Boss's Right-Hand Lover

Chapter Sixteen

  Xander's head swung to the side as I gave him a hard punch on his cheek. He didn't show any emotion when he looked at me. His face stood blank and his eyes unreadable. That made me even more pissed.
  Without thinking, I handed him another punch on his chest. I kept throwing punches at him, but he didn't even flinch. He just stared at me. Finally, his eyes gave him away, by displaying signs of regret and guilt, which didn't give me any ounce of satisfaction.
   It was very obvious he knew what I was angry about because he just kept letting me hit him. But I wasn't a fool. I knew damn well that none of my punches affected him. Tears fell from my eyes and I just kept hitting him, hoping he would flinch or groan or grunt. Anything that would show he felt pain. Even the smallest whimper would do, but he didn't budge, and my whole effort to get him to feel at least a nip of what I feel right now. Anger, hurt, betrayed. These were the feelings I had been harboring for the past few days now, and I wanted him to see that, but it was pointless. No matter how many times I'd hit him, he wouldn't budge. Even if I was a middle-aged man who's worked out my entire life or a born wrestler, he'd never show those attacks got to him. Even if it hurt.
   At this point, I was sobbing. So I stopped hitting him. He noticed and immediately wrapped his arms around me. I fought back but he overpowered me and placed my head on his chest. He started to whisper into my ear, and I just gave in, crying even more. Xander sat me on the couch and comforted me more. After what felt like hours, I'd finally calmed down. I pushed him away and stared at him.

"Start talking," He looked at me hesitant.

"I can't," I glared at him.

"Either you speak or I'm breaking up with you," I kept my gaze firm. He stared at me for a while and spoke.

"Ralph was meant to go to Mexico to retrieve some items from one of our suppliers. This particular supplier is very confidential and only does business directly with his clients. So I had Ralph pretend to be me, because the supplier had never seen my face, and I was busy in Italy."

"Ralph kept me updated daily. He would either inform me from his side or I'd do the calling instead. At one point, I was so occupied, that I hadn't noticed I hadn't received an update from him in three days. I tried to reach him but he was unavailable. I contacted the supplier, explaining to him who I was and why I couldn't come to retrieve the items myself. He of course confirmed to me that Ralph had retrieved the items and left days ago with it. I then believed Ralph was on his way and busied his calls to avoid being traced. That is, until I found out about an accident with a G-wagon near a beach somewhere in San Diego," My eyes widened.

"To get to his destination, Ralph had to go to San Diego, and I remember him saying that he had rented a G-wagon. I asked Elvis to look into it. At first, I thought, maybe the supplier lied to me and found out Ralph wasn't me. Or maybe after I explained everything to him, he tracked him down and sabotaged him, but all that seemed unlikely. A few weeks had passed and I had received no updates about Raphael. I later got a report that a weapon similar to the one handed to Ralph by the supplier was used to blow up a police headquarters. I contacted the supplier once more and he told me that that weapon was his last one and that Ralph had it. I ordered Elvis and his crew to get the supplier out of San Diego. So the police wouldn't be able to question him if they found out the weapon was his,"

"And Ralph?" I asked when he stopped talking.

"Unreachable. I tried calling him several times, but he wouldn't pick up Eva. I told Elvis to track his car down, and you know the rest," the tears fell more.

"And the supplier?" I asked.

"In New Zealand," I nodded. I sniffled and got up. I turned to leave but paused and looked at him.

"You've been keeping secrets from me. I don't know when it started. I don't know why, but all I know is that since you returned from Italy, you've been keeping secrets from me. And it pisses me off!" He kept his head down. I continued.

"You didn't tell me about Jake taking care of some hostage. You didn't tell me about McKenzie. You didn't tell me about Ralph's death, which I didn't know about until now. That means if Elvis hadn't told me, I'd still be left in the dark. I feel hurt and confused and betrayed. Thanks to you!! Congratulations mystery man, 'cause you have officially lost my trust," He gazed at me.

"Don't worry. You haven't lost it as my boss. Cause if I don't trust you as a leader, that give you a bad look. Wouldn't it?" I smiled bitterly.

"No, you've lost it as my boyfriend," I turned and walked out of his office.