Xavier (Men of Forbidden Temptation Book 5)

Chapter 21

Growing up,Mom always told me there were two fixes to almost every problem or issue women would encounter in life: pie and chocolate.

Pie ended up being a horrible decision the last time I sought a Mom-approved life fix.

Hopefully, chocolate won’t turn out to be the same.

“In and out, and then we will head home.” Xavier says, finally conceding.

Leaning my head back against the headrest and closing my eyes, I grin.

I love the way Xavier gives in when I want something, like he always wants to make me happy no matter what it is.

I love the way he calls the safe house our home, like he’s trying to make the most of our unfortunate situation.

And I really love the idea of having a house with Xavier, but he’s made it clear I’m too young for him.

Sure, he might fuck me and leave me shaking from so many intense orgasms, but long term, he doesn’t want me.

There won’t be a future for us once this is over.

There won’t be any long, sensual nights.

No more talks about random topics just to keep the boredom at bay.

No more Xavier and Brianna.

Just Xavier.

And just me.

“I think we are being followed.” Xavier’s voice is tense and immediately changes my mood and alerts me to the impending danger.

Fuck. This isn’t good.

Sure, I might have said this could be the end of all of this, but a large part of me doesn’t want it to be over.

Xavier makes a turn pretty fast, making me slide closer to the center console.

When the momentum of the turn stops, I sit up straighter and turn around to look out the rear window. “Which car? The white truck that just turned?”

He sighs and says, “That’s the one.”

I slump back in my seat. “They found us.”

My voice comes out sounding sad, like all the joy and happiness were sapped out. I can’t hide my disheartened mood even if I tried.

If the white truck is following us, then it’s not a coincidence. I don’t believe in coincidences anymore.

Not when everything seems to line up perfectly, or rather disastrously, like my life is a television script just waiting to play out on the big screen.

I stare at Xavier’s profile.

His eyes are laser focused on the road as if he is trying to plan our escape in advance. He runs a hand through his week old stubble and takes a deep breath.

Xavier is a man on a mission, and if our lives weren’t in danger right now, I’d beg him to fuck me because he looks deadly and sexy as hell.

“Fuck, I’m sorry. O am so incredibly sorry for all of this.”

I raise an eyebrow. “What are you sorry for?”

“If I didn’t use my card, we would be safe.”

I’m not going to let him take the blame for this, nor will I let him feel guilty about it, either.

“I’m not sorry it happened. I loved the hotel. Both times. I was depressed and hating life. You literally changed my mood and boosted my spirits by taking me out of the house. If that means they found us, then oh well.”

He glances at me before taking another turn. “I was careless. I put us in this situation.”

I raise my hand to cut him off. “No, you weren’t. You were trying to cheer me up, and yesterday you wanted me to have a great birthday. To be completely honest, yesterday was the best birthday I’ve ever had.”

His eyes widen, but he doesn’t take his eyes off the road. “The best one ever?”

Looking out the window, I say, “Yeah, it was the best one ever.”

I giggle before adding, “Plus, no one has ever fucked me in public so many times or given me that many mind blowing orgasms.”

From the side, it looks like his eyes darken as his mind replays the events of yesterday.

The road head.

Him fucking me on the side of the road.

The lifeguard house.

And even all the places he fucked me in the hotel room.

I shake my head, pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind for now. There are bigger things to focus on right now. Memories of explosive sex can wait.

“We’re skipping the safe house.” Xavier barks out as he takes another turn. He slows down and pulls into the police department parking lot.

The white truck slows down before driving off. Xavier reads off the license plate, as if he’s trying to commit it to memory.

It seems like Xavier got the upper hand for now, but it won’t last. Nothing ever seems to. He’s going to have to make critical decisions, and soon.

He gets back onto the road and heads in the direction we just came from.

“What about our belongings?” It sounds silly to worry about material things, but it’s not like we have a plethora of clothing on us right now.

“We’ll buy new when we get to our new destination.” He doesn’t expand or explain. He keeps his jaw clenched and his gaze locked on the road.

When we get back to the main road, he heads north.

Are we heading back home to Scarlett Island?

No, we can’t be heading home. Xavier said we will buy new clothes when we get to our new destination.

