CHAPTER 60

 Xander’s POV

She was turning toward the exit when, as soon as Beatrice’s eyes fell on the check, time went deliciously slow.

The way her breath hitched, the slightest tremor in her fingers as they curled a bit against the table, as if she were bracing herself against the temptation to reach out and touch the check, I did not miss. A check for an obscene sum of money. A check that might alter her life completely.

Good.

She needed to see it. She needed to understand what it meant — what I was willing to do to have her here.

Her eyes skimmed the numbers again, widening ever so slightly and then sliding back up to meet mine. Her face was hesitant, the logical voice that told her this offer was too good to be ignored battling with the uncertainty that made her take the step back.

I leaned back in my chair, watching her closely. The way that her shoulders got tense, the way her throat moved with a swallow — she weighed a possible choice, she was trying to talk herself out of it, trying to tell herself that there is another way.

There wasn’t.

“You…” She lifted her gaze to mine, her voice only a whisper, uncertainty flickering behind those golden-brown eyes. “This amount — Xander, this is —”

“Not enough?” I interjected smoothly, looking at her closely.

Beatrice’s brows knit in confusion. “Not enough? This is twice what I earn here. No sane person would—”

“I’ll pay you quadruple.”

With crisp finality, the words fell from my lips, cutting through the atmosphere like a knife.

Beatrice was shaking her head, her lips parted in shock. “What?”

“Name your price.” My voice was steady, unshakable. “Whatever Robert Lee offered you, I will pay more.”

It made for a heavy silence, thick with an energy neither of us could ignore.

I watched her very closely, with my eyes always on her. I saw the struggle written in her eyes, the flicker of something inscrutable under her disorientation.

She swallowed, took a slow, steady breath. “Why are you doing this?”

My jaw tightened.

For I could not allow her to depart.

Because the idea of her leaving, of her working for Robert Lee — of her being anywhere but here, with me — was completely unacceptable.

I didn’t say anything at first, just watching her as I let the truth wash over me.

Then I leaned forward and lowered my voice to a low, possessive churr.

“Because nobody touches what belongs to me.”

Beatrice’s breath hitched.

Her hands clamped around the table; her knuckles turned white.

I did not miss how her pulse raced at the base of her throat, how her lips parted like she wanted to say one thing — only she could not.

She felt it.

The unavoidable magnetism between us.

The uncurrished truth that we’d yet to put a name to.

My face breaks into a slight smirk, my eyes dark and unreadable. “What’s wrong, Beatrice? Speechless?”

Her eyes scanned the room as if to collect herself. “I’m not a thing to possess, Xander.”

My smirk faded slightly. “I never said you were.”

“But that’s how you behave,” she replied, shaking her head. “Just throwing money at me like I’m an investment that you want to be sure to keep.”

My eyes darkened. “That’s not what this is.”

“Then what is it?”

Silence.

That was the first time I hesitated.

And Beatrice saw it.

She stepped back and exhaled sharply. “That’s what I thought.”

I clenched my jaw.

She didn’t understand. Not yet.

But she would.

As soon as I opened my mouth, Beatrice’ phone buzzed in her hand.

She looked down, and I saw right away that her face paled a little.

Her whole body went taut, fingers clenching around the device.

Something was wrong.

“What is it?” I demanded.

At first Beatrice didn’t reply. She swallowed, hard, and slowly raised her eyes to mine.

And when she did speak, it was barely above a whisper.

“It’s a text… from Robert.”

My muscles tensed.

Beatrice paused before angling the screen toward me.

The message was short.

“Choose wisely.”

A warning.

My eyes darkened dangerously.

Robert Lee had just done something very, very wrong.

A low growl bubbled up in my chest as I snatched the phone out from Beatrice’s shaking hands, my grip tightening around the device. My senses ratcheted down as I reread the text.

It was subtle. Vague. But I knew men like Robert. This wasn’t merely a warning, it was a threat of payback. A power move.

A fucking mistake.

Beatrice inhaled deeply, her eyes flicking to me. “Xander…”

She sounded cautious. Like she already knew I was a couple seconds from tracking him down and shattering his spine.

I gasped, trying to hold myself still. To think.

