Page 89 of Shâhzâdeh

“You process this however you need to and plan your wedding. One thing you should see by now is that you have a literal army of men who will step up to ensure you’re good. One call was all it took for him to come. Another call and the entire situation was cleaned up leaving no one else aware of what went down. That is what you’re a part of. Those in that room were collectively worth more than countries. Have more liquid assets than a few super powers and yet when their brother called, they came. I’m proud to be a part of this organization and for someone who trusts few, like Xerxes does, to trust me. And I know you understand the type of man he is because instead of running away from the gunfire, you ran toward it.”

The tears were back again, and I couldn’t stop them. “Maybe I’m just insane and have been conditioned to put myself in the line of fire.”

The smile he gave had that same sympathy as before. “Maybe that’s true. Hell, it probably is based on those folks that adopted you. But what I know is that this timeyoumade the choice on who to run to instead of being told you had to. And that speaks far louder than anything else.”

I laughed as the tears fell down my cheeks. “I was with you right up until you decided to put my soul on display like that.”

“Ms. Vanya, all of us saw you protect that man, who was two guns, from harm. You think he wasn’t going to put a ring on it figuratively speaking?”

I shrugged and wiped my cheeks while Quentin looked at me like a fool. “I mean…”

“Loyalty in this place is everything. Love is seen as the bonus. You’ve given him both. You absolutely should’ve known, Ms. Vanya.”

I bit my lip and nodded slowly because he’d said the L word and it had me tripped out slightly. I nodded toward the entrance to the penthouse elevator. “I guess I should go inside now.”

Quentin smiled and I really wanted to know why he was single. He was brown-skinned, had a beautiful smile and was always so kind. “He’ll be home soon. I have to say you might want to start packing. We move out of the Warren in a few days and I doubt you’re going to be out of his sight anytime soon.”

I hadn’t listened to Quentin’s advice to pack. Instead, I’d opened my laptop with the idea that I would work to take my mind off of everything and ended up just staring at the screen. My mind was replaying everything that had happened today. From the weird phone call that set all of this in motion, to the way my body reacted seeing a bullet enter Xerxes’ arm and he not flinch. The fortitude it must’ve taken to keep shooting despite the pain in his arm was high. And I hated that he’d needed to have that type of training based on the envy of others. They wanted what they hadn’t worked hard for and my heart hurt for Xerxes. I knew how that felt. Had experienced losing out on what I’d earned because of the greed of other people. I hated my situation wasn’t a one off.

I hadn’t even enjoyed being in the penthouse. It looked stark, like a model home. Xerxes had apparently had it cleaned, decorated and remodeled slightly as a potential corporate property, but the issue that had happened with Patrick prevented him from using it that way. I’d planned to decorate the place with my items, but hadn’t gotten around to it. Now it seemed like it was going to be pointless.

“Ziba? Is everyzing okay?”

I looked up and saw Xerxes standing before me and I frowned at the look of fear on his face. I’d been sitting at the desk in the bedroom and quickly started to move to see him.

“I’m fine. Are you okay? You were the one who was shot earlier.”

He pointed at my face without touching me or making me feel intimidated. “You are crying, Vanya. Did you not realize?”

I wiped at my cheeks realizing he was right. I glanced down and the blouse I’d worn was wet in the front.

“I’m okay. Just thinking about today.”

He took a cautious step toward me and I could see him favoring the arm that had been hit. “If you have changed your mind, I completely understand.”

“Changed my mind about what?”

“About being my vife.” His voice was softer like he hated he had to say the words but meant them.

I shook my head and wanted to hug him but I knew I was going to be far too emotional if I did that. “That’s not why I’m crying.”

“It’s not?”

I smiled at him slightly hating that he wasn’t as sure about us as I wanted him to be. “No. I’m crying because I just hate that someone is being so ugly to you. They hate you because you work hard. Because you have things that you have worked hard for. I hate when people covet what someone else has especially when they’re too lazy to go work for it themselves.” The tears were streaming now and my voice was raised. Instead of being put off, Xerxes smiled softly as he watched me speak.

“You speak passionately. Is that somezing zhat has happened to you?”

“Yeah. And I wish I was the only person it had ever happened to. I remember how low it made me feel. How much it would eat at my soul every time. When you work so hard…”

His face darkened angrily and he brushed hair off of my face. “No one will ever make you feel zhat way again, Vanya. I am sorry zhis situation has brought up such terrible memories.”

I stared at him incredulously and I couldn’t believe he was thinking about me right now. “Why are you worried about me? You were shot today. I should be worrying about you. Here, let me hang up your blazer.” I went to remove his jacket from his uninjured shoulder but he took a step back gingerly. “Did I hurt you?”

“No.”

I shuffled my bare feet on the thick cream-colored carpet nervously because I had thoughts but I wasn’t sure how to express them properly. “I don’t mind if you stay here. Am I breaking a rule?”

“No rule. My defenses are down—” Xerxes sounded strained and I felt crushed trying to understand what it was he meant.

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