CHAPTER 62

XAVIER'S POV

I strode into the office, my steps purposeful and measured. The power coursing through each cell in my body seemed to hum off me like an uncontrollable energy source. The moment I strode through the threshold, heads turned-secretaries, junior executives, all of them. Their gazes clung to me, whispers surely circulating behind my back, but I didn't care. Their petty thoughts were irrelevant. Not today.

Claudia had overplayed her hand.

And she was going to find out what happens when one tries to outplay me.

The instant I stepped into my office, her scent, her energy, hit me-nervous. She paced by the window, her back to me. I didn't need to see her face to know she was scared. Good.

I silently shut the door, the sharp click of the lock turning her to ice. It was then that she slowly turned around, and the instant our eyes met, her fear became palpable. Stiffening from head to toe, she parted her lips to say something- some weak defense, no doubt. I could almost smell the re