Page 33 of Framed

Still, I hated that his voice strummed me in all of the right places.

“Kane as in none of your business.” My voice came out sharper than intended but Xavier didn’t seem to notice or care.

“Youare my business.”

I lifted an eyebrow at that statement and told my heart to take a walk. Now wasn’t the time to splutter as it threatened to. Surely he didn’t mean it like that. Right?

I stared at him and fought the urge to get lost in his eyes, but it was a losing battle.

I’d recognize those eyes anywhere.

His brown irises were always my favorite—light brown with a hint of gold. They reminded me of home and were similar to my own, but mine had a hint of green instead of gold. Naomi’s eyes had the same shape and curvature but they were only chocolate brown.

She used to say it was because Xavier and I were soulmates—which would cause my throat to turn hot and I adamantly denied it. She knew better though. She was well aware of my crush on her brother but never told a soul.

It was just another one of our secrets.

“Your eyes,” he murmured as he scanned my face, eyebrows furrowed slightly as if he had only just realized it. I had on contacts to conceal my hazel eyes. “Your hair.” My hair and eyebrows were dyed black. It was a vast difference from the sandy blonde he last saw.

Those eyes got hard, as did his mouth, when he realized that he was staring as openly at me as I was at him.

“I was told to keep an eye on you,” he said, his face back to the emotionless void I hated. But I saw something. It was quick but I caught the slight tick in his jaw. That was as good as a public outcry for Xavier.

He seemed to not like the fact that I had to change my appearance, but he didn’t say anything. Just kept that stupid blank expression.

How could he appear so blasé? So cold? Was it really so easy for him to forget about me like that?

I had a million questions. Questions I knew I never would get answered burned my tongue and lit a spark of anger in me once more.How is he one of Briggs’s men?How did he end up here? Why didn’t he answer any of my letters?

I internally slapped myself at the last question. I made a promise to myself that I would never bring up the letters he never answered.

I vowed to remember that when I was at my lowest, it was him I wanted to speak to and he never responded.

“You’re…” I lowered my voice, not wanting Winter to overhear. I wasn’t not sure why but Briggs’s warning waged a conflicting battle in my head. My gut told me I could trust Winter, but you can never be too safe. “You’re the man who’s supposed to look out for me while I’m here?”

“Yep.” Huh. I thought fate had run out of ways to fuck with me but low and behold.Talk about poetic justice.

“Tell Briggs I said thanks but no thanks.” I went back inside my room, not bothering to shut the door as I plopped onto my couch.

As expected, Xavier wasn’t far behind. “Trust me, I wouldn’t be here unless I had to.” His words stung more than I cared to admit.

“Try harder.” I closed my eyes as I allowed my head to loll back against the top of the couch. All of my work avoiding the very man who stood before me was starting to feel in vain, all because of Briggs.

Why did he choose to be a martyr now?

“Here I was thinking you’d be happy to see me.”

My eyes snapped open and I wished that they didn’t. Those eyes stared at me as if he could see right through me. Just like they always did. “Screw you, Xavier. I hope you seriously didn’t expect me to welcome you with open arms. Did you?”

Those stupid but beautiful eyes flashed but hardened again almost at once. “I didn’t know what I’d find.” His gaze went on a slow perusal from head to toe and for the first time in a long time, I felt self-conscious under his gaze.

He was a man now. His facial features were sharp and angular—the type that caught the attention of men and women when he walked into a room, as if he were created for the purpose of shocking people with just a look. There was a masculine quality to his physique that couldn’t be hidden by his black jeans and matching black t-shirt, sculpted by perfect arms full of tattoos. That was new. He talked about getting inked but feared what his father would do.

The light that shone through my bathroom glowed, and it caught on the small cut above his left eye. As it did anytime I saw it, it made flashbacks flood my memory. Flashbacks of the three of us, twelve years old, sneaking off to the tree house we built in the back of the woods behind their house. After a fight with Dad about Suzanne, I went out there alone and got my foot stuck on a branch. Hours went by. Just when I thought my only option was to jump down and risk the fall, Xavier showed up and helped me climb out of the tree. On our way down, a branch scrapped his eye and left a permanent scar.

That was the first time we kept a secret from Naomi.

“Well, here you go.” I waved my hand in the air, gesturing at the length of myself. “Thoroughly annoyed and pissed. You can fuck off now.”

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