I have a killer body than his wife would ever have

Cathleen's heels echoed loudly on the marble floor as she left Old Mr. Knight's room. Her heart pounded in her chest as she walked through the maze-like halls of the Knight estate towards Xavier's door.

She hesitated before pushing open Xavier's door. Inside, shadows wrapped around him like a cloak as he carefully folded the sleeves of his black shirt. His movements were deliberate and controlled, contrasting with the intense gaze in his piercing gray eyes.

"There you are," his voice sliced through the quiet, rough-edged, and cold as he approached Cathleen and Bella. His hands, those instruments of both pleasure and pain, reached out. "Let me have her."

Obedience was not her creed, but something in the way he uttered the command, a desperate edge beneath the control, had her passing the infant into his arms without a fight. She watched, silent, as Xavier cradled Bella close, and in that moment, Cathleen saw the chink in his armor—the fierce love for his daughter that could shatter him