Chapter 39

I pace back and forth in the living room before pressing dial, my heart racing wildly. Is this a bad idea? Maybe I should wait for Xavier to get home from work and ask him instead.

“Hello?”

“Hi! This is Sierra. Your, um, your sister-in-law?”

Valeria chuckles softly. “Hi Sierra,” she says, sounding amused. “It’s so good to hear from you, and thank you for not murdering my brother in the months since you’ve been married.”

It’s my turn to laugh, and my cheeks flush. “Well, don’t thank me just yet,” I mutter, unable to help myself. My words earn me a giggle from Valeria, and I relax, pleased she doesn’t seem to dislike me after the coldness I treated her with when she tried to speak to me before I got married.

“I was… well, I’m trying to choose a birthday gift for your mom, and I just wanted to ask you if you knew what I should buy her. Is there anything she likes?”

“Hmm,” she ponders. “There is one thing she’s really been wanting from you specifically.”

I tense involuntarily. “Oh?” I inquire nervously.

“She wants cookies! Ever since she found out about your obsession with cookies a few years ago, she’s been making remarks about eating a cookie that meets your standards.”

Years ago? How could that be possible? “Do you think she’d like it if I baked her some cookies myself? It isn’t much of a present, but⁠—”

“Yes!” Valeria says instantly. “Nothing would make her happier!”

I grin to myself, feeling oddly shy. “Okay, I’ll do my best. If I start now, I should be able to make enough for everyone.”

“Sierra?” Valeria says hesitantly.

“Yes?”

“Would it be okay if I came over and helped you?”

I blink in surprise, my heart warming. “Of course,” I tell her, my voice soft. “I’d love that.”

“Alright, I’ll be there in ten minutes or so.”

I nod dazedly as she ends the call and walk into the kitchen to check that Xavier actually has everything I need. I frown in surprise when I find all my favorite appliances, something dark and ugly unfurling deep in my chest. Xavier doesn’t like anything that’s sweet, so there’s no way he bakes, and Valeria has her own home on the Kingston compound, so why would he have all of this? It hadn’t occurred to me that he would’ve dated women in the past, and he’d have brought some of those women here. I’d been so fixated on Valeria that I completely dismissed all the other rumors about him and some of his brand ambassadors and business partners.

I’m snapped out of my thoughts when one of Xavier’s security guards leads Valeria into the kitchen. “Hi!” she says, her smile dropping as her gaze roams over my face. “What’s wrong?”

I shake my head and force a smile. “Oh, no, nothing at all!” I say as I begin to pull out appliances and ingredients. He’s got high grade vanilla extract, but it’s completely sealed and brand new. It doesn’t make sense.

“Xavier lamented so much about which things to buy for you,” Valeria tells me, a knowing look in her eyes. “He forced me to accompany him to ten different stores to make sure you wouldn’t want for anything, and his staff have all been instructed to regularly replace anything you might need.”

I stare at her wide-eyed and blush fiercely as I tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Am I that obvious?”

She hoists herself up on the kitchen counter and shakes her head. “No, you’re just very similar to Xavier. Possessive. Crazy. Hopelessly in love.”

“I’m not—” I almost deny being in love with Xavier but then think better of it. We’re supposed to act like a couple in front of his family, and I really should be trying to make a good impression on my sister-in-law.

“Tell me how I can help,” Valeria says, a sweet smile on her face.

I nod and gather our ingredients. “My grandmother taught me this recipe,” I explain. “But somehow, my cookies never taste quite as good as hers. I haven’t figured out what the secret ingredient is, but my cookies come pretty close. We’ll have to work in batches to make enough for everyone.”

Valeria nods, and we work together quietly for a while. I normally don’t like having people in the kitchen with me, but she never gets in the way and somehow seems to anticipate what I might need before I even ask for it.

“Valeria?” I say, my voice carrying a hint of uncertainty. “I wanted to apologize for treating you so coldly that day in the restroom.”

She grins. “No need to apologize. If anything, it’s exactly what I was hoping to see. Sierra Windsor, filled with jealousy and throwing the words my fiancé around like they truly meant something to you.”

