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My ears were still ringing from the gunshot, my pulse pounding against my skin like a war drum. The once—luxurious hotel was now a battlefield.
shattered glass glitters across the floor, overturned chairs invading what was left of the space, and the metallic scent of blood stains lingering in the air.
Xavier was immediately on his feet before the last soundscape of the gunfire faded. His movements are sharp, purposeful, like that of a predator reacting to a challenge he had to overcome.
He could barely see the cut on his forehead which was dripping of blood, down the side of his face, but he didn't even react a little bit. His gun is drawn out, his eyes scanning the whole room trying to find the threat.
The sniper was long gone. Whoever they were, they knew exactly where to aim and when to disappear without a trace.
I push myself up, my breath coming in short, sharp gasps. Xavier's hand wraps around my arm, dragging me up to my feet with a force that left no room for me to make a choice or for any argument.
"We're leaving. Now." He says, his voice firm ,cold and commanding. He doesn't even wait for my response. He pulls me through the chaos, his grip on my hand firm but not cruel.
Carrying us through the crowd of panicked guests and his own men who were already barking orders into their earpieces. Outside, his black SUV immediately halts in front of it, before I can register what is happening, he shoves me inside of it.
The doors slam shut. The tension inside the car is suffocating. Xavier sits beside me, his fingers folded into fists, frustration coming off from him in waves. I can feel his pulse pounding with rage, his rage barely contained as he tried to keep himself composed.
"Someone wanted me dead," he murmurs , more to himself than to me.
I just sit there,looking at him carefully. He's trying to piece everything together. The same way I am. Someone else apart from us knew about this meeting, that person wanted to kill him.
Was it his business rivals?
Or was it Victor? Could Victor be alive and trying to exact his revenge on Xavier?
Or… was it someone inside Xavier's own family?
Those thoughts alone send a shiver running down my spine. I don't know enough about his organization to point fingers, but I do know one thing for sure.
Xavier Moretti is not someone to be targeted easily, whoever did this knew every single thing about him.He suddenly turns to me, his piercing eyes locking onto mine.
"You saw something, didn't you?"
I swallow hard, nodding my head to respond to him, "A flash of light across the street. Just before the shot."
"Why did you save my life?" He shoots back, his jaw tightening with frustration.
The weight of his words presses against my chest. The way he's looking at me, carrying that unreadable expression on his face, his breathing heavy. There was something deadly in his eyes—- something…raw… something… dangerous.
Silence stretches between us, thick and filled with unspoken words. Last night still flashes through my mind—his hands on my skin, his lips carrying fire down my neck, the way he made me forget my name, what my goal was. The way I let him.
Xavier leans closer towards me. His scent—leather, spice, and something that makes him, him.closes the space between us. His fingers trail down to my dress, slow, deliberate. My skin burns wherever he touches me, but it's not just desire running through my veins. It's something beyond me.
I try to pull away from him, but he draws me closer to him, making sure I don't get the chance to do so.
He leans in, his voice a whisper against my ear. "Tell me, Elena. Do you regret last night?"
I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. My heart pounds against my ribs, and for a second, I swear that he is about to close the distance between us even more,to claim me just the way he did last night.
But then the car comes to a halt, shattering the moment that was about to happen between the both of us like glass.
Xavier immediately comes out from the car before I can try to gather my thoughts, slamming the door shut behind him. His men are already waiting outside his mansion, the tension in their eyes betraying their composure.
He doesn't even acknowledge them standing as he walks inside, his entire body coiled like a loaded gun.I rush out of the car to follow him, my mind still spinning from everything that happened. Inside, the air was thick with unspoken accusations.
"You," Xavier growls, turning to his most trusted men—Dominic, Leo, and a handful of others.
"Who in this room wanted me dead"
There was utter silence.no one dared to speak when Xavier was angered. I watch the way their eyes shift, the hint of doubt in dominc's expression before he hides it. Something was definitely fishy,something I can't really figure out yet.
Xavier runs a hand through his hair, breathing out sharply as he speaks. "Until I find out who, no one is to make a move without my consent, no deals, no shipments, Nothing at all."
The men nod, but I can feel it— distrust among themselves creeping into the room like a deadly poison. Xavier doesn't trust any of them.Not fully. And now,neither do I.
But then Xavier turns to me. His gaze is different this time. It's.. Colder..intense.
"How did you see the sniper before he shot at me, Elena?"
My breath stops in shock.
"What are you trying to say?"
"No one else saw anything. But you? You knew exactly where to look." His tone measured, trying to control the doubt within him.
"You think I had something to do with this?" I shoot back at him, anger rising in my chest from his accusations.
He doesn't give me any response, That hesitation from him, it stabs me deeper than any bullet ever could.
I walk closer to him,forcing him to look into my eyes, to see me. "I warned you, Xavier. I pulled you down before you got shot. And you think….
You think I'm nothing but a traitor?"
"At this point, I can't trust anyone anymore Elena." He shoots back.
Those words coming out from his mouth along through the air, heavy and final. A wall has been put between us,built from suspicion and accusations, and I'm not sure we can ever break through it.
He walks away, leaving me alone with my painful thoughts," I can't let Xavier doubt me, unless my plan would start to fail." I whisper to myself.
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Later that night, Xavier strategizes his next move to find the sniper who tried to kill him with some of his men. I quietly slip away to clear my head.
The events of the evening replay on and on in my mind like a broken record. The sniper, the set up, Xavier's touch on my skin. His hurtful words.
I don't realize how far I've walked until I start hearing voices, low, quiet, coming from the far end of Xavier's mansion.
My curiosity gets the better of me and u walk closer, pressing myself against the stone cold wall to listen to the conversation.
"What did I tell you?" a familiar voice speaks.
I stretch my neck,clawing my blurry eyes to figure out who the figure was in the darkness.
It was….Dominic, Xavier's most trusted man.
"You told me that this trap would surely work, Santini," Dominic continues, his voice filled with frustration.
"But instead you just ruined the entire plan"
I stood there, my heart racing, my body felt like it was made of stone. My breath caught in my throat and the world around me faded into nothing but a blurry vision.
Lorenzo Santini's smooth chuckle immediately drifted me off from my shock. "Relax, Dominic. These things take time." He shoots back.
There's a stretch of silence before Dominc's voice drops lower.
"Xavier will never see the next one coming."
A sharp chill races down my spine at the realization of this terrifying secret.
Dominic is the one who is part of Xavier's inner circle that was betraying him.
I'm the only one who knows this, But Xavier definitely had to know what was going on behind closed doors.
I would make sure I use this to play and win the game I had started.