Page 96 of Playing with Fire

"Then take me with you," I said again, my voice steadier now. "Not into the meeting. I know that can't happen. But close enough to help if things go wrong."

Xavier started to shake his head, but I pressed on. "You know I have skills you need. Army training, tech expertise. I'm not just some civilian you need to protect. Let me stand with you, Xavier. Let me be your equal."

The internal struggle played out across his face, the desire to protect me warring with recognition of the practical advantage my skills could provide.

"Please," I added softly. "You said we're partners. Prove it."

Something in his expression settled, a decision reached. "You stay with Maxime at the extraction point. Not one step closer. And you follow every order I give without question. The second I tell you to leave, you go. Understood?"

Relief flooded through me, the small victory sweeter for how hard-won it was. "Yes. Whatever you need."

Xavier studied my face for a long moment, as if memorizing every detail. Then he pulled me close, arms wrapping around me.

"I need you alive," he whispered against my hair. "Whatever happens with Felix, whatever happens with Algerone… I need you to survive."

I clung to him, trying to absorb his warmth, his strength, his very essence. Trying not to think about how this embrace felt too much like goodbye.

"Same goes for you," I managed, voice muffled against his chest. "Come back to me."

He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes. "Always."

We remained like that, locked together in the empty corridor, for how long I couldn't say. Time seemed suspended. The world beyond our embrace ceased to exist. There was only Xavier, his heartbeat strong beneath my palm, his scent surrounding me, his body solid and real against mine.

A discreet cough broke the moment. We turned to find Commander Reid standing a respectful distance away, his expression carefully neutral.

"Pardon the interruption," he said, his accent thickening slightly with obvious discomfort. "Coordinates have arrived from Phoenix. We have a location for the exchange."

Xavier straightened, his posture shifting before my eyes from the man who had held me with such vulnerability to the predator preparing for the hunt. His arm remained around my waist, a physical reminder of what we'd just shared.

"Where?" he asked.

"Abandoned steel mill near Ironton," Reid replied, offering a tablet with a satellite image displayed. "Forty miles south. Isolated. Multiple access points. Difficult to secure."

Xavier studied the image. "Perfect for an ambush. But also perfect for a counter-ambush, if planned properly."

Reid nodded. "My thoughts exactly."

"Gather everyone," Xavier ordered. "We have less than an hour to plan."

As Reid turned to go, Xavier's hand tightened on my waist, holding me in place when I would have followed. Once we were alone again, he caught my chin with gentle fingers, tilting my face up to his.

"I meant what I said, Leo. I love you." The words still sounded strange coming from him, new and raw and precious. "And I'm going to come back to you. But I need you to promise me something."

"Anything," I replied without hesitation.

"If this goes wrong, if it all goes to hell, you run. You don't try to save me. You don't try to avenge me. You get somewhere safe and you build a new life."

"Xavier—"

"Promise me." He said firmly. "Promise me you won't throw your life away trying to finish what I started."

I wanted to refuse. Wanted to tell him that a world without him in it wouldn't be worth saving, anyway. But the desperation in his eyes stopped me. This mattered to him. My survival mattered to him.

"I promise," I lied, the words ash on my tongue.

Relief softened his features momentarily before the hunter's mask slipped back into place. "Thank you." He brushed his lips against mine once more. The contact was brief, almost chaste, but carrying the weight of everything we'd confessed. "Now let's go plan a trap for the man who thinks he's trapping me."

As we walked back toward the conference room, his hand remained on my lower back, a point of warmth and connection I clung to desperately. I didn't tell him about the modifications I'd already begun planning for his tactical gear, the tracking devices I intended to conceal where even Xavier wouldn't detect them. I didn't tell him that I'd been running facial recognition on Felix Burns through every database I could access, compiling a profile more detailed than anything Felix could have created on Xavier.

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