Chapter 34 #2
Reluctantly, I showed up at the door wearing the same revealing top I’d worn for Julian, much to my father’s disapproval and to Xavier’s great pleasure.
"Xavier dropped by today, and we're going for lunch. Join us,” my father commanded after a quick glance at me before returning to his paperwork.
"No, thank you. I have a lot of work. I was already out for the entire morning."
Xavier settled into his chair and turned toward me, the smile on his face sending a trill of repulsion down my back. His hand was still bandaged. Good.
"That's okay. You're my daughter, you can be late on a few deadlines." My father still shuffled files in front of him, not paying me any attention.
"Who’s that?" Xavier sat up suddenly and leaned across the desk, intently staring at a photo in my father’s hands.
I twisted my head to the paperwork on my father’s desk, wondering why, of all people, Xavier would be interested.
"Oh, don't worry about it. Just subjects of an intense investigation," my father responded, but it was too late—Xavier had already seen the contents.
"I think I know who that is. May I? Look at just one of the photos?" Xavier asked so politely, as if he was trained to be a royal instead of the filthy pig that he actually was.
And that’s when I recognized the file number. The Nightcrawlers.
"No.” I stepped inside the room and toward the desk, panic flowing through me. “That's highly confidential." I reached for the folder, but my father snapped it right out of my grasp, serving me a glare that told me I should absolutely shut the fuck up.
"You do?” he addressed Xavier. “Who do you recognize?" My father opened the file once more, all of it moving in slow motion. The photos were displayed in front of Xavier, his smile widening and the danger growing.
Xavier paused, throwing me a short glance, savoring the moment. “This guy…” He pointed to a photo of Alex that was on the screen yesterday. “I’ve met a few times. He owns a used car dealership. Somewhere outside Miami, I don’t know exactly.”
My father placed more photos in front of him while I stood there, like a lamppost, watching as my little secret was about to be spilled into the open. Xavier bypassed a photo of Andrei, but then picked up a photo of Olga, melting into a satisfied smile and throwing me a knowing glance.
"But this woman...” he drawled, leaning further back on the chair. “She looks familiar...like I've seen her somewhere." Oh, what a fucking actor, putting on a show for my sake—taunting me.
I waited quietly. Waited for him to decide my fate right then and there, but as if uninterested, he sighed and tossed the photo back on the table.
“Nope. I'm wrong. I've never seen her. Sorry."
For a split second, hope sprouted inside me that all wasn’t lost, but Xavier crushed it just as fast when he raised his eyes to me. He knew. He put it all together.
There was nothing else to wait for. I stumbled out of my father’s office, shuffling to my own, overwhelmed with the realization that my father would soon know about Alex and me.
Fucking Xavier, may he burn in hell!
"Jade. Let’s go. Let’s go for lunch." My father showed up at the door of my office, but before I could refuse again, Xavier piped up from behind him.
"It's okay, Seb.” Seb! He had started calling my father Seb! “Jade needs some time. I'm not offended."
What a conniving little bitch.
With an unhappy scowl on his face, my father headed for the elevators, only to be replaced by Xavier in front of me. "I'll just have a quick word," Xavier assured my departing father, taking a large step inside the room.
"So that's who your new little boyfriend is. Alex? The used car salesman?” Xavier turned to me once he made sure my father was out of earshot.
“It's a pity, Jade, you usually have to upgrade partners, not downgrade.
Although I guess it's hard to upgrade from me.
" The level of delusion and self-grandeur in which Xavier lived was astounding.
"I didn't know that this is the loser you and Gianna are hung up on. Why’s he under investigation?
Did he promise a huge discount and not deliver?
" Xavier snickered, and mild relief washed over me.
Of course, he had no idea who Alex truly was.
"I have no fucking clue what you're talking about. Leave me and my father alone. What do you want? Why are you here?" I spat back, ready to physically attack him, but Xavier stepped closer.
It was a metamorphosis—there was no more fear in his eyes.
Vova wasn’t around, and Xavier showed his true colors again.
He reached for my hair, taking a handful and swiping it over my shoulder to my chest. The smell of his cologne, the cold burn of his ring, the look in his eyes…
ignited all the memories inside me. The past was resurrected once more, colorful and real.
"I want you, Jade,” he rasped, turning my blood cold. "Come back to me...and I won't say a word to your dad. It’ll be our little secret." He nodded, trailing his gaze from my lips to my breasts and back. Slow, disgusting, like he was enjoying the show.
What a delusional clown.
I gulped, knowing exactly what he needed to hear. "I will never come back to you."
With that bold statement, I sentenced myself and Alex to the truth. Xavier would tell my dad how he found me, and that would be it—my father would know all the details of my disappearance.
He’d probably figure out that the kidnapping was real. Maybe the video too. But he would also know that I was picking Alex over him. And that would hurt him.
And I couldn’t wait.
"Suit yourself, mon amour." Xavier retreated with a small smile, leaving me in the middle of my office, furiously trying to come to terms with what I’d just done.
Without missing a beat, I grabbed my purse off my desk and ran straight home to Alex.