For three hours that felt like an eternity, I sat in the dead silence of the leather sofa in our luxury penthouse.
Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city's glittering lights bled into meaningless streaks of color.
The bolt in the front door retracted with a heavy click. Familiar footsteps, weighted with purpose, echoed across the marble foyer.
Xander walked into the living room, shrugging off his tailored coat, his broad shoulders seeming to relax at the sight of me. He looked exactly like the man who had promised me the keys to his city.
He approached the sofa and leaned down to claim his usual kiss.
For the first time in my life, I flinched, turning my head so his lips met only air.
Xander stopped. The muscle in his right jaw bunched, pulling the corner of his mouth into a humorless arc.
"Are you feeling jealous, Sienna?" he asked, his voice a low, gravelly hum. "Or did you go looking for her?"
A sharp, brittle smile found my own lips, though my chest ached with each constricted breath.
"What sort of illicit relationship could a son possibly have with his mother?" I asked, my voice quiet and clear in the still room.
The muscles in his arms went rigid, and the arc of his mouth flattened into a hard line.
I reached into my bag and withdrew a crumpled stack of papers. The moment I had returned, I had bypassed the biometric lock on Xander's private safe-a vulnerability I had noted months ago but never had cause to use. The hidden documents were inside.
I threw the forged marriage registry onto the glass coffee table that separated us.
"Explain this," I said, my voice low.
Xander stared down at the undeniable proof of his deceit. His jaw clenched so tightly a muscle ticked in his cheek.
He exhaled a heavy breath and slowly straightened to his full, imposing height, releasing me.
"It was a necessary compromise," Xander said. His voice was entirely devoid of guilt.
A hot, stinging pressure built behind my eyes, but I forced it down.
"Why?" I asked, my voice cracking. "Why betray an eighteen-year betrothal? Why spit on the memory of my father, who bled out on the rain-slicked asphalt to save your life?"
"The other girl has a volatile temper," Xander said flatly. "She refused the position of a comare. An alliance had to be secured. I had to wrong you to keep the peace."
I stared at him, unable to reconcile the man I knew with the creature of cold calculation standing in my living room.
"Was I not the one who knew you first?" I cried, pushing myself off the sofa to stand before him. "Was I not the one promised to you by blood and honor?"
Xander did not flinch. He just watched me with empty, assessing eyes.
"Give me her name," I demanded. "Who is the woman you married?"
Xander remained silent, his face a mask of stone.
I stepped forward and shoved his unyielding chest, the tears finally breaching my control and spilling down my cheeks.
"Are you afraid?" I laughed bitterly. "Are you afraid I'll bring a blood feud to your real wife's doorstep?"
Xander caught my wrists with startling speed. His grip was a manacle of bone and sinew, instantly bruising.
His voice dropped to a lethal, quiet register.
"If you step out of line, if you touch my wife, Sienna, you will face the consequences. Even you."
My lungs seized. I stopped breathing.
"Xander..." I whispered his name, the sound laced with a disbelief so profound it felt like a physical tearing inside my chest.
He released my wrists and grabbed his coat from the armchair.
"Calm yourself," he ordered. "Do not agitate the baby. I will check on you tomorrow."
He turned, his back a wall of tailored wool, and started walking toward the door.
"Are you going back to her?" I asked his retreating form.
Xander stopped, looking back over his broad shoulder.
"You are crossing a line, Sienna."
The front door slammed, the lock's bolt shooting home with a sharp crack that vibrated through the floorboards. A minute later, I heard the fading roar of his armored engine speeding away into the night, leaving me in a silence that was absolute.
