Burning Your Lies (King and Queen Duet #2)

23

Xavier

I read the words again and again, letting them fuel the rage that has had me in a chokehold since I woke in the morning to the headline. I throw the newspaper across my desk in frustration. This has Savannah written all over it. The doors to the lift ping and she enters the floor. Her eyes are hard as she heads towards my office.

The door flies open, and she storms up to me before tossing the morning paper at me.

“This was you, right? You think by doing this it will come between me and Hux?”

How foolish does she think I am? I see through her poker face.

I stand up and snarl at her.

“Don’t fucking play with me, Savannah. This was you.”

I hold the paper up and read it word-for-word.

“An exclusive source, close to the elusive CEO Xavier Rivers of XR Securities, reveals that the billionaire is in a court battle with his surrogate, Savannah Ray-Hayes. This news confirms suspicions after the couple were seen in a heated argument outside the courts last month. The security tycoon has almost remained invisible to the public, but this source confirms that Xavier Rivers engaged in a relationship with Savannah Ray-Hayes during the pregnancy, which continued until months after the baby was born. The source made no comment on the name or gender of the baby, but only that they have contact with Mrs Ray-Hayes. This exclusive information raises two questions: when did the affair begin, and is she solely a surrogate, or was that a story concocted to cover that an illegitimate baby was conceived amid a messy affair?”

I throw it to the ground.

Savannah steps forward as if she’s going to lunge for me.

“You think I want the world to know about our fucking affair? I could barely even tell Hux the truth! Why on earth would I want everyone to know I was the fucking mistress that wrecked the perfect marriage you put on show? This was you. Is this because I wouldn’t fuck you again?”

I have done everything in my power to keep people out of my personal business. I did everything necessary to maintain the image of a man who had order and control over all elements of my life. This article pulls at the strings I’ve tightly held onto. Studying the anger on her face and the way her chest is rising and falling, my earlier doubts fade.

“If it wasn’t you, it begs the question of who.”

She cocks her brow.

“You’re denying it was you?”

“Why would I want this out there? How does this benefit me?”

I shake my head.

“We need to do damage control. We deny it, no matter what evidence they produce. If anymore papers try to print anything, I will shut it down. You just keep your fucking mouth shut.”

“Fine. But we still don’t know who spoke to them in the first place. Who else knows about us?”

My face settles into an unimpressed fixture.

“Your husband.”

She shakes her head.

“No! Hux wouldn’t do that. Not to you. Not to me. He wouldn’t want anyone to know the truth.”

She stares at the ground and taps her feet as she wracks her brain. When she looks at me, she looks defeated. “Brynn.”

I defend her as valiantly as she defended her husband.

“She wouldn’t do that.”

A loud groan fills the room. Savannah rubs her face in frustration.

“Of course it was her! Who else would be so fucking stupid to speak to a reporter?”

“Watch your fucking mouth, Savannah,”

I snap.

“The only reason she knows anything is because you wanted to drag her into your twisted game.”

Her palms rest on the desk, and she leans forward. The fire I equally love and detest burns bright in her golden orbs. If I were anyone else, I would have cowered at the fury in her.

“Your little girlfriend is a throwaway card. She's the red joker. I haven’t even started on her. And if you want to keep it that way, I suggest you tell her to keep her mouth shut or I’ll permanently silence her.”

Rowan looks like a smug bastard as he takes a seat on the other side of my desk. His thick beard and hair have been trimmed and groomed. His waistcoat sits snug against him as he lets out a relaxed sigh.

“I’ve had a blissful morning. Got myself pampered while I read a wonderful story in the news.”

“I wouldn’t have this problem if you followed through on your promise. Why isn’t she dead yet?”

He tuts at me.

“I don’t play by your rules. Your request has been added to the waiting list.”

“What are you doing here?”

With a confused look, Savannah stands in the doorway. She closes the door behind her before walking over to my desk and handing me the papers I requested.

Rowan blatantly eye fucks her.

“I need a PA. If she looks anything like you, I’d be tempted to have an affair too.”

She rolls her eyes.

“Those journalists are bottom feeders who will print anything for sales. It’s all lies.”

He turns to me with a grin.

“Is that so?”

“How much to make my business a top priority?”

I ask.

“I’m willing to do anything.”

“You should get better at your poker face, Xavier. You’re laying all your cards on the table and I can see how vulnerable you really are.”

Her arm slides across the back of his chair.

“Begging is never appealing.”

He leans back into his seat.

