THE DRY CLEANER'S MESS

CHAPTER 12

"Cyrene, wait up."

The rich, baritone voice that used to make her inside flutter in the past now made her blood run cold. With every approaching footstep, her heart sunk an extra inch.

"Xavier?" The hostility in Cyrene's voice showed that they weren't very friendly with each other.

They shook hands and Xavier said something to him in a low, inaudible voice. She strained to hear him but gave up after a few seconds. She settled for watching them with hawk eyes. She noticed when Cyrene stiffened and she took a step back. What did Xavier say that made him react that way?

".... do anything. Anything at all." She caught that part of Cyrene's conversation and prepared herself to take to her heels. Xavier at that moment caught her watchful eyes and looked at her stance.

"You never get tired of fucking running, do you?" He chided her in a bored voice.

"What do you want?" She called out in false bravado. Her pitchy voice only highlighted her apprehension. He sidestepped Cyrene and drew close to her. He raised his brow when she took another step back.

"Just to talk. I don't know how damn stupid you are but you can't be stupid to the extent you think I'd try to do shit to you in The House." She scowled at his insult. "Now stop fucking fidgeting."

To her utter dismay, her body froze on its own accord. For some unknown reason, she was very scared of Xavier. She wasn't even scared of Luke, despite him being the Head of The Family. Maybe it was the scars scattered around Xavier's face or the intimidating tattoos on his arms, but he terrified her.

He noticed her still posture and chuckled quietly. "Good. Arielle, right?"

She wanted to roll her eyes and make a snarky comment but his close proximity made her settle for just a nod of her head.

"You know, it's so fucking funny that I knew you first but at the moment, it seems I know you the least." He shook his head and made a sharp tsk sound. "How about we change that?"

She started to shake her head but stopped upon noting the lethal look in his green eyes. Oh, Xavier was one terrifying being. "Uh-uh-uhmmm-." She stuttered and he smiled cynically.

He turned back to Cyrene who had been watching them warily. "I'll take it from here."

A whine of displeasure fell off her lips and she saw Xavier's brows twitch in humor. He thought it was funny, unlike Cyrene who was fuming silently. "Lord Luke assigned me to take her around."

"I'm fucking aware but like I said before, I will take it from here."

Cyrene gritted his teeth. "Am I to answer to you now?"

"Of course not." Xavier smirked before he continued. "But you cannot not answer to me either." He jerked his head at the stairs leading downstairs and walked towards it. "Arielle, come on."

She looked at Cyrene to save her but he was too busy shooting daggers at Xavier's retreating back to pay any attention to her. It wasn't until she waved her hand before his face that he looked back at her with angry eyes. He let out a deep breath and jerked his head towards Xavier descending the stairs.

"Go with him. I'll come pick you by 11pm for the council meeting."

She tried to communicate her reluctance to Cyrene but he'd already turned on his heels. She was left no other option but to run away Xavier. When she had gotten to his side, he gave her a sideways glance.

"I thought that asshole won't let you the fuck alone." She scowled at the amount of curse words flowing from his lips.

She countered in a mousy voice. "He's my friend, he's just looking out for my best interests. Plus I wasn't even complaining."