303 Unknown Number
<i>“</i><i>Axel</i><i>, </i><i>I </i><i>need </i><i>to </i><i>meet </i><i>you</i><i>.</i><i>“</i>
His eyes narrowed instantly.
The shock was not in the message itself but in the fact that an unknown number had reached him at all. Very few people had direct ess to his cell phone.
Usually, everyone who contacts him goes through his secretary rather than reaching out directly.
“How did this unknown number get through?” he murmured.
His instincts red.
Without hesitation, Axel typed out a message to
Collins.
<i>“</i><i>How </i>is an <i>unknown </i><i>number </i><i>able </i><i>to </i><i>contact my </i>phone<i>? </i>Investigate immediately. <i>I </i>am turning off
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<i>my </i><i>phone</i><i>. </i>Call <i>me </i>at my private number.”
He sent the message, then powered the device
down.
The silence that followed felt heavy, charged with something unseen.
Axel slipped the phone back into his pocket, his expression slowly dark and alert.
As the morning began to break, Axel Knight gently rose from the sofa and approached Oliver’s bed.
He lingered for a moment, watching his son’s
chest rise and fall. Only then did he allow himself to rx.
Satisfied, he left the bedroom and gently closed
the door.
Then Axel walks down to the first floor.
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The house was still. Suspended in that rare moment between night and morning.
“Master?”
Axel had just reached the bottom of the staircase when a familiar voice startled him.
Jimmy emerged from the back corridor, already dressed in his work attire, his eyes wide with surprise. “Master, you’re already awake? Do you need anything, sir?”
Axel paused, one hand resting lightly on the railing. He studied Jimmy for a second, as if organizing his thoughts.
“Can you ask Danny to cook something warm and healthy?” he said. “For Oliver and my wife. Oliver might wake up in an hour.”
Jimmy straightened instantly. “Yes, sir. I will take care of it.” He bowed quickly and disappeared toward the kitchen, already muttering about soup
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:
and fresh bread as he went.
Axel exhaled and continued toward his bedroom. Halfway down the hall, he slipped his phone from his pocket, intending to check the time. The screen lit up, and his steps halted.
Several unread messages.
From Collins.
Axel frowned and leaned against the wall, scrolling.
<i>“</i><i>No </i><i>one </i><i>hacked </i>your <i>phone</i><i>. </i><i>It’s </i>clean. <i>But </i><i>I </i>also <i>don’t </i>know why an unsaved <i>number </i><i>could </i><i>reach </i><i>you</i><i>.</i><i>” </i>
<i>“</i><i>Sir</i>, <i>no </i>worries. <i>I’ve </i><i>added </i>additionalyers of <i>protection</i>. <i>I </i><i>guarantee </i><i>no </i><i>one </i><i>can </i><i>text </i><i>you </i><i>without </i>you saving their <i>number</i><i>.</i><i>” </i>
<i>“</i><i>I </i>will reportter on <i>how </i>that person <i>managed </i><i>to </i><i>contact </i>you.”
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Axel pinched his brow and let out a slow breath. He would not me Collins. At least not yet.
Still, the situation unsettled him more than he
cared to admit.
An unknown number.
That alone was strange enough. And the tone of the original message lingered in his mind, persistent and irritating in a way he could not quite define.
Axel typed his reply carefully.
“<i>So </i>who is <i>the </i><i>person </i>who texted <i>me</i><i>, </i><i>and </i><i>what </i><i>does </i>the <i>message </i><i>mean</i><i>?</i>”
He read it once. Then again. Satisfied, he hit
send.
As the message disappeared from the screen, a faint tension settled in his chest. He did not know why, but his instincts whispered that the sender was a woman. There was no logic to it, no
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evidence, only a gut feeling that refused to be
ignored.
That irritated him even more.
Axel stood there for a few seconds longer, staring at the phone as if it might offer answers on its own. It did not. No new messages appeared.
With a quiet scoff at himself, he slipped the phone back into his pocket and entered the bedroom.
The room smelled faintly of fresh flowers, a scent that always warms his heart.
Axel stood just inside the doorway, watching his wife sleep. Evelyny on her side, hair spread across the white pillow like spilled ink, her expression peaceful for once.
He moved closer, careful with every step, as if the floor itself might betray him.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he brushed a stray
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strand of hair from her cheek his thum lingering for half a second long
“Eve,” he murmured barely louder an “why do you look even prettier when you‘ asleep?”
She did not stir. Typical
He chuckled at the thought that if she were awake, she would have merciless teased under
that line.
Axel allowed himself a moment of stillness then slipped under the nket and gently puller Evelyn into his arms.
She shifted instinctively, curling closer her hand resting against his chest.
For a brief moment, Axel thought he might actually sleep.
Then his phone buzzed softly on the bedside
table.
303 Unknown Number
He waited for a few seconds. Evelyn remained asleep, her breathing slow and even.
Carefully, he eased himself out of bed, moving with the precision of a man who had escaped far worse situations than an irritated wife at dawn.
He picked up his phone and crossed to the window, turning his back to the bed as if that might somehow protect him.
Collins.
Axel opened the message.
<i>“Sir</i><i>, </i>her name is <i>Harper Cooper</i>. <i>She </i>is <i>a </i>supermodel. <i>She </i>was <i>once the </i><i>Brand </i>Ambassador for <i>one </i><i>of </i><i>Apex </i>Holdings‘ subsidiarypanies.”
He frowned.
The name settled into his mind with an ufortable familiarity. Harper Cooper. He knew that name. He just could not immediately ce it, and that alone irritated him.
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Before he could respond, the phone vibrated again.
<i>“</i>If I remember <i>correctly</i><i>, </i>you met her on <i>New </i><i>Year’s </i><i>Eve </i>a <i>few </i>years ago, sir.”
Axel closed his eyes.
Then another message appeared.
“<i>I </i><i>will send </i><i>you </i><i>her </i>picture.”
His eyes snapped open.
“No,” Axel hissed under his breath. “Absolutely
not.”
He typed furiously.
“Don’t <i>send </i><i>any </i><i>pictures</i><i>!</i><i>” </i>
He hit send and exhaled, rubbing his face with one hand. Thest thing he needed was a female photo lighting up his screen when Evelyn onlyy ten steps away, perfectly capable of waking up and immediately drawing the worst possible
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conclusions.
His gaze drifted toward the window, but his thoughts were already elsewhere.
New Year’s Eve.
Champagne. Music. A contract dinner disguised as a celebration. Harper Cooper, radiant and unapologetically bold, was assigned to him for appearances, introductions, and expectations that had been made painfully clear.
That night, he was supposed to end the year with Harper Cooper.
He had spent the entire night with Evelyn, and that choice left him without regret. In fact, he was grateful for the night he spent with her.
Axel nced back at the bed, where his wife shifted slightly, murmuring something unintelligible before settling again. A faint smile touched his lips, equal parts affection and
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trouble.
“What does that woman want?” he muttered, tightening his grip on his cell phone.
Sara Lili
<strong>Sara Lili</strong> is a daring romance writer who turns icyndscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of d’s breathtaking cold.