Beneath His Shadows

Elena sat in the library, her hands trembling slightly as she ran her fingers over the pages of the contract in front of her. She had memorized every word, every clause, but tonight, they all blurred together. Her mind kept returning to the scene in the hallway—the bloodied man, Xavier's cold fury, and the raw power that radiated from him.

The tension in the mansion was palpable, the air thick with unspoken threats and dangerous promises. Even as she tried to concentrate on the work Xavier had given her, her thoughts were constantly pulled back to him—his eyes, his words, the way he had made her feel in that brief moment of vulnerability. "You're mine now, Elena." The words echoed, a constant reminder of how deep she was already in his world.

A soft knock on the door broke her thoughts. She didn't need to look up to know who it was.

"Come in," she said, her voice more steady than she felt.

The door creaked open, and Xavier stepped inside, his silhouette framed by the dim light from the hallway. He was still dressed in the dark suit he'd worn earlier, his face unreadable, though there was a tension in the set of his jaw that hadn't been there before.

"You're still up," he remarked, his voice low, almost casual.

Elena didn't reply immediately. Instead, she closed the contract and set it aside, meeting his gaze. "I could say the same about you."

Xavier smirked, though it didn't reach his eyes. He moved further into the room, closing the door behind him with a soft click. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The silence between them felt heavier than usual, as if the walls were closing in, pushing them closer together.

"I've been thinking," Xavier said finally, his voice breaking the stillness. "About what Malcolm said earlier. About the family."

Elena's pulse quickened at the mention of Malcolm. Her mind flashed back to the man's cryptic words—the warning that Xavier's rise to power had come at a cost, and that the higher you climb, the harder you fall. She had seen the darkness in Xavier's eyes when he had faced Malcolm, but this? This felt different. It felt like a crack in the façade, a chasm she wasn't sure she was ready to cross.

"What did he mean?" Elena asked, her voice steady but her heart racing. "What does your family want from you?"

Xavier's eyes darkened, his gaze fixed on a spot somewhere past her, as if he were staring into something only he could see. "They want control. Always have. They've never been content with how I've done things. They want things to go back to the way they were—when they ran everything. When I was just a boy they could manipulate."

He stepped closer, his presence filling the space between them. "But I'm not that boy anymore. I built this empire with my own hands. And I won't let anyone tear it down."

Elena didn't respond at first. She had seen the fire in his eyes, the unyielding determination. She could feel it, too—the pull between them, the way his power seemed to grip her in ways she couldn't explain. She was so close to him now that she could almost feel the heat radiating from his body, the intensity of the man standing before her.

"You don't trust them?" she asked, her voice quiet.

Xavier's jaw clenched. "No. And they don't trust me."

His words hung in the air, heavy with unspoken history and betrayal. Elena didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure if she was asking because she wanted answers or if she was trying to understand why she felt so drawn to him.

For a moment, there was silence again, a silence so thick it seemed to suffocate them both. Then, Xavier spoke, his voice softer, almost reluctant.

"Malcolm's right about one thing. The higher I climb, the more dangerous it gets. People want me dead. They'll stop at nothing to see me fall. But the worst part…" His gaze flicked to her, locking with hers. "The worst part is that the closer I get to the top, the more I'm forced to push people away. People I care about."

Elena's breath caught in her throat, the words striking a chord deep within her. She wanted to say something, to offer comfort, but she didn't know how. This world—Xavier's world—was one she didn't understand, one she hadn't asked to be part of. And yet, here she was, standing at the edge of it.

Xavier took another step forward, his voice low, almost like a warning. "I never wanted anyone to get involved in this. But now that you're here… I can't protect you from everything. There are people who would kill for a shot at the power I have. And they won't hesitate to use you against me."

Elena's heart pounded in her chest, the weight of his words sinking in. She had known there was danger in this life, but hearing it from him—seeing the fear in his eyes, however brief—changed everything.

"You think I'm weak," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "You think I can't handle it."

Xavier's eyes softened, but only for a moment. "I think you don't know what you're getting yourself into."

Elena's gaze never wavered from his, her pulse quickening as the space between them shrank further. "But I'm already here," she said, her voice barely more than a breath.

Xavier stopped just in front of her, his gaze searching hers, his body so close now that she could feel the heat of him. "And that's what scares me."

His lips were inches from hers, and for a heartbeat, everything else disappeared. The world outside, the threats, the violence, the power—they were all gone. All that was left was the pull between them.

But before she could close the distance between them, the door to the library flew open, and one of Xavier's men stepped inside, panting, his face pale.

"Xavier," the man said, his voice frantic. "There's been an attack. We need to go. Now."

Xavier's expression hardened immediately, the moment of vulnerability slipping away like sand through his fingers. He stepped back from Elena, his eyes no longer soft but sharp, filled with the cold, calculating edge she had come to know.

"I'll deal with it," he said to the man, then turned to Elena, his gaze briefly softening before hardening again. "Stay here. Lock the door behind me."

Elena nodded, her heart still pounding, her mind racing. She watched as Xavier left the room, the door slamming shut behind him. She was alone now, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed.

She had crossed a line tonight. She was deeper in this world than she had ever been. And there was no going back.

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