CHAPTER 15: MANHUNT

ATHENA'S POV

I'm scared, so scared.

I followed one of the guards when Xander left earlier---- I just slipped into the garage, climbed into the backseat of the SUV, and held my breath like some absurdly pregnant ninja until he drove off.

I wasn’t sure where he was going but I knew it was related to the phone call of last night.

Now, the SUV is parked outside God knows where, but it's obvious that it's somewhere very far from the city with how long they drove.

I wait for a while before I push the booth open and get out of it.

And then I see some men dressed in all -black walk in a straight file into the building quietly.

The bodyguard that drove didn’t notice me and thankfully still didn't notice when I slipped out and walked along the side of the building, then pressed my palm to the metal door and pushed it open.

The hallway inside smells like rust and...

Is that bl... bood?

I suddenly feel more than scared now and realise that I shouldn’t be here.

... But I have to see it.

I have to see what kind of man Xander really is, because last night's phone call he made really got me thinking.

I find them in a concrete room that's been lit by a one swinging bulb and I almost gasp out loud when I see that there's a man tied to the chair and barely breathing.

His shirt is soaked in blood, his face swollen, and one eye of his is completely shut.

Xander stands in front of him with his shirt sleeves rolled up, his knuckles split and his eyes so cold.

“I’ll ask you again,” he says in a low voice, “Who paid you?”

Instead of answering, the man spits blood at Xander's shirt and Xander simply wipes it off with a handkerchief.

... Then he raises his clenched fists at the male and that's when I finally snap out of my shocked state and scream.

“Xander!”

He slowly turns to face me but I don't see even a trace of guilt on his face.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he asks.

My heart pounds but I manage to say, “I could ask you the same thing.”

“I told you to stay at home.”

“Yeah, well,” I bite out, “I don’t like being locked in a penthouse while my fiancé tortures people like a damn mob boss.”

His jaw ticks. “This man tried to kill you.”

“And that makes this okay?”

“I don’t need your permission,” he says calmly. “This is me protecting you.”

I step forward, refusing to turn my face to look at the badly beaten up man in the chair.

“Protection? So you think turning into a monster is going to make me feel safe?”

He doesn’t answer my question, instead, he turns back to the man. “Tell her.”

“What?”

Annoyed, Xander grabs the man’s head by the hair and yanks it up. “Tell her who paid you. Or I swear to God, I will bury you myself.”

The man wheezes, bloody spit dripping down from his lips. “S-someone I'll... never tell you…”

Xander’s fingers tighten. “Who?”

The man groans. “Fuck you…”

Xander stares at him for a long moment then glances at me as if deciding something and lets go of him.

“Get him out of my sight,” he growls to the bodyguards.

“Torture until he talks.”

They drag the man out but I still don't turn to look at him, feeling bile rise in my throat.

Suddenly Xander turns to me, and I take a step back instinctively.

"We're going home," he says and sweeps me off my feet.

_

_

_

Now back at the penthouse, I'm sitting on the edge of the bed, unable to stop shaking.

Xander brings me tea---- that’s what gets me the most.

It's not the bruised knuckles on his hands, or the blood or even the way he beat up that man and handed him over to his guards.

... It’s this; the way he's still doing soft things and still caring.

"Wh----- what?"

“I’ll find out,” he says, cutting me off as if he knew what I was about to say.

“Then what? You going to kill who hired him?”

“… yes.”

I press a hand to my belly and the baby kicks, but I don't gasp at it, I guess because what he said just now stunned me.

“I'm going to try not to believe you.”

He kneels in front of me, placing his hands on my thighs.

“Believe it. I don’t care if I have to tear this city apart, Athena. No one gets to hurt you and no one gets to take you from me.”

“You can’t keep saying things like that,” I whisper, now feeling frustrated.

“Your words always sound like love, but then feel like a trap.”

At that he slides his hand over my belly, as if feeling for the baby’s heartbeat.

“Then call it what you want. A trap, a vow, or even curse---- I don't care at this point. But I won’t let anyone take you and the baby from me.”

After saying that, Xander then tucks me in and leaves my room.

Confused, stressed and worried but strangely not afraid of Xander in spite of what I'd seen, I close my eyes to get some sleep.

However...

Some time into my sleep, maybe minutes or a few hours---- I'm not sure exactly---- I wake up to a sound, only to find the lights in the room that had been on before I fell asleep completely turned off.

“Who’s there?” I ask, alarmed but still groggy from sleep.

I try to sit up and stand, but suddenly a hand clamps down over my mouth, and another around my waist, right below my swollen baby bump.

Instantly I thrash, kick and scream into the hand, but the person holding me is too strong.

The baby kicks wildly as well in my womb, sensing my panic and I claw at the hand muffling me, sinking my nails into the flesh in my struggle.

Xander! Where's Xander?!!

Oh God!!! I yell in my head and fight even harder when the person squeezes down on my belly.

It's not from the pain that I panic, it's the thought of my baby.

This person is trying to kill my baby.

Just then... I hear;

“LET HER GO!”

The voice sounds angry and I recognise it as Xander's.

Suddenly the lights slam on and I hear a gunshot.

Screaming, I push myself off from the person and tumble onto the rug while the figure crashes through the open balcony door of my room.

Ignoring going over to check if the person died from height at which the penthouse is from the ground, or if the landed on a trampoline or something, Xander instead rushes to my side, grabbing my arms.

“Are you hurt? Athena, look at me------ are you hurt?”

I don't answer him.

I can’t breathe, I’m shaking, crying and the baby------

The baby isn’t moving.

“My stomach,” I whimper, clutching it.

“Xander… I can’t feel the baby kicking.”