Page 118 of Breaking the Rules
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
He’d been shot. A flesh wound on his arm, but Waverly had carried on like it was life and death. It could have been if she hadn’t blinded Brad when she did. His Angel had saved his life in a kind of perfect, poetic circle.
Brad Tomasso had been carted off to the hospital by a sore and pissed off Detective Dan Hansen and a handful of uniformed officers. Hansen had played a role in the Ganim investigation and had once again proven useful. Xavier imagined the man was enjoying the pissing match he’d started with the FBI. For tonight at least, Invictus’ role in the mess was over.
They celebrated in high style in a large private room at the Beverly Hills Hotel in an event worthy of a red carpet. Micah brought his wife and daughters, whom he hadn’t seen in days.
Chelsea showed up with Travers, and Xavier hated the way they were looking at each other. The two of them did pull Xavier and Micah aside. First, Travers announced that Waverly was officially no longer a suspect in Dante’s non-murder and the non-kidnapping of Petra. Rather than being pissed at Travers for going rogue, his superiors were grateful that he’d saved the FBI untold embarrassment by avoiding the very public arrest of Waverly Sinner. However, they were anxious to talk to her. It could wait a day, Xavier told him firmly.
Chelsea delivered even better news. She’d followed the money and gotten a break when she narrowed her search to members of theJoint Intelligence Community Council. Nancy O’Mara had been a three-term senator with much higher political aspirations. Now, as Secretary of the Treasury, O’Mara was privy to information about investigations and missions within the intelligence community. With first-hand information of what did and didn’t happen within the bounds of the law, it would have been easy to push potential operations toward Target Productions and Brad Tomasso. The FBI was quietly beginning a classified investigation of O’Mara.
Waverly’s parents joined the party in full on Hollywood glamour in a slinky ivory gown and a crisp tuxedo. While Xavier was dealing with the cleanup of a successful mission, Waverly had a long conversation with the still-recovering Sylvia and Robert that afternoon. She’d come clean from the looks of it.
Xavier greeted Sylvia with a kiss on each cheek and shook Robert’s hand.
“You pulled it off again,” Robert congratulated him. “Keeping my daughter safe is still a full-time job for you.”
“She kept herself safe and ended up saving me this time around,” Xavier corrected him. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, but your daughter is an amazing woman.”
“I gathered that you felt that way from the ring she keeps staring at,” Robert said, glancing over to where his daughter greeted Grigory and Anatoli who arrived in celebratory tuxedos.
“She said yes this morning,” Xavier said, feeling the grin stretch across his face. “We just haven’t had a chance to make an announcement, yet.” Or talk about it. That too would be remedied soon.
“Well, we’re thrilled for you both,” Sylvia announced from under Robert’s protective arm.
“Sylvia, I owe you a huge apology,” Xavier began. “I never considered the possibility that Tomasso would involve you. Let alone drug and kidnap you and use you as a bargaining chip. It was an unforgiveable miscalculation.”
“I know this is going to sound strange, but having the opportunity to see you and my daughter in action like that made the whole ordeal worth it. Consider yourself forgiven, and try not to take so much responsibility for everything, Xavier,” Sylvia said with a smile.
“I’ll do my best,” he grinned.
Petra and Dante arrived arm in arm. Petra glowed in a soft pink gown, but Xavier had a feeling most of the glow was due to Dante. To Petra, he was the hero of the day. They made a beeline for Grigory, and Xavier laughed when he saw the man’s enthusiastic greeting for Petra ice over once he turned his attention to Dante. Dante was unfazed and gave the man a smacking kiss on both cheeks.
Kate surprised them all when she showed up arm in arm with Simon Shipley, the popular entertainment TV host and long-time Kate crush.
“We’ve kind of been dating for about six months now,” Kate confessed when Xavier pressed glasses of champagne into their hands.
“You’re better at keeping secrets than we are,” Xavier said, giving her a kiss on her cheek.
“And don’t worry, I’ve sworn Simon to secrecy, so if you don’t want any sparkly diamond news to get out, it won’t,” she winked.
“I appreciate that, and on that note, I think I’ll go find my fiancée,” Xavier announced and went in search of Waverly.
He found her near the bar talking to Micah’s wife, Suzanne, and doling out sodas to Micah’s girls. She wore fire engine red, a victorious color and sexy too in the short skirt and the low back. Her hair was down in loose waves, and while she now sported a spectacular bruise on her ribs from the shot Tomasso took at her, the shadows in her eyes were gone. The shadows under her eyes? Well, he’d take care of those. Sleep, rest, and maybe a real vacation were in order, he decided.
He slipped an arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. “I see you’ve met Micah’s women,” Xavier said to Waverly, drawing smiles from Micah’s three daughters.
“You’ve got yourself a lovely woman here,” Suzanne said. “Try not to screw it up this time.” She gave him a wink and hustled the girls off to where servers were hauling out trays of appetizers.
Waverly turned in his embrace and wrapped her arms around his neck, and for a second, Xavier’s heart stopped. Everything he’d wanted had come true in one day. It was almost too much to handle.
She smiled up at him, and his heart started again. “I don’t know where to start,” he confessed.
Waverly cocked her head to the side, the ends of her hair brushing his hands. “What do you mean?”
“I mean there’s so many things I want to say to you. I just don’t know where to start.”
“Pick one,” she laughed.
