In the reflection, I can also see the officer behind us. His posture has changed, becoming more tense as he seems to prepare himself. I'm not afraid.
"I'm an only child. When someone hears where I come from, that person probably thinks one thing about me, but then finds out something different. The most interesting things about me aren't what's on the surface. And…" I draw out the word, trying to find one more comparison. "I look good in red."
Pressing A09 releases a bar of milk chocolate with puffed rice inside. I hold it up for Xavier to see, and he nods.
"The only one of its kind from its company and not what people expect when they hear the brand. Well done."
"And you?"
He looks back at the machine and draws in a breath, letting it out slowly. He presses the buttons deliberately, and the curved wires inside spiral, pushing his selection forward. It drops down, and he pulls it up from the slot at the bottom of the machine.
"Peanuts," he says, displaying them to me on his outstretched palm.
"Peanuts? Why?"
"I love baseball."
He walks over to the couch, and I turn to watch him sit down. He opens the plastic bag of peanuts and dumps a few of them out into his hand.
“You love baseball?” I ask. “So, do peanuts love baseball?”
“Sure, they do,” he says.
I walk over to the couch and sit on the other end of it.
“Why?”
“Because they're the center of attention. When you're singing about going out to a game, what's the first thing you want?” he asks.
“Peanuts,” I say. He nods and tips the handful of peanuts into his mouth. "How about you? Do you like to be the center of attention?"
"Does it matter? I will be anyway."
Chapter Thirty-Four Dragon
Six years ago…
He was on untested ground.
Everyone around him told him he shouldn't do this. Not in their words, but in their actions. He could tell just by looking at them they disagreed with him, that they thought he was venturing too far. He didn’t mind that. Let them wonder. But they would never question him.
He wouldn't dare to admit it, but part of him also wondered if he was venturing too far. He had never done this before. He enjoyed the spoils of his lifestyle. He lavished them on the people close to him. But few were close to him for long. Not new people he met, anyway. The people he considered close to him were already in his life before he’d become the Dragon. Before he’d built the world around him.
The only exceptions were the men who worked under him. They came as the money did. But they weren't surprised by anything. They knew what they were getting themselves into. It was a life they already knew, even if from the outside. Like looking in through a window.
But he couldn't expect to stay like that forever. Alone in his glass dome. One day, he would find someone worthy of being there beside him, enjoying the spoils of his life. It would be like walking a tightrope to find her. A dangerous game that could end in a disastrous, brutal plummet.
This was the first time he would play that game. The first time he would take the risk. He didn't know what it was about Ariella that made him willing, but he couldn't stop thinking about her. They were each grappling for position, testing each other. Now it was time to prove themselves. She to him. He to her.
He brought her along with him that night without telling her anything. She needed to experience it without preparation, without being able to form any preconceived notions. If she was given the time to wrap her head around it, she might be able to talk herself into being able to accept something she wouldn't normally.
So far, she hadn't hesitated. There was no fear in her. As good as she looked alongside his custom suits and in the back of his chauffeured car, she fit just as seamlessly into the unfolding of the night. She followed without question, watched without flinching. There was a fascination in her eyes, an excitement. There was hunger in her kiss when they stole moments alone. His life was drawing her into it.
Now she sat in his lap as he held a knife in front of her. She leaned forward and ran the tip of her tongue along the blade, gathering up the powder and letting it dissolve. It was only a tiny bit, enough for her to taste it. He wanted her to know the quality he was offering, that it was worth the money offered up for it.
Not that the man meeting him would ever get a chance to savor it. He was at the end of a hook he hadn't even realized had caught him, lured to be captured. He thought he was smart. He thought he could rule over the Dragon.
And tonight, he would die for it.
That night he held her in his arms. He kissed soft, sweat-damp skin until the smell of citrus and sugar replaced the blood and gun smoke in his nose. He would take care of her now.
When she was weak and spent, sprawled uncovered on the silk of his bed, he ran his tongue along her spine and whispered in her ear.
"My name is Darren."
Chapter Thirty-Five Now
“You never told me your name,” I say.
Xavier eats another palmful of peanuts before he speaks.
“You know my name,” he says. “You wouldn't be here if you didn't.”
“I guess it's true. But I know what other people call you. I'd rather know what you would want me to call you.”
“Xavier,” he says simply.
“Alright,” I nod. “Then, I'll call you Xavier.”
“Do you know why my parents named me that?” he asks.
I tear open the package of the tiny chocolate bar
