Chapter 9

Xavier

Angela left. I never thought I’d miss her this way, but then she just left without a goodbye. Do I even have the right to be angry after all I’ve done? I’m married to one sister and attracted to the other.

Derek made me promise him that I’ll always keep his family safe, but with the look of things, his youngest daughter needs protection from her own family.

That day Angela left was the very day I returned to my estate in New York. Natasha pleaded we spend another night with her mother, but I just couldn’t bear staying in that house anymore.

Angela was the reason I came over in the first place, and now that she’s no longer here, I have no business there.

I’ve been processing my divorce with Natasha; I do not have to stay married to her just to protect Angela. From now onwards, I’ll protect her as Xavier Ellmord…. Just like Xavier, the world out there knows, and I’ll make sure that company remains her’s until she’s ready to take over.

Call it obsession, I don’t care, not one thing I know is that I have this possessive feeling to keep Angela safe.

Three sharp knocks on the door brought me out of my thought, I blinked twice before turning my attention to the intruder. Lucas walked in with a cigarette dangling from his lips. “Mr. Miller is here to see you.”

“Send him in.” Nodding sharply, he walked out of my office.

Joshua Miller has been our family lawyer for as long as I can remember. He understands our ways of life and the dangers that come with working for us. Standing up from my seat, I ambled to the mini bar in my office and fixed myself a drink.

Lucas returned with Miller.

Skeptical about talking in Lucas’s presence, Miller eyed him. “You can speak freely in his presence,” I assured him. “Lucas will rather lose his tongue than snitch on us.”

“If you say so.” He muttered as he pulled out documents from his file bag. “I’m done preparing the divorce papers, all I need are both your signatures.”

Lucas blinked at us with confusion. “Divorce papers?” He has no idea about my plan to divorce my wife. I owe nobody any explanation. “You’re divorcing Natasha?”

“Unless I’m married to any other person,” I replied sarcastically. “If not, then the divorce papers are meant for Natasha.”

He clapped his hands with a bogus smile on his lips. “It’s about time to let the gold-digging whore go.” He eyed the wine in my bar. “This calls for celebration.”

Natasha’s behavior is not considered as being a gold digger by me. We’re all alike in some ways. When I see something I want, I go after it until that thing becomes mine just like Angela. The only thing wrong with Natasha’s game plan is that she’s messing with someone I hold dear.

With the clear amber liquid in my glass, I walked over to the desk, picked up my pen, and signed on the necessary lines per Miller’s direction. “Have this paper delivered to Natasha asap, I need her to sign these papers as fast as possible.”

“Yes sir.” He returned the papers to his file before walking out of my office.

Lucas closed the door softly behind him, before picking up that wine he has been eyeing for some time now. “If you were going to eventually divorce Natasha, why get married to her in the first place?”

“To secure Angela’s future.” I watched him pour wine into his wineglass. He offered to share with me, but I lifted my whiskey-filled glass to him.

“What does that even mean? Securing Angela’s future?” He inhaled the wine before drinking. “I think Derek secured her future perfectly well. He handed his company over to her remember? That’s a future so bright and clear to me.”

Ignorance of one man is always an advantage to me; now that is the downfall of Natasha and Vera. Ignorance. “What do you think would have happened to her if I wasn’t in the house?” She’d be long dead.

Still confused with my reasoning, Lucas blinked at me. “Make me understand boss man. You’re clearly attracted to Angela Shirley, but you chose to marry Natasha just to protect Angela?” He huffed. “Couldn’t you have kept her safe as her husband? What’s the need of getting married to the wrong person?”

“Those hotels. I wouldn’t have gotten those hotels if I was married to Angela.” Natasha will discover when it’s too late that she lost the moon while counting the stars.

“You mean the same hotels that you don’t need?”

My eyes narrowed at his tone. “Are you in any way questioning my actions Lucas? Because I wouldn’t mind reminding you of your place.”

His keen curiosity piped down to a sincere apology. “I’m sorry boss man, it was never my intention to question your actions.”

I know his heart is in the right place. “Any news on Angela and Jackie?” I instructed Lucas and Dylan to find Jackie and Angela. Yes, you heard me right; I’m not letting her leave me again. “It has been two weeks now.”

“It’s as if Jackie disappeared from the face of this earth.” His hand clutched around the wine glass and traced its tip. “But we’ll find her. Nothing stays hidden forever. As for Angela, we narrowed her down to the Philippines. I sent Seth to go there and search further.” The wine graced his taste buds. “He’ll return home when he finds that which he seeks .”

Fair enough. At least he’s close to finding her. “I need close eyes on Natasha, she desperately wants that company, and I don’t know what she’ll do now Angela made it legally clear that the company does not belong to her.”

“It must have hurt like a bitch when Angela told her to manage the company on her behalf.” Lucas snickered as he visualized the picture. “Wish I was there to see her face when the news got delivered to her.”

He’s enjoying this far too much. My smile mirrored his. “Okay…get back to work.” He can’t be here all day talking about Natasha. “Send me a text or give me a call when you hear anything about Angela.”

“Sure will boss,” I watched him walk out of my office.

~~~~~~~~~~

What I called home before I married Natasha, I now avoid, but sometimes, returning here cannot be helped. The men-watching guard tipped their head in respect as I walked past them. Accustomed to ignoring them until a need for their presence arises, I walked past them without any form of acknowledgment.

The whole house was quiet and dark, the only form of light was from the artifacts decorating the house. I ambled straight to my room to shower and catch a quick nap, but I met a pacing Natasha in my bedroom.

She stopped instantly when she heard the door open, her angry eyes narrowing into slits. “How dare you?” She hissed. “How dare you disgrace me like this? Ever since we got married, you insisted that I take my things to the guest room and sleep there and I obeyed. In the three years of our married life, you’ve never for once has sex with me which is the reason for our childlessness, I gave you five of my hotels to get rid of Angela permanently, to make that company mine, but you did none of that…” she threw balled up papers at me. “And you have the guts to ask me for a divorce?”

Bored and unmoved by her anger, I dipped my hands into my pocket and stared at her. “Are you done?” She huffed with disbelief. “Even if you’re done with your tantrums, I want you to pick up the pen and sign the divorce papers.”

Slow determined steps. She stopped right in before me. “I’m going to fight you hard in court. I’ll strip you of your properties.”

Leniency has made her forget who I am. Before she could understand my next move, I snatched her neck in a tight grip. “It seems you have forgotten who I am.” Her throat wobbled as she tried to swallow. “The only thing you’ll be getting out of me is this house, why? Because your memory and your image already tint the house.”

Licking my lips, I shoved my face deeper into hers. “You’ll take what I have to offer like a good little girl and walk away, or you’ll be missing in the city of New York. They’ll all search for you, but none of them will find you.” Satisfied that she got the message, I shoved her away. “Get out of my room.”

She massaged her neck. “You won’t hurt me..” Her lips stretched with a smirk. “Not when all you’ve done these years is protect me for the sake of the friendship you had with my father.”

Shrugging off my jacket, I dropped it on the bed. “You’re dumber than I think if you still believe that what I did these past three years was protect you.”

Her face crinkled. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I was protecting someone, but it wasn’t you.” I was on her in a minute. I snatched her forearm and dragged her towards the door. “I told you to get the fuck out of my room.” I opened the door and shoved her out. “Don’t come into my room again.” The door banged to her face.

My phone pinged and I fished it out from my pocket.

We’ve found Angela, but there is something you must know. Angela has a three years old daughter named  Mckenzie. I think she moved on boss man. What are your orders? - Lucas