CHAPTER 5 Pinky Promise
Axle's POV
The screen in front of me blurred.
My hand was holding a pen, but I hadn't written a word in nearly fifteen minutes. The reports sat open but none of it could hold me. Not today. Not with Liam screaming in my head. The past two days had been hell.
My son… my calm, gentle Liam had been reduced to tantrums and tears. He'd stopped eating. He'd refused to sleep in his bed. He didn't want toys or cartoons or comfort. He just wanted one thing.
His mother.
Only if I had the power to bring her back.
He was too young to understand the concept of death. On the day she was being buried, he'd thrown in a flower for her grave, that night he'd asked me where mummy went, I told him heaven and that we'd join her but not now.
He'd believed me, had even began accepting the stories i spinned, not until this stupid Mother's Day event they had at school, it had unravelled his emotions and to top it off now believed his mother had simply left by choice.
Because he saw her.
Just as I slumped into my seat in exhaustion.
My phone rang.
I snatched it up before the second vibration finished.
Penelope.
My chest squeezed. "Pen…"
"Mr. Knight," her voice was frantic, breathless. "It's Liam. It's bad. He's screaming again… this time he's throwing things…"
In the background I heard a crash. Glass shattering. Penelope gasped.
"He…he just threw a lamp at his nanny. She barely dodged it."
I was already standing, grabbing my coat from the back of the chair. "Wait, what?"
"The nanny is packing her things, sir. Said she can't do this anymore." Then a heavy thud followed by "Oh my God… Liam… He's burning up, Mr. Knight. His fever could get worse if he keeps crying. He's shaking. He won't even let me near him. He's begging for his mother."
In a panic, I was already halfway out the door. "Call Dr. Hwang. Tell him to get there now. I'll be late getting back. Stay with Liam. Keep him warm, pass the phone to him."
The moment I heard him breath into the phone my heart came crashing.
"Hey buddy, I promise, I'll bring Mommy home tonight, okay? Just rest for now."
I didn't know what I was thinking making such promise but non the less, it was done so I had to fulfill it.
Then I heard his tiny shivering voice ask "Pinky promise, Daddy?"
I nearly choked. That had been Kathrina's thing. She had taught him that, and any promise made this way was meant to be fulfilled.
I raised my pinky finger even though he wasn't there. "Pinky promise."
He handed the phone back to Penny .
"Please stay with him till I return" i asked.
"Yes, sir," she breathed. "But please… hurry"
"I will."
I hung up, but the ringing didn't stop.
It was in my bones.
Liam wasn't just acting out. He was breaking down. And for the first time in my life, I didn't know how to fix it.
I didn't stop to think I simply drove into the swallowing night.
No destination. No GPS. Just instinct and desperation and one face in my head.
Her's
She was the biggest trigger. The symbol. The mother my son now clung to in the absence of the one he didn't know he lost.
If bringing her home… just to speak to him, just to hold his hand could somehow calm him, I'd do it. I'd give anything.
I found myself pulling up in front of the same department store from two days ago. Hoping no, begging that she might still be inside.
The second I walked in, I knew she wasn't there.
But her friend.
She was the same girl who had been beside her the day Liam first saw her here. She was behind the register, counting bills.
I walked past the short queue and stopped directly in front of her.
"Excuse me," she said, clearly annoyed. "There's a line."
Then she looked up fully and blinked. "Oh. You."
I looked at her name tag.
Mia.
"Mia, I need your help."
She frowned. "How do you know my name?"
I pointed at her badge. "I'm not here to make trouble."
"Sure," she said flatly. "That's what they all say."
"I need to find your friend."
"Why?"
"I need her help with something crucial."
"Well, She doesn't work nights here. Only morning shifts. And even then, she doesn't talk to strangers."
"I'm not a stranger to her," I said quietly.
She folded her arms. "Then you should already know where she is."
I reached into my coat, pulled out my wallet. "I'll pay for the information. Just tell me where she works. Please."
Mia's expression darkened. "Seriously? You think I'd sell my friend off to you for cash?"
"Nooo… that's not what I meant… I'm just desperate please "
She gave me a suspicious look.
"Mia, I'm not—"
"I said no." Her voice rose. "She's been through enough. You don't get to swoop in like some.. some stalker waving money and demanding access to her life."
I inhaled slowly. Held it. Let it out.
Then said quietly, "My son's life depended on seeing her."
That made her falter.
"You remember Liam. He hasn't slept not eaten in two days. He just wants his mother." My voice cracked. "And now the only person he believes is his mother is your friend. She didn't mean to, I know that. But seeing her… it lit something in him. Something I can't put out."
Mia stared at me.
"He's burning with fever as we speak" I whispered. "He's lost. And I promised him I'd bring her back."
Silence.
Then Mia glanced around the store. When she looked back, her voice was lower.
"She works nights at a place called The Velvet Ember. It's a bar. Down on 18th and Maddox."
I stepped back. "Thank you."
She pointed a finger. "Don't do anything stupid."
"I won't."
And then I left.
The drive to The Velvet Ember was a blur. Neon signs. Honking cars. Everything smeared together.
I was running on panic and instinct now.
I found the club and parked like I didn't care if I ever saw the car again.
The bouncer glanced at me, then stepped aside… something in my face must've told him not to stop me.
Inside, music pounded like a second heartbeat. The crowd pulsed with movement.. sweaty, spinning, drunk. The scent of perfume, beer, and tension saturated the air.
But then I saw her.
Almost instantly.
Dressed in a Black dress. Apron tied neatly around her waist. A tray clutched in both hands.
She was standing with her tray in the midst of five men sitting on one table
All of them are crowding her. Laughing. Blocking her way. One leaned in too close. Another tried to brush her waist.
I could see her shaking with fear.
The tray trembled slightly.
And something in my chest pulled so tight it hurt.
"What the fuck."