The first couple of minutes is Xavier cursing and mumbling under his breath. He sighs and looks over to me. “What happened?” he asks, still pissed.
“I don’t know,” I reply. “I was waiting for you outside and then that guy bumped into me and started touching me everywhere.” I say reluctantly.
He doesn’t say anything, he just keeps his eyes on the road, but I can see the anger building up inside him. He raises his fist and I could swear I made a whimpering sound. I turn away and I look at the window as Xavier gets quiet.
“Dionne.” He says, his cold, hard mask still intact. I look at him, not saying anything, and he shifts in his seat, well aware of why I reacted that way. “Who did it?” he asks.
I look down at my hands and I don’t reply.
“Was it those assholes at the university?” he asks, genuinely concerned. “Dionne?” he says, his fingers brushing against my arm. I jump at his contact and suddenly a tear falls from my eyes. “God.” He says as I begin to cry.
I can tell he’s not used to emotion.
“You don’t have to tell me.” He says. He looks back at the road and doesn’t say anything the rest of the ride.
When we arrive at the house, Daxine sees me and hugs me. “How was your first day sweetheart?” she asks sincerely.
“A couple of frats tried getting in her panties in broad daylight and everyone around was gonna let it happen. How’s that sound?” Xavier says, obviously still pissed.
“Oh honey. I’m so sorry. You’re a very beautiful girl, but that shouldn’t give them a reason to take advantage of you. I’m horribly sorry.” Daxine sympathizes.
I give her a warm smile and I nod my head. I turn around to go upstairs and a loud voice interrupts me.
“When you walk in, you should always speak to the man of the house, girl.” Xavier’s dad, says.
I turn around to look at him. “I thought that was Xavier?” I say, confused.
His laughter booms throughout the house, making me jump slightly.
“Are you stupid? I’m the man of the house. How can Xavier marry someone so disrespectful?” he says, yelling as he grabs my arm.
“Axel.” I hear Xavier say, as he walks up to his father.
“Where are your manners, Xavier?” his father replies, quickly letting me go.
“I won’t have any until you have some for her. Let’s not step too far out of line. Let’s also not forget that you’re the one who arranged this shit. I didn’t choose this. No matter how bad I hate this situation, she’s still my fiancé, and I demand that you treat her as such. If you call her out of her name or touch her again, I’ll make sure you don’t have a tongue or fingers to touch or say anything else again.” He says with a menacing tone.
His father’s embarrassed as he stands there. Xavier looks at me for a second and turn around and walks toward the door.
“I have a meeting to attend, vuelvo enseguida.”
[ I’ll be back. ] he says looking at his mother.
I turn around and I go upstairs to do my homework. Hours later, the maid comes upstairs to let me know dinner’s ready and as we walk downstairs, we talk.
“What can I call you?” I ask.
“Just call me the maid.” She says, carefully leading me downstairs.
“What’s your name? I just want to refer to you as that. I don’t want to be rude.” I insist.
“It’s quite alright ma’am.” She replies.
“Please?” I ask again.
She looks at me and sighs.
“You can call me Cindy.” She says.
“Cindy. Well thank you for taking care of me, Cindy.” I say, making her blush.
I sit at the table and dinner isn’t served yet so I look around and I see that Xavier isn’t at the table. “Where’s Xavier?” I ask.
“He’s your husband, not ours.” Axel says.
“Enough, Axel. Xavier’s already warned you, and you know how he gets. He won’t hesitate.” Daxine says.
What does she mean “He won’t hesitate” ? I grew up in a mafia too, and that doesn’t sound too good.
“Could you go and get him, darling? The food’s gonna be cold by the time he gets down here.” Daxine says.
I look up and I hesitate for a second. Then I give her a warm smile.
“Sure.” I say.
I get up and I go upstairs checking every room. I come across an office that I assume is his based off of its dark color. I walk in with a knock on the door and his head lifts from the paperwork he’s doing on his desk. He looks at me and his eyebrow shoots up.
“What is it?” he asks, still holding his pen in his hand, looking up at me with an arched eyebrow.
“Daxine wanted me to come and get you. Dinner’s ready.” I say, trying to avoid eye contact.
“I’ll be down in a second.” He says, and puts his head down.
“She says she doesn’t want the food to get cold.” I say, trying to get him up.
He sighs and looks from me to his paper and then he stands, putting his pen down. “I’m coming.” Xavier says.
