Page 41 of The Price of a Promise

The vice I lived in grew tighter.Every passing day.

And it felt tighter than ever inside this beautiful home, infused with someone else’s taste and life.

In here, Cora Margulis didn’t matter.She was just a pawn in a bigger, more important game.

And the worst part was that I had chosen this.I wasn’t insane; I wasn’t unwell; there was no psychiatrist who could attest to my unfit mental state.I’d fucking chosen this, with my own brain and free will.

What have you gotten into?

I drew deep breaths as I stared at my coffee, searching for answers in the caramel color.

Axel is going to the condo.

How could I be there with him?

The idea formed less as a lightning strike and more as a glacial revelation.The doorbell app was still on my phone.Which meant that I couldseehim, at the very least.

My heart rate picked up as I swiped through screens.I pressed the icon, holding my breath.

The front porch of my old condo, peaceful and empty, filled the screen.I turned on the sound and could even hear the distant twitter of birds.

Holy shit.

I set my phone on its charging dock, and glued my eyes to the scene at my old place.I’d stand here all day and watch if I had to—anything for a glimpse of Axel.This was the worst goodbye I could have imagined for us.Not even in my worst nightmares had I foreseen this terrible conclusion.

I just hoped there was some way I could make things right for him someday.Make things right forme.

I drifted around my kitchen for the next hour, making juice and popping almonds, constantly listening for any sign of movement at the condo.A couple fake-outs put me on edge—a distant shout down the street, the shuffling feet of the mailman.

Seconds turned into hours, and I wanted to crawl out of my skin more with each tick of the clock.Axel had to be close.Where was he?

Another pot of coffee had just finished brewing when I heard the footsteps.The heavy breathing.Thethud thud thudagainst the front door of my old condo.

“Cora.It’s me.”The rasp of Axel’s voice sent my coffee mug clattering to the floor.It broke into pieces at my feet, but I couldn’t look away from the screen on my phone.

“Cora!”He knocked again, harder.“Cora, I’m here.”

Silent seconds trudged by, and he propped the palms of his hands against my front door.“Cora.Please.”He pounded the door three more times.

Axel shook his head, raking his fingers through the messy length of his hair.He propped his hands on his hips, looking back toward the street, which allowed me a glimpse of his face.

Oh, how stressed he looked.How drawn and sagging and empty.I swallowed back a wave of nausea—too familiar to me at this point—as I absorbed the physical effects of what I’d done to this man.Tomyman.The man I supposedly loved more than anything or anyone in the world.

There was no one living I loved more.

But in a twisted way, me hurting him would benefit him.He would dodge the wrath of Allan Margulis.Axel thought my father’s opinion didn’t matter, but he was wrong.There was no escaping my father when he was determined to make good on his word.

His promise to ruin Axel scared the living fuck out of me.

“Come on, Cora.Open up!”The gruff shout of his voice snapped me out of my stupor.He headed into the landscaping then, cupping his hands around his face as he peered into the window of the front room.“What the fuck?Where is all the furniture?”

When he returned to the cement pad of the porch, he interlaced his fingers behind his head, staring at the door.I couldn’t see his face, and I would have given almost anything to do so.

“Cora, are you in there?I just need you to open up,” he finally said, his arms dropping to his sides.He looked around, finally locating the camera of my doorbell monitor.

And this time, he looked straight at me.“Please talk to me.Just talk to me, babe.We can figure this out.I promise you.”He sounded broken, a breath away from tears.Every ounce of emotion swam across his face, a blatant parade for me to see.

You did this to him.And now you can’t undo it.

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