Where You Are, I Call Home

Chapter Twenty One— Avi

Eight hours.

That was how long we had been in the air.

Eight whole hours flying to Sicily.

Normally, I would have complained about sitting on a plane for that long, but Xavier had somehow made the entire experience ridiculously comfortable. We weren’t on a normal commercial flight. He had arranged a private aircraft, complete with comfortable seats, a flight attendant who seemed determined to make sure we had everything we needed, and enough food and drinks to feed a small family.

By the time we landed, I had actually enjoyed myself.

I had even had champagne.

More than once.

But the moment I stepped outside the aircraft and saw the vehicles waiting for us, my enjoyment disappeared for a second.

I stopped walking.

There were cars everywhere.

Not two.

Not three.

Not even five.

There had to be more than ten.

I slowly turned toward Xavier.

“Is this not a little excessive?”

He looked at the cars, then at me.

He simply shook his head.

“No.”

Of course.

Why would he think it was excessive?

Apparently, having an entire convoy waiting for one person was completely normal.

I sighed and followed him.

The drive from the airport took somewhere between twenty and thirty minutes. I spent most of the journey looking through the window.

Sicily was beautiful.

The scenery was breathtaking, the roads winding through beautiful landscapes, and everything seemed calmer than the city I was used to.

Then we arrived.

And I forgot about the scenery.

Because the estate in front of me was enormous.

It wasn’t just a house.

It was an entire property.

The entrance alone looked like something out of a movie. Tall gates. Beautiful stonework. Perfectly maintained gardens. A massive villa sitting behind everything.

It was beautiful.

Almost too beautiful.

But there was one thing I couldn’t ignore.

Guards.

Everywhere.

Men stood around the property wearing dark suits.

And several of them were openly carrying guns.

I slowed down.

“Xavier.”

He turned toward me.

“Don’t be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid.”

I looked around.

“I’m just wondering why there are so many guns.”

He didn’t answer.

He just smiled.

That smile did absolutely nothing to reassure me.

We continued walking toward the house.

There was an older man waiting at the entrance.

His hair was completely white, and there was something about his presence that immediately told me he wasn’t an ordinary man.

He didn’t look much like Xavier.

Not physically, anyway.

But there was something familiar in his eyes.

Something fatherly.

The moment he saw Xavier, his entire expression changed.

He greeted him in Italian, speaking quickly before turning toward me.

Then he smiled.

“My son-in-law.”

I blinked.

He looked genuinely pleased to see me.

“I’m very happy you’re here.”

“Thank you for having us,” I replied politely. “It’s nice to be here.”

He welcomed us warmly, asking about the journey and whether we were tired.

Pleasantries were exchanged.

But I couldn’t stop looking around.

There were guards everywhere.

And somehow, nobody seemed bothered by them.

Then something else happened.

As we walked inside, people began greeting Xavier.

“Good morning, Boss Falcon.”

“Good morning, Boss.”

“Patron Falcon.”

“Good morning, Patron.”

I almost stopped walking.

Boss?

Patron?

I looked at Xavier.

He didn’t react.

He simply continued walking.

And that was when I realized something.

Xavier wasn’t the same person here.

Back home, he was intimidating.

Controlling.

Possessive.

Sometimes completely impossible.

But here?

He was different.

His posture had changed.

His expression was colder.

There was something about the way people looked at him.

Respect.

Fear.

Maybe both.

And somehow, Xavier fit perfectly into it.

Like this was where he belonged.

I didn’t know what kind of world I had just walked into.

But I knew it wasn’t ordinary.

⸻

Dinner was served shortly afterward.

The table was enormous, and there was enough food on it to feed twenty people.

Don Falcon sat at the head.

Xavier sat beside me.

The conversation was mostly between Xavier and his father.

They discussed business.

At least, that’s what I assumed.

There were things they said that I didn’t completely understand.

Numbers.

Names.

Shipments.

Problems.

People.

I kept eating quietly while occasionally glancing toward the guards.

Don Falcon noticed.

