Chapter Twenty

Xavier

“You must still have some serious brain damage if you think that this is a good fucking idea,” Isabelle complained, pacing the concrete.

The two of them were standing in the parking lot of one of the buildings that was currently under construction and a few blocks from the station. When he made the call, it was under the assumption that Melanie still cared about Madelyn, and he had assumed correctly as it hadn’t taken much to get her to agree to meet with him. She had been so eager for any shred of information that she hadn’t even asked who he was, what information he had, or why he asked to meet with her alone. In truth, she was lucky it had been him who asked to meet with her instead of Colby or one of his guys.

“No one said you need to be here,” he snapped at her.

“Obviously, I do need to be here,” she retorted. “You have kept what you are a secret for years, but the moment you leave us, all of a sudden you tell everyone who will listen! You are going to end up getting yourself killed!”

Isabelle was currently pushing every single one of his buttons, and he was seconds away from completely losing it on her. He didn’t know why she cared so much. It wasn’t like it was her secret he was exposing. Who he told had no impact on her or her life whatsoever.

Thankfully, he was saved from biting her head off by Melanie coming around the corner of the building. She looked exactly as he expected her to since her best friend was missing. Her hair was up in a messy bun, her clothes were wrinkled, and she was wearing day-old makeup. Madelyn’s disappearance seemed to be weighing heavily on her.

Melanie’s steps slowed when she spotted both him and Isabelle, and her hand instinctively went to the gun on her belt. “Are you the one who called? The one with information about Madelyn?”

“I am,” he replied, folding his arms across his chest.

“Right,” she muttered as she eyed him skeptically. “And how did you come about this information? Were you in the parking lot when it happened, or?—”

He raised an eyebrow in question. “You are asking those questions now?”

Melanie rolled her eyes and threw her arms out in clear frustration. “I don’t have time for this.”

“Melanie, I know who took Madelyn because he’s after me. He knows how much hurting Madelyn would hurt me,” he said quickly.

Shifting on her feet, Melanie’s eyes narrowed as she took him in. “You’re him,” she said after a while. “You’re Xavier. Madelyn’s stalker.”

“Boyfriend,” he corrected impatiently. “I was upgraded.”

“I should arrest your ass where you stand.”

“For what, exactly? Last I checked, you’ve got nothing on me.”

Melanie lifted her chin defiantly. “Don’t I? What about what you did to David?”

The corner of his mouth twitched up despite the current situation. That was a memory he was rather fond of. Melanie was smart, he’d give her that. She knew what he had done to David, but if ahe had ID’d him, he would be in cuffs already. As it stood, she was bluffing.

“Who’s David?” he asked nonchalantly.

“I thought you two were here to talk about Madelyn,” Isabelle interjected impatiently. “Isn’t she missing or some shit?”

“And who the fuck are you?” The accusation was clear in Melanie’s voice as she glared at Isabelle before looking back at him. “Are you screwing her too? Does Madelyn know?”

He didn’t have time for this shit. Madelyn was out there somewhere, in Colby’s hands, no less. He needed to get this moving along.

“Isabelle is an old associate of mine, and yes, Madelyn knows about her. Madelyn knows more about me than you think.” Melanie cocked an eyebrow in question, but he continued. “So, here’s the deal. The man who killed your guy? His name is Colby, and you do not want to go after him, okay? You will only get yourself and anyone you take with you killed.”

Melanie laughed humorlessly. “You are a real piece of work, you know that? I don’t know what Madelyn even sees in you. I am going to find her, Xavier. Not only is it my job, but unlike you, I’m not going to leave her with some psycho.”

“Damn it, Melanie!” he exclaimed loudly. “I’m not leaving her with Colby. I’m going after him.”

“And you are better suited to do so because?”

Taking a step toward her, he was about to tell her, but Isabelle surprisingly beat him to it. “Because we are hired killers, Detective. We were all trained by the same man from a very young age. We know how Colby works and operates, and we know how to take him down.”

