Page 57 of Total Obsession

"Well, I'm not sure who you spoke to, but Matt, my director, was not on your schedule. I almost lost my job and a chance at a career in this industry today," I said, moving to stand behind the kitchen island. For some reason, I wanted something between us.

"Zoey," Axe said, his face looking absolutely crestfallen. "I'm so sorry. I can assure you that's not what Allen told to me. He said he knew how hard Matt worked everyone and he was going to give everyone Thanksgiving week off. If I had known, I would have never put your job at risk like that."

I listened to what Axe was telling me. I hated to admit it, but it did make sense. Allen, the show's producer, was sort of a softy at heart. The exact opposite of Matt. It was very possible that Matt just ignored what Allen had told him or had managed to bully him into submission.

I let out a sigh, and a few tears fell from my eyes. "Oh, Zoey," Axe said, rounding the kitchen island. He wrapped his arms around me and brushed the wetness off my cheek with his thumb. "I can't even imagine how stressful today was for you. I'm so sorry that I put you through this. It was supposed to be an amazing break and vacation for you. I ruined the whole thing."

"No, don't say that," I replied. "You were just trying to help."

Axe shook his head. "No, no I shouldn't have gotten involved. I shouldn't have tried to use my connections to get you time off. You're an incredible woman who can manage her own schedule. I only got in the way of what you needed to do."

"It's okay," I said, suddenly finding myself somehow comforting Axe.

"I'm so sorry," he replied.

I shook my head. "You don't need to apologize. I forgive you."

"You're too good to me," he said. "I simply don't deserve you."

He pressed a soft kiss to my lips, and I let him, but there was still something on my mind. When we parted, I looked up into his eyes and tried to read him.

Axe had a lot of masks. I saw it when he interacted with people. It was as if he could immediately read a person and know exactly what it was that they needed in their life. He would then morph to become that for them. It made people instantly like him.

For a time, I worried that he had been doing that with me, but I always convinced myself that that wasn't the case, because I knew him before. I could see when his eyes were genuine. I could see the young, insecure Axe that he no longer allowed the world to see.

Even though he tried to hide it, I knew that it was still there.

"I saw you on the television," I said to him. "There was no mistaking it. You were at that shooting in Miami. The cops say they're looking for you."

I was nervous even saying the words. If Axe really was some sort of criminal, what would he do to me? Would he really hurt me?

My heart beat fast against my chest as I waited for his answer.

eighteen

AXE

Of course, Zoey had seen and recognized me on the television. Of all the people in this world who could have picked me out from a blurry photograph, it would be her.

Perhaps this is why Johnny warned me against personal attachments, whether for revenge or otherwise. When you got too close to people it made you vulnerable.

That was proven to me just moments ago. Lying to Zoey made me extremely uncomfortable.

Lying to anyone else had never made me uncomfortable. It was a necessary part of my job description, and yet, here I was, barely able to work a little manipulation on a little girl who really meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.

So I kept telling myself.

Perhaps all those therapists I'd tried to hire back in the day had been wrong. Perhaps I wasn't a psychopath after all, because I certainly felt guilt over what I was saying to Zoey.

It didn't stop me from saying it, though. Maybe that was what they were getting at.

I brushed a lock of her dark hair behind her ear and looked into her eyes. I could tell how drained she was. I hadn't expected her to find out about the scheduling mishap so quickly. I thought at the very least a day would have gone by before she was contacted and by that time, it would have been Thanksgiving break anyways.

Leave it to Zoey to destabilize my plans.

I needed to be careful about how I handled this next bit. This was an issue because I was completely ad-libbing at this point. I had not anticipated that things would go the way they went in Miami. I had not anticipated that I'd be subjected to an interrogation from Zoey.

I needed her to trust me.

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