"Who is back?" He squinted his right brow at her, looking lost in the conversation here.
When she remained silent to his silly question, he stood up and abandoned his work.
"The news of her return is all over the City so quit with the pretence Xand!!" she screamed in fury, her accusing fingers pointing directly at him.
"You know that the one thing I would never tolerate from you is lies so don't ever take me for a fool, Xand, because I am not one," She retorted through gritted teeth, her extended finger lowered at last.
"You only spoke in riddles but never mentioned the name of the one who has returned, so how do you expect me to know who you are angrily referring to?" the man named Xander equally snapped at her, unable to sit back and watch the lady accuse him of something he knows nothing of.
Such actions won't be tolerated by him, especially when those accusations came from Eve.
"Tell me, who has returned?" From her panicked expression, he would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in knowing what was going on.
"Your wife," Eve blurted out while her hands balled into fists till her knuckles turned white from having to suppress her anger. "Your wife, Giavanna."
"Giava.... what?!" Xander's eyes bulged out of their sockets at the mere mention of his wife's name.
His feet at that moment, refused to move forward as though he had been struck by an unknown force that had rendered him morbid against the floor.
Meanwhile, the furious Eve carefully studied him with her sharp eyes. She couldn't wait to find a flaw in his aghast expression that pointed out the fact that she was deceived by him.
"Gi... Giavanna is back?" He cleared his throat and forced himself to speak after he had managed to control his emotions and keep them in check, but he still found it impossible to believe his wife was back.
He shook his head at the thought of it, no no!! It can't be!!
"Wasn't she supposed to be dead?" He lifted his eyes that displayed his silent panic, fixing it on Eve who ran her fingers through her hair as she anxiously paced back and forth, but had come to a stop when Xander asked her another one of his meaningless questions.
"Was her body ever found?" Eve outrightly questioned back. "Weren't we the ones who assumed that she was dead when she never showed up?"
"How can she ever be alive?" He asked, but it sounded more like he was asking himself and not her.
Unable to answer his own question, he closed his eyes and massaged the skin in between his eyebrows, quietly trying to gather his thoughts after being shocked to the bone by Eve's bad news.
Seconds passed by and he opened his eyes once again. He ambled to the centre of the room where three couches were positioned around a triangular table in the middle.
"Dora confirmed that she saw her," Eve stated cryptically before moving to the brown chair he sat on.
"Although she said she only saw her sideline and back, she was certain that it was Giavanna she saw."
"But how is that even possible?" Xander grumbled as he took both his hands into his hair.
The comfy couch suddenly became too uncomfortable for him to sit on, forcing him to stand up and pace about the spacious area.
He could literally hear his heart drumming.
"That Grumpy Old Hag, she utilised all her resources to search for her daughter. Her men and the police combed every nook and cranny of the country in search of her. After over three months of searching, no news was heard about her..." His voice trailed off when it still made no sense to him.
He moved to the right and leaned against the arm of the couch opposite where Eve sat.
He raised his gaze and focused it on her face. "Judging from how temperamental she can be, do you think she would remain in hiding while the Grumpy Old Hag fell sick and died of heartbreak?" He pointed out.
Eve's wavering eyeballs showed that there was some truth to the question Xander raised.
"I am a witness to how much the mother and daughter duo loved each other but don't forget that our engagement ceremony is in a few days." She jerked to her feet and moved to where he stood.
She wanted to remain calm about the situation and think logically, but her racing heart failed to hear her plea.
Eve lifted her hand and cupped his face in her palms, "Nothing can go wrong." She whispered, peering her apprehensive eyes into his black eyeballs.
Staring right into his eyes whenever she felt anxious always gave her this reassurance and calm that everything would be alright, but unfortunately, she didn't get that feeling today.
Instead, she felt even more anxious as she stared into the eyes of the man she has given her heart and entire being to.
She can't possibly afford to lose him.
Not now or in the future.
Never!
"I-I-I will go insane if..."
"Shush!" He silenced her, his index finger resting on her trembling lips.
"I bet your best friend was just confused after she saw a person that looked similar to her. There is absolutely nothing to be worried about, I will have my men investigate it and I will prove to you that I was right. Okay?" He whispered in a soothing voice as he rubbed his nose affectionately against her bare neck.
"So calm down and give me that charming smile that always made my heart flutter like the first day we met hmm?" His husky voice that hoses so much emotion coupled with his teases washed Eve's thoughts away like the excitement that just rained over her system.
To ease the tension the news of his dead wife had caused in his office, Xander's right hand artfully trailed from her face down to her chest, shifting aside the collar of her shirt and exposing her pale neck to his gaze.