Robert wasn’t going to contact us unless he knew he had leverage.

Which meant that Beatrice had mentioned to him that she would be considering his offer.

I raised my eyes to hers, my jaw going tight. “You spoke to him?”

Beatrice took a small step back, but didn’t look away. “Yes.”

I waited. When she did not elaborate, I leaned forward and put both palms on the table. “And?”

She swallowed hard. “And I was going to accept.”

A tense, threatening silence fell between us.

My hands curled on top of the table, my nails digging into the wood. “You were going to accept?” I repeated slowly.

Beatrice tilted her chin just a little, some rebellion igniting in her eyes. “Yes, Xander. I was.”

I should have expected it.

She had always been stubborn. Always, though, determined to make her own decisions, even when they weren’t in her best interest.

But this was not simply about a job.

This was about Robert fucking Lee.

I took a deep breath, hoping the anger would subside beneath my skin. “Why?”

Beatrice folded her arms. “Because it was a good offer. Because I need stability. Because I will not be at the mercy of anyone, especially not you.”

I scoffed. “Bullshit.”

She blinked, taken aback by my frankness.

“You don’t need money, Beatrice. Not really. You want control,” I said, barely above a whisper. “And you really think running to Robert will provide it?”

Her lips squeezed into a thin line. “I feel like it’s my decision to make.”

“No,” I said simply.

Beatrice narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me?”

I shoved away from the table and stalked around to her side, shrinking the gap between us.

She didn’t flinch, but I noticed how her breath caught when I towered over her.

“You’re not deciding this on your own,” I murmured, deadly low. “Not when it involves me.”

She exhaled shakily. “Xander, this has nothing to do with you—

“The hell it isn’t.”

I put my hand out before she could retract, wrapping my fingers around her wrist. Not hard. Barely enough to keep her around.

I could feel her pulse racing under my grip.

“I’ll not let you walk into his territory,” I said, voice dark with promise. “I’m not going to let you put yourself in danger.”

Beatrice pulled her lips away, her breath warm on my skin.

A war raged in her eyes.

She wanted to argue. To tell me she was able to take care of herself.

But we both knew the truth.

Robert Lee wasn’t a mere recruiter. He owned them.

And I’d be damned if he thought he could take her from me.

I relaxed my hold just a little, my thumb grazing the tender skin of her wrist.

“Stay,” I murmured. “I’ll keep you safe.”

Beatrice gulped, lowering her lashes for just a beat.

I could feel her shift in the moment.

The hesitation. The uncertainty.

The pull.

“Xander…” she whispered.

It wasn’t a rejection.

It wasn’t an affirmation, either.

But it was enough.

For now.

I ran my fingers down from her wrist, grazing her palm then pulling away.

Her eyes were glued to mine, seeking something.

Before either of us could get another word out her phone vibrated sharply.

Beatrice winced, her eyes dropping to the ground.

Her face fell immediately.

I watched her fingers hover over the screen, indecisive, unwilling to look at whatever had just popped up. A horrible feeling settled over me, stirring thick and smothering. My instincts honed, my muscles coiled as I burst into a fragment of that text from over her shoulder.

"Tick tock, sweetheart. Don’t keep me waiting."

A threat.

A goddamn threat.

Once the blood in my veins froze, it boiled up all in one second.

The last thread of my restraint broke.

I made my fists so tight that the knuckles cracked, and the nails dug into the palms. The other half was a long, primal growl rumbling in my chest, rattling the room with deadly promise.

Beatrice took a sharp inhale, her fingers clutching her phone. I didn’t fail to notice the slight tremble in her grip.

She was scared.

And that just made me more angry.

Who the hell was Robert Lee to play games like this?” To threaten her — threaten my mate?

A dark, untamable fury slithered its way within me, scalding and stifling, begging to be freed. I wanted to tear the bastard to pieces, to rip him limb from limb, to make him fucking pay for having the nerve to send that message.

Beatrice’s breath quickened. She pulled away a little, but I reached out, clutching the edge of the table so tightly I was sure I heard the wood splinter.

“Give me the phone,” I ordered, in a low, deadly tone.

She hesitated.

"No Xander, I Just can't... it's my own matter, My own choice."