Chapter Five:AVI-Fifteen Bodyguards
1636 Words
Avi woke up with a headache so terrible that he immediately regretted every decision he had made the previous night.
He groaned and slowly opened his eyes.
For a few seconds, he stared at the ceiling, trying to remember where he was.
Then everything came back.
The club.
The alcohol.
The embarrassing amount of alcohol.
The phone call.
Xavier.
Oh, God.
Xavier.
Avi slowly pushed himself upright.
His head throbbed.
He pressed his fingers against his temples and winced.
“Never drinking again.”
It was a lie.
He knew it was a lie.
But it sounded comforting.
He looked across the room.
And froze.
Xavier was sitting on the couch.
Just sitting there.
Watching him.
Avi stared at him.
“What the hell?”
Xavier didn’t move.
His expression was unreadable.
Then he spoke.
“Why?”
His voice was low.
Cold.
Controlled.
Avi frowned.
“Why what?”
“Why were you drinking?”
Avi stared at him.
“Excuse me?”
“Why were you drinking?”
There was something about the way Xavier asked the question.
He wasn’t shouting.
He wasn’t angry.
That somehow made it worse.
Avi had dealt with angry people before.
He was a lawyer.
He had sat across from criminals, violent businessmen, furious husbands, bitter wives, and people who had threatened him in court.
He knew how to handle anger.
But Xavier wasn’t angry.
He was calm.
Far too calm.
“It’s none of your business,” Avi replied.
Xavier’s eyes didn’t leave his.
“It is my business.”
Avi scoffed.
“Why are you even here?”
Xavier didn’t answer that.
Instead, he repeated the question.
“Why were you drinking so late at night?”
Avi’s irritation grew.
“I wanted to.”
“And you had to drink enough to become unconscious?”
Avi’s jaw tightened.
“Don’t lecture me.”
“Is this what you’ve been doing for the last three years?”
Avi looked at him.
“What?”
“Going out. Drinking. Getting drunk. Staying in places with strangers?”
Avi felt attacked.
There was no other way to describe it.
Xavier wasn’t yelling, but every word felt like a blade.
“No.”
The answer came out faster than Avi expected.
“I haven’t been doing that for three years.”
“Then why last night?”
Avi hesitated.
He couldn’t believe he was answering.
He didn’t owe Xavier an explanation.
This man had disappeared for three years.
Three years.
And now he was sitting in Avi’s bedroom questioning him like some kind of husband who had actually been present.
“I went out because I was confused.”
The words left his mouth.
Avi immediately regretted them.
Why did I tell him that?
Xavier’s expression shifted.
Just slightly.
“Confused about what?”
Avi stared at him.
Then laughed bitterly.
“You really have to ask?”
Xavier remained silent.
“You are asking me why I’m confused?”
Avi’s voice rose.
“I’m married to you.”
Xavier’s eyes sharpened.
“For three years.”
Avi pointed toward him.
“And I saw you for the first time yesterday.”
Silence.
“Three years, Xavier.”
He shook his head.
“I didn’t know where you were. I didn’t know what you were doing. I didn’t know whether you were alive, dead, married to someone else, or living on another planet.”
Xavier’s jaw tightened.
“And then you suddenly show up.”
Avi laughed.
“You walk into the house like you own the entire place.”
“I do.”
Avi stared at him.
There it was again.
That calm certainty.
That absolute confidence.
“See?”
He gestured toward him.
“This.”
Xavier’s eyes remained fixed on him.
“This is exactly what I’m talking about.”
Avi climbed out of bed.
“I don’t know what you’re doing here. I don’t know why you’re back. I don’t know why you suddenly care where I go or who I drink with.”
He walked toward the bathroom.
Then stopped.
“And honestly?”
He turned around.
“I don’t care.”
Xavier said nothing.
“My head hurts.”
Avi pointed toward the door.
“I’m not having this conversation right now.”
He walked closer to the door.
“Please leave.”
For several seconds, Xavier didn’t move.
Then he stood.
He walked toward the door.
As he passed Avi, he stopped.
His voice was quiet.
“This conversation isn’t over.”
Avi looked at him.
“We will speak again.”
Then Xavier walked out.
Avi stared after him.
“Wonderful.”
He closed the door.
Then locked it.
Again.
He really needed to stop doing that.
