*Xavier’s POVsome hours ago:After the call with the Senator ends, I am left with a pounding headache. I feel like I just imagined the whole conversation. This couldn't be happening.Why would someone want to kill Harley to hurt me? How is any of this related?I am a mess of emotions as I check on Harley, tugging the sheets over her body tightly, my hands shaking as I observe her innocence in her deep sleep. She is oblivious to all this and I can't imagine having to tell her that our arrangement is the reason she is in danger.I caress her cheekbones with my knuckles, feeling numb in my heart. We have gotten closer than I had expected. This feeling is strange; it is killing me.I jerk my hand from her face as if I have been scalded. Or perhaps it is the thought that I might burn her. Perhaps I already have. I want to keep her safe and that urge — to protect her from every cruel thing in the world instills dread in me, both for myself and her. Rubbing my face frantically in my nervou
*Harley’s POVThe room smells of dust and smoke. The curtains are drawn, darkening its appearance. It holds a bed covered in white sheets in the middle, an oak closet, a beanbag, and a guitar hanging on the wall — a guitar just like Xavier's. The color of the walls is a dull grey, with paint chipping out in some places.I haven't visited this room for years. None of us has, except for the maids who used to clean it once in a while. A while passed before Dad couldn't even handle the maids being in this room so he asked them to leave it alone. Two years of being locked up, yet, the room still smells like her. She is here without being here.I walk over to the closet in slow, steady steps, my feet dragging along the sandy dust on the floor. When I reach it, I touch the cold handles, pulling them. The doors open with a creak. A puff of dust hits my face and I have to cover my mouth as I look through his clothes.There are rows of dresses and a coat hanging at the top. The bottom has her B
*Xavier’s POV"You shouldn't have done that, idiot," Thea scowls over the phone. "You made me look even worse than before to her. You know how much she hates me—""She doesn't hate you, Willows," I cut her off in a sharp tone. Hearing the 'she' with 'hate' in the same sentence irks me.She hates me too now. Again. "Yeah, and the sun rises in the west..." I can practically see her rolling her eyes as she speaks. "When will you stop sacrificing your happiness for no reason? The important thing is that she said she will accept my son. Wasn't that enough for you?""I did what I had to do, Thea. She wasn't safe with me. I can't put her in danger anymore just because she's married to me.""Xavier, this isn't healthy," the annoying lady over the phone argues. "You need her. She needs you. You two are meant for each other.""Forget it," I grunt, playing with a button of my suit as I recline in my chair. "Tell me about him. How's he doing?""The painkillers are making him sleep all the time,"
*Harley’s POV The tap on glass makes me squeeze my pillow tightly. It is the third one in the last twenty seconds and the fact that it's not coming from the door frightens me more. I pull my knees up to my chest, curling like a squirrel under the blanket as I squeeze my eyes shut.What if it's him? The man with the knife. Should I shout for Dad?I should have listened to Mom and slept in her room instead of my own.There is another tap, louder this time, and I hear something crack. I think it's the glass of my window. I slowly peek my head out of the blanket, my eyes falling on the window and I see a small crack on the glass. I used to keep the windows open, but now I prefer to keep everything securely locked after the horrifying incident."HARLEY!"The shout makes me jump from the bed when I recognize the voice. It's deep, raspy, and forcibly loud. My heart beats fast, my feet hitting the floor as I run past the window and throw open the door to my balcony.Night wind nips at my ski
*Xaveir’s POVI fucked up. I fucked up bad.I rub my forehead between two fingers, massaging hard as I remember the events of last night in flashes. My leg aches for some reason and when I try hard to remember, I see visions of me climbing a tree.A fucking tree to Harley's balcony.What the hell is wrong with me? I literally behaved like a sixteen-year-old kid who just got his first hook-up. That wasn't me. But all I wanted to do then was reach Harley. Reach her no matter how far she was. My sanity was lost when I saw her face as she stood on the balcony. All I wanted to do was take her in my arms and kiss her hard. I wanted to forget for some time that she couldn't be with me, that I had to maintain an act.I failed. I fucking failed.
Father daughter moment *Harley’s POVJust like Mom said, I find him at our private home bar in the hall. He is pouring himself another glass of drink. He has already had three in the last ten minutes without looking anywhere but ahead where more bottles of expensive wine sit on the shelves.As he is about to drown down another, I walk up to him, my feet pacing slowly across the hall. Even if he hears my footsteps, he doesn't show it on his face. I take a seat on the stool beside him, my feet hanging in the air."Dad..." I touch his shoulder with one hand while with the other, I gently take the glass away from him.He narrows his eyebrows, giving me a studying loo
*Xavier’s POVIt feels like forever has passed when my eyes open. There is a blinding white light from the ceiling which makes me shut them again. I groan, turning onto one side and using my elbow to pull myself up. My shoulder hurts, my body feels weak, and my head is dizzy, black spots blocking my vision.I start to vaguely remember Jake leaning over me, muttering something about fucking with my life. Pressing my temples with both hands, I shake my head, trying to get rid of the heavy weight inside in vain. I look around and see myself still in the confines of my workshop office and then my eyes fall on the clock on the wall above my desk. It is nearing 7 pm.What the hell? Did no one check on me? It's been three hours.
*Harley’s POV The Everest household is eerily quiet when manoeuver my car through the wide open gates. There are no guards at the entryway, no guards at the gates and there is no sign of the gardener or any of the servants. The lights on the porch are off, allowing the Manor to be bathed in a darkness that sends a creeping sensation skittering up my spine. The first thought I have is of trouble. The opulent mansion reeks of something inhuman inside. I unclasp my seatbelt and climb down the car while taking out my phone from my pocket. I keep my hands hovering over the emergency button at the side of the phone as I climb up the stairs to the front door. The entire place is dark, except for the lights within the building. The sky overhead has streaks of blue and purple, mixing with every strike of lightning which birthed itself along the sky on my way here. The usually cheerful haven seems like the house of horrors and it makes me swallow gulps of my saliva. I am teetering on the edg