I look down, unable to refute her words. I really was jealous, and I’d felt so possessive, when I really had no right to feel that way. I still don’t.

“I also need to apologize, for taking so long to tell you that I’m Xavier’s sister.”

“I’m sure you had your reasons,” I tell her quietly as I knead the dough.

“I do, and I think it’s important you understand them,” she says, her voice trembling. “If I tell you my story, will you listen?”

I look into her eyes, noting how they’re a perfect replica of Xavier’s. How did I miss that? “Of course.”

“Not even my brothers know as much as I’m about to tell you, but I think it’s important for you to know, because it’ll explain why Xavier is the way he is, why he struggles to express himself and holds back his emotions, until they boil over. Somehow, you’re the only person that’s ever been able to draw his old self out, but around everyone else, he’s a shell of the person he used to be.”

I watch her as she prepares an oven tray for me. “Most people either don’t know or pretend to have forgotten, but my family founded this town.”

I nod and look away, having heard the stories. I tried looking it up online, but there is no information about the Kingstons dating back more than eight years ago. They’ve always been here, but it’s like they didn’t truly exist until about a decade ago. It bothered me when Dion first brought Xavier home, but I dismissed my concerns as I got to know Xavier.

“It wasn’t uncommon for my brothers to come home with bruises and blood on their clothes when they were far too young to even be involved in any of it, but that was just our life. We had a reputation to uphold and a town to protect, so when our rule was questioned, it was up to my brothers and my father to rectify that. I didn’t want to be involved in any of it, so when I was twenty, I ran away from home.”

I stare at her wide-eyed, my heart bleeding for her. I can’t even imagine growing up with that much violence and fear. “I would have too,” I murmur.

She throws me a shaky smile. “Right?” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and draws a shaky breath. “Xavier was the last person I spoke to before I left, and we had a recurring argument about loyalty to our family versus having the honorable kind of future we envisioned. We both said things we didn’t mean, as we usually did, but this time, we didn’t get the opportunity to apologize and make up.” She pushes the tray aside and stares at it for a few moments. “I left, and within an hour, I was captured by a human trafficking organization my brothers had tried to chase out of our territory and take down. They kept me captive for five years, and for five years, I tried my best to dismantle them from the inside out — and I did.”

She takes the dough from me and begins to form little balls for the next batch of cookies, like we’re just having a normal conversation, and I try my best not to stare at her, not to let my emotions show. My heart aches at the mere thought of everything she’s been through, and all of a sudden, I understand exactly why Xavier has always been so protective of her.

“My disappearance made my family go legit in an attempt to honor my wishes. They thought I was dead, but on the off chance I’d truly just run off, they’d hoped that I’d come home if they became the kind of family I’d wanted. They had no idea where I was, but they never stopped looking and came close to finding me a few times. Each time they did, I was moved to a new location and punished for all the damage my brothers did to the organization.”

“I don’t know what to say,” I tell her honestly.

She shakes her head. “You don’t need to say anything at all,” she replies. “I just wanted you to know that because of this, my family and I agreed that I’d stay hidden. I’ve done things I’m not proud of in my attempts to escape, and until I’ve taken care of every last loose end, I’d like to keep my identity hidden from anyone who might come after me. I made a lot of enemies in the time I was there, and not all of them knew my name, since it was a well kept secret.” She smiles at me shakily, and I try my best not to imagine how they must’ve kept her from telling people who she was. “That’s why my brothers let me come to some parties where the guest list is highly exclusive and security is very tight, but they won’t let me be photographed. They want me to live and be out in society, but only in places they can control, where they believe they can keep me safe.”

She smiles shakily. “That’s why I didn’t tell you who I was when I walked in here that day, when I brought Xavier pasta. It’s also why Xavier seems to have two personas: the joker, and the person underneath it. He’d never admit it, but he’s scared he’ll say the wrong thing again, and someone else will get hurt. No matter what I do or say, he can’t accept that what happened wasn’t his fault.”

She grabs my hand and squeezes tightly. “So if it ever seems like he doesn’t care, or he isn’t saying the words you need to hear, please be patient with him. He needs you more than you could possibly know. You’re the only person he’s let in since then, the only one that can bring out the man we all thought we lost.”