Chapter 3 #2
Maverick stood near the entrance with his arms folded loosely across his chest, while Elias remained seated comfortably on one of the leather sofas, a crystal whiskey glass resting between his fingers. Beside him, Lucius watched her in thoughtful silence, his expression as composed as ever.
Then...
Her eyes found Xavier.
He stood only a few feet away near the floor-to-ceiling windows, one hand tucked casually into the pocket of his tailored trousers, his immaculate black suit untouched. There wasn't a single scratch on him, no sign that he'd been involved in any accident.
Elise stopped where she was.
She blinked once, then again, her eyes moving slowly over him as though making certain she wasn't imagining it.
The frantic worry that had consumed her during the drive over was suddenly replaced with bewilderment, and for several long moments she simply stood there, unable to make sense of what she was seeing.
An almost unsettling silence settled over the room.
Before anyone could speak, the door behind her opened once more.
Cassian strolled back inside with the easy confidence that never seemed to leave him, one hand slipping into the pocket of his tailored slacks as he pushed the heavy wooden door shut behind him.
His gaze swept leisurely around the room before landing on Xavier, and a slow, thoroughly entertained smile curved across his lips.
"Well..." he drawled, breaking the silence. "You all heard her, didn't you?"
He tipped his chin toward Elise before looking back at Xavier.
"If you'd killed someone tonight, she really would've taken the blame for you."
Elias lowered the whiskey glass in his hand onto the marble table, his gaze drifting from Elise to Xavier without saying a word. Even Lucius, who was rarely surprised by anything, regarded Elise with quiet contemplation, his usually unreadable expression betraying the faintest hint of disbelief.
Leaning against the wall, Maverick folded his arms across his chest, satisfaction evident in the slight lift of one corner of his mouth.
"I told you," he said evenly, his eyes never leaving Xavier. "She’s head over heels in love with you."
This time...
No one laughed.
The joke had stopped being funny the moment Elise entered the room.
Across the room, Xavier remained perfectly still.
His expression revealed nothing, but the muscle along his jaw tightened almost imperceptibly as his dark gaze settled on Elise once more. He had expected fear. Perhaps tears. Maybe anger over being tricked.
He hadn't expected unwavering loyalty.
She hadn't even spared a thought for the consequences of taking the blame for a murder before offering to sacrifice herself in his place.
The realization sat heavily in his chest, stirring an unfamiliar irritation he couldn't quite explain.
It was reckless.
Completely irrational.
And yet, for reasons he refused to examine too closely, it unsettled him far more than it should have.
His gaze lingered on Elise for a brief moment before shifting away, his jaw tightening almost imperceptibly. There wasn't the slightest hint of relief on his face, only a displeasure that seemed directed at everyone in the room.
Elise, however, hadn't yet pieced everything together.
Her eyes moved quietly between the men, searching their faces before finally settling on Xavier again.
Before she could ask a question, Cassian stepped forward.
One hand slipped casually into the pocket of his trousers while the other adjusted the cuff of his tailored jacket. The faint smile on his face carried the effortless confidence that rarely left him, though there was a trace of apology beneath it.
"Sorry Elise. It was a joke."
Understanding slowly dawned on Elise.
She stood there for a moment before finally letting out the breath she'd been unconsciously holding since the phone call. The tightness in her shoulders eased, and the panic that had clouded her eyes gradually disappeared, replaced by quiet relief.
For several long seconds, she said nothing. She had truly believed Xavier had hurt someone. She had truly believed he might lose everything.
Cassian watched the realization settle across her face before the smile on his own gradually faded.
"I'll admit..." he said evenly, "...we may have taken the joke a little further than intended."
Elias let out a quiet chuckle, swirling the whiskey in his glass.
"I told you she'd come."
"You said she'd hesitate," Maverick corrected lazily, leaning one shoulder against the wall. A satisfied smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as his eyes shifted toward Xavier. "She didn't even stop to think."
Elise lowered her eyes, smoothing an invisible crease from the sleeve of her robe before looking back at them.
The anger they might have expected never came.
Only disappointment lingered in her eyes.
