Xavier (Vigilance 4)

I couldn’t use some of the pathways I’d already discovered, but fortunately, my excellent memory meant I could rebuild, and I remembered how to get where I wanted to go. After a few hours of work, I found something I was sure Remington wouldn’t want anyone to know.

I found X in his office, looking more than a little pleased and slightly predatory. I had to assume he’d gotten all the information he wanted out of Lancelot.

X rose from his desk when I entered. He led me through the French doors onto a patio where a long table had been set for a late dinner. “Do you want to eat here with everyone, or would you like me to take our dinner upstairs?”

So far, I’d mostly avoided his team members. It wasn’t that I didn’t like them, and I sure as hell respected them all. Talking with someone one-on-one I could handle, but socializing in a group always made me nervous and likely to say things I shouldn’t. “Don’t you need to be here?”

“No, we’re ready. We have a plan, so we’re just waiting until the assholes show up.”

“It won’t be long, not with what I’ve set out for them.”

“Good. The sooner we end this, the better.”

“If we’re going to…” I looked around, but none of the others were close to us. “If this, whatever this is between us, has any chance of working, I need to get comfortable with your friends.”

“There’s time for that later. You’re processing a lot now, and you’re used to being alone most of the time.”

“I like being with you.”

X smiled. “I’m glad.”

“Let’s eat here. I just might not say much.”

“But you’ll be watching and learning.”

“I already know a lot about everyone here except for Lancelot. Did he tell you anything useful?”

X nodded. “He has solid guesses about the identities of the others Swain brought in. Like I’d assumed, they aren’t any of JW’s usual minions, who only excel at petty crime. They’re men who run their own major operations. Lance also confirmed that three of the men have aspirations of rebuilding the trafficking business to the same volume and profitability as when Swain was at the helm.”

X had known that was likely, but hearing it was still chilling.

“They don’t have the same high-level government connections Swain did or the financial resources, but their port access and Central American connections might make up for that. We need to stop this now before anyone else gets hurt.”

“Damn fucking right we do. One of my foster siblings… she was sold to traffickers and nearly sent to a bidder who would have believed he owned her. She was rescued when police raided the base where the human auction was taking place.”

“Where were her parents?”

I rolled my eyes. “They were the ones who sold her.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah. So now you see why I was willing to take risks for this. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I’m still the one who put you in that position.”

“I could’ve said no.”

“Would you have if you hadn’t had such a personal investment?”

I looked away. I didn’t want to lie, but I wasn’t entirely sure I could’ve said no to him.

“Come on. Let’s have dinner.”

The rest of the men were already seated, and I hated that they were watching me and X as we approached, but I tried to ignore the way my insides felt all jittery. They’d left the seat at the head of the table for X and the one beside him empty. Had they assumed it was for me?

Devil sat at the table’s opposite end. Niall was beside me, Giorgio across from me, and Lance across from Niall.

There was little conversation at first. Everyone seemed enthralled by the incredible food Henrietta had prepared. She’d made jerk chicken skewers, spicy stewed lentils, fried plantains, and grilled asparagus.

Once everyone had eaten enough to calm their hunger, conversation began, mostly bragging about former exploits, ragging on each other, and interrogating Lance. I kept quiet unless asked a direct question, but I watched and listened. Nothing significant changed about my impressions of the men who were part of Vigilance.

Giorgio loved to push people’s buttons, but he couldn’t hide his concern for his teammates. Niall had loosened up since getting together with Marco. He no longer seemed like he had an FBI stick up his ass, and Devil… He was still crazy, but also possibly the most tender of all of them.

I paid the most attention to Lancelot. Several times I caught him watching the others with more admiration than he would ever admit. Tony sat on his shoulder, and Lancelot fed him small bites of food. The animal behaved with far more manners than he had before, and we truly might not have noticed him if he wasn’t such a striking sight. Lance’s attention and care for him let me know he wasn’t all bluster and bad decisions. He knew how to be a caretaker, even though he didn’t seem suited to that role. I had a suspicion he was as complex as X. Maybe I had learned to read people better than I thought, at least their actions if not their words.