Page 28 of Xavier

“I never could have done it without you, you know,” I confessed softly, smiling up at him. “Best therapy ever.” I melted into his embrace, drawing strength from his solid presence. “When did you get so wise?”

“Prison gives a man time to think.” His chuckle rumbled through his chest against my cheek. “That, and watching you every Saturday, learning who you are.”

I smiled against his chest, breathing in his familiar scent of leather, soap, and something uniquely Xavier. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that.”

“To what?” His fingers traced lazy patterns along my spine.

“That you chose to stay in prison longer just to get to know me better.” I pulled back to look at his face. “It’s the most romantic, terrifying thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

“Romantic, huh?” His eyes crinkled at the corners. “That’s what the kids are calling it these days?”

I swatted his arm playfully. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah.” I love the rasp of his words in that lazy drawl he had going on sometimes. “I know. Just don’t use the R word in front of my brothers, OK? They’ll get all pissy if I outdo them.”

I let it go another week before I decided on a course of action. There was no way around talking to them, so I was going to have to bite the bullet and get it over with. But, dammit, it was so fucking hard!

“Honey, I’m home!” Christ, that man! Xavier could put a smile on my face under the worst of circumstances.

Like I knew he loved, I ran to him and jumped into his arms. “I missed you!”

“Missed you too, honey. You busy this afternoon?”

“Not really. I think I’m actually done for the day.”

“Good. I’ve got to go talk to someone and thought you might like to come with me.” He winked at me. “We’ll take the bike. Chicks dig the bike.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, I can’t argue with that. You know I always jump at the chance to go riding with you.”

“Good. Grab your helmet and come on.”

Ten minutes later we were rolling down the interstate. Two of the guys from the club rode in front of us, two in back, putting us safely in the middle. I had no idea where we were going and didn’t particularly care. The only things that mattered were the bike, the guys surrounding us in a bubble of protection, and the man I had my arms wrapped around.

I wasn’t sure how far we went. Not far enough as far as I was concerned. I was too busy looking at the scenery to worry about our destination. We pulled off the interstate and into an older section of Nashville to a strip mall with a nightclub and a couple of restaurants in a huge parking lot. The place looked like it had been abandoned for several years. The windows in every building other than the nightclub were dusty and grungy. A couple had the windows broken. The nightclub looked as seedy as they came.

There seemed to be only one other car in the lot, and we were driving toward it. The closer we got, the more sickeningly familiar the vehicle became.

We rolled to a stop in front of the Cadillac SUV. Dad always had to have a new vehicle every year, so he leased. The guys revved the engines a couple times before everyone shut down.

Xavier helped me off his bike and turned me to face him. Putting his hands on my shoulders he gave me an encouraging look. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t want you stressing over this. I’m here to support you while you do this. So are the rest of the guys.”

“I should be mad at you, but I can’t be.” I smiled up at him and Xavier leaned in to kiss me.

“You got this, baby. I’ll be with you the whole time.”

“I’m not afraid of them, Xavier. They’re not going to hurt me.”

“Lots of ways of hurtin’ someone. Words are sometimes as bad as blows.”

“Matilda!” I winced as my mother called out to me from their vehicle. “Matilda, come here, please.”

I took a breath, popping my neck before putting my shoulders back. “I got this.” My muttered pep talk wasn’t much, but I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be. Like, maybe I’d built this up to be worse than it had to be.

As I walked between Oktober and Chains to my waiting parents, Xavier took my hand and squeezed. When I looked up at him, he winked at me and I smiled. I was so in love with this man it wasn’t even funny.

Mom’s face was a carefully composed mask of polite concern, but I could see the flicker of disgust in her eyes as she took in my companions. Dad stood ramrod straight beside the Cadillac, his fingers drumming impatiently against the door.

“What on earth are you wearing?” Mom hissed as I approached, eyeing my leather vest.

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