"You frightened me." Her voice remained as gentle as ever, but the sincerity behind those three words carried far more weight than if she had raised her voice. "I really thought something had happened."
For the past half an hour, she'd believed Xavier's entire life was about to fall apart, and only now did she realize how much fear she had been carrying.
A quiet breath escaped her lips as the pressure in her chest finally began to ease, replaced by overwhelming gratitude that none of it had been real.
She had lost too many people already.
Her birth parents had abandoned her before she was old enough to remember their faces, leaving her on the side of a road as though her existence had never mattered.
Even after Kevin and Grace had given her a family and a place she could finally call home, that fear had never truly disappeared.
Somewhere deep inside her, there was still a frightened little girl who believed people always left in the end.
That was why, when she had heard Xavier was in trouble, she hadn't stopped to think.
He was the man her parents had entrusted to her. The man they hoped she would spend the rest of her life with. Whatever happened between them in the future, she couldn't bear the thought of watching another person disappear from her life.
Her gaze lifted almost instinctively to Xavier.
He was already looking at her.
Their eyes met across the room. Those familiar black eyes she'd spent countless nights looking into held hers without a flicker of emotion.
His long black hair brushed his shoulders, framing the aristocratic face she'd memorized long ago—high cheekbones, elegantly arched brows, sharp, refined features, and the thin scar through his right eyebrow that somehow only made him more devastatingly handsome.
Every inch of him remained unnervingly composed, giving away nothing.
He held her gaze for a long, silent moment before turning to the men standing nearby.
His eyes swept over them one by one. The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
"I've always known the four of you were reckless," he said coolly, his voice carrying the effortless authority that could silence an entire boardroom. "I didn't realize you'd reached the point of entertaining yourselves like schoolboys."
Maverick merely arched an eyebrow, refusing to look the least bit intimidated.
Xavier's icy gaze settled on him.
"You've got some nerve putting your hands on my phone and calling my people."
Maverick let out a quiet chuckle. "I'll buy you another phone."
Xavier took one slow step forward, his gaze never leaving Maverick's.
"I don't want a new fucking phone. I want you to remember that I'm going to get you back for this."
Maverick didn't look the least bit concerned.
If anything, the threat only seemed to amuse him. A slow, unhurried grin spread across his face as he gave Xavier an indifferent shrug, as though the promise of retaliation was nothing more than another challenge between old friends.
"I'll be waiting," he replied smoothly.
Anyone else standing in front of Xavier Chen would have recognized the danger immediately and chosen their next words carefully, but Maverick had known him for too many years to be intimidated by a look that had sent entire boardrooms into silence.
The confidence in Maverick’s voice only deepened the crease between Xavier's brows.
He held Maverick's gaze for another second before giving a quiet scoff and looking away, clearly deciding the conversation wasn't worth another moment of his time.
Without another word, he turned and strode straight toward Elise. Before she could even react, his hand closed firmly around hers, his warm fingers wrapping around her much smaller hand.
"Xavier..."
He didn't so much as glance at her.
"We're leaving."
His deep voice carried effortlessly across the private room. Tightening his hold on her hand, he turned on his heel and headed for the door, pulling Elise along behind him.
She hurried after him, nearly losing her footing as she struggled to match his pace in her heels. The heavy door swung open, and the next second it slammed shut behind them with a loud bang that echoed through the dim corridor outside.
The muffled bass from the nightclub pulsed through the walls, vibrating beneath their feet as Xavier continued walking without slowing. His shoulders were rigid beneath his tailored jacket, every line of his back radiating restrained anger.
"Xavier..." Elise called softly, quickening her pace as she tried to keep up. "Please slow down..."
He acted as though he hadn't heard her.
His grip only tightened.
They hadn't gone far before he stopped so suddenly that she almost walked straight into him.
In one swift movement, he turned, his hand still holding hers as he pulled her toward him. Elise let out a startled gasp as her back collided with the cold wall behind her, the marble sending an icy shiver through her body.
Before she could steady herself, Xavier stepped in, closing the distance until barely a breath separated them. One hand remained firmly around her arm while his other lifted and came down hard against the wall beside her head.
The sharp crack echoed through the corridor.