I turn around and I start downstairs, feeling nervous as he walks behind me. When we arrive in the dining area, the maids start to serve dinner. I glance up at Xavier, whose sitting across from me and he’s messing with the rings on his fingers as he bites his lip in thought. I want to ask him what he’s thinking about as I sit there, but I don’t as I sit back and start to eat my food. When dinner is finished, I join Daxine in the kitchen.
“What’s the matter sweetie?” she asks as she washes a plate.
“Nothing, I just wanted to help.” I admit, picking up a dirty dish to wash.
“That’s very kind, but I can do this.” She says, smiling.
“It’s okay. I can help.”
I start helping her wash dishes and before I know it, we’re finished. I go up to my room and I shut the door behind me as I walk over to my bed. When I lie down, I check the time and it’s 10 o’clock. I start to drift off and then I hear my door open. I lift my head and I push my hair behind my ears, focusing on the figure in the doorway.
“Can I come in?” Xavier voice comes, as I turn on my lamp.
“Yeah. Come in.” I say, bringing my knees to my chest to make room for him.
He sits at the foot of my bed and fidgets with his rings, looking down at his hands. “Are you alright?” he asks, messing with his rings and avoiding eye contact ..
I look up at him and I realize what he’s talking about.
“I’m fine, it was nothing.” I say.
“No, it was something. I didn’t like that. Seeing my … a woman being harassed like that. I may be ruthless but I still care, especially about someone I’m supposed to be marrying in God knows how long.”He shifts and looks me in the eyes.
“That ever happens again, or if anything you don’t like happens at school, or here at home, you let me know, okay? I’d like for you to be comfortable.”
I nod my head. “Okay. I will.” I say, a small smile showing on my lips. Xavier’s eyes fixate on them for a moment, then he shakes his head and closes his eyes, getting up.
“Goodnight.” He says, walking away.
“Goodnight, Xavier.” I say, smiling as he closes my door.
The next morning, I wake up to Xavier shaking me awake. "Dionne, wake up. You need to get ready." he says, sounding slightly annoyed. Not angry, like he used to be. I guess that's something good. "Okay, okay, I'm getting up." I say, stretching. "I'll be at your school earlier today. School ends at, what, 4:15?" he asks, looking down at his ring-filled hands. "Yeah." I say. "I'll be there by then. Now get up, unless you don't want breakfast before you leave." he says, sliding out of my room. "Thank you." I yell after him, getting up to go get in the shower. When I get out of the shower, I smell the beautiful aroma of bacon and sausage cooking. I get dressed and I put some perfume on, then I get downstairs while putting on my shoe. I must've stepped wrong because when I put my foot down, I slipped and twisted my ankle. I would've hit the ground, but someone was holding me up. I look up and I see Xavier with concern in his eyes. It quickly fades into seriousness as he picks me up.
Days later, my ankle's healed up pretty well. Me and Xavier have gotten closer, not too much, as he's not very open about his feelings, but it's progress. Walking through the university, me and Charlotte finally sit and eat lunch together. "So tell me, how's it going with Brady?" Charlotte asks. "God, nothing, Charlotte! We're just friends-" "Blah blah blah. Don't give me that shit, 'just friends' my ass." she says playfully. "It's not shit! I told you, I'm seeing someone." I say, eating the grapes I packed this morning. "Yeah? So where is this guy? Does he go here? Does he live around here, is he close?" she questions. "I'm not telling you anything Charlotte!" I say, nudging her arm. "I'm not gonna believe you until I see him for myself." "You're insistent." I say, palming my forehead. "You could've saw him the other day. He was here. He's the one who broke Josh's nose." I say. "He's the one who did that? Everyone said he knocked him out off one punch. If he can do that, imag
So this is it. I’m going on a date with Xavier. I can’t say I expected this, but I guess it was bound to happen. I’ve already picked out a dress and shoes to wear but I’m nervous about tonight, for what reason? … I don’t really know. I think I’m just overreacting. I shake the worry from my mind and I start to get dressed. I decide to put on a tight red dress and red heels with a ribbon that I have to tie at the back. When I’m ready, I fix my hair and I go downstairs where I find Xavier waiting by the door for me. “Look at you.” He says. “You don’t look too bad yourself.” I comment. He walks up to me and grabs my hands. His hands are big yet soft against mine. He rubs my hand with his thumb and then slips them from mine. “Could you tie these?” I ask, turning around, leaning on the wall for support. He gets down to tie the ribbons around my ankles. When he rises, he looks me up and down and turns toward the door to get on his phone. Minutes later, he guides me to the car and helps
