Chapter Eight

Madelyn

The next morning, Madelyn was once again pacing her bedroom floor, her hair wet from her recent shower. She was dressed in her bathrobe and had her cell phone clutched in her hand as she tried to psych herself up enough to make the phone call.

There was no way she could go to work today because she was still too shaken up. She just wasn’t sure if it was because she had watched Xavier kill someone to save her, because of the words he had said to her afterward, or because she’d had sex with him.

When she woke up that morning, she found herself sore in various places, and not just because of the attack. Her head still throbbed, and the bruises on her face and neck were more prominent now, but what she had been more concerned about was the soreness between her legs and the copious amounts of dried cum on her thighs. The memories of the three timesXavier had railed her before finally taking his leave had plagued her thoughts ever since she woke up. It was all she could think about, and she hated it.

He had not been gentle with her at all, not that she had expected him to be. It had been rough, demanding, just like he was, and yet, she had loved every bit of it. She had never cum so hard or so many times before, and the third time around, she had been the one to initiate it. It was the best sex she had ever had, and when she went in to take a shower that morning, she realized that she was also covered in hickeys. There were at least eight on her neck and another six on her chest as if he were trying to lay claim to her.

It was as if Xavier was more attuned to her body and what she needed than she was. He knew all the right spots to hit and the perfect amount of pain to add to her pleasure. In the past, she had always tried to keep her enjoyment of pain hidden because she didn’t want people to think she was a freak, especially after everything she went through as a child, but Xavier somehow knew all about it, and he seemed to enjoy it just as much as she did. It was just wrong on so many levels.

She had no idea what had gotten into her or what had made her lose control of herself that way. The more she thought about it though, the more she blamed it on her near-death experience. It was the only explanation she had. Her body had been going into shock, running solely on adrenaline. It messed with her rational thinking and made her want to find comfort and solace in another person. Xavier just happened to be there at the time.

With a mental shake, Madelyn quickly dialed Melanie’s number. She needed to get this over with so that she could start processing what she had done, but she hated lying to her best friend. She had been doing that a lot lately, and it made her feel dirty. Melanie had always been there for her, and keeping her in the dark about this stuff made her feel like she was being a crappy friend.

“Hey,” Melanie answered. “Shouldn’t you be on your way already? You better not be calling me while driving. That’s illegal you know.”

Madelyn cleared her throat. “I know, and I’m not. I’m actually calling to let you know that I won’t be in today. Maybe not even the next couple of days. I think I… p-picked up some kind of cold or flu.”

The emotional crack in her voice helped to sell the lie a little too easily.

“Oh no! That sucks,” Melanie replied. “Are you okay? Do you need anything? You never get sick, so I don’t really know what to do here.”

“You don’t need to do anything, Mel. I’m fine. It’s nothing a little rest won’t fix.”

Though that was probably the biggest lie of them all. There was no way a bit of rest was going to fix whatever was so broken inside of her that it prompted her to sleep with the man who had been stalking her. The same man she had watched kill a guy and whom she believed was not even remotely human.

She was still kicking herself for not asking him about that fun little tidbit too. At the time, she had wanted to believe that it was the hit she took to the head that made her see what she thought she had, but she had seen his glowing eyes and elongated canines again the night before, every time he climaxed. She had spent a good chunk of her time in the shower, trying to figure out what the hell he could possibly be, but she was still coming up blank.

“Alright. Well, I’ll let the captain know what’s going on,” Melanie said, pulling her out of her mind and back into the present. “You feel better, and call me if you need anything, okay?”

“Thanks. Will do.”

Madelyn hung up her phone and headed to her dresser.

Once she was dressed and feeling more like a person, a dirty, lying person but a person nonetheless, she made her way down the stairs to make some coffee. Once she had some caffeine in her, she would be more likely to come up with an explanation for what she had seen since that was the thing that was bothering her the most. Not that he had killed a guy in front of her, not that she had fled the crime scene, making her an accomplice, and not even the fact that she slept with him. What was bugging her was not knowing exactly what he was.

As it were, her mind was coming up with some of the weirdest things to try to rationalize it: alien, cybernetic robot, science experiment gone wrong.

She laughed softly at the ridiculousness of her own mind, but that was all she could come up with. Everything else was just too far-fetched or downright impossible.

Sipping on her coffee, she contemplated just messaging Xavier and demanding the truth. She had a right to know who she was sleeping with. But was she sleeping with him though? Had their weird and twisted relationship gotten to that point, or was it only a one-time thing that happened after a traumatic event?

The guy was dangerous, deranged, and he had been stalking her for crying out loud. Wanting him was wrong and stupid, and it made her just as crazy as he was. Even if the sex was absolutely incredible and she did feel drawn to him. Though, she’d never admit that to him. His ego was large enough as it was, as were some other notable parts of his body.

