Chapter nineteen
*Breakfast with the Vipers*
The Lax family dining room was a monument to tasteful wealth. Morning light streamed through tall windows, glinting off polished silver and flawless china. The air, however, was thick with a tension no amount of sunshine could dispel.
Xami sat at the long table, his posture rigid. Across from him, his father Julian meticulously sliced a kiwi, the silence between them louder than the clink of the knife.
‘The contracts are signed,’ Xami finally stated, his voice cutting the stillness. ‘The civil ceremony is next Friday.’
Julian took a slow bite, chewed, swallowed. He did not look up. ‘A business decision. Noted.’
The dismissiveness was a physical chill. Regina’s seat was empty, a pointed absence.
‘Julian,’ a voice, like aged velvet and ste
