Page 71 of The Art of Deception

Will they clash heads completely?

I have no idea.

All I do know is I will stand by my woman because she’s my main priority. I don’t want to end up like my father. I just hope he doesn’t say anything to scare her away. I don’t know what it might be, but I’m sure he’s holding an ace up his goddamn sleeve.

If there is one thing my father wants, it’s no distractions for me.

And Tomi is exactly that.

She’s a threat to him and this company.

The thing father doesn’t take kindly to is a threat.

They must be eliminated at all costs.

Chapter Twenty-One

TOMI

Saturday Night

Xander can try to calm my nerves all he wants, but meeting his parents is a big deal. The fact that we’re driving to their place now in my mini rather than his car is making me even more tense.

What if they don’t approve of me?

What if when we tell them I’m pregnant, they disown him?

There are so many possibilities running through my mind, and it’s driving me crazy as we make the journey to his parents’ mansion.

His hand is resting perfectly calm on my thigh as I cling to him for dear life. The smell of the daffodils in the back seat for his mother permeates the small space of the car as they sit next to a bottle of Macallan twelve-year-old scotch whisky for his father—a stark contrast right there.

To think last night and this morning, we were in a blissful bubble moving his things in, and now we’re here, tense and nervous about this meeting.

Tonight could make things difficult. I simply want his parents to approve of us.That’s all.

I want them to accept their grandchild and me. It’s all I could ever ask for.

“You’re too quiet over there. What’s going through your mind?” Xander asks, breaking through my thought cycle.

I glance at him with a heavy exhale. “I just need this to work.”

He quickly glances at me, then back to the road. “Tonight or us?” His voice is laced with concern.

I tighten my grip on his hand. “No, sorry, tonight. I knowwe’re okay.”

His body visibly relaxes as he continues the drive. “Even if for some crazy reason they don’t approve, I’m leaving with you,Tomi.You…” he peeks down at my stomach. “Peanut, Levi… you’re all that matters to me.”

My chest squeezes as I chew on my bottom lip. “Okay, I trust you.”

He smiles. “Good ’cause we’re here,” he says, turning down a stretch of road into Pacific Heights. My stomach flutters as I sit taller in my seat. I have no idea how tonight’s going to go. All I know is that I’m going to be on my best behavior to make a good first impression.

He pulls up on the side of the road, and as I glance up, there’s a giant mansion with fretwork on the paneling with an ‘S’ entwined through it, I’m guessing for Scott. Then it hits me like a ton of bricks. I had tried to wipe from my mind that his father was the man totally responsible for taking Hope & Faith Ink from me. I’d tried to forget that Xander is Alex in this equation, but right now, it’s all flooding back into my mind, making me feel nauseous.

I unhook my hand from Xander’s, folding mine together on my lap. He glances at me as he turns off the ignition. My heart leaps into my chest while I take in the size of the home. It’s the biggest on the street. A two-story Victorian-style mansion with stairs leading up to the entryway. I’m not surprised that his parents live on what’s commonly known as Billionaire’s Row.

“You ready for this?” he asks, turning to face me.

I shake my head but answer, “Yes.”

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