Xavier’s POV: The next morning, I wake up and the first thing I do is put on my suit. I need to attend a few meetings today. Money’s on the line. I walk downstairs and my father stops me from going any further than the living room. “Father.” I say. “Xavier.” He responds. He’s never called me his son. Ever. I still try to respect him though. That’s how my mother raised me. ‘Where’s that girl?” “Are you serious?” I say, squinting in annoyed confusion. “I’ve done nothing wrong.” He says, looking confused. “You may be the type of man to disrespect women and do whatever it is that you do with them, but my wife won’t be one of them. As long as I’m with her, you’re gonna learn to respect her, or I’ll make you, and that’s a promise. I don’t care how I have to do it, and you know I don’t. I’ve never disrespected you a day in my life, but when you disrespect her, you disrespect me, which means I disrespect you, I just want to make that clear.” I say, finally walking off and walking out t
Dionne’s POV: I finish getting dressed and I step out of my room only to hear something in Xavier’s room. As I walk toward the staircase, he opens his door and walks out. He obviously doesn’t see me when he walks by, so I walk by his room door and I see one of the maids getting dressed and she can barely stay on her feet. I scoff and I go downstairs and meet him. “Let’s go.” He says as I walk by him. He shuts the door behind us and we walk to the car. When I get in the car, the guard holding the door open closes it. The other guard on Xavier’s side closes his door and the driver pulls off. I cross my arms and I start a conversation. “I thought you said you didn’t have a chauffeur.” I say, trying to hide my anger. “I do. I just don’t use him all the time.” He says, scrolling through his phone. I stay quiet but the constant anger picking at my brain gets the best of me. “Did you fuck her? You smell like cheap perfume and sex.” I say, already knowing the answer. He closes the slid
I sit against the house, blood pouring from my leg as Anthony writhes in pain in mom’s arm. Xavier hangs up the phone and runs over to me and takes his tuxedo off and rips his blouse underneath off, then rips the sleeve off to tie it around my thigh where the blood is seeping out. He ties a knot tightly around my thigh, making me grunt in pain. He stands up and puts his hands out to me. I look up at him and I take his hands as he lifts me up. “Are you okay? Well no shit, but … “ he cuts himself off looking at me with worried eyes. “I’m fine.” I say back, limping over to Anthony. “I just got off the phone with some people who’re gonna get your father. We can discuss funeral arrangements later if that’s okay with you.” He says, helping me over to Anthony. “That’s fine.” I reply, paying more attention to Anthony. “I don’t have everything I need here.” Mom says. “Could they come home with us? Please?” I ask Xavier. “That’s a risk. You should know that better than anyone. My family
It’s been about 2 weeks since me and Xavier finally admitted to ourselves that we’re ready for one another and it’s honestly been good. I’ve been going to school everyday, he’s been picking me up and finally, he’s let his guard down for me. But he can switch it up, quick. One moment he’s in the car, telling me how much he loves me, then the next, he’s arguing and cursing with someone for something they said to me, then he’s cold. But that’s only out in public. When he’s alone with me, he’s vulnerable and open, and he keeps his walls down. In front of his parents, he shows them that he loves me, he’s just not as vulnerable. Still has to put on a strong, hard face for his father. Speaking of fathers, mine’s funeral is this week. I’m honestly glad he’s gone, then again, he’s my father, so there’s a sliver of me that still wants someone to call a father. That’s another time though. As me and Xavier pull up to the entrance of the university, my hand in his, he lifts my hand to his lips an
That night at dinner, Xavier sits in his spot next to me, and as we eat. Suddenly, Daxine speaks. “So you two, when’s the wedding?” she says excitedly. “About a year or two from now.” Xavier says. We agreed that we wanted a big wedding. Xavier says he wants it to be black and red themed but I want something light. We’re nothing the same which makes it all a bit more interesting. “Or two?” she says, surprised. “Yeah. We want it to be big.” Xavier says. “You always were extravagant.” Daxine says. “Dad in his office?” he asks. “Yeah. Hasn’t come out all day.” Xavier’s father has shown himself less and less every day. I think it’s because he wants to avoid Xavier in case he says something he doesn’t like. I don’t really know why, so I’m not gonna assume. It’s not really like him to hide. That’s where Xavier gets it from. After dinner, Xavier goes upstairs and gets in the shower, and I help Daxine with the dishes. When I go upstairs to Xavier’s room, I can’t find him. ‘Baby, wher