“What she said.”

I eye the two of them as they share a look I can’t quite decipher.

“Make it happen,” I order.

His focus is back on Savannah.

“Can I interest you in a drink, my darling?”

“Raincheck. I’m off to pick my daughter up for an evening of toys, giggles, and cuddles.”

I hate the way she denies I exist. She wouldn’t have Elise if it weren’t for me. It’s half of my DNA that she loves so much. “Ours,”

I call out as she heads for the door.

“What?”

“She’s ours. Mine and yours. Our daughter.”

The scent of a roast dinner wafts through the house as I enter. My keys are carefully placed on the side table before I begin my search for Brynn to ask if it was her that spoke to a reporter.

She’s stirring the gravy when I enter. She glances up at me.

“Perfect timing! The chicken is almost done.”

I cross my arms over my chest and lean against the counter.

“Why did you tell the papers about my relationship with Savannah?”

Any hope of gloating to Savannah that she was wrong flies out the window when Brynn stops stirring. Her chest rises and falls as panic sets in.

“I didn’t know he was a reporter.”

No matter how hard I try, my voice comes out hostile.

“Who did you think he was?”

Brynn finally turns to look at me, and I see the fear in her eyes.

“He told me he was at Rowan’s club the night of the masquerade ball. He saw us together and wanted to know if I was single.”

“What did you say?”

Her voice is weak and timid. She can barely hold my gaze as she says, “I told him I was very much in a relationship with you. He said he was surprised because he saw the way you two … the way you danced with her.”

I close the distance between us. I’m stuck between my desire to strangle her for breaking my privacy and wiping the tears strolling down her cheeks.

“And then what?”

“I said I trust you and that your relationship with her is over. That the only relationship that exists between you is the parenting one for your child.”

She looks up at me through her lashes as she cries.

“I’m sorry, Xavier. I swear, I didn’t know who he was. And I was trying to defend you and our relationship.”

My shaking fingers curl into a fist as I curb the temptation to lash out.

“Do you understand the damage you have caused? I have built my career and reputation on my ability to protect one’s privacy. There’s going to be backlash. I will have to answer to my board for this article. How can my clients trust me to safeguard them and their secrets if my private affairs are splashed across the tabloids?”

I take a deep breath.

“And what about Savannah? The world is going to ridicule her. They’re going to call her a home wrecker.”

Brynn steps back and stares at me.

“That’s exactly what she is. She had an affair with a married man.”

Her tears are brushed away.

“Is that why you’re really angry? Because you’re worried about her?”

I grab her hand when she tries to walk past me.

“Of course not!”

“I’m not stupid, Xavier!”

Her lip quivers and she lets out a gentle sob.

“Do you think I can’t see it? I see the way you look at her.”

Playing dumb, I put on a confused expression.

“Like what?”

“Like you can’t get enough of her. Before the party at Basileus, when we were home, you looked at me for the first time in awe. I finally felt like you saw me as more than just pretty. I felt worthy of your affection. And I was on a high. I loved the way you couldn’t keep your hands off me. Until you saw her. She walked in and I saw genuine awe in your eyes. They lit up as you scanned every inch of her. I saw the way you held her close as you danced together. Your hands trailed down her back like it was second nature.”

She bites down on her lip as she silently cries.

“You may fuck me with your eyes closed, but I’ve seen it all, Xavier. You still love her.”

Is it that obvious? Can the world see how wrapped I am around Savannah’s poisonous finger? She’s infiltrated more than just my cock. She lives and breathes in my body and mind. I can’t elude her, no matter how much I should. It’s an affection that will be the death of me. I want her now more than ever. That is simply a fact. I want Savannah. I want her so much I would happily burn the world for her. But I know she’s poison. I know she’s not good for me. That is why Rowan is going to fix the problem.

I wrap my arms around Brynn.

“Of course, I love her. She carried my child. I can’t just stop caring about her. But I am not in love with her.”

“How am I supposed to believe you?”

She hiccups through her sobs.

“How am I supposed to compete with her?”

Forgetting all about the damn reporter, I lead Brynn to one of the seats at the island. I brush away her tears.

“You cannot contend with someone who isn’t even in the game. I do not love her,”

I lie.

“What can I do to prove that?”

“I don’t know. I’m scared.”

“Why?”

“Because I love you. It’s why I’m still here. It’s why, despite seeing it all, I can’t leave. I love you, Xavier. And it’s a love that is keeping me hostage.”

That is my favourite type of love.