Xavier (Vigilance 4)

I wanted to pull him into my arms and tell him I’d fix whatever was wrong. That was… odd. I dismissed the thought. It had been a tense day and now…

“Young man,” Jeffries piped up, “the Carringtons support many worthy charities, perhaps if you—”

“Thank you, Jeffries, that is all. This young man is here to apply for a position.”

Jeffries raised his brows, sneering at Emilio’s scruffy appearance. “As a gardener, I hope.”

I doubted Emilio went outside much or that he knew the first thing about gardening, but I nodded. Jefferies disappeared, and I motioned Emilio inside. He tripped over the doorjamb in his haste to get into the house. I shut the door behind him, and he sagged against it.

“Do I need to alert my security team?” I asked.

“I don’t think so, um… sir.”

I absolutely refused to get hard at the sound of a mere word. “Follow me.”

I turned and realized Anna was right behind me, a curious expression on her face. How the hell had I forgotten she’d followed me to the foyer?

“Anna, this is Emilio, he—”

“Is not here for a gardening position.”

“No, but I can’t discuss this further now. We have an emergency to attend to.”

She narrowed her eyes, studying Emilio and then me. “I expect details when this is over.”

I motioned for Emilio to walk ahead of me, but he looked too frightened to move past my sister. The formidable senator knew how to intimidate anyone, even me. If she had any idea how critical today was, she’d walk away, but while she knew about my work with Vigilance, she could never know details, especially since the current mission involved a congressman, one who was about to die.

When I took hold of Emilio’s arm to lead him to my office, he shivered. I had to resist the urge to put my arm around him to warm him up. What the fuck was wrong with me? Was this mission the one that was going to send me over the edge into insanity?

When I turned to look at the young hacker, his eyes were huge. He was staring at me with a look of wonder. I realized, despite his shiver and his jacket that was too thin for the freezing weather, I could feel the heat of him like my hand was touching bare skin.

This was no time to lose my mind. People, including Emilio, were counting on me. I couldn’t afford to be incapacitated.

Once we were past my sister, who continued to watch us with far more curiosity than I liked, I let go of him, and I swear he sighed. I fought to focus on what was in front of me, not the too-beautiful man beside me.

Why did he unsettle me so much?

Because the fact that he’s here means something is very wrong.

That had to be it. It wasn’t like that reassuring voice in my head loved to lie to me or anything.

As soon as we reached my office, I shut the door and turned to him. “I can’t reach Giorgio or Leo. Does Swain know where they are?”

When Emilio jumped and took a step back, I realized how angry I’d sounded. I took a steadying breath. I needed to keep emotion out of this. I was already too personally invested in the mission.

I was mad as fuck but at myself, not at Emilio. I’d fucked up by pushing him too hard. I had to find a way to fix things. Everyone was counting on me. The members of my team were also my closest friends. No way in hell was I going to let Swain harm them.

“Tell me everything you think he knows.”

“I think he knows they were coming for him. I think he was probably ready and watching for them. I’m so sorry.”

I shook my head. “This is not your fault.”

“Yes, it is. I couldn’t stay ahead of Swain’s people.” As he ran a hand over his hair, tears shone in his eyes. I was desperate to comfort him.

“You warned me. You told me you were taking too big a risk, but I insisted you keep going anyway. This is on me.”

Emilio took another step back. Fuck. I was scaring him when I wanted to reassure him.

I would have to deal with that later. Right now, I had to save Giorgio and Leo. Please God, don’t let it be too late.

I called Niall. He was closer to their location than me. I had him watching Leo’s boyfriend, Ezra, and they were at the home of our allies, the Marchesis, which was near where Swain was hiding. I’d have to send Niall in.

Niall answered immediately. “X, what’s up? Are they in?”

“I’ve lost contact. There’s been a security breach. Emilio has been hacked. I need you to go in now.”

“We’re on our way.” His calm, steady voice helped me feel a bit more like I could breathe. “