Her pussy throbbed at the memory, bringing with it the pleasant sting that she had woken up with that morning. He had been larger than he appeared in the video he sent her, and the thought of it made her want him all over again. She wanted to feel that stretch of him entering her roughly, the way his piercing hit all the right spots, and she wanted to feel his hand around her throat again.

Madelyn slammed her coffee cup down on the counter, silencing those thoughts. What the hell was wrong with her?

Sighing heavily, she pinched the bridge of her nose when she heard a knock at the door. She ground her teeth together in irritation, figuring that it was Xavier coming back after fucking her into oblivion and then leaving her last night. She couldn’t seem to get a moment’s peace anymore, but at least, he was knocking this time. She really needed to figure out how he was getting around the security system and the locks. There was too much about him that she just didn’t know, and that bugged her way more than it should. Maybe today would be the day that she finally demanded some answers.

She moved through the kitchen and into the foyer where she disarmed the alarm. Once that was done, she unlocked the door and pulled it open, a snarky remark already prepared. However, it wasn’t Xavier standing on her porch as she had expected. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. She had gotten so used to him being everywhere that she was starting to expect it.

Blinking, she took in the man in front of her. He was wearing a crisp, navy blue suit and had dark blond hair with striking hazel eyes. His skin was tan as if he spent a lot of time in the sun, and he had thin lips, a strong jaw, and a crooked nose that appeared to have been broken and set wrong. He was muscular too, but more so like a surfer and less like an MMA fighter like Xavier was.

“Ms. Hart?” he asked, giving her a dazzling smile.

“Yeah,” she replied hesitantly. “Can I help you?”

Her first thought was that he was a salesman of some kind. But they didn’t usually know people by name. Maybe he was a lawyer or with the nearby church or something. Either way, whatever he was selling, she wasn’t interested.

“I’m actually hoping we can help each other.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a badge. “I’m Special Agent Colby Marks with the FBI.”

With her stomach churning dangerously, her mind began to go to all the worst possible scenarios. Maybe Xavier didn’t hide the body of the man he killed for her as well as he thought he did. Or maybe they had been seen on a security camera somewhere. She knew the structure didn’t have any, none that worked anyway, but there could have been some around the area that she didn’t know about. Then again, why would the FBI be involved in the murder of a junkie instead of the local police? It seemed a bit extreme.

Forcing herself to relax and to stop jumping to conclusions, she met the man’s eyes and gave him a small smile. “What can I do for you, Agent Marks?”

“If you have a minute, I’d like to talk to you about a man named Xavier St. James,” he told her simply.

Madelyn swallowed hard, the coffee she drank turning sour in her belly as she shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t know who?—”

“Ms. Hart, we’ve been tracking Mr. St. James for years now, and we have access to his recent phone records. I know you know who I’m talking about.”

Shifting nervously on the balls of her feet, she reluctantly stepped aside, allowing him into the house. He nodded his thanks as he crossed the threshold into the foyer. Once she closed the door, she began leading him into the living room so that he could say whatever it was he needed to say. If nothing else came of this meeting, at least, she now knew Xavier’s last name. That was one thing she hadn’t known about him yet, one question answered.

After taking a seat on the couch, she motioned for him to take the chair across from her. “I’m not sure how much help I’ll be,” she admitted, leaning back against the cushions and crossing her legs to appear comfortable. “I don’t know him that well.”

Agent Marks cocked an eyebrow. “Do you make it a habit to sleep with guys you don’t know?”

She bristled at his remark, her guard beginning to rise. She didn’t trust the FBI any more than she trusted the police, and she didn’t like the way he was already speaking to her. It felt like he was implying that she was some kind of hussy. Who she slept with and how well she knew them beforehand was none of his concern.

“Excuse me?”

“As I said, I’ve been tracking him for quite some time.” He must have seen the look on her face because he quickly continued. “Don’t be embarrassed. A lot of women find themselves incapable of resisting his charms. However, lately, his sole focus seems to be on you. Why do you think that is?”

Madelyn wasn’t even going to try to figure out how he knew that Xavier was focused on her or how he knew they had slept together. But the way he was talking made it sound like he believed the two of them were in a relationship instead of the fact that Xavier was stalking her. Though, after last night, she didn’t know where they stood anymore.

“I assure you I have no idea,” she replied truthfully through clenched teeth.

If Agent Marks noticed how irritated she was becoming with him and the conversation, he didn’t let on. “Ms. Hart, I feel like I should warn you about the kind of guy you are getting into bed with.”

“I really don’t see how that’s any of your business,” she snapped.

