Xavier #2
“Not right now.” He turns, facing me, his shoulder brushing Miles’ chest. “You refused me because you wanted me to find you. Congratulations, you got what you wanted. Now tell me what you’ve found out.”
I take a sip of my drink before answering him, not looking away as the coolness slides down my throat.
“Nothing new since you spoke to Miles last. Casey is nowhere to be seen. We have contacts on the lookout for him, and some of my men are scouring the city as we speak, in his local haunts, so to speak. We’ll find him.
” There aren’t many people in the world that I trust—some infinitely more than others—but the ones that I do won’t disappoint me.
They won’t leave a stone unturned, especially not when it concerns Hunter.
Hunter slides a thumb up the side of his glass, catching condensation. “I received a phone call from an unknown number today. Six traced it to Olivia’s primary school.”
My blood runs cold. “A staff member, perhaps?” They would know Hunter, though how they would know his patterns and the flower deliveries is another question entirely. One I know I won’t like the answer to. “Have you taken one of them home, Hunter?”
“I’m not answering that,” Hunter says flatly. “It’s not anyone—staff or parent—at the school. I believe that it was simply them letting me know that they are aware of my movements and my daughter.”
“You can’t be positive of that. Olivia will have to be transferred to a new school.”
Hunter’s hand flattens on the counter. “Absolutely not.”
“I wasn’t asking, Hunter. Are you really willing to risk her safety like that?” I certainly am not. Not either of them. Until we know who’s behind this, there won’t be any chances taken with either of them.
Hunter’s eyes darken, mouth turning down. “There is no risk,” he says firmly. “She is delivered and picked up by me or those I trust with my life—and hers. Even if that weren’t the case? It’s not up to you. She’s my responsibility, my daughter, and I decide where she goes to school and why.”
I shouldn’t be delighted by his anger or the fierce way that he’s looking at me, but it makes my blood sing, and my senses come alive. “Our daughter.”
His fingers clench on the marble, and then he’s stalking me, lips curved in a scowl.
“My daughter. You’ve never once had any interest in her.
You don’t know her favourite colour, or her favourite food, or the names of her friends.
You don’t get to start acting like she matters now simply because you have a need to be in control and can’t accept that I don’t answer to you. ”
“I gave her to you because it was what you wanted, Hunter.” Children were never in the cards for me. Not then, not now. She exists because of Hunter and my need to give him everything that he wants.
“She’s not a toy!”
“No, she was a gift. You wanted a child, and even after you didn’t want me anymore, it was my desire to fulfil yours.”
“I’ve always—” He cuts off with a curse. “Go to hell, Xavier.”
As if I haven’t been there for a long time now. “Your safety is—”
“None of your business,” Hunter replies tersely.
“And if I want it to be?” It already is, no matter what he thinks. I don’t need his permission to look out for him.
Hunter falters, brows drawing together.
Whatever he might have said is lost to the sound of Miles' phone ringing. The generic tone that every phone comes with.
Miles frowns and puts it on speaker as he answers. “Adam.”
“Hey, sexy thing. Did you know that you have the ultimate sex-phone voice? Does X know how much money he could be making off that?”
My lips twitch. “An avenue I haven’t thought of before.” If I didn’t know him better, and he weren’t one of the men I implicitly trust, I might have been offended at him speaking so freely to Miles and with a flirtatious tone. I’ve shot men for less.
“Hey, boss,” Adam says cheerfully, unperturbed.
“Do you want something?” Miles asks flatly. If he could strangle someone through the phone, I’m certain he’d be doing it now.
“Yeah, found the guy you’re looking for. Well, most of him.”
“Most of him?” Miles’ gaze flicks to me, and I raise an eyebrow. Certainly not the outcome I’d been expecting even if severed body pieces seem to be a running theme thus far.
“He has both hands; I checked. But I think—oh, never mind. Theo found the other half. All pieces accounted for. I assume. He’s dressed, but I could probably check he has his balls and all the other important parts.”
“I doubt he needs them now.” The fact he has all his fingers only further adds mystery to this. It doesn’t answer who the finger belongs to, and for Casey to be in pieces is a brutality I somehow wasn’t expecting. What is going on? “Send Miles the address; we’re on our way.”
“You got it.” He clicks off as quickly as he started.
“I’m going,” Hunter says darkly. “Don’t even think of leaving me behind.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He’s made his stance perfectly clear, and I can only deny him so many times. Besides, it’s easier to keep him safe when he’s close by.