Where You Are, I Call Home

Chapter Twelve:Xavier-The Things I Was Willing to Bend

It had been two days since Avi told me about the party.

Two days.

And he had been avoiding me ever since.

Not completely.

That would have been easier.

He still answered my calls.

Sometimes.

But his answers had become painfully short.

“Yes.”

“No.”

“I’m working.”

“I’m busy.”

“I’m tired.”

That was it.

In the mornings, he drank coffee and left.

At night, he sometimes claimed he had already eaten at the office.

And when he did come home for dinner, he barely spoke.

It irritated me.

More than I wanted to admit.

I didn’t understand why his silence bothered me so much.

Three years ago, I wouldn’t have cared.

If Avi didn’t want to speak to me, fine.

If he didn’t want to see me, fine.

If he wanted to spend every waking hour at work, that was his problem.

But now?

Now every unanswered message bothered me.

Every short response irritated me.

Every time he walked past me without looking at me, something inside me tightened.

And that damn party was still sitting between us.

I didn’t want him going.

I didn’t know who would be there.

I didn’t know who he was going with.

I didn’t know if there would be another man.

That last thought irritated me the most.

Because why did I even care?

Why was I imagining another man standing beside my husband?

I didn’t know.

But the thought alone made my blood boil.

⸻

I had just ended another phone call with Avi when I leaned back in my chair.

He had sounded irritated.

I could hear it.

He wasn’t yelling.

Avi wasn’t the type to yell easily.

But his tone had changed.

He was annoyed with me.

And I knew exactly why.

The party.

“I told you,” I’d said.

“I’m not going.”

His answer had been cold.

“You are not going.”

Silence.

Then he had ended the call.

I stared at my phone.

I knew Avi understood me.

He understood what I meant when I spoke in that particular tone.

I wasn’t threatening him.

Not exactly.

But if he decided to ignore me and go anyway, I would find the place.

And I would show up.

There was no question about it.

I would.

I wasn’t proud of that.

But it was the truth.

I didn’t like uncertainty.

And Avi going somewhere I knew nothing about was exactly that.

Uncertainty.

I returned to my paperwork.

For perhaps ten minutes.

Then my phone rang.

Falcon.

I immediately answered.

“Don.”

“How is married life?”

I sighed.

“Complicated.”

He laughed.

“That bad?”

“You have no idea.”

“Tell me.”

I leaned back.

And because Falcon was family, I did.

“Avi is stubborn.”

“Most people are.”

“He wants to go to a party.”

“And?”

“I told him no.”

There was silence.

Then Falcon sighed.

“Xavier.”

“What?”

“I have taught you how to run businesses. I’ve taught you how to survive. I’ve taught you how to protect yourself and the people around you.”

“I know.”

“But I apparently forgot to teach you how to deal with people you care about.”

I frowned.

“I don’t—”

“Don’t.”

He cut me off.

“You know what I’m talking about.”

I was silent.

Falcon continued.

“Liking someone doesn’t mean you cage them.”

“I don’t cage him.”

“You locked him in the house last weekend.”

I closed my eyes.

“That was different.”

“No, Xavier. It wasn’t.”

I hated that he was right.

“You cannot decide everything for Avi simply because you are afraid of losing him.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You do.”

His voice softened.

“Let him go.”

I stared at my desk.

“I don’t know who’s going to be there.”

“You don’t have to.”

“What if there’s another man?”

“Then trust him to make his own decision.”

I said nothing.

“Xavier.”

“Yes?”

“Marriage isn’t ownership.”

Those words stayed with me.

“Give him room.”

I exhaled.

“I hate this.”

“I know.”

“I don’t want him going.”

“I know.”

“He probably won’t even take me.”

Falcon laughed.

“Then let him go without you.”

I rubbed my forehead.

This was ridiculous.

I was listening to a mafia boss give me relationship advice.

And somehow, he was making sense.

⸻

That evening, I made sure Avi sat down for dinner.

He looked irritated.

But he sat.

I watched him for a moment.

“How was your day?”

“Fine.”

“That’s all?”

“Yes.”

I almost smiled.

His attitude was ridiculous.

And, unfortunately, adorable.

I wasn’t going to tell him that.

Instead, I started laying down rules.

“When you go to the party, you call me.”

He looked up.

“You text me when you arrive.”

Silence.

“You text me when you leave.”

He continued eating.

“You answer my calls.”

He sighed.

“You tell me who you’re with.”

His fork stopped.

“You tell me where you are.”

He looked at me.

“Anything else?”

I thought.

“Yes.”

He waited.

“If you’re drinking, you tell me.”

His eyebrow lifted.

“And?”

“If you need me, you call.”

“That’s it?”

I shook my head.

“No disappearing.”

He stared at me.

“Are you done?”

“Almost.”

He waited.

“You don’t leave with anyone without telling me.”

His expression changed.

“Xavier.”

“What?”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

He stared at me for several seconds.

Then he asked,

“Really?”

I nodded.

“Really.”

He sighed.

Then, surprisingly, the corner of his mouth lifted.

“Can I go?”

I paused.

It felt strange.

The words almost didn’t want to come out.

But I remembered Falcon’s voice.

Let him go.

I exhaled.

“Yes.”

Avi blinked.

“Yes?”

“You can go.”

His smile grew.

“But you follow the rules.”

He rolled his eyes.

“I heard you.”

“And if you don’t—”

“I know.”

I leaned forward slightly.

“I will find out where you are.”

He laughed softly.

“You are impossible.”

“Probably.”

He stood after dinner.

And for the first time in two days, he looked happy.

Actually happy.

Tomorrow was Thursday.

The party.

He was going.

Without me.

And strangely enough, I felt both irritated and relieved.

I had never been a man who folded.

Not in business.

Not in negotiations.

Not in the life Falcon had raised me for.

People didn’t tell Xavier Falcon no.

People didn’t make Xavier Falcon change his mind.

Yet somehow, one stubborn lawyer had managed to do exactly that.

I sat alone after Avi went upstairs.

I stared at the empty chair across from me.

Was I doing this because I liked him?

Because I was afraid he’d leave?

Because I hated being ignored?

Or because, somewhere along the way, three years of a meaningless marriage had stopped being meaningless to me?

I didn’t know.

All I knew was that tomorrow, Avi would walk into that party without me.

And I was going to have to trust him.

That was something I had never been good at.

But for Avi?

Maybe I could learn.