Chapter Twenty— Xavier
1675 Words
People usually measured success by money.
By companies.
By awards.
By how many people knew your name.
By how many buildings carried your initials.
I had spent most of my life believing that was the only definition of success.
But yesterday had taught me something different.
Sometimes success was measured by the people standing beside you when you achieved something.
Your family.
Your friends.
And, apparently, your husband.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Avi standing beside me.
The way he had looked at me when I received the award.
The way he had congratulated me afterward.
The way he had smiled when he told me he was proud of what I had accomplished.
It had affected me more than I wanted to admit.
I liked having him beside me.
I liked introducing him.
I liked saying my husband.
I liked knowing that everyone in that room knew exactly who he was to me.
And that realization was dangerous.
Because I had done dangerous things before.
I had ordered things that would make grown men lose sleep.
I had made decisions that could destroy businesses, families, entire organizations.
Fear had never been something I struggled to create.
But Avi?
Avi could make my heart race simply by looking at me and saying thank you.
That was the part that frightened me.
Not him.
What he was becoming to me.
⸻
I was sitting in my office the next morning when my phone rang.
Falcon.
I answered immediately.
“Don.”
“Congratulations.”
I smiled faintly.
“Thank you.”
“I watched the ceremony.”
“Of course you did.”
He laughed.
“You did well.”
We spoke for several minutes about the award, business, investments, and the companies we were currently expanding.
Then his voice changed.
“We need you in Sicily.”
My smile disappeared.
“Why?”
“The families are at war.”
I leaned back.
“What happened?”
“Three families have turned a dispute into a gang war.”
My jaw tightened.
“How bad?”
“Bad enough that some of our shipments were seized.”
“Are they recovered?”
“Already.”
I nodded.
“Then why do you need me?”
“Because you’re going to be the next boss.”
The words were simple.
But they carried weight.
“You need to come home and settle this.”
I was silent.
Falcon continued.
“You’ve been handling the legitimate side of our empire exceptionally well. But you know there’s another side to the Falcon name.”
I knew.
Of course I knew.
The businesses people saw were only part of the empire.
The other part had been built long before I ever entered a boardroom.
Power.
Loyalty.
Fear.
Territory.
Family.
Sicily was where everything began.
And now I had to return.
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
I exhaled.
“Fine.”
There was a pause.
Then Falcon said, “Bring your husband.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“I said bring Avi.”
I didn’t answer immediately.
The thought of leaving Avi alone for a week suddenly felt unbearable.
I didn’t understand it.
Three years ago, I had left without looking back.
Now the idea of being thousands of miles away from him made something uncomfortable twist inside my chest.
“I’ll handle it,” I said.
“I know you will.”
The call ended.
I immediately picked up my phone.
I called Avi.
He answered.
“Hello?”
“How’s your day?”
“Good. I’m working.”
“Have you eaten?”
“Not yet.”
I frowned.
“You need to eat.”
“I know.”
We spoke for a few minutes.
Nothing dramatic.
Nothing important.
But hearing his voice helped.
And that was when I knew.
He was coming with me.
⸻
That evening, we had dinner.
I didn’t interrogate him.
I didn’t ask who had called him.
I didn’t ask what he had done all day.
I simply ate.
After dinner, Avi went upstairs to his office.
I waited a little before following him.
I knocked.
He looked up.
“Xavier?”
“Can I talk to you?”
He looked surprised.
Maybe because of how softly I said it.
“Sure.”
I stepped inside.
“I have to go to Sicily tomorrow.”
His expression changed.
“How long?”
“One week.”
“Business?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“Okay.”
I watched him carefully.
“I want you to come with me.”
He blinked.
“What?”
“Come to Sicily.”
“Why?”
“I want to show you where I’m from.”
He stared at me.
I continued.
“I know I haven’t talked much about it. I know you’ve barely heard anything about my life before you met me.”
“That’s because you don’t tell me anything.”
“I know.”
