Xavier Cold
Page 9

Quinn glances at me through her rearview mirror. “What? Can I not ask that? I just want to make sure that you’re safe with him, Anna. You’re my cousin, and it’s my responsibility to look out for you since you’re new to this whole living-on-your-own thing.”
I smile and place my hand on her shoulder. “Rest assured, he’s taking good care of me.”
In the rearview mirror, I spot her eyes stealing a quick glance at Xavier before turning back to the road.
“That’s good to hear. I would hate to be forced to figure out a way to kick the big guy’s ass,” she says.
Xavier turns his head, and a playful smile lights up his side profile. “Threats of violence? Really?”
Quinn shrugs. “We Cortez women stick together. If you fuck with one of us, you’d better be prepared to have your eyes clawed out because we work in packs.”
This earns her a full-on deep rumble of a laugh from him. “Remind me never to piss either one of you off then. I’m partial to my eyesight since these eyes allow me to view Anna’s beautiful body.”
“Aw,” Quinn gushes. “That’s so sweet, but you are completely avoiding my question.”
I bite my tongue to keep myself from saying anything. It’s not my place to tell Xavier’s business, so I sit back and give him time to address her.
“It’s like this, Quinn,” Xavier starts. “I’m so damn good at my job that everyone who watched my last live match is now convinced that I actually hurt Assassin.”
“But you didn’t?” she questions as she turns onto the freeway.
Xavier shakes his head. “No. He was hurt because I hit him a little too hard, but what happened in the ring had all been planned out, and it was a part of the show. I was just an idiot who’s strength hurt someone.”
She’s quiet. At first, I don’t think she buys his story, but then she nods with a thoughtful expression on her face.
“That seems plausible. It looked real though. Hell, even I bought into it because I know that you’ve had some beef with him in the past.”
“How do you know that?” he asks, clearly intrigued at how Quinn has that information.
I know he’s probably thinking that I told her about the Rex situation, but I didn’t. Quinn was always too worried about my sexual relationship with Xavier for me to even discuss his workplace drama with her.
She shrugs. “The Internet. I’ll admit that I proficiently stalked you before I granted you the okay to spend a lot of time with Anna.”
Xavier turns his head toward my cousin, and a smirk crosses his face. “I’m glad you’re looking out for her. It’s good to know that Anna’s safety is a priority for us both.”
I smile, thinking about how two of my favorite people in the world want to protect me. It’s nice to know that they love me that much.
We make small talk as Xavier directs Quinn off the freeway and through all the streets leading us to Nettie’s diner. We turn the last corner, and the restaurant comes into view. It’s standing just the same as we left it a few weeks ago with its white brick exterior and the blue sign hanging over the entrance that simply reads, Diner. This is Xavier’s comfort spot, the place that feels like home to him, which is why he leaves his motorcycle parked in the shed at the back of the building.
Nettie and Carl are two people he trusts. They are more like parents to him than friends.
Quinn parks in the diner parking lot. “I’ll wait here and then follow you to where you are staying to drop off your luggage.”
“Sounds good,” Xavier tells her before he opens the car door.
His lean frame towers over the vehicle as he steps outside. He folds the passenger seat forward, extends his hand to me, and helps me get out of Quinn’s two-door coupe.
“We to get the key to the house.” His strong arm snakes around my shoulders as he leads me inside. “We need to at least go inside and make sure that Nettie knows we’ll be in town for a while.”
I laugh. “You’d better, or Nettie might give you that spanking she threatened you with the past couple of times she saw you.”
The corner of his mouth turns up into a grin. “She’s been threatening me with that for years, and she’s yet to make good on it.”
“She might just surprise you one day.”
He gazes down at me with what can only be described as a you-can’t-be-serious-right-now expression. “I’m pretty sure I can take her if she comes at me.”
“I don’t know,” I say in a singsong voice. “According to Carl, he can take you. If you mess with Nettie, he might just step in.”
Xavier throws his head back and laughs as he pushes open the door to the diner. “I’d like to see him try.”
The sound of his laugh catches Nettie’s attention, and her face lights up when her eyes land on Xavier. She races out from behind the counter and bear-hugs him. His impressive arms make Nettie appear so tiny as he squeezes her against his chest in a loving embrace.
It’s sweet how she treats him like a son. I’m glad that he’s had Nettie and Carl looking out for him all these years.
Nettie pulls back, but she’s still holding Xavier in front of her by gripping his arms. “You’re back already? Not that I’m complaining. You know I always love to see you. I’m surprised because I didn’t expect to see you again for a while since your vacation just ended.” Her gaze flicks over to me, and her grin widens when she notices me standing next to Xavier. “Anna, honey, it’s good to see you, too.”
I grin. “How have you been, Nettie?”
“Oh, can’t complain too much, sugar. Business has picked up a little, so Carl and I have been busy, which is great. We could use our busboy back to help out around here.” Nettie winks at Xavier.
“The way things have been going, Nettie, I might take you up on that offer.”
She tilts her head and studies his face. Xavier sighs under the weight of her stare.
He and Nettie have such a connection that she’s able to read the hesitation on his face, and she instantly knows that something is wrong.
Nettie clucks her tongue. “I know that expression. You going to tell me what’s wrong, or am I gonna have to pry it out of ya?”
“It’s work,” he admits. “I fucked up, Nettie.”