Chapter 5 EAGLE'S EYES.

AXEL'S POV:

I leaned back in my office chair, rubbing the part of my chest that still ached like a damn knife wound. No one knew the truth I was harboring along with a dozen other secrets: I was dying. Slowly, and it felt as brutal as anything I'd ever inflicted on my enemies. The doctors broke it to me two months ago-an inexplicable hole in my heart, they said. "Six months left, if you're lucky." Nature, or fate, or karma-whatever it was-finally decided to catch up.

It was right after I'd taken care of a bastard and his entire family who'd tried sabotaging one of my shipments. I didn't feel a damn thing as I strangled him, then ordered my men to take out every breathing thing in his house. There's no other way to be clear: you cross me, you die. He knew the stakes when he made his choice. Still, something about him and his family felt... strange.

But there was no time for questions now, especially with the ticking clock in my chest. It's what pushed me to find Sea someone to leave her with once I'm gone-not out of any foolish notion of love or care, but because I need someone who would be so shattered, so controlled, that even after I'm gone, they wouldn't dare step out of line. Avery fit that description perfectly; she'd serve as more than a pawn for my war against the Grayson family. Maybe this wasn't the entire reason I made my decision but part of it.

A gentle knock broke through my thoughts, and I straightened, making sure the mask I wore held steady, hiding every trace of pain. Only my doctor knew, and if he ever let slip a word, he'd lose his tongue. This secret gets out, and everything I've built goes with it. In our world, weakness isn't a conversation-it's a death sentence.

Ryan strolled in, looking as self-assured as ever. "Still don't understand your sudden marriage move, boss. To someone else's wife, no less. You did the whole thing in her absence, and now the word's out. Everyone knows you're married." He settled into the chair across from me, raising an eyebrow.

The only reason his blood didn't end up decorating my walls for questioning me was simple: Ryan was my second-in-command and my closest friend. We've been together since he saved my life-back when a group of kids beat me to a pulp. He'd broken their bones that day, small as he was, then dragged me to Blackwood. For that alone, I'd take a bullet for him, and he'd do the same for me. He was Blackwood's first recruit and would have taken over as Don if I hadn't outpaced him in rank. When the time came, I did what was necessary and took Blackwood down-or so everyone thinks. The truth is going with me to my grave, which feels closer with each passing day.

"Did you find what I asked you to find?" I deflected, keeping my gaze steady.

Ryan sighed but dropped it. "Not yet."

"Then you have no business sitting here. I want every scrap of information on him."

"I've had the best people on this, Axel," he said, his tone cautious. "But they keep coming back with the same answer. The guy's a ghost. No records, no family-nothing. You killed every relative he had."

"No one's a ghost, Ryan. I strangled him with my own hands two months ago. Your 'best people' aren't good enough."

"Axel, they're baffled you went through with it without proper investigation. I told you going that extreme might have been the wrong move. What if it was a mistake?"

I could feel anger flare in my chest. I'm never wrong. I don't kill for no reason. I locked eyes with him. "Ryan, if you value your head, then do your damn job and get me the answers I need."

"I'll involve our Colombian intel," he assured. He looked at me like he wanted to say more, but I cut him off. It was just one man-why the hell was it so hard to dig up dirt on him?

"That's all. I've got work to do," I said sharply.

Ryan gave a nod, his frame towering at six-foot-four. His presence, rugged with sharp features and a chiseled jawline, held a quiet but lethal power that could unnerve most. Beneath his sophisticated veneer-a dark gaze, perfectly styled hair, and a neatly trimmed beard-lay a ruthlessness most couldn't begin to understand. He was deceptive, a predator hiding behind an innocent face, and I trusted him because he knew how to appear weak to strike hard when it mattered most. That was why I often left him to handle operations. People underestimated him, and when they did, he made them regret it.

As he left, I turned to my laptop and connected to the CCTV feed, my gaze settling on my new "guest." Avery had showered and changed into fresh clothes, curled up in a corner, her eyes rimmed red, traces of recent tears. I didn't care. I focused on something else, one insistent curiosity gnawing at the back of my mind-the real reason I'd chosen her. The one I refused to acknowledge, hiding it behind other justifications.

It started with a dream, right after my diagnosis. A strange, peaceful dream, where an angel wrapped her wings around me, and for the first time, I felt calm. I brushed it off as nothing, but then it came back, night after night, the same vision. It was relentless, to the point where I'd begun researching her, only to discover she was real. Since then, she'd been stuck in my mind, her image like a damn brand I couldn't shake. How could I explain that to anyone, let alone myself?

With a sigh, I switched the feed to show Sea's room. She was in the middle of a lesson with her tutor, who would leave soon. I wondered how long it would take Sea to warm up to Avery. She's just like me, that girl-distrusting, quick to shut people out. I'm the only one who can make her smile. She's mine, in blood and in spirit. One day, she might ask about her mother, and as much as I hate lying, she can never know that darkness. I won't let her see me the way the rest of the world does.