Chapter Six-Xander
1209 Words
Xander Carrington hated one thing more than he hated losing control.
Seeing Cairo dressed in clothes he considered too revealing.
It wasn’t because he didn’t appreciate Cairo’s beauty.
That would have been a lie.
Xander had spent half his life noticing every beautiful thing about him.
The delicate features.
The soft skin.
Those impossible blue eyes.
The graceful way Cairo moved.
The elegance that seemed to come naturally to him.
Xander loved elegance.
He loved sophistication.
He loved seeing Cairo dressed beautifully.
But the lace?
The translucent fabrics?
The shirts that revealed too much skin?
No.
Absolutely not.
Xander didn’t want other people seeing what he had spent years memorizing from a distance.
That was the problem.
Cairo didn’t understand.
Or perhaps he simply didn’t care.
Either way, Xander wasn’t going to tolerate it.
That was why he had ordered the wardrobe.
Not a few shirts.
Not a handful of outfits.
An entire wardrobe.
If Cairo insisted on dressing elegantly, then fine.
He could dress elegantly.
Sophisticated.
Expensive.
Beautiful.
But covered.
Xander leaned back in his chair and glanced at the clock.
Nine fifteen.
He had just finished his final meeting.
He checked his phone.
Nothing.
No message from Cairo.
He frowned.
Cairo was already gone.
Of course he was.
Xander’s jaw tightened.
Why hadn’t he waited?
He could have stayed.
They worked in the same building.
They were practically next door to each other.
Why had Cairo simply left?
The question irritated him far more than it should have.
Xander gathered his things.
He would see him tomorrow.
That was enough.
It had to be.
⸻
By eleven, Xander was home.
He showered, changed into a dark shirt and trousers, and poured himself a glass of scotch.
He sat in the quiet of his living room.
The house was silent.
Too silent.
He stared at his phone.
And then he realized something.
He hadn’t spoken to Cairo much today.
Not really.
A few words.
A few instructions.
Nothing more.
That bothered him.
Cairo was finally within reach.
He was finally home.
And Xander had spent the entire day buried in meetings.
He picked up his phone.
Opened Cairo’s contact.
Then typed.
What are you doing?
He watched the message deliver.
A few seconds later—
Read.
Xander frowned.
No response.
He waited.
Nothing.
His thumb hovered over the call button.
He pressed it.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
Cairo answered.
“Hello?”
Xander leaned back.
“Didn’t you see my text?”
There was silence.
Then Cairo sighed.
“I just opened the text a few minutes ago. You didn’t even give me time to reply before calling.”
Xander’s brows lifted.
“Okay.”
He took a sip of his drink.
“So what are you doing?”
“I’m home.”
“Doing what?”
“I’m working, Xander.”
“What are you working on?”
“The upcoming project.”
Xander relaxed slightly.
“That’s good.”
“Okay.”
Silence.
Xander looked down at his glass.
He hadn’t called to discuss business.
He knew that.
He wanted to hear Cairo’s voice.
Wanted to know what he was doing.
Wanted to know whether he was tired.
Whether he had eaten.
Whether he was alone.
Whether anyone had visited.
But he couldn’t exactly ask all of that without sounding completely insane.
So instead, he went back to the subject that had been bothering him all day.
“Did they deliver the clothes?”
Cairo was quiet.
Then—
“Yeah.”
“All of them?”
“Yes, Xander.”
“Good.”
Cairo sighed.
“You didn’t just buy clothes. You bought an entire wardrobe.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Xander’s grip tightened slightly around his glass.
“Because I don’t want to see you wearing those ridiculous shirts again.”
Silence.
“Xander…”
His voice was tired.
“I don’t want to see you wearing revealing clothes.”
Cairo exhaled.
“I know.”
“Good.”
“You already told me.”
“I want to make sure you understand.”
“I understand.”
Xander’s voice became colder.
“I don’t want other people looking at you like that.”
There.
He had said it.
He didn’t care if it sounded possessive.
Because it was.
He was possessive.
He had always been possessive.
Cairo was the one person in his life he had never learned how to share.
Not with friends.
Not with strangers.
Not with other men.
Not with anyone.
Cairo belonged in his orbit.
Always had.
The silence on the other end stretched.
Then Cairo finally spoke.
“Xander, you know what?”
“What?”
“I’m tired.”
Xander’s expression softened slightly.
“I need to work and then go to bed.”
“Don’t work too late.”
“I won’t.”
“If you need anything, call me.”
“Okay.”
“And next time I text you, reply immediately.”
There was a pause.
Then Cairo gave the most exhausted response possible.
“Oh. All right, okay. Bye.”
The call ended.
Xander stared at the phone.
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Cairo had been tired.
He could hear it.
And yet he’d answered.
That mattered.
Xander set the phone down.
The room became quiet again.
He looked toward the window.
Four years.
Four years of watching Cairo live an entire life without him.
Four years of allowing him space.
Four years of telling himself that Cairo needed time.
That Cairo needed to grow.
That Cairo needed to experience the world.
Xander had allowed it.
He had given him Milan.
Freedom.
Distance.
Time.
Everything.
And now Cairo was home.
That time was over.
Xander wasn’t going to pretend otherwise.
This wasn’t Milan anymore.
Cairo wasn’t thousands of miles away.
He wasn’t a photograph on a screen.
He wasn’t someone Xander had to hear about through Raya.
He was here.
Working in the same building.
Answering Xander’s calls.
Walking the same halls.
Close enough to touch his life.
Close enough to protect.
Close enough to watch.
Close enough that Xander no longer had to wonder what Cairo was doing.
And perhaps Cairo didn’t understand what that meant yet.
Perhaps he thought he could return home, build his career, live his life, and continue exactly as he had before.
Xander knew better.
He had waited patiently.
He had restrained himself.
He had respected the distance Cairo created.
But patience had never meant surrender.
Xander had never stopped wanting him.
Never stopped watching over him.
Never stopped thinking about him.
And he wasn’t going to start now.
His eyes hardened.
Cairo was his.
He didn’t need to announce it to the world.
He didn’t even need Cairo to understand it tonight.
Eventually, Cairo would.
Because Xander wasn’t going anywhere.
He would be there in the morning.
In the office.
In the meetings.
In Cairo’s professional life.
Close.
Always close.
And perhaps one day, Cairo would stop looking at him with fear and start understanding what Xander had known since they were boys.
There had never been anyone else for him.
There would never be anyone else.
Four years had been enough.
Cairo was home.
And Xander intended to make sure he stayed within reach.
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