Page 77 of It Destroys Me

If Axel was going to thank me, I wasn’t going to accept it. “How is she?”

“She’s okay.” He sniffed, and his eyes started to water. “But I’m not okay.” Tears exploded from his eyes and cascaded down his cheeks. “They took her, but I couldn’t stop them. I had to protect our babies…”

My hand went to his shoulder. “She’s okay, Axel.”

“They pointed a gun at my daughter’s head…” He continued to sob. “I had to let them take Scarlett?—”

“You did the right thing.”

“I let them take my wife?—”

“You did exactly what Scarlett wanted you to do.” I cupped the back of his head. “And she’s home now, and your babies are safe. It’s over, okay? It’s over. Breathe. Just breathe.”

He bowed his head and tried to shut down the tears, but a few continued to flow.

“You have no idea how sorry I am about all this.” I felt my own eyes water because I felt like shit. I was the reason this had happened. I was the reason Axel had almost lost his wife…and almost knew how it felt to be a widower. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” He sniffled.

“We both know it’s my fault. Because I asked you to watch Astrid.” Bolton must have figured it out. Axel had come with me to get Astrid out of the house that burned down. Bolton must have made the connection then. Astrid always said how smart he was. “But it’s over now. Everyone is safe.”

“You killed him, then?” He quickly dragged his forearm across his eyes to catch whatever moisture was left behind.

The guilt was like a knife between the ribs. I wanted to lie…lie so fucking bad. “No.”

He sniffed again then composed himself. He didn’t seem to register what I’d said until seconds later. “What do you mean, no?”

“No.” I repeated the answer and felt the same pain all over again.

“Then what happened? What about Astrid?”

“She chose him.”

He cocked his head, his eyes shifting back and forth. “What the fuck are you saying right now? That woman loves you.”

I couldn’t tell him the truth. It would just make him feel like shit. When I’d come here, I’d intended to tell him the truth, but seeing his devastation…and knowing they’d really put a gun to his daughter’s head…made me realize that Bolton would actually make good on his threat, and Axel had been through enough. “She chose him. I don’t know what else to say.”

Axel continued to look at me like I was crazy. “I don’t understand.”

“When I showed up there to spare Scarlett, Astrid came, and they talked—and she decided she wanted to give their marriage another try.” I knew Astrid had put on the performance of a lifetime to keep me alive. She was smart enough to know that Bolton would kill me even when she showed up. I didn’t watch her kiss him because it was too hard. Tried to block out the sound of her voice when she spoke to him. Watching her walk out that door and doing nothing to stop it…was the hardest thing I’d had to do.

Except for this.

Axel was still bewildered. “That doesn’t make any sense?—”

“Can I see Scarlett?” I didn’t want to talk about Astrid anymore. She was probably on a plane by now. Going to Greece or Croatia…or Norway.

He turned to the study and walked inside.

I followed and found Scarlett holding her son in her arms, who was asleep. Her daughter was sleeping on the couch beside her, tucked under a blanket. Judging by the puffiness of her eyes, she’d been crying…a lot.

I took a seat in the armchair and looked at her.

She looked back at me, her left eye now swollen shut.

I bowed my head because I couldn’t look at her. It was too fucking painful.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’m okay.”