Chapter Five

Mia

Time seemed to fly by.

I'd been blessed with two entire weeks with Xavier before my father called to check up on me again. By some kind of stroke of luck, he'd informed me that my sister had been less than thrilled to start her married life and had gotten into more trouble while living with my parents.

As sad as that was to hear, it also made me glad.

I never wanted my sister to struggle with things, let alone a marriage that she'd agreed to when it was clear she wasn't ready for it. However, I was getting exactly what I wanted out of this entire deal—more time with the man that I was in love with.

I met my father's profuse apologies with even acceptance, while on the inside I was practically jumping for joy.

Meanwhile, Xavier had been wonderful to me, impressing me more and more as the days stretched on. I still wasn't sure how a man like him hadn't been snatched up by someone else but I also wasn't going to question it.

Not when we were both so damn happy and content.

After our short weekend at the hotel, he'd brought me back to his family's estate where I was welcomed as his new bride. It was overwhelming meeting everyone, but soon I settled into a kind of steady rhythm that seemed to work.

On the same night I spoke to my father, Xavier decided to take me out to a ritzy restaurant right outside of the city. It was the kind where you needed reservations six months in advance and a black card on file – if you were anyone other than a King, that is.

"This place is amazing," I said, admiring the beautiful chandeliers hanging above us.

"I thought you might like it." He handed me the wine menu. "You mentioned in one of your letters that you liked tenderloin."

My heart squeezed. I couldn't believe he remembered that. Especially when I was pretty sure that had been in one of the first few letters we exchanged.

"I'm a sucker for a good tenderloin." I said, burying my face behind the menu. I knew my face was probably beet red.

He chuckled. "And I am a sucker for you."

Ugh. I was really beginning to resent my sister.

A soft curse from Xavier brought me to lower my menu. He was frowning down at his phone, reading something.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

"I'm sorry. Something's come up. We'll have to reschedule this."

My heart sank. "Oh."

He shook his head and turned to wave over the waiter. I was being selfish—for all I knew, there was some crisis going on that he, as the soon to be Don, needed to attend to and I was just sitting here being whiny because our date was ruined.

"Anything I can do to help?"

He glanced over at me, curiously. "Not unless you're in the mood to negotiate with a scammer."

I huffed out a laugh. "Who scammed you?"

"I suppose I should refer to it as stealing rather than scamming." He corrected himself.

Ah, well that was a whole different story.

"You know, I've been told I'm a pretty good negotiator." I said as he held my coat for me.

His brow raised while I slipped my arms into it. "Really,"

"Yup. I'm my dad's go-to."

He seemed to consider my words for a long moment before holding out his hand to me. I took it, squeezing it as he walked me out, a car already pulled up to the curb for us.

The car began to move once we were safely tucked inside, but I had no idea where we were heading.

"By a good negotiator… you mean…?" Xavier's arm came up to rest against the back of our seat, right behind my shoulder.

"Why don't you fill me in on what happened?"

He nodded. "I'll show you when we get there."

***

The safehouse wasn't far from the restaurant.

To my surprise, both Xavier's underboss and consigliere were waiting for us. They gave me a curious once-over as Xavier sat me down in one of the chairs farthest away from the doors. There were no windows and the bright light overhead was both annoying and harsh.

"Amanda, this is my underboss Finn and my consigliere Matthias. Gentlemen, I'm sure you remember my wife, Amanda."

They both nodded respectfully my way, murmuring their hellos.

"Tell me everything," Xavier said, leaning against the side of my chair.

Matthias spared me a glance before speaking. "The client that was supposed to be handling that diamond supply has disappeared. No contacts can get to him and all communication has stopped. He was last seen getting on a plane to Italy."

Xavier frowned at the news. "What else?"

"That's all the news we have for now. We were able to track the plane. It's still in the sky heading overseas. We have a team following it."

Xavier nodded. "I see."

"That could be a good thing." I said, nudging his side. "You could arrange for the plane to stay on the tarmac while your guys get there."

Xavier's arms crossed over his chest. "Raiding a plane in the middle of the day isn't exactly making for the covert operation that I'd like."

That was true. Not to mention Italian authorities would be a bitch to deal with when it came to getting the jewels back to the States.

"You said you were going to have people following the guy?" I turned my question to Matthias.

He blinked in surprise and then nodded. "Yes, a team is on their way over there."

Xavier looked at me. "What are you thinking?"

"Have the team follow him but not make contact. That way you can pose as a buyer and get your shit back. He's probably already stashed the diamonds somewhere so the best way to lure him out is to try and buy them off him."

The entire room was silent for a long beat, all three men exchanging looks.

Finn shrugged. "It's not a bad plan."

Xavier answered him with a smirk. "Not at all. You heard her. Have our team keep tabs on him. Once we've secured where he's keeping the diamonds, arrange a meeting to buy them. And then snatch the fucker and bring him back here."

Both men nodded. "Will do."

I grinned. Man, it felt good stretching my wings again like this. My father wasn't in the market for the kind of problem solving I liked to do since dealing with my sister had become a full-time job.

So this was a nice treat.

"Amanda," Xavier held out a hand to me.

"Thank you," Matthias said as we passed by. "Sir, we'll keep you updated."

"Good."

When we got back into the car, I was buzzing with energy. "So? How did I do?"

The car began to move, pulling out of the dark parking lot and heading out onto the quiet street.

Instead of answering me, Xavier grabbed my face and pulled me into a heated kiss.