Chapter six :Xavier-Mine, Apparently
1501 Words
Xavier was irritated.
He didn’t know why.
Actually, that was a lie.
He knew exactly why.
He just didn’t want to admit it.
Avi.
Everything somehow came back to Avi.
Where had he been last night?
Who had he been with?
Who had he been drinking with?
Why had he gone to a club?
Why had he gotten drunk enough that another woman had to answer his phone?
And why had Xavier cared so much?
That last question was the one irritating him the most.
Xavier sat behind his desk, staring at a report he had been reading for nearly ten minutes without absorbing a single word.
His mind wasn’t on business.
It was on a pair of blue eyes.
He leaned back.
“This is ridiculous.”
He had spent years building an empire.
He had negotiated with dangerous men.
He had watched people betray each other for money.
He had survived things most people couldn’t imagine.
And now he was sitting in his office wondering whether his husband was talking to someone else.
Worse—
he was wondering whether Avi was thinking about leaving him.
That thought made something dark twist inside his chest.
If Avi was thinking about divorce, that would be the worst decision he had ever made.
Xavier knew exactly what would happen.
He wouldn’t let Avi simply walk away.
And if Avi’s family thought they could use the marriage arrangement to protect themselves, they were mistaken.
Xavier had invested heavily in their businesses three years ago.
He knew their financial situation.
He knew the companies had never fully recovered from the crisis that had nearly destroyed them.
If he withdrew his investments, the consequences would be immediate.
They could lose everything.
Xavier stared at the documents on his desk.
He didn’t want to destroy Avi’s family.
Not yet.
But if Avi insisted on leaving?
Xavier would have no reason to continue protecting them.
That was business.
At least, that’s what he told himself.
But deep down, he knew there was something else.
Something he had admitted to himself the previous night.
Avi was his.
The realization had been uncomfortable.
Then it had become certain.
Avi was his husband.
His.
And Xavier had no intention of letting anyone else have him.
He picked up his phone.
No messages.
He had texted Avi once.
No response.
Twice.
Nothing.
Three times.
Still nothing.
Xavier stared at the screen.
Then called.
The call rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then—
“Hello?”
Avi.
Xavier’s shoulders relaxed before he could stop himself.
“Where are you?”
“I’m at work.”
“What are you doing?”
A pause.
“Working.”
“When are you coming home?”
“Xavier…”
“What?”
“Why are you asking me all these questions?”
Xavier frowned.
“I wanted to know.”
“Why?”
He didn’t have an answer.
Because he wanted to hear his voice?
Because he wanted to know where he was?
Because he wanted to know who was around him?
Because he wanted to make sure he was safe?
He didn’t know.
“I’ll see you tonight,” Xavier said.
Then ended the call.
He stared at the phone.
That hadn’t answered anything.
It had probably created more questions.
Still, he felt better knowing where Avi was.
That was enough.
For now.
⸻
Dinner was quiet.
Too quiet.
Xavier sat across from Avi, watching him eat.
Avi was doing everything possible not to look at him.
It was almost amusing.
Almost.
Xavier put down his fork.
“Avi.”
Avi looked up.
“What?”
Xavier leaned back.
“You said you didn’t know anything about me.”
Avi frowned.
“I don’t.”
“My name is Xavier Alexander Falcon.”
Avi stared.
“I know your name.”
“My father is Don Carmine Falcon.”
Avi’s eyebrows lifted slightly.
Xavier noticed.
Good.
He continued.
“My family is from Sicily.”
“I know that.”
“You don’t know anything else.”
“No.”
Xavier nodded.
“Then listen.”
Avi looked confused.
But he didn’t interrupt.
Xavier began explaining.
He told him about the companies he owned.
His investments.
His corporations in the United States.
His businesses in Sicily.
His involvement in international trade.
His properties.
His family.
His position.
He didn’t tell Avi everything.
There were things about the Falcon empire that didn’t belong in a dinner conversation.
But he gave him enough.
