asked.
“Maybe, it can be earlier than that.” He replied and she nodded again, he stood for a few seconds just to be sure she had nothing to say again before walking out of the house.
Lily opened her book again and made her way to the dining room to have breakfast.
After having breakfast, Lily went back to her room to finish the book. She was done in an hour since she had only a few pages left.
When she was done, she had nothing else to do, she was bored and a little exhausted. After staring at everything in her room for some minutes, she felt sleepy and fell asleep.
*********
Max walked towards Axel who leaned on his car as he watched their men carry out the boxes loaded with guns.
“They should be done after a few more minutes.” Max said as he got to him, Axel nodded in response and checked his phone for the time. He saw it was past 10:00 pm.
“Are you in a hurry?” Max asked and Axel turned to him.
“No, I’m not.” He replied and they both turned back to the men.
“Now that you have overtaken most of the Russian bases in this city, what is the next plan?”
“Go on with business and see how the profit is within a week, if it is favourable or I am okay with it, we will work with it for a month but if it doesn’t work out, I will keep taking over their bases.” He explained and Max chuckled.
“You do realize you are the most hated man in the crime world right now?”
“Am I supposed to care?” Axel asked back.
“What are you going to do if we have to do a job outside New York City and it involves the Russians?”
“When that time comes, I will know what to do.” He replied and Max shrugged. He decided not to ask any further questions, Axel knew how he handled his stuff, and he knew he would figure out a way. He always does.
“All done sir.” One of his men announced and Axel stood up right with Max.
“How is Lily?” Max asked and Axel raised his brow.
“She is fine.”
“You know, I did a little background check on her and I realized her father died weeks ago, did she give him a proper… ”
“Why the fuck did you run a background check on my wife?” Axel cut him off and he shrugged.
“Nothing, just looking out for you.” He replied and Axel glared at him.
“I don’t get involved with people I know nothing about. I know everything about her, I know… ”
“Well, did you ask if her father was buried? Or did you ask how she is feeling about his death? Isn’t her father the reason you met her?” He cut Axel off.
Axel stared at him with a frown on and Max chuckled.
“Oh, my bad. I almost forgot who I was talking to. The nonchalant Axel.”
“Stay out of anything that concerns Lily.” Axel warned and Max raised his hands in the air.
“Chill man. I am just trying to help you out here. Lily is cute, pretty, and fun. I know you are not a fan of a lot of stuff but why not make a difference? Live like a normal person for once, it won’t hurt you if you do. You have a year to spend with her, make it count.” Max said and punched his shoulder playfully before walking to his car.
Axel kissed his teeth and entered his car, he ignited it and drove into the street. As he drove home, he didn’t want to think about what Max said, he shrugged off the thought by putting on music and turning up the volume as he drove.
After a while, he finally got home. He walked out of his car and walked into the house.
He got to the living room and met Lily watching the television. This time, it wasn’t a kid’s show, it was a movie.
He wondered why she was still awake, it was almost 11:00 pm. Was she waiting for him?
“Axel.” She called as she saw him. She stood up and walked closer to him.
As he stared at her, everything Max said came rushing in.
“Is something wrong?” Lily asked, noticing he looked a little bit lost.
“Axel.” She called again.
“Be ready by 9:00 am tomorrow.” He said.
“Why? What is the occasion?” She asked with a smile.
“Your father’s burial.”