Chapter 64
Escape
(Axel’s POV)
The bar Chase had dragged me to was loud and crowded, filled with the low hum of laughter and clinking glasses. The air smelled of whiskey, wood polish, and perfume. A band played somewhere near the back, the soft tune of a saxophone winding through the chatter.
I sat at the counter with a drink in my hand, staring at the amber liquid swirling in my glass. Chase was beside me, talking to the bartender about business, about renovations, about how he could turn this place into something “Parisian yet modern.”
I barely heard him. My thoughts were stuck somewhere else entirely.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Maya. Her face. Her smile. The way she looked at that little boy.
Her son.
I tried to drown it out with alcohol, but it didn’t work. The image st
