Chapter 2 #2
Elias nodded, setting his own glass onto the table with a quiet clink before leaning forward.
"I noticed it too."
His eyes shifted toward Xavier, a grin slowly spreading across his face as another memory came back to him.
"Remember the Henderson acquisition?"
Xavier's expression remained unchanged.
Elias didn't wait for an answer.
"The negotiations were falling apart because of that mistake in the contract. Everyone in that conference room thought the deal was finished."
He gestured animatedly with his hand as he spoke.
"Then Elise walked in."
Cassian frowned slightly, searching his memory, while Lucius gave a small nod.
"She already had the revised documents prepared," Elias continued. "She stepped in without making a scene, took responsibility for the mistake before anyone else could, redirected the entire discussion, and somehow managed to negotiate an even better percentage than we'd originally asked for."
A low whistle escaped Cassian.
"I remember that."
Elias looked back at Xavier, the grin on his face becoming impossible to hide.
"But that wasn't the part that caught my attention."
He leaned back, folding one arm across his chest.
"It was you."
Xavier's eyes narrowed slightly.
"The entire meeting..." Elias said with a quiet laugh, "...you couldn't stop looking at her."
He shook his head in disbelief.
"I've known you for years. I've watched you sit through billion-dollar negotiations without blinking, but that day..." He pointed at Xavier with a knowing smile. "Every time Elise spoke, your eyes followed her around the room."
Cassian looked at Xavier, then back at Elias.
"...Now that you mention it..."
A slow smile appeared on his face as the memory returned.
"You really did."
Lucius nodded once.
"It wasn't just that meeting."
"There were dozens of little things," he added calmly.
"You always knew where she was in a room.
If she disappeared, your attention followed her.
Whenever someone criticized her, you defended her before anyone else had the chance.
And every decision you claimed was 'for the company' somehow ended up benefiting her. "
"Exactly."
Maverick nodded in agreement, making a small gesture with the whiskey glass in his hand before resting it back on the marble table. Leaning comfortably into the sofa, he looked across at Xavier with an amused expression that suggested he'd been waiting for this conversation for a long time.
"The woman looks at you like you'd hung the moon."
His words drew Xavier's eyes to him immediately.
Maverick shrugged, completely unconcerned by the look he received.
"Have you ever actually watched her around you?" he asked. "She'd do just about anything you asked."
He glanced around the room before continuing, trying to jog everyone else's memory.
"I've been to your office more than once. There were times we'd ask for one thing, and before anyone else had even started working on it, Elise would come back with five different proposals and lay them all on your desk."
He laughed quietly to himself, shaking his head.
"She never just did what you asked. She'd already thought three steps ahead."
Cassian nodded, remembering the same thing.
"That's true."
"I've seen it too," Maverick continued. "You'd ask for a report, and she'd already have the report, the backup files, alternative plans, and a list of recommendations waiting for you."
He looked back at Xavier, one brow lifting.
"And every single time she'd ask, 'Which one would you prefer, Mr. Chen?'"
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"I honestly don't think I've ever seen her tell you no for anything."
Elias let out a thoughtful hum, tapping his finger against the side of his glass.
"Now that you mention it..."
He turned toward Xavier.
"She's ridiculously attentive."
Lucius gave a quiet nod.
"It isn't just work," he added calmly. "Even outside the office, she's always watching what Xavier needs before he says anything."
The room fell silent for a moment as each of them replayed countless interactions in their minds.
Maverick broke the silence first.
"I'll be honest," he said, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his knees. "From the outside, it looks like she'd do just about anything for you."
His eyes settled on Xavier's face, studying his reaction.
"So I have to ask..." A slow, curious smile spread across his face. "What exactly did you do?"
Xavier frowned.
Maverick continued before he could answer.
"What did you do that made her so devoted to you?"
He gestured lightly with his hand.
"Because women like that don't come around often."
Elias folded his arms across his chest, a thoughtful look crossing his face as he glanced between Maverick and Xavier.
"He's right." He tilted his head slightly. "She looks at you like you're the center of her world."
