Halle stared long and hard at the door after it closed behind Xavier.She sat there, rooted deeply in shock and not sure she would be able to snap herself out of it anytime soon.The conversation they’d just had was far from what she expected, far from what she imagined he would say to her when he finally decided to give her an explanation as to why she was chosen.He still didn’t give her an answer she understood but he said something else that made all of her questions feel like they were not worth asking.Halle let out a shaky breath and clenched the sheets beneath her fingers, her cold fingers that managed to pale in comparison to the coldness of his own body.He was dying.He is—Halle sucked in a sharp breath she struggled hard to process the information, never in a million years did she imagine that a man as infuriating yet as strong as he was would be weakened by such a thing.This just proved that he was more human than any other man she’s been close to, he’s experien
“How long ago do you think they’ve been following her?” Asked Xavier as he looked down at the pictures Monty had taken off Halle’s attackers and their phones. There were pictures of Halle walking to school, getting into cabs, and even some from her class and the bar she used to work at. Most of the pictures dated back to months if not a year, her hair was shorter…Why have they been following her? “At least two years up until the last time she went to write an exam,” Monty replied grimly, no doubt the same thought running through both their minds. How did the Delgados know about Halle’s connections with Xavier enough to even keep a constant tail on her? Xavier looked down at the pictures again, he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists at the sides. He remembered just how cautious Halle had been in front of those cameras at the party, it was obvious she hated having her photographs taken without her consent. In all of the pictures, she looked lost in her thoughts, unaware of wh
“Xavier!” Horacio was up on his feet the second he spotted Xavier. Xavier fought the urge to roll his eyes knowing fully well that whatever conversation they were about to have was going to be a pain in the ass. Horacio and Xavier had some history, they used to be really good friends but then life happened, he found out Horacio lied a lot and so the distrust between them began, the only reason why they still see each other so regularly was that the guy is a fucking good doctor and Martha wouldn’t trust anyone else to handle his or the family’s health. “I was so shocked to see your text,” Horacio grinned as he sat back down once Xavier had reached the sofa, “I never knew you had a phone or even knew how to operate one!” Then he gasped in mock shock like he was being serious, picking up the glass of water that was set down in front of him. Who gave him water? Probably Tabitha, she like the man for reasons unknown to Xavier, despite Horacio’s terrible character that no one could hand
Halle stared out into the distance, her Uber is supposed to be here any minute now.She stood at the front gate with her purse and also an official warning from the resident professor.He apparently wasn’t aware of the little arrangement and has decided to remind Halle to report to her assigned clinic before they took the scholarship away. Of course, she explained the entire situation to the man and then still texted the owner’s son who was so eager to help her despite his prideful replies.He wanted a connection with the Stone family.Halle couldn’t help but laugh, she didn’t have any connection with them either.It had been a really long day, Halle had been so lost in her thoughts about Xavier that she was hardly present, not even when she was writing her exams.She couldn’t wait to be done with anything that had to do with nursing so she could finally focus on her dreams of culinary properly.Just one more year.Halle stared down at her sneakers, wondering if it was finally
When Xavier had made it clear that he knew she had been avoiding him, Halle couldn’t help but feel embarrassed when looking into those brown depths of his.She placed her sweaty palms on her lap and then balled them up into fists.“Haven’t you now?”Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t look away from him, she could feel everything she didn’t want to. The loss of breath the butterflies she’d ignored, the sounding heart that seemed like it would jump out of her ribcage.For fucks sake!Halle wanted to curse out loud so badly but instead, she swallowed each curse word and forced a smile while slowly releasing her fists and trying to relax her tense-up muscles.“I have…been, maybe a little,” Halle muttered, cursing how small her voice was as she admitted the truth.He looked at he like he expected her to say more, his smile broadened as he moved closer to her, ignoring the distance Halle had decided to put between them.“I never took you as the shy type, Halle,” Halle wasn’t sure
Collette’s eyes followed Halle as she walked into the kitchen and sat down in the dining area, Tabitha was at the table, a bowl of popcorn in front of her and a wide grin on her lips. She had changed the color of her hair to a bright pink color and it made Halle wonder if there was actually a dress code for Xavier’s workers and just how high their limits were. But then again, Xavier wasn’t your usual billionaire, it didn’t surprise her that his workers didn’t dress like they had all undergone countless years of training just to get the job. What Halle noticed though was that most of his workers were not just hired from an interview but they had a certain connection in the family that probably dated back years. They didn’t just hire strangers. This was probably why everyone who didn’t know what had occurred three years ago between Xavier and Halle was wary of her intentions. At least Halle noticed that June was. June was at the sink clearing the dishes from breakfast, they had all
Halle sucked in a deep breath when the sound of her knuckles hitting the door registered in her ears.It was louder than she intended and she subconsciously took a step back and stared at the door warily. She heard slowly approaching footsteps.She kept her hands at her sides and took in a deep breath.She tried to relax her tense shoulders as the door handle pushed down and then opened.He was right in front of her the next second, he looked up, and it took him a few seconds to realize that she was lower than his eye level.He wasn’t wearing a shirt and black shorts hung lowly on his waist, his tattoos and scars all bared for her to see.Those brown eyes took her in with a dark gaze, his brows furrowed and his eyes heavy-lidded, at one glance Halle could tell.He wasn’t in a good mood.His hair had grown a bit, his beard shaved down to his face and his lips had a bit of color but still, there were dark circles under his eyes, and upon closer inspection, Halle noticed that his
Xavier held Halle’s hand as they walked out, as much as she tried to ignore it…it was happening.She was sure her brain short circuit when he took a hold of her hand and then punched in the codes for the front door and it hissed open.The cars weren’t where they usually were and while Halle was so caught up in the warmth of his hand covering hers, he led her to a part of the house that she had never been in but always wondered about.It was at the far end of the house, where one wouldn’t even suspect anything was being kept, the garage door was the first thing Halle noticed before the statues that were placed on either sides of the door.They both walked to the door and Xavier opened a keypad that was almost hidden from other eyes, it had blended in with the grey wall and had a covering that it seem like it wasn’t there.He was hiding the location of his garage…or was there something else in there that he was hiding from prying eyes?As the questions weighed on her tongue, Xavie