⸻
By the time Avi went downstairs, Xavier was gone.
He didn’t know where.
He didn’t ask.
Honestly, he didn’t care.
Or at least, that was what he told himself.
He didn’t feel like going to the office.
His head was still pounding, so he decided to work from home.
It wasn’t unusual.
Although he normally went to the firm every day, there were occasions when he handled client matters from home.
The maids checked on him several times.
“Sir, are you feeling unwell?”
“I’m fine.”
“Should we call the doctor?”
“No.”
“You look tired.”
“I am tired.”
That was all.
He sat in his study and worked.
Documents.
Emails.
Client calls.
Legal briefs.
Anything that kept his mind occupied.
Anything that prevented him from thinking about the man who had suddenly entered his life after three years of absence.
By evening, Avi’s headache had eased.
He was still exhausted, though.
He closed his laptop when one of the maids came to inform him that dinner was ready.
Avi went downstairs.
And stopped.
Xavier was already sitting at the table.
Of course.
Avi stared at him.
Xavier didn’t even look up.
He was eating as though he had been doing it every night for years.
Avi sat opposite him.
Neither spoke.
For several minutes, the only sounds were cutlery against plates.
Avi tried to ignore him.
He really did.
But apparently, Xavier had other plans.
“If you continue going out like that…”
Avi slowly looked up.
Xavier continued eating.
“…without informing me where you’re going, who you’re with, or when you’re coming home, I’ll hire fifteen bodyguards for you.”
Avi stopped chewing.
He stared.
“Fifteen?”
Xavier finally looked at him.
“Yes.”
Avi blinked.
“Why fifteen?”
“Because fifteen should be sufficient.”
Avi stared at him as though the man had just announced that he intended to purchase the moon.
“Are you serious?”
“Very.”
“Bodyguards?”
“Yes.”
“For me?”
“Obviously.”
Avi put his fork down.
“Why?”
Xavier’s expression didn’t change.
“Because you’re my husband.”
There was that word again.
Husband.
Avi almost laughed.
Three years of absence, and suddenly Xavier had discovered the meaning of the word.
“You don’t get to disappear for three years and suddenly decide you need to monitor my life.”
Xavier’s gaze hardened.
“I didn’t say monitor.”
“You just threatened me with fifteen bodyguards.”
“I said I would protect you.”
“From what?”
“Anything.”
Avi stared at him.
He couldn’t decide whether to be angry, amused, frightened, or completely confused.
Was this care?
Was this possessiveness?
Was Xavier simply controlling?
Was this some bizarre attempt at being a husband?
Avi had no idea.
But he knew one thing.
The man sitting across from him was serious.
There was no joke behind his words.
No exaggeration.
If Xavier said fifteen bodyguards would appear tomorrow morning, Avi had a horrible feeling fifteen bodyguards would actually appear tomorrow morning.
He picked up his fork.
“I don’t need fifteen bodyguards.”
“You might.”
“I don’t.”
Xavier didn’t argue.
He simply continued eating.
That somehow irritated Avi even more.
He finished his meal quickly.
Then stood.
“I have work.”
Xavier looked up.
“You work too much.”
Avi stared at him.
“You’ve known me for approximately forty-eight hours.”
“I know.”
“And you’re already giving me advice?”
“Yes.”
Avi shook his head.
“I can’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“Whatever this is.”
Xavier’s eyes followed him.
Avi walked away.
He went upstairs.
Straight to his bedroom.
Straight to the door.
He closed it.
Then leaned against it.
His chest felt heavy.
He had spent three years believing he was alone in this marriage.
Now the person he was married to was suddenly here.
And somehow, that felt more complicated than being alone.
Avi walked toward the bed and sat down.
He stared at the marriage certificate sitting inside his drawer.
Three years.
He had spent three years thinking about divorce.
Maybe he should finally do it.
Maybe he should end this ridiculous arrangement and take control of his own life.
But then there was Xavier.
The strange, frightening man who had walked into his home as though he had always belonged there.
The man who watched him too closely.
The man who asked too many questions.
The man who somehow made Avi feel like he was being pulled into something he didn’t understand.
Avi covered his face with both hands.
“Do I stay married to him?”
He whispered the question into the empty room.
Then he lowered his hands.
“Or do I get a divorce?”
For the first time in three years, the answer wasn’t obvious.
And that scared him more than anything else.
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