Does he have a secret safe house in Florida, too?

Xavier grabs his phone and calls someone. After a few moments, he puts the phone on speaker.

I recognize Dad’s voice on the other end.

“What’s going on? Is everything alright?” His voice is full of worry. I guess Xavier missing the morning check in and the guys flying down here really got the best of his nerves.

“Yes, we are safe, but I wanted to keep you updated on what’s happening here.”

Xavier glances at me, but his expression isn’t nervous or worried, like mine is.

Dad immediately asks, “What changed? Don’t tell me you went to the airport? I told you I didn’t want you leaving Brianna alone. I hear driving. Where are you going? You weren’t supposed to leave the safe house.”

Xavier gives me a smirk before saying, “No, I didn’t go to the airport. I didn’t have to. The guys found us, but don’t worry, they don’t know where the safe house is.”

“WHAT?” Dad yells through the phone.

“Relax. I lost them and am heading to a new location. I’ll let you know where we are when we get there and I can send a secured message.”

Dad sighs. “Why did you leave the safe house?”

Is Xavier going to tell him the truth?

Will he tell Dad that we are together? Well, together in every sense, except officially dating.

I clamp my hand over my mouth to suppress a giggle. Xavier narrows his eyes at me.

“Because I took Brianna out for her birthday.”

I grin as he conveniently skips the fact that this wasn’t the first time we left the house. He also didn’t say that we left yesterday and stayed out all night and got a hotel room.

Not to mention all the passionate sex we’ve been having. Dad definitely doesn’t need to know any of that.

It takes several moments for Dad to speak again. Maybe he was putting the pieces of the puzzle together and figured out that we have been out all night.

“The house where you are headed, is it safe and secure?”

Xavier gets on the interstate, heading south before glancing my way.

I whisper, “Where are we going?”

Xavier doesn’t answer me, he answers Dad. “It’s one of the most secure places I know. Safer than most military bases, actually.”

“What is your estimated ETA?”

“Two hours.”

Great, two hours in the car with no idea where we are going. I flip through the radio channels until I find a song that I like.

“Land, water, and air?” Dad’s cryptic question leaves me confused.

What does he mean land, water, and air?

Land? Yes, we are driving on land. Yes, the house we are going to is presumably on land.

Water? No, we don’t have water because we had to leave in such a hurry. Are we traveling on water? Not yet, but not knowing where we are going makes it hard to answer my own imaginative questions.

Air? Yes, we are breathing air. No, we are not traveling by air, at least not yet.

Xavier answers without looking at me. “Space force. Next door. Neighboring small, international half an hour.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” I ask loud enough for both Xavier and Dad to hear.

Dad laughs on the other end of the phone call while Xavier barely cracks a smile.

Dad’s voice returns serious. “Got it. Call me when you get there. We will strategize a better plan. I’ll call Hudson and fill him in.”

Xavier ends the call without acknowledging anything Dad just said.

I turn in my seat, wanting to see Xavier’s expression. “What did Dad want to know when he asked you about the land, water, and air? And what did your response mean? Clue me in because I know that was a special secret code.”

Xavier chuckles. “Your dad was asking for landmarks near our destination.”

“Landmarks for land. Okay, I got that. And you said Space Force, so I assume there’s a Space Force base nearby?”

“Patrick Space Force Base is just south of where we are going. There’s also the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum just north of our destination.”

I open the glove box and look for a folded up map, but come up empty.

Xavier continues. “He was asking if our destination is near water, and if there is an airport nearby.”

I try to remember what he said. “For water, you said next door. Does that mean the house is on the beach?”

“It’s not a house, it’s a condo building, and yes, it’s right on Cocoa Beach.”

I gasp and my mood instantly perks up. Sure, we might still be in the same situation, but at least I’m close to water.

“You own a condo on Cocoa Beach?”

He shakes his head. “A buddy of mine does. Don’t worry, it will be safe. He has access to every camera around the place and even set up a few of his own.”

“If you trust him, then so do I. But back to the secret code. What did you say for the question about air?”

“Neighboring small. International half an hour. Meaning nearby there is a small local airport, and the bigger international one is a half hour away.”

I’ve heard of guys having their own language, but to hear it firsthand is mind-boggling. I never would have figured that out on my own.

