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Chapter 36

Autor: Ellie💕
last update Data de publicação: 2026-10-22 13:44:49

Jealousy & Possession

“You opened it.”

Xavier’s voice was quiet. Too quiet. He stood a few feet away, still in the clothes he had worn to the meeting, tie loosened, eyes locked on me like he was deciding whether to cross the room or stay where he was.

I stayed on the couch. My phone sat face-down beside me. The deleted message from Nathan still felt hot in my palm even though it was gone.

“I deleted it,” I said.

“That’s not what I asked.”

“I opened it. I read it. I almost answered. Then I delet
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  • HIS SECRET BARGAIN    Chapter 36

    Jealousy & Possession“You opened it.”Xavier’s voice was quiet. Too quiet. He stood a few feet away, still in the clothes he had worn to the meeting, tie loosened, eyes locked on me like he was deciding whether to cross the room or stay where he was.I stayed on the couch. My phone sat face-down beside me. The deleted message from Nathan still felt hot in my palm even though it was gone.“I deleted it,” I said.“That’s not what I asked.”“I opened it. I read it. I almost answered. Then I deleted it. That’s the full truth.”Xavier’s jaw flexed. He took one step closer. The air in the living room changed. It always did when he got like this, focused, still, dangerous in a way that had nothing to do with volume.“Almost,” he repeated.“Yes.”“What stopped you?”“You.” The word came out harder than I meant. “The fact that I’m still here. The fact that answering him would have been a door I couldn’t close again.”Xavier laughed once. It sounded nothing like humor. “You sat here alone, lon

  • HIS SECRET BARGAIN    Chapter 35

    TemptationThe message was still on my phone when the apartment went quiet again.Xavier had left for another late meeting. He didn’t say where. He didn’t ask if I needed anything. He just took his keys, looked at me once across the living room, and walked out. The door closed with the same careful sound it had made for days.I sat on the couch with my knees drawn up and the screen glowing in my hand.Nathan’s words hadn’t changed.If the place you’re in right now is hurting you more than it’s holding you, you can tell me. You don’t owe me anything. I just needed you to know the door isn’t fully closed on my side. Not the legal one. The human one.I read them again. Then again. The sincerity in them felt more dangerous than any threat he had sent before. Threats I could fight. This quiet offer of understanding sat in the exact empty space Xavier and I had created between us.My thumb hovered over the reply field.I typed three words.I don’t know.I stared at them.The apartment felt

  • HIS SECRET BARGAIN    Chapter 34

    DistanceThe question sat in the room long after I asked it.Xavier didn’t answer. He stood there with the towel still around his waist and the laptop closed under his hand, and the silence became the answer. I left the study before either of us could make it worse.That night we slept in the same bed with a careful stretch of mattress between us. He didn’t reach for me. I didn’t move closer. The heat that usually lived under my skin when he was near felt muted, like someone had turned the volume down on everything that used to be easy.Morning came gray. Xavier was already dressed when I walked into the kitchen. Coffee was made. A cup sat waiting for me on the counter. Ordinary things. They felt like props.“I have meetings until six,” he said.“Alright.”“I’ll be back after.”“Okay.”The short answers were the only kind we had left. He looked at me like he wanted to say more and chose not to. Then he left.The apartment felt larger without him in it. I moved through the rooms witho

  • HIS SECRET BARGAIN    Chapter 33

    ConfrontationI was still standing in the study when Xavier came out of the shower.He walked in with a towel around his waist and stopped the second he saw my face. His eyes dropped to the open laptop, then back to me. The temperature in the room changed.“You went through my things,” he said.“You left it open.”“That is not an answer.”I turned the screen toward him. The email was still there. Clear. Final.Confirming the last assets under the previous identity have been moved. No remaining trail connects to Xavier Kane. As requested, the original name stays sealed.Xavier’s expression didn’t change, but something behind his eyes went cold and still.“How long were you standing here?” he asked.“Long enough.” My voice came out steady. I hated how steady. “You told me there was no other name. You looked me in the face and said it was only a legal entity. Paper. Nothing more.”“It is paper.”“Then why does the email call it a previous identity? Why does it say the original name stays

  • HIS SECRET BARGAIN    Chapter 32

    The Crack WidensThe morning after felt too quiet.I woke up before Xavier. His arm was still across my waist, heavy and warm from the night before. My body still carried the ache of how desperate we had been with each other. My mind carried the words I had whispered in the dark.I’m still scared of you. Of where all this is going to end.He had held me tighter after that. He hadn’t tried to talk me out of it. That almost made it worse.I slipped out from under his arm and went to the kitchen. Coffee. The ordinary motion of it. I needed ordinary. The folder from Nathan still sat on the far end of the counter like a reminder that ordinary was a lie.Xavier’s phone buzzed on the bedroom nightstand. Once. Twice. He answered it in a low voice. I couldn’t hear the words from the kitchen, only the tone, controlled, clipped, the one he used when he didn’t want anyone listening.A minute later he walked out wearing only black sweatpants, phone still in his hand.“You’re up early,” he said.“C

  • HIS SECRET BARGAIN    Chapter 31

    Raw NightThe broken mug was still on the floor when the silence finally cracked.Xavier hadn’t moved from where he stood. I hadn’t either. Coffee spread across the white tile in a dark stain that looked too much like everything else we were failing to clean up.“You’re right,” he said. His voice was low. Rough. “It’s still fragile.”I looked at him. “Then stop acting like it isn’t.”“I’m not.”“You are. Every time you put that phone away without showing me. Every time you decide what I can handle. Every time you look at me like I’m the one who needs to catch up while you already know the ending.”Xavier’s eyes stayed on mine. The cold control he usually wore was thinner tonight. Something rawer sat underneath it.“You think I have the ending written?” he asked.“I think you’re used to controlling the board. And I’m tired of being a piece that only gets the information you decide I need.”He took a step closer. Then another. The space between us shrank until I could feel the heat comi

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