He found it shocking that Isabelle had divulged so much. It wasn’t like her, but at least, she was helping to keep the conversation going.

“I was higher up in the chain of command than Colby was,” he continued, motioning toward his still-healing face. “And he still managed to take me down. That’s why Madelyn was taken. I was unconscious for the last two weeks. If I hadn’t been, then I would have protected her. But I’m ready for him this time, and you have my word that I will get Madelyn back. But you can’t go after him, Melanie. You will only get yourself killed.”

The look on Melanie’s face was one of disbelief. “You… you came here to warn me? To protect me?”

“Trust me, I can’t believe it either. This shit isn’t what I do, but when I found out that you were leading the investigation, I had to warn you, for Madelyn’s sake. And now I have. So?—”

Xavier nodded at Isabelle, letting her know, without words, that they were leaving. However, Melanie’s voice stopped him. “Why?” she asked suddenly. When he looked over at her, she continued. “Why bother to warn me? Why do you care what happens to me? Surely, you know by now that I have never been supportive of whatever fucked up relationship you have with Madelyn.”

“I’m aware,” he stated simply as he turned to face her once more. “And to be frank, I couldn’t give two shits about what happens to you. But you are important to Madelyn. You are her best friend. If anything happens to you, it will devastate her, and I’d like to avoid that if possible.”

“You really do care about her.” It was Isabelle who spoke, but he didn’t take his eyes off Melanie.

“I love her.”

Those three simple words felt strange on his tongue. He had never said them out loud to anyone since his mother died. Once she died, he had vowed to never say them again. However, meeting Madelyn had changed everything.

Melanie sighed heavily. “Okay, look. I may not understand this whole thing between you two, and to be honest, I may never understand it, but I can tell that you mean that.”

“I do.” And he had never meant anything more.

“And I could tell that Madelyn cares about you too when she was telling me about the two of you.”

“What’s your point, Melanie?” he asked impatiently.

“My point is it would devastate Madelyn if anything happened to you, too, and this guy already bested you once.”

Xavier shook his head and did something that he had never done before. He gently grasped Melanie’s arms in his hands. “Again, that was just because I underestimated him and was vastly outnumbered. I won’t make that mistake again. Trust me.”

Melanie shifted on her feet and rolled her eyes. “I care about her too, you know. Like you said, she’s my best friend. So, forgive me if I can’t take someone like you at your word.”

He should have just left it at that. He had already spent more time there than he had planned to, but he had to do something. Otherwise, Melanie wasn’t going to listen to him. She would go after Colby and end up getting herself killed.

Taking a step away from her, he winced as he pulled off his sweatshirt. “I’m going to show you something, Melanie. Something that will explain how I can be so confident that I can take down Colby and how I know that Madelyn and I are destined to be together.”

Melanie shook her head, confused. “What do you?—”

“Just watch, Melanie,” he interrupted harshly. “I don’t have the time or the patience to explain it all in detail.”

Melanie pressed her lips together as Xavier nodded at Isabelle, who moved closer to the good detective in case she needed to grab her. Considering the way the conversation had gone, he had hoped that he wouldn’t have to go to these lengths. But he didn’t see any way out of this. It might be the only way to convince Melanie to let him handle this.

Xavier cracked his neck and mentally prepared himself for the pain that was about to come. Usually, shifting wasn’t painful, but he was still healing. He probably shouldn’t be shifting at all due to his injuries, but it was probably better that he do so and get a feel for the kind of pain it was going to cause now rather than when he came face to face with the enemy. When Madelyn needed him.

Without giving himself the time to think, he ground his teeth together and shifted in the blink of an eye. It hurt like hell, but it was bearable, which was good to know. He chuffed and shook out his fur.

When he looked up at Melanie, her eyes were nearly bulging out of her face as she began to scramble for her gun. Isabelle stopped her by shoving her against the wall and clamping a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.

“Perfect,” she huffed, glaring at him in his wolf form as she fought to keep a hold on Melanie. “What now, Einstein?”