Chapter 7
Xavier
By Tuesday, I had successfully evaded six calls from my mother. I sigh when I see my phone vibrate on my desk for the second time today. I don’t have to look at the screen to know it's my mother calling again. Picking it up, I take a deep breath to prepare myself for the onslaught before answering.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Xavier. Oh my goodness, is everything ok? Why haven't you been answering my phone calls, honey? I have been so worried. Dr. Edgmont called to tell me you missed your therapy meeting again. Please tell me you plan on going today. You can’t miss therapy. You remember what happened last time don’t you?”
I grunt in response as she continues.
“I’m sorry Xavier, I know it’s a lot with everything you have gone through. I just…I just worry for you. I don’t want anything to happen to you. Why don’t we make a plan for you to come to dinner sometime soon with your father and me?”
“Yeah sure, I’ll check my schedule. Listen, I have another call from a client coming in. I gotta take this. I’ll get back to you later, okay? I love you mom.”
“Oh…ok…I love you too,” she says as I quickly hang up.
Leaning back in my chair I rub my hands down my face and groan out loud. I love my mom, but sometimes she can be a bit much. If we are being honest here, the last thing I want to do is go to dinner with my father. I haven’t spoken to him since the last holiday at my childhood home and I don’t intend to call anytime soon. It’s not like he’s an asshole or anything like that, he’s just never really been the picturesque father everyone raves about. I don’t remember him ever hugging me or telling me he loved me or anything when I was a child. He was just the man who went to work, came home for dinner, and left again to do it all over the next day. He would take my mom on dates or trips and there was always a healthy supply of nannies to watch me. That’s where my original love for watching people in sexual acts all started.
I think back, remembering the first time I got a glimpse of a performance I had no business watching. I couldn't have been more than twelve. My parents had gone out for the night and I was coming down the stairs for a glass of water when I heard the giggling followed by a male groan. I remember peaking around the corner to see my nanny on her knees for some man I had never met before. At first, I was confused, but it didn't take long for me to realize exactly what was happening. From that night on, it became a common occurrence for me to sneak down the stairs and watch the vulgar sexual acts between my nanny and whatever man she deemed worthy any time my parents went out.
Little did I know that many years later, that same nanny would be on her knees for me while simultaneously stealing what innocence I had left. I never told my parents what happened with her but I do remember one day she was just gone and replaced with a much older and much less attractive woman.
The knock on my office door pulls me back from my memories.
“Come in,” I say, silently hoping whoever it is will make the conversation quick so I can continue wallowing in my sorrows.
Lady luck is not on my side. In waltzes Kaz, looking like she’s on a mission.
“You can’t just fire your intern without running it by HR, Xavier!” She says while throwing her hands up in the air. She then proceeds to walk back and forth in my office while berating me for making her job harder than it already is. She snaps her fingers in my face when I zone out.
“Hello! Earth to Xavier! What is going on with you? You’re usually the easy one to deal with. Is this about Corrine?”
I narrow my eyes at Kaz. “Why does everyone keep bringing Riley’s sister into this? I would really appreciate it if you would stop bringing her name up in every conversation.” At this point, I can feel my pulse speeding up, but I continue anyway.
“Or better yet, Kaz,” I spit out, “next time you want to have a groping fest with one of your girlfriends on a dance floor, why don’t you go to a fucking skanky strip club or something?!” I’m practically screaming and I look down to find I’ve stood up from my chair and my fingers are white from gripping the edge of my desk.
“Why don’t you head back up to your office and I’ll bring the proper documents by in a bit Kaz?” comes Jamison’s voice from the hall.
Both Kaz and I snap our heads in that direction to find him leaning against the doorway. Kaz goes to slide past him when he grabs her arm gently, asking if she’s ok.
“Don’t act like you care now,” she says to him before glancing once more in my direction and walking away.
Jamison walks in, fully closes the door behind him, and leans back against it.
“We have a problem,” he states.
“No fucking shit,” I reply.
He grins before pulling a pocket knife out of his very expensive suit pocket and proceeds to clean underneath his nails with it. He looks like a fucking psychopath when he smiles. Probably because it rarely happens. Jonathan is usually the joker. Jamison is all business normally. He must be having an off day. Why else would he look so unhinged?
“What’s the issue?” I ask, sitting back down in my chair.
“I finally got a ping on Sasha’s phone.”
My eyes scrunch up while I recall the conversation with the guys and them telling me about all the shit that had happened that I still could not remember. Apparently, Sasha, Sebastian’s assistant, was somehow fucking Nate, who was Riley’s husband. Nate also worked for Lockhart, whom we have been trying to get dirt on for our client Frederick Degerson.
Degerson had an investment go wrong with Lockhart and we have been trying to build a case against him for quite some time. Bolt Corp also needs to tread carefully in this situation, seeing how Degerson plays a large part in the Mafia world and happens to have a few ties with Andre’s dad. On the other hand, Lockhart deals in the underground where Andre’s younger brother and two cousins are also involved. It's definitely a big fucking mess.
“Why is that a problem?” I ask. “We have been looking for her this whole time, hoping to get some answers from her about Lockhart. Right? This means we can finally go find her and ask some much-needed questions.”
“Her phone location is pinging at The Cellar,” he replies with zero emotion.
“Fuck,” I say out loud.
“Fuck indeed,” he says.
“Do Andre or your brother know yet?” I ask.
He sighs before slipping the knife back into his pocket. “No, I called a meeting today at two, I just happened to be near your office and heard the commotion. I figured I would tell you while I was here. I have a few things to do beforehand but I'll see you later.”
He goes to walk out the door before stopping suddenly.
“Oh, and Xavier?” he says without looking back at me. “Don’t ever yell at Kaz like that again.”
He doesn't give me a chance to reply before leaving and shutting the door behind him. I pull out my medication, hoping to cut the edge off my mood a bit, when I realize the bottle is empty.
Fuck. Guess I’ll be calling the doctor back after all.