That admission surprised even me.
“But I want you to see it.”
Avi leaned back in his chair.
“What am I going to do in Sicily?”
“Rest.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“You’ll be working.”
“Yes.”
“And I’ll be doing what?”
“Whatever you want.”
He looked unconvinced.
I took a breath.
“I don’t want to go alone.”
That sentence felt strangely vulnerable.
Avi noticed.
“Or,” he said slowly, “you just don’t want to leave me here alone?”
I looked at him.
“Both.”
He gave me a look.
I continued before he could argue.
“I checked your schedule.”
His eyes widened.
“Of course you did.”
“You don’t have any court hearings this week.”
“How do you know that?”
“You have several meetings, but most can be done virtually.”
He stared at me.
“Xavier.”
“What?”
“How do you know my schedule?”
I smiled.
“That’s a secret.”
“That’s not a secret. That’s invasive.”
I shrugged.
“You are my husband.”
“That doesn’t mean you can invade my privacy.”
“Apparently it does.”
He shook his head.
“You are unbelievable.”
I smiled.
“Can you come?”
He was quiet.
“Can I think about it?”
“Yes.”
He looked relieved.
Then I added calmly, “We’re leaving in the morning.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You just said I could think about it.”
“You can.”
“Then why are you telling me we’re leaving tomorrow?”
“Because we are.”
He stared at me like he couldn’t decide whether to laugh or yell.
I left before he could answer.
⸻
Later that night, I was already packed.
I had no doubt Avi would come.
None.
But when I entered the bedroom, he was still awake.
He was lying in bed, scrolling through his phone.
I sat beside him.
“I know you don’t want to go.”
He looked at me.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You were thinking it.”
“I was thinking about it.”
I nodded.
“I really want you there.”
He was quiet.
“I want to show you where I’m from.”
I looked down at my hands.
“Sicily isn’t perfect.”
He waited.
“It’s dangerous in certain places. There are people there who will not be happy to see me.”
His expression became serious.
“Then why are you taking me?”
“Because nobody will touch you.”
My voice was firm.
“Not while you’re with me.”
He looked at me.
“I’ve spent three years without you.”
I smiled faintly.
“I know.”
“So why suddenly can’t you leave me alone for one week?”
I didn’t have an answer that made sense.
Because I couldn’t.
That was the truth.
“I don’t want to,” I finally said.
Avi stared at me.
I continued.
“I want you with me.”
Silence.
Then he sighed.
“Fine.”
My heart practically jumped.
“Fine?”
“I’ll go.”
I smiled.
I couldn’t stop it.
He noticed.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
“Because you’re coming.”
He shook his head.
“You are seriously strange.”
“Maybe.”
He turned back toward his phone.
But I was already thinking about tomorrow.
Avi would see Sicily.
He would see the place that had shaped me.
He would see the people who knew me before the boardrooms, before the corporations, before the awards.
He would see the Falcon world.
And I knew what that meant.
Questions.
People would stare.
Some would whisper.
Some would wonder why I had finally brought my husband into the heart of the family.
Others would wonder whether Avi was actually real.
Most of them had never seen him.
Tomorrow, they would.
And that thought made me strangely proud.
Avi was coming with me.
My husband was coming home with me.
Even if Sicily was dangerous.
Even if old disputes needed to be settled.
Even if powerful men were waiting for me.
I wasn’t worried.
Because I knew exactly who I was.
And in a room full of powerful men, there was one thing I knew without question:
I would always be the most powerful man in the room.
Nobody would dare touch Avi.
Nobody would even think about it.
He was under my protection.
He carried my name.
And, whether he understood it yet or not, he had become my family.
I looked across the room at his suitcase.
Packed.
Ready.
A smile slowly formed on my face.
Tomorrow, Avi would see Sicily.
Tomorrow, he would finally see the world that made Xavier Alexander Falcon.
And perhaps, for the first time, he would understand exactly who he had married.
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