Xavier leaned comfortably against the leather sofa, he loosened his grip on the whiskey glass and slowly rotated it between his fingers, watching the liquid swirl around the glass before lifting it for a small sip. When he finally looked up, his expression was as composed as ever.
He shrugged one shoulder as though the answer were obvious.
"You all are overthinking this matter. My parents wanted me to spend time with her, so I did."
He lowered the glass onto the table with a quiet clink and rested one arm along the back of the sofa.
"If she's as devoted as you're all making her out to be..." he said evenly, "...then she probably wants something."
His gaze swept lazily around the room.
"I just don't know what that is yet."
The words were met with complete silence.
Cassian stared at him for several long seconds before letting out a disbelieving laugh. He rubbed a hand over his face, looking toward Elias as if asking whether he'd heard the same thing.
"Did you hear that?"
Elias simply shook his head, already laughing under his breath.
Cassian leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees.
"No one does all of that because they 'want something,' Xavier."
He raised his hand, counting each point off on his fingers as he spoke.
"She took the blame for your mistake during the Henderson negotiations."
"She walked into a room full of executives and saved a deal that was about to collapse."
"She stayed behind fixing documents until the middle of the night because she didn't want your company taking the loss."
His hand dropped back onto his knee.
"And every single time we've seen her, she's been worrying about you instead of herself."
He looked at Xavier in genuine disbelief.
"So explain something to me."
His brows lifted.
"How have you convinced yourself that it's just part of some family arrangement?"
Across from him, Elias nodded in agreement.
"I've been wondering the same thing."
He leaned back into the sofa, absently turning his whiskey glass between his fingers.
"You keep saying you're not dating her, but you've been living under the same roof for a year. She works beside you every day, follows you to business parties, knows exactly what you need before you ask for it, and your family already treats her like she's part of the household."
A slow grin spread across his face.
"So when exactly does this stop being an arrangement and become a relationship?"
Cassian chuckled.
"That's exactly what I was thinking."
Xavier looked from one man to the next, his expression growing increasingly impatient.
"You people are reading too much into it."
"No," Elias replied with a laugh. "You're the one who isn't reading enough into it."
The room filled with quiet amusement, but Maverick remained unusually silent.
He had been sitting back with one ankle resting over the opposite knee, idly rolling his whiskey glass between his palms while listening to the conversation unfold. His eyes never left Xavier, thoughtful enough that Lucius noticed and glanced at him briefly before looking away again.
"I don't think you understand how she looks at you."
Xavier's eyes shifted toward Maverick as he spoke.
"I've seen infatuation. I've seen obsession. I've seen countless women fall for powerful men because of money, influence, or status."
He slowly shook his head.
"What Elise feels doesn't look anything like that."
His fingers tapped lightly against the side of his glass before he placed it on the table.
"The way she watches you..." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "...it's like your happiness matters more to her than her own."
Silence settled over the lounge.
Then, as if the thought had only just occurred to him, Maverick let out a quiet, almost amused breath.
"Honestly..." The corner of his mouth curved upward. "If you committed murder tomorrow..."
He looked Xavier straight in the eye.
"...I think she'd walk into the police station and confess before anyone had the chance to accuse you."
Cassian leaned back against the leather sofa, letting out a quiet laugh as he rubbed the side of his jaw and shook his head, as though he couldn't decide whether Maverick was being serious or simply trying to provoke Xavier.
"I think that's a bit of an exaggeration." His lips curved into an amused grin. "Confessing to murder? That's a little extreme, don't you think?"
The comment drew another round of chuckles.
Elias lifted his whiskey glass to his lips, taking an unhurried sip before lowering it again. He rested one arm across the back of the sofa, his relaxed posture contrasting sharply with the curiosity in his eyes.
"Maybe the murder part is an exaggeration," he admitted with a small laugh. "But everything else?"
He looked toward Xavier.
"I don't know."
His brows lifted thoughtfully.
"She really does seem completely devoted to you."
Lucius didn't join the conversation immediately. Instead, he quietly watched Xavier from across the table, his fingers absentmindedly tracing the rim of his glass as though he were more interested in Xavier's reaction than the joke itself.
Only Xavier looked entirely unmoved.