CHAPTER FIVE — Dinner With a Devil You Know
688 Words
The dining room is too quiet. Aria can hear the soft tick of a clock somewhere behind her. She sits at one end of a long polished table, trying not to look as nervous as she feels. The room is beautiful but cold. Everything in this mansion feels like it was built to impress, not comfort.
Xavier sits across from her. The distance between them feels intentional. He watches her with the calm intensity that always unsettles her. He cuts his food with slow controlled movements. Aria barely touches hers.
She tries to break the silence.
“Do you ever talk during meals,” she asks, pretending to sound casual.
His eyes lift to hers. “Only when there is something worth saying.”
She rolls her eyes. “So never.”
A brief hint of amusement flickers across his face. It is gone before she can be sure she saw it.
She rests her hands on her lap to hide how they tremble. “You brought me here for protection. That is what you said. So why do I feel like there is something else going on.”
Xavier wipes his hands with a cloth napkin. His movements are quiet but deliberate. He studies her for a moment, as if deciding how much truth she can handle.
“Because there is,” he finally says.
Aria freezes.
He stands from his chair and walks to the window. His silhouette reflects against the glass. “Someone was near your old apartment last night. Someone who was watching and waiting.”
Her throat tightens. “Who.”
“If I knew that, you would not be here.”
A wave of unease ripples through her. She remembers the feeling she had the night before. The prickling on her skin. The sense that she was not alone. She had tried to dismiss it.
“Xavier,” she whispers, “why would anyone follow me.”
He turns to her. His expression is unreadable, but his eyes are dark with something she cannot name. Concern. Fear. Guilt.
“You tell me,” he says.
She shakes her head. “I do not have enemies. I do not have anyone. My life is not interesting enough to stalk.”
He walks closer. Not touching her, but close enough that she feels the air shift between them.
“You were not a random choice, Aria.”
Her breath stops. “What does that mean.”
Before he answers, the door opens and Elara steps in. Her usually calm face is unsettled.
“Sir. You need to see this. There is movement on the east wing cameras. Someone is too close. It looks intentional.”
Xavier’s entire demeanor changes. Focused. Sharp. Dangerous.
Aria stands. “Xavier, what is happening.”
He looks at her, and for the first time she sees a crack in his control. Something protective. Something urgent.
“Stay in this room,” he says. “Do not leave until I return.”
“I am not hiding while you walk into something dangerous. Tell me what this is.”
His jaw clenches. He hesitates. And that hesitation scares her more than anything.
“Someone is looking for you, Aria,” he says quietly. “And I do not know why.”
Her chest tightens. Her pulse races.
“You think it has to do with my past.”
He does not answer. His silence is confirmation.
He steps closer. His voice drops. “Nothing will happen to you. I will make sure of that.”
Her breath catches. The way he says it pulls heat through her veins.
“Xavier”
He turns away before she can finish.
He leaves the room with Elara behind him. The doors shut, sealing her inside.
Aria sits slowly, her thoughts spinning. She thought she had escaped everything years ago. She thought her past was buried.
But someone is digging.
And Xavier Ward is the only person standing between her and whatever is coming.
The mansion feels too quiet now. Too large. Too alive.
Something has started.
And there is no going back.
~~~~~
- Writer
