Page 3 of Midnight Legacy

He moved his haunted and pained gaze from the window to stare at me. “They have plenty of properties, they only use that one for social gatherings. Other than that, they have separate lives.”

I didn’t comment. In the few short months I knew Xavier, I discovered this elite world in which power was everything and love meant nothing. He defied his father’s wishes when he married me.

Xavier glanced at me. “Not everyone marries for love, baby. We live on a chessboard where one wrong move can result in death.”

A small smile tilted my lips up. “Or a pawn becoming queen.”

He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my wrist as he manoeuvred us through traffic.

“Dad wants me to marry Nicole,” Ash said randomly.

“Dylan’s daughter?” Jordan asked, disbelief in his tone.

“Yeah, apparently she’s quite the catch,” Ash responded dryly.

Jordan barked out a dark laugh. “No offence, but if you caught her, you’d throw her back.”

“Jay!” I snapped. “Every woman is beautiful in her own way.”

He chuckled. “Not true, little woman. Reserve your judgement until you meet her.”

My female pride bristled at the thought of them dismissing the woman so dramatically. Just because they were studs in designer suits didn’t mean everyone else was inferior. “I’m sure she’s perfectly lovely.”

Xavier laughed and shook his head, placing another kiss at my wrist. “Baby, I know you like to see the good in everyone, but some people are so dead on the inside that even if they were stunningly beautiful you’d never be able to see it.”

His response stunned me. Xavier rarely commented on anyone, considering his morals were questionable. Their description of this woman intrigued me. What could have happened to make her dead on the inside?

“What did you say?” Xavier asked, partially turning his head toward Ash.

“I told him I needed to think about it.” Ash leaned his head back on the headrest and closed his eyes. “This is a fucking mess.”

Someone had shot Michael tonight. Xavier had given his gun to Jordan, but others in the room had guns, and who knew how many of the guests were secretly carrying weapons?

Ash and Jordan headed to their own apartments, while Xavier led me to the private elevator to our penthouse apartment. Suddenly I wanted to go home to the place he’d created to keep me safe.

Xavier’s arms wrapped around my waist and his chin rested on top of my head. “You okay?”

I shook my head wordlessly.

His hand soothed over the bottom of my stomach. “Do you need me to phone the doctor?”

Tears sprung to my eyes, even though I hadn’t been hurt. Xavier spun me in his arms as soon as we walked out of the lift, his fingers gripping my chin to tilt my head back. He studied me with those eyes that always saw too much. “Fuck,” he hissed before his lips crashed into mine.

His heat infused into me, thawing my frozen emotions. His hands grasped my face, while mine landed on his hips. He devoured every word that I wanted to say but had been stuck in my throat.

“When those shots fired…” Xavier whispered, his forehead resting against mine. “I’ve never been so terrified in my life.”

The memory of him covering me with his body echoed through my mind and made me cant toward him in search of his heat.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“No idea, but you are on full lockdown now. No going out unless absolutely necessary. If you run out of clothes you can wear mine.”

“Your new club opens soon and I’m going to be there to see what all the fuss is about,” I insisted, standing on my tip-toes to kiss him.

“No way, you’ll be here where I know you’re safe.”

My back straightened and my shoulders stiffened. “The only place I’m safe is at your side. If you’re going, then so am I.”

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