Page 49 of Midnight Legacy

His eyes met mine. I knew that whatever that conversation was pertained to me and my safety. The tight line of his jaw said that he wouldn’t take no as an answer. He hung up and wandered toward me, his expression dark and menacing. In this mood, Xavier was brutality mixed with masculinity, his muscles bunched and ready to fight the unseen enemy at our door. I didn’t want to know what was clawing at our door because I was already terrified.

Xavier’s eyes locked the world out, only letting me see the real man behind the mask. My stomach tightened and a flock of butterflies took flight in my chest at the look in his eyes. Anger mixed with desperation while he warred with his emotions.

I could feel the time left in this apartment begin to slip away. Someone had been in his sanctuary and Xavier would take that seriously.

“Did you find out who took the photo?” I asked.

His already tight jaw bunched further until I thought he’d break a tooth. “My cleaner, Martha. If you blow up the photo, you can see her in the reflection. She must have taken it when she was in here alone before you moved in.”

I knew for a fact that no one was in here by themselves since he discovered my pregnancy. One of the security patrol always escorted people when we were out. I knew that security cameras ran when we weren’t here, because I’d seen Xavier turn them off when we arrived home.

He settled himself beside me, lifting my legs over his.

“How did he get a copy of it?”

His eyes wouldn’t meet mine, which meant I didn’t want to know the answer.

“Is she okay?”

Nausea crept up my throat in a burning path when his head rested back on the sofa to glare at the ceiling. I’d only met her once or twice, but she’d been a nice woman who was always smiling and chatting away in the background.

“Xavier?”

His eyes were blazing with suppressed emotion when he finally turned them to me. “He left a clear message that I’d rather not repeat.”

“Who is he?” I whispered, terror rising into my chest.

“He’s a fucking dead man walking,” Xavier hissed. “One that will wish his mother had swallowed instead of conceiving him.”

His tone made a shiver ripple down my spine. He rarely brought this side of him home, the last time I witnessed this barely controlled rage was when he rescued me from Malcolm.

Jordan slumped into a seat opposite us, tugging Megan onto his knee. She’d been hovering in the background, her wide eyes watching their constant pacing. I’d seen Jordan lose his shit and kill men, but it was something she’d never witnessed. She didn’t relax into his arms like she usually did, sitting with her back straight while she chewed the side of her mouth.

“When are you meeting Uncle Dan?” I asked, breaking Xavier from his silent contemplations by poking his tummy with my toe.

“Six tonight,” he replied absently. “I texted him the location of one of our offices.”

I didn’t push the point about going. There were a thousand questions I wanted to ask my uncle, a million things I wanted to know about my parents that he would be able to answer. Now wasn’t the time to push Xavier, since he was so close to breaking point.

“You need anything?”

“No, baby, everything is under control.”

The buzzer indicated the concierge was ringing up from the foyer. Xavier groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose before getting to his feet and stomping to the door.

“Yeah?” Silence followed and I watched as his back tensed. “Put him on the phone, thanks… What the fuck do you think you’re playing at, coming to my home? I don’t give a fuck that she’s your niece. We had an arrangement for six tonight.”

Jordan pushed Megan off his knee. “Downstairs, now!” he commanded. “Lock the door and don’t leave for anyone.”

“Jay?” Megan queried, her face pinched with worry.

“We’ll step into our bedroom,” I intervened. “The hidden exit is there. Xavier has it programmed with my details, and the same with the safe room.”

Jordan glared at me, finally nodding once.

“Lift all the cushions and throws,” I told the men. That photograph didn’t have them in it. They lifted armfuls of my precious cushions and took them into the bedroom. I removed our wedding photographs and anything else personal that was on display on my way behind them.

Xavier threw me a grateful look as he continued to argue on the phone. “Thanks, Sam. You better send him up. Families are such assholes.”

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