Axel halted.
His hand rested on the door handle, his back straight, but he didn't turn yet.
The silence was so intense it felt almost suffocating.
She could feel the weight of his expectation pressing against her chest like a physical force.
Axel was waiting. This man was probably thinking she was about to argue again, ready to throw herself into another round of back-and-forth sparring with him.
Honestly? She thought so, too. Except this time, she surprised him. Hell, she surprised herself.
"I need to borrow your phone," she said softly.
That got him to turn. Slowly. Too slow. His brows arched, faintly suspicious, faintly curious, like she'd just asked him for the nuclear codes.
"Why?"
His voice was smooth, cold, that low rumble she hated for being so annoyingly magnetic.
She forced a small breath out, fumbling for words.
"I need to call Aunt Martha. She's… she's been helping me. She'll panic if I don't tell her about Oliver's condition."
Silence again.
