But I'm free.
And maybe, just maybe, that's enough.
19
AXEL
I hope like fuck that I’m doing the right thing here. I’ve never been very good at handling emotional matters.
Three hours of silence broken only by Viktor's occasional phone calls and Aurora's quiet breathing beside me. She hasn't spoken since we left, hasn't cried again either. Just sits there staring out the window, watching the city fade into the suburbs, then the countryside.
I want to say something. Want to tell her it'll be okay, that she did the right thing, that leaving her father was brave.
But I don't know if any of that's true.
So I stay quiet and let her process.
We cross into my territory around sunset. The landscape changes as we approach, from open fields to guarded checkpoints. My men wave us through without stopping, recognizing the car.
"Where are we?" Aurora asks. Her first words in three hours.
"Home," I say simply. "My estate."
She sits up straighter, looking out the window with more focus now. We're driving through gates that make her father's look modest. Wrought iron, twenty feet tall, topped with cameras and sensors. Guards at every post, armed and alert.
"This is yours?" Her voice is small.
"All of it."
The driveway is long, tree-lined, lit by lanterns that cast golden light across manicured lawns. We round a bend, and the main house comes into view.
Aurora gasps. “What? This is crazy… how?”
I sometimes forget what it looks like to outsiders. I've lived here so long it's just home. But seeing it through her eyes, I remember what it is.
A mansion. Three stories of white stone and floor-to-ceiling windows. Columns at the entrance like something from a Greek temple. Wings stretching out on either side, housing guest suites and staff quarters. A fountain in the circular driveway, water illuminated from below.
It's not just wealth. Its power made visible.
"Axel." Aurora turns to me with wide eyes. "This is... how?"
"I've been building my empire for twenty-five years," I say as Viktor pulls up to the entrance. "Seven of those years were from a prison cell, but that didn't stop the work."
"You ran your organization from prison?"
"Every day. Made calls, gave orders, approved deals. My people stayed loyal because I earned that loyalty before I went in, and I maintained it while I was locked up."
The car stops. Sergei's already out, opening doors. Staff are gathering on the steps, at least a dozen people in neat uniforms.
"Smart investments," I continue, stepping out and offering Aurora my hand. "Eliminated rivals who thought my incarceration meant weakness. Expanded into new territories. By the time I got out, I was more powerful than when I went in."
She takes my hand and lets me help her out of the car. Her eyes are wide, taking in everything. The staff lined up like soldiers.The sheer scale of the building. The fountain that probably cost more than most people's houses.
"This is way more than my father's operation," she whispers.
"Your father's smart and strategic. But he's also cautious. I'm not." I guide her toward the entrance. "I take risks. Big ones. And they pay off."
An older woman steps forward, her gray hair pulled back in a severe bun. This is Margareta, my head of household. She's been with me since before prison, kept this place running while I was gone.