Chapter 46

I sigh as I check my phone for the hundredth time today, only to still find no new text messages waiting for me. Xavier and I have begun to text each other throughout the day in the last couple of weeks, and the effort he’s been putting into our marriage has far exceeded my expectations. He now joins me for lunch with my grandma every week, and he even helped me out with a family incident involving Raya, no questions asked. Things have just been perfect, except, perhaps, for that one time when I found out the hard way that my brothers are all traitors.

I’d caught Xavier sneaking out of the house one night, and he’d been acting so incredibly suspicious that I thought he might’ve been cheating on me, so I followed him instead of hanging out with my sisters-in-law, like I’d planned to, only to find out he’d been going to poker night with my brothers for longer than I could’ve imagined. They all tried to deny he was there, only for all their lies to unravel when I walked into Lex’s house. I’ve forgiven my husband for secretly gathering intel on me throughout the years, but I’m definitely not going to make it easy for my brothers to earn my forgiveness. I’m going to milk that forever and make them suffer.

I sigh as I put my phone down, only to pick it back up straight away. Xavier has become someone I’ve come to rely and depend on, to the point where him not replying to his text messages for a few hours completely unsettles me.

I know he had a meeting today that required him to take his jet early in the morning, but he told me he’d be back in time for tonight’s charity fundraiser, and I can’t help but worry. I hesitate before ringing my Head of Security, and a dear friend of mine.

“Hi, sweetheart,” he says, picking up on the first ring. “Tell me. What can I do for you?”

I smile involuntarily. “Hi, Silas,” I reply, a little nervous. Xavier has his own robust security team, ran by Elijah, and I know that they’re on par with Silas, but it’s worth a try. It’s better than calling my brother-in-law with a ridiculous request. “I was just wondering… would you be able to tell me where my husband is?”

He laughs, and I can’t help but blush. “I can find out for you. Xavier recently consented to sharing some of his data with me, for your comfort, so it shouldn’t take me long to find out.”

I raise a brow. He did? The Kingstons are notoriously private, and now that I’ve married into the family, I understand why. Their security is far tighter than what I’m used to, and though Xavier has tried his best to ensure I don’t notice it, it’s hard to miss the cars that tail me everywhere I go, and the bodyguards that desperately try to blend in but fail miserably by virtue of their size.

“His jet is en route,” Silas tells me. “Should be another hour or so before he lands.”

I sigh as I thank Silas before ending the call, my eyes on my reflection in the mirror. I’m wearing a formfitting cream dress that I really wanted Xavier to see, and I paired it with one of the diamond Laurier necklaces he gave me when he stole mine. If he isn’t landing until an hour from now, he might be too tired to attend at all.

I’m a lot more crestfallen than I’d like to admit as I head to the fundraiser by myself thirty minutes later. I only attend a handful of them a year, and this is the first one I’d genuinely been looking forward to, because it’s the first one I thought Xavier and I would attend together as a couple.

I bite down on my lip as I walk into the ballroom, my thoughts beginning to take control of me. Did he schedule his meeting the way he did so he wouldn’t have to attend with me? Our marriage is still a secret, after all. It was my decision to keep it to ourselves, but the longer we’re married, the more I’m beginning to regret that choice.

“Sierra?”

I look up and smile when Graham walks toward me, a glass of champagne in his hands. “Graham!”

He wraps his arm around my waist in a quick side hug, and I swipe a glass of champagne off a tray as we stand together. “I’m surprised you’re alone,” he says.

“Xavier had a meeting that couldn’t be postponed,” I tell him, my mood souring all over again.

He nods and smirks. “You don’t hear me complaining. I never get to hang out with you anymore. I’ve missed you, you know?”

“We see each other every other week,” I tell him, laughing. “We literally have a standing meeting.”

His smile wavers, and he nods. “Yeah, but it isn’t the same. We used to hang out together and grab dinner.”

I look away, remembering the way he walked out of my office when he realized Xavier and I were together. He called me the next day and apologized for reacting the way he did, and we never spoke of it again, but I still find it a little awkward to be alone with him.

“The three of us should grab dinner together sometime,” I say carefully. I tried not to notice, but it’s clear he doesn’t see me as just a friend, and I’m not comfortable having dinner with him alone. It doesn’t feel right.

“And risk the wrath of your husband for intruding on even a second of your time together? I know better than to get on Xavier Kingston’s bad side.”

I roll my eyes. “Xavier is just one big teddy bear. It’s hard to get on his bad side — trust me, I’ve tried.”

“You’re just as delusional as he is,” Graham says, laughing. “You could never get on his bad side, because he’s always been on your side. You just never realized it, and those of us who did never understood just how deep his affection for you ran.”

I stare at him wide-eyed, and he chuckles as he takes my champagne glass and puts it away before taking my hand. “Come on,” he says. “Let’s dance. Who knows if I’ll ever get another chance to dance with you.”

I chuckle as I take his hand, only to freeze when I spot my husband walking into the room, a beautiful woman on his arm that I vaguely recognize. Isn’t she an up and coming singer? I stare at him in shock as the brunette lets go of his arm to take his hand, throwing him one of those spoiled expressions as she drags him to the dance floor. He smiles indulgently as he lets her, and fury and heartache battle for dominance as I begin to see red.

Did he think I wouldn’t have come without him? Did he think I wouldn’t have heard if he brought a date to an event I expected to attend with him? I stare at them shell-shocked, my eyes roaming over that tux he’s wearing, before moving to the beautiful brunette in her dazzling black dress. He must’ve changed on the plane, and he never even told me that he’d be able to make it.

His hand wraps around her waist, and I take a step forward. “Excuse me,” I tell Graham, my body thrumming with indignation. He says something that doesn’t quite register, my focus solely on my husband.

I can feel countless eyes on me as the crowd parts, until I’m only a few steps away from Xavier. He looks up, surprise flickering through his eyes when I place my hand on his arm. “Apologies for cutting in,” I tell his date. “I’ve been looking forward to dancing with my husband.”

She smiles sweetly and steps away, seemingly not taking offense at all, nor does she seem surprised at the way I referred to him. Xavier, on the other hand, looks at me with fiery eyes. “Kitten,” he murmurs as he takes me in his arms. “You look a little murderous. I think I like that look on you.”

I glare at him and wrap my arms around his neck, my body pressed flush against his. This isn’t a civil dance — not in the slightest. “Who is she?” I ask, my voice breaking.

He looks at me in confusion, like the idea of him being with her is preposterous, and then he chuckles. “Sierra, that’s Calliope, my brother’s best friend. Hunter is very much in love with her, though he’d never admit it, and I don’t have the least bit of interest in her. I am, however, very interested in your reaction.” My shoulders sag in relief, and he stares at me in wonder, sometime akin to hope sparkling in his eyes. “I thought you wanted to keep me hidden, that you wouldn’t want me to approach you so openly the second I walked in.”

“I don’t,” I tell him, and his expression falls. He puts a little bit of space between us, but I bridge it and thread my hand through his hair. “I don’t want to keep you hidden, Xavier.”

His eyes widen in shock, and I smile as I lean in to kiss him, ignoring the gasps I hear around us. He groans and instantly deepens our kiss, my body melting into his. We’re both breathing hard by the time I pull away, and he looks at me like he’s trying commit this moment to memory. “You’re mine, Xavier Kingston,” I tell him. “And I want the world to know it.”