Page 174 of Pervade London
We headed into the house and it felt good knowing we could make a home here together. His faith in our endurance was something I held onto with every part of my being.
I would always love playing house with him no matter where we ended up.Xavier brought out two beers from the fridge and pried the caps off so we could drink from the bottles. Within minutes we were sitting at the kitchen table with a slice of pizza each on our plates and sipping cold beer. My taste buds lit up with the flavors of tomato sauce and cheese.
The carbs did nothing to dull the ache inside. I couldn’t think of how I should have done things differently. I would always want Xavier in my life.
Tomorrow, I’d have to face Penn-Rhodes and I dreaded the thought. He was the reason I’d gotten into the Academy. As senior admissions officer he’d granted my scholarship and navigated me through years of training. I bit off a corner of thick crust as I mulled over how I’d be wording my excuse for not attending. Two more slices and I was close to proving Xavier’s pizza theory.
A ring of the doorbell made me pause halfway through a bite.
“I’ll get it.” Xavier pushed to his feet and headed off to answer it.
When he came back he wasn’t alone.
Kitty was behind him.
She’d dressed formally in a business trouser suit and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. No make-up, though she was no less pretty for it.
I pushed my plate away. “What are you doing here?”
“I invited her,” Xavier said softly. “It’s good to have friends, right?”
I glared at him. “She was never my friend. She only pretended to be.”
“We got along great, Em,” she said. “I know our dynamics changed but we liked each other a lot. That means something.”
Xavier shot me a sympathetic look. “I don’t want you to feel isolated, Em.”
I took a swig of my beer, stalling. I couldn’t get there, to a place where I could pretend she’d never betrayed my trust. Then again, James had been a royal asshole and I was sleeping with him.
I pivoted in my chair toward Kitty. “Tell me something, that night I first met James in Simpson’s-in-the-Strand, did you know he was there meeting Xavier?”
She blinked.
“Was the directive from James to let me see him?” I continued. “He knew I’d follow Xavier into the restaurant?”
She didn’t need to say yes.
I didn’t disguise the bitterness. “That’s why you arranged for us to go to the Savoy. Was it even your birthday?”
She gave Xavier a nervous glance.
I wiped my hands on a napkin. “You realize that was the night James dropped a bomb on my life?”
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “But it all worked out, right?”
The elephant in the room had never been dealt with—Xavier had lied about his name. And James had pressed a sword to my throat in a castle I probably couldn’t find again if I tried.
Our history was as shaky as our future.
The event tomorrow night would be what would save me when they left this house.
When they left me…
Xavier’s kind expression told me there was hope. He was fighting hard for our love, scheming behind the scenes and doing what had to be done to find a way.
His ability to read my thoughts was uncanny.
“I love you so much, Emily,” he said. “I’m sorry for the hurt we’ve caused.”