He didn’t say anything.

Neither did Xavier.

Eventually, dinner ended.

When we went upstairs, Xavier turned toward me.

“I have some business to handle.”

I nodded.

“Okay.”

“You should get some rest.”

“Okay.”

He kissed my forehead lightly before leaving.

I stood there for a moment.

Then I went into the bedroom.

I tried to sleep.

Eventually, I did.

But Xavier didn’t come back for hours.

When I woke sometime during the night, the room was empty.

I looked at the clock.

Almost three in the morning.

I didn’t know when he came in.

But sometime later, I woke again.

Xavier was standing near the wardrobe.

He was wearing a completely different suit.

A dark one.

His face looked tired.

And somehow, he looked even more intimidating than before.

I wanted to ask where he’d been.

What he’d been doing.

Why he’d been out until three in the morning.

But I didn’t.

I turned over and went back to sleep.

⸻

The next morning, something was different.

The guards were gone.

Not completely gone.

I could still see several outside through the windows.

But the men who had been standing inside the house were nowhere to be seen.

I walked downstairs and found Don Falcon already there.

He looked at me and smiled.

“I know the guards made you uncomfortable.”

I immediately looked at him.

“I didn’t—”

“I asked them to stay outside.”

He waved his hand dismissively.

“I don’t want my son-in-law uncomfortable in his own family’s home.”

Something about the way he said it made me pause.

His family.

My family.

Son-in-law.

There was genuine affection in his voice.

And strangely, that touched something inside me.

Maybe because I wasn’t used to people making me feel like I belonged somewhere.

“Thank you,” I said quietly.

He smiled.

“You’re family.”

I didn’t know what to say to that.

So I simply smiled back.

Breakfast was quieter.

Xavier and his father talked while I listened.

Eventually, the two of them disappeared into Don Falcon’s office.

The door closed.

And suddenly, everything became secretive again.

Whispers.

Serious expressions.

People moving around.

Phones ringing.

Men coming and going.

It all looked like something straight out of a crime movie.

I sat there wondering what exactly Xavier had brought me into.

Because whatever his business was…

There was clearly another side to it.

A side he hadn’t told me about.

⸻

Later that morning, Xavier came back downstairs.

He looked busy.

Much busier than usual.

“I have to go out,” he told me.

“Okay.”

“I’ll be back.”

“Okay.”

He hesitated.

“We’ll go sightseeing later.”

I looked at him.

“Okay.”

He smiled and left.

I expected my phone to ring afterward.

I expected the usual.

Where are you?

What are you doing?

Have you eaten?

Who are you with?

Nothing.

Thirty minutes passed.

Nothing.

An hour.

Nothing.

Two hours.

Still nothing.

By lunchtime, I was sitting alone at the table.

The maid, Sarah—well, not Sarah this time—came over and told me lunch was ready.

“Patron asked me to make sure you eat.”

I looked at her.

“Where is Xavier?”

“He had some business to attend to.”

Of course.

Business.

I nodded and started eating.

But something felt strange.

Since we arrived in Sicily, Xavier hadn’t texted me once.

Not once.

And that was ridiculous.

Because for the last month, he had practically monitored my breathing.

Where are you?

What are you doing?

Who are you with?

When are you coming home?

Now?

Nothing.

Silence.

And the strangest part?

I missed it.

I actually missed it.

I stared down at my plate.

Was I seriously sitting here wondering why Xavier hadn’t asked where I was?

That was insane.

Completely insane.

But I couldn’t deny it.

His constant attention had become something I was used to.

Something I had complained about every single day.

And now that he wasn’t doing it…

I noticed.

I pushed my food around with my fork.

Maybe he really was busy.

Maybe Sicily was more important than he had made it sound.

Or maybe…

I looked toward the windows.

Maybe he had lied about the sightseeing.

I didn’t know.

But one thing was becoming increasingly clear.

There was much more to Xavier than the businessman I had met a month ago.

And I had a feeling Sicily was going to show me exactly who my husband really was.