“Then you should have put it somewhere you could find it,” I tell her. “I’m sure you’ll work it out. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes.”
“Brushed your teeth?” Jericho asks.
She grins at him, showing off her teeth as if that’s an answer. I’ll take her word for it today. “Are you and Will still taking me to the park today? Do I need extra snacks?”
“I’m sure he’ll have enough for you to share.” William, one of Jericho’s boyfriends, is incredibly tall and enjoys his food. He and Olivia have bonded over their love of all things sugar filled.
Her face scrunches up, like she’s thinking about it, unsure whether to believe me.
“Time to go, kiddo, before we’re late,” Jericho says. “Your teacher already hates me for wearing a hat during your last teacher-parent interview.”
“I believe she took more fault with what your hat said than the fact you were wearing a hat. And that was last year's teacher. Mr. Snow likes you fine.” Considering the heat of the day, he wasn’t the only one wearing a hat. Just the only one with an inappropriate message on it.
“It didn’t spell the whole word. And she's still there, glaring at me every time I walk through the gates.”
“It was implied enough that it didn't need to say the whole word.”
“Definitely time to go,” Jericho declares loudly. He opens the back door to let Olivia bounce through and then points a finger at me. “One chance to sort it out. And then I’m coming for him. I’ll spread pieces of him across Sydney as a message.”
“Noted.”
“Pieces of who?” Olivia asks, popping her head back inside. “What pieces?” Jericho herds her out the door and closes itbehind himself before I can hear the response. Probably for the best.
Except now I have no excuse but to get ready and face my demons. Almost quite literally.
XAVIEROWNSTHEENTIREthirty storey building where his company is housed. Not every level is dedicated to them: there are two floors of restaurants, a law firm that I’m confident is owned by Xavier despite him having lawyers directly on his payroll, and a department store taking up at least three of them.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been here, though not so long that anything has changed. Not even the way my heart is rapidly beating in anticipation of seeing him again. That’s uncomfortably familiar as well.
There’s no easy way to get to the penthouse where Xavier’s office is located, not even for employees. And I’m definitely not one of those. No fancy elevator passes here. I doubt anyone but Xavier and his shadow have personal access to the floor.
“I’m here to see Xavier Alicent.”
The man seated at the reception desk looks like he fits right into this world of glamour and sophistication. A suit pressed to perfection, styled hair, and that haughty look. “Do you have an appointment?”
“No.” After his gift today, Xavier has to know that I’m coming. It’s the only reason I can think of why he did it in the first place.
“You think anyone can just waltz up and talk to the boss whenever they feel like it?”
I understand security and the risks involved in Xavier’s position. More than I imagine this man in front of me does. “Ifyou could tell him that Hunter is here, I’m sure he’ll want to see me.”
“Oh, I’m sure he will.”
He doesn’t believe me. I can’t really blame him. I do, however, need to see Xavier, and since I don’t have a direct line to him—I’ve tried my hardest, for a long time, to avoid the temptation of having his name and number in my phone—this is my only avenue to see him.
“Hunter.”
I turn to see a man I haven’t laid eyes on in almost a decade. He hasn’t changed at all, and if someone told me he was a vampire, destined to never age, I’d believe them. Midnight-black hair that hangs to his shoulders, with the top half up in a ponytail. Dark-brown eyes, easily mistaken for black, and lips that would put Snow White to shame. He’s wearing a sleek black suit—I’ve never seen him in anything else, and I wonder if he was born wearing it, and it just grew with him—with a bulge at his hip, where he’s not even trying to hide the fact he’s carrying. Unlike my own, which is carefully concealed.
Xavier’s shadow, there before even I knew him.
“Miles.”
The receptionist is staring at the man like he’s a ghost. I doubt Miles personally escorts people into the building every day.
I don’t want that to please me. That Xavier sentthisman. Because it doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t. It doesn’t.