She didn’t like how this interaction was going at all. It seemed very unprofessional and felt more like the guy was here on some kind of personal vendetta. It was in the way he spoke to her and the tone of his voice. Why else would he bring up the other women Xavier had been with and attempt to ‘warn’ her about him? There was no way it was solely out of the goodness of his heart. There was malice and contempt there; she just didn’t know why.

“Were you aware that he was a hired gun for the Cortez Family?” he asked her pointedly as though he hadn’t heard her.

Despite it being damn near impossible, Madelyn forced her face to remain impassive as she said nothing. Meanwhile, her heart began to race in her chest, and her mouth had suddenly gone dry. She had known that he had killed before last night; he had admitted as much to her. But she had no idea he had been a hitman, of all things. Though she guessed it made sense.

From what she knew, which wasn’t much at all, hitmen were required to learn everything they could about their target. Xavier may not have been trying to kill her, but he had done his research on her as well. He knew things about her that not many people did.

Madelyn had also never heard of the ‘Cortez’ family, but she figured they had to be some kind of crime family. She made a mental note to do some googling later, once she got rid of the good agent.

“Rodrigo, the head of the family, took Xavier in after he had killed his father at the age of eleven,” Marks continued to explain. “Because Xavier didn’t have anyone else, Rodrigo raised him himself as if he were his own son, but he raised him to be a weapon. Though, that didn’t take much considering he was already messed up and had killed his own father.” He shook his head as if in disgust. “For years, Xavier dutifully followed Rodrigo, killing whoever he was told to without question or hesitation, and quickly climbed the ranks. He was paid handsomely for it too, including Rodrigo’s daughter. Our sources say that they were inseparable, and everyone thought the two of them would marry. But then, eight months ago, he just up and left the family, breaking Rodrigo’s daughter’s heart.”

“Maybe he was just tired of being used,” she quipped, unsure of what else to say.

She was struggling to process this information while also trying to determine how much of it was true. While she had wanted answers, and it seemed like she was finally getting some, she didn’t like what she was hearing. Then again, all of it was contingent on whether or not this guy could be believed. She wasn’t so sure of that anymore.

He laughed, actually laughed at her comment. “My dear, Xavier wasn’t being used. He enjoyed the killing; he enjoyed inflicting pain. He lived for it, in fact.” He looked at her pointedly, a smirk playing across his lips. “I really hope you aren’t expecting him to fall in love with you or anything because he’s a monster and incapable of feeling things like love or empathy. He’s incapable of anything but pain and torment, and he would destroy an innocent girl such as yourself.”

“Is there a reason you came by to talk to me?” she asked him. She was getting tired of whatever game he was playing here. He didn’t know the first thing about her or what she had been through. She didn’t want or need him to try to protect her if that was even what he was doing. It seemed as though he was just here to try to drive a wedge between her and Xavier.

Whatever was going on was between him and Xavier. She wanted no part in it whatsoever.

Agent Marks opened his mouth as if he were about to respond, but the front door suddenly flew open so hard it banged into the wall. Madelyn screamed in surprise, jumping to her feet as Xavier stormed around the corner. His eyes narrowed at Agent Marks, and his hands balled into fists at his sides.

The traitorous butterflies in her stomach went wild at the sight of him. He was wearing a tight black T-shirt and jeans with his signature boots. His hair was tousled, and even with the frown marring his features, he was like a walking wet dream. And he was pissed. However, it was clear that it wasn’t directed at her as his eyes were locked on Agent Marks.

“Well-well-well. Look what the cat dragged in,” Marks chided, rising to his feet. “Long time no see, Xavier.”

Xavier closed the distance between him and the agent in just a few strides before he slammed his fist against the side of his face. “You have a problem with me, you come after me. Leave her the fuck out of it!” he roared.

“Xavier!” Madelyn squealed, rushing forward and grabbing his arm before he could hit him again and get them both into even more trouble. “You can’t just go around punching federal agents! What’s wrong with you?”

“Federal Agent?” Xavier sneered, not taking his eyes off Marks. “That’s a new low, even for you.”

Marks laughed and spat a glob of blood and spit onto her floor. “It worked, didn’t it? It got me in the door.”

“Wait,” Madelyn stated bluntly. “You’re not with the FBI?”

“Not even close,” Marks replied. “I had to get you to trust me somehow. Tell me something, Xavier. I’m curious. Is her pussy better than Isabelle’s?”

This time, Madelyn didn’t try to stop him and even took a step back as Xavier took another swing at the guy. The sound of flesh striking flesh filled the room as Marks’ head snapped to the side, but she didn’t feel the least bit sorry for him.

She should have known he wasn’t a real agent. She should have listened to her instincts when she started getting a bad feeling about him. If the FBI did know all that stuff about Xavier, and if it was even true, then he would have been in prison a long time ago. Which begged the question: Who was he really, and what did he want with her?