“Do you want to play a game to help the trip go faster?” Xavier asks, as he glances my way.

I sit up straighter and lean closer to him. “What kind of game?”

“When I was a kid, anytime I was in the school bus heading to school, or in the car traveling, I would look at other drivers and their families and try to picture where they were going and what they did for a living.”

I love that game idea, but can’t picture this rugged, mysterious, grumpy man willingly playing this game.

“That sounds fun.”

As Xavier approaches a car, I start looking over all the tiny details.

“A nice Lexus with a license plate from Virginia, meaning they moved here or are visiting. No stickers or decals.”

I pause as he pulls up alongside the car.

“An older man is driving and eating fries, and an older woman is in the passenger seat eating an ice cream cone. They remind me of my grandparents. Sweet, loving, and kind. They seem happy, so nothing too sad. No one else is in the car. There are no suitcases in the back seat, either.”

Xavier chuckles. “So, what do you think?”

“Definitely traveling, but the question is, where are they headed? Family, grandchildren, a cruise.”

Xavier nods. “I would say they are heading for a cruise port.”

He seems confident, almost too confident.

“Why do you think they are taking a cruise over visiting family?”

“Because there was a lanyard hanging from their rearview mirror with a cruise logo on it, and people usually wear cruise lanyards with their keycard on it while on a cruise.”

I turn around to look, and just as he said, there’s a lanyard hanging from their rear-view mirror.

“I guess you are going to be a lot better at this than I am.”

“Well, I’ve been playing this game longer than you’ve been alive. Plus, attention to detail was a huge part of my job.”

Damn it, there goes the age thing again. Just when I think things are going well, he has to throw in the age difference.

We continue to play the game, even though my heart really isn’t into it anymore.

Finally, we get to the new safe house, or rather, a condo.

Xavier parks in a guest parking spot before getting out and coming around to open my door.

My palms are sweaty, and my heart is racing. I have to rub my hands on my shirt to dry them off.

“Don’t worry.” Xavier whispers in my ear as we take the elevator up to the second floor.

“That’s easy for you to say. You already know this guy. I’m meeting him for the first time and it’s like, hey there are two killers after me and now we are dragging you into this mess.”

“He won’t see it like that. Trust me.”

I do trust him, but this is crazy.

As soon as we exit the elevator, a tall lanky guy with shaggy black hair is waiting at the end of the hallway.

“X, man, what the hell are you doing in my neck of the woods?”

A grin forms on his face. “What woods?”

“Did you finally settle down, old man?”

I let out a groan, and both men turn their gazes on me. Xavier’s jaw ticks as he raises an eyebrow.

The guy gestures for us to come into his condo before saying, “Hey, I’m Jordan.”

“Brianna.” I say before walking through the doorway.

His condo is wide open and light and airy. It’s the complete opposite of what I was expecting.

The furniture it black and white and very modern and there’s a giant television on one wall.

But my gaze doesn’t linger on his furnishings. My gaze immediately goes to the expansive balcony that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.

Wow. This is a million dollar dream view. One that I dream of having one day.

Jordan gives Xavier a slap on his back. “So, if you aren’t settled down yet, then what’s been going on since you retired?”

“You mean since I retired a couple of months ago? That is a long story, but first-” he turns to face me “Jordan, also known as Hacker, is one of the best guys I know for surveillance and intelligence.”

“I’m assuming, based on your nickname, you’re a hacker?”

“Guilty, but that’s only because my strength is up here and not like that.” He gestures to his head before pointing at Xavier.

“Your weird brain helped on all those missions we did together.”

“Yeah, except you guys didn’t appreciate the things I could really do.”

“That’s because you were just a kid, a punk. Now, you’re better, older, and wiser.”

“See if I will help you anymore.”

I let out a laugh as I give him a once over. He’s young, barely older than me. He really knows Xavier, and the two of them seem to get along great.

I interrupt their teasing. “Can I relax on the balcony as you fill him in on what’s going on?”

“Be my guest.” Jordan says before walking into his living room and plopping down on one of his couches.

I open the balcony door and am met with the familiar sea breeze.

Oh, how I’ve missed this.

No matter what happens now, I’ll always have the sea.