Burning Your Lies (King and Queen Duet #2)

19

Savannah

Xavier and I stand outside the chambers, silently staring at one another. I don’t know how he managed a private meeting with the magistrate, but it’s irrelevant. He won’t rise as the winner in this situation.

It has been four weeks since my reception party. While we vigilantes have been slowly making our moves, things between Xavier and I are normal. Xavier is playing nice and lets me have Elise for one evening a week. We work professionally and keep our game out of the office. Outwardly, we don’t seem to hate each other. But we know it. It’s why when we lock eyes, it chills the room.

We’re called in and share one last look before walking into the office with our heads held high. We wait for permission to be seated and then we stare ahead.

The judge, an elderly woman, appears near retirement. Years at the job have taken a toll on her, and she looks exhausted. Perhaps that is why she doesn’t succumb to Xavier’s charming smile.

“I don’t know what strings you pulled to get yourself in my chambers, Mr Rivers, but I hope this is worth my time.”

Xavier runs his hand down his tie and sits taller.

“I assure you, Judge Callahan, this meeting behind closed doors was essential. The applicant has applied for a joint custody order. With the field I am in, I cannot risk the safety of my family by having the public inside such personal matters.”

“And what field is that?”

“Security for public figures, including politicians. It is a high-risk job that puts me in danger.”

She looks even more unimpressed than before.

“And a man who is so equipped to protect the mighty politicians of the world cannot protect his own family? A little ironic, no?”

I hide my smile with my hand.

“It is also a concern regarding the protection of my private matters. Privacy is a defining aspect of my life. I am determined to ensure that my personal matters remain private and do not receive media attention. I aspire to sustain this way of life. And then there is the matter that the applicant is not even the mother of the child.”

Her gaze finally falls on me.

“Is this true?”

I sit taller.

“If that comment is to be accepted as a factual statement, then it is to be argued that mothers who have children via egg donors cannot be called mothers. It is to say that women who have adopted children should not be deemed a true mother. I am her mother. I underwent implantation. I carried her in my womb. I gave birth to her. I completed the night feeds alone, might I add? I soothed her when she cried. I cared for her when she was poorly. I changed her nappies. I rocked her to sleep. I ensured she was clothed, happy and protected. Is that not the true nature of a mother?”

“She was born via surrogacy?”

Xavier nods. “Correct.”

“Did you complete the necessary paperwork to change parental responsibility after the birth of the child?”

“No.”

“And why not, Mr Rivers?”

“Unfortunately, my wife passed away prior to the birth of our child.”

She’s looking at me again.

“And you took on the role of her caregiver?”

“Yes. Mr Rivers and I were in a relationship at the time. I was living in his property and became a full-time mother.”

“We were not in a relationship, your honour,”

he snides.

“Savannah was there to help care for Elise until I arranged for childcare.”

I can’t help but laugh.

“That is a lie, your honour. Mr Rivers has a tendency to fib. We were in a relationship. I have many people who can testify to that. Including my current husband, as I ended my then-relationship with him to pursue a future with Mr Rivers.”

Xavier smiles before pulling out a stack of paper from his briefcase.

“I appreciate your mention of your intimate involvement with Ray. To my understanding, Savannah can only be legally responsible for parenting if she served as our surrogate.”

He slides the papers to the judge.

“The following is the legally binding contract that was signed by my late wife, Savannah, and myself. Please take the time to examine this document at your convenience, but in essence, it stipulates that Savannah Hayes will act as our surrogate for the duration of the unbroken clauses. Clause G, referred to as ‘sexual activities’, prohibited Savannah from participating in sexual relationships throughout the duration of the process to mitigate the risk of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.”

He shoots me a smug grin.

“By her own admission, she admits she broke this clause.”

I don’t let her respond, because I have been waiting for him to bring this up.

“Thank you for that, Xavier. I’d like to raise a point on this matter, if I may?”

“Go ahead.”

“My relationship with Mr Rivers started before the one with my now-husband. He was the one who initiated the relationship.”

“That is a lie.”

He looks at me incredulously.

“And you call me the liar? Your honour, her relationship with Ray started many months before ours did.”

Her eyebrows shoot up.

“I thought you weren’t in a relationship with her, Mr Rivers?”

He’s still looking at me.

“You know you slept with him the night of my company anniversary party.”

I put on my best face of innocence.

“And how do you know that, Xavier?”

Come on. Admit it.

“Was it because you watched it through the cameras you planted in my bedroom?”

“Pardon me?”

He shakes his head at her.

“She is lying.”

“The only liar here is you,”

I spit at him.

Xavier takes a second to calm himself and think of another lie.

“His car was outside the property for quite some time.”

Judge Callahan is back to looking bored.

“Perhaps he was reading her a bedtime story,”

she sarcastically remarks, and it takes everything in me not to laugh in his face.

“Unless you can prove she broke the clause, I will disregard the matter of a broken contract.”

He weighs his options.

“I have no proof.”

She shakes her head with a tut.

“Is there anything else you’d like to bring forward, Mr Rivers?”

“I’d like to make the courts aware that the applicant has only just been released from a mental health care home after being sectioned.”

A fucking cheap shot. Come on, Xavier. You can do better than that.

“I can provide the courts copies of my reports written by my licensed therapist. I was admitted wrongly for schizophrenia. After further testing, they concluded it was a combination of trauma and postpartum depression. I have undergone talking therapies and am not taking any medication to control my mood. I was deemed mentally fit to make my own decisions. I can assure you I am not a threat to Elise. If anything, my desire to be her mother was my motivation to better myself.”

She holds her hand up and nods her head. She gazes at the papers, then lifts her eyes to us once more.

“I have heard enough for today. Mr Rivers, if you feel a court battle will put your family at risk, I recommend securing protective detail for you all. This case will sit in front of a magistrate’s panel, where they will solely look at the wellbeing of the child. In the eyes of this court, and the law, Mrs Ray-Hayes is deemed as her legal mother, and a mentally fit one at that. I advise you both to think what is best for the child and their safety, both physically and mentally. If there is an amicable way to resolve your issues, it would be best for all of you. Thank you.”

I stand up and awkwardly bow.

“Thank you, your honour.”

I practically skip out of there.

Xavier storms past me without uttering a word.

My hair whips in the wind.

“I think I won that round. Don’t you agree?”

He turns on his heel and storms towards me. His face is so close to mine I can feel his sharp exhale of breath.

“You will not take Elise from me. I would rather die than let you win.”

I pretend to be scared.

“Let me do the honours. Please. It would feel so good to choke the life out of you.”

“You won that by lying.”

“Isn’t that how you won the first game? I only learned from the best.”

His features don’t soften. His blue eyes turn to ice.

“I never lied about loving you.”

“You just sat there and denied we ever existed! Don’t stand there and claim that you loved me. You loved the power you had over me. It’s the only reason you’re holding onto to Elise. Because you know for as long as you have her, you will always have me around.”

His scowl drops. He stares at me as my words hang in the small gap between our bodies.

“We could have been happy if you just stopped.”

I shake my head.

“No, Xavier, we would never have been happy because you are incapable of feeling anything. You are a block of ice. But don’t worry, I’m just warming up.”

I walk away from him and don’t stop until I’m around the corner. I pull my phone out and hit dial.

“Did you get it?”

I ask when he answers the phone.

“Yeah. How did it go?”

I smile to myself.

“Exactly the way I wanted.”