Enough for Avi to understand that the man sitting across from him wasn’t simply some businessman who had disappeared for three years.
Xavier watched Avi carefully.
The more he spoke, the more surprised Avi looked.
“You really own all of that?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Business.”
Avi gave him a look.
“That’s a very vague answer.”
Xavier almost smiled.
“Then ask better questions.”
Avi opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
For some reason, Xavier found that amusing.
He continued talking.
He told Avi about Sicily.
About the Falcon family.
About how long they had been established.
About his work.
About the companies he had built.
For nearly twenty minutes, Xavier was the only person speaking.
And strangely enough, he didn’t mind.
He had never sat down and explained his life to someone like this.
Not even Falcon knew everything.
But he was telling Avi.
His husband.
The man who had complained that he didn’t know anything about him.
Xavier wanted him to know.
He wasn’t sure why.
When dinner ended, Avi stood.
“I’m going upstairs.”
Xavier looked at him.
“Why?”
“I have work.”
“Didn’t you work the entire day?”
“Yes.”
“And you still have work?”
“Yes.”
Xavier frowned.
“You don’t want to spend time with me?”
Avi stopped.
He looked directly at him.
“I don’t even know you.”
The words hit harder than Xavier expected.
He stared.
“What have I been doing for the last twenty minutes?”
“I don’t think that’s how it works.”
“What doesn’t?”
“Knowing someone.”
Avi picked up his laptop.
“You told me facts.”
Xavier’s eyebrows drew together.
“Facts?”
“Companies. Businesses. Sicily. Your father.”
He shrugged.
“That’s not knowing someone.”
Then he walked away.
Xavier remained seated.
The dining room suddenly felt much larger.
He stared at the empty chair.
He didn’t understand.
He had actually tried.
He had told Avi about himself.
And somehow, it wasn’t enough.
Xavier stood.
He went to his home office.
Closed the door.
Sat behind his desk.
Then stared at the wall.
Why doesn’t he want to know me?
The thought annoyed him.
He had never cared whether people knew him.
He had spent years making sure people feared him instead.
But Avi?
Avi had looked at him and said he didn’t know him.
And somehow, Xavier wanted to change that.
He wanted Avi to know who he was.
Not just Xavier Alexander Falcon.
Not just the businessman.
Not just the man whose name frightened people.
He wanted Avi to know the person underneath.
And that realization was dangerous.
Because Xavier had spent his entire life keeping that person hidden.
He rubbed his face.
“This is insane.”
He stood and walked toward the window.
He could see the lights outside.
The city was quiet.
His mind wasn’t.
Avi was somewhere upstairs.
Probably working.
Probably ignoring him.
Probably wondering whether to divorce him.
Xavier’s jaw tightened.
No.
That wasn’t happening.
He didn’t know what this marriage was becoming.
He didn’t know whether it would become love.
He didn’t know whether they would eventually have a family.
He didn’t even know whether Avi would stop looking at him like he was an unwanted stranger.
But he knew one thing.
He wasn’t letting Avi disappear from his life again.
Not after finally seeing him.
Not after finally hearing his voice.
Not after realizing that the quiet, blue-eyed lawyer had somehow managed to get underneath his skin in less than two days.
Xavier picked up his phone.
He opened Avi’s contact.
His thumb hovered over the screen.
Then he typed.
Goodnight.
He stared at the message.
Deleted it.
Typed again.
Don’t work too late.
Deleted that too.
Finally, he put the phone down.
He was Xavier Alexander Falcon.
He could control entire businesses.
He could make men twice his age tremble.
He could buy whatever he wanted.
Yet apparently, he had no idea how to text his own husband.
Xavier sighed.
Then he muttered to himself,
“Falcon is going to enjoy this far too much.”
And somewhere upstairs, completely unaware of the internal battle happening beneath him, Avi continued working.
Neither man knew it yet.
But the distance between them was already beginning to disappear.
And Xavier had a feeling he was going to be the one who closed it.
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