Xavier: (Indestructible) (12 page)

Once the water was heated to his satisfaction, Xavier pulled
her into the shower with him. He bathed her gently, washing every inch of her
with liquid soap and a soft washcloth before doing the same with himself. He
never allowed her to lift a finger to assist. Once they were both clean, he
dried her with a huge fluffy towel and took his time dressing her.

Cassandra wanted to cry, overwhelmed by his tender treatment of
her. She knew she would always remember this night of loving. Xavier was a man
above men.

“I’m taking you home tonight, but you’re packing your bags
and staying with me after this,” Xavier told her as he closed the passenger
side door behind her.

“Well, you know that’s not going to happen,” Cassandra said
tiredly. Her eyes were already closing, her lashes lowered half-mast, dopey
with sleep.

“Listen to me, Cassandra.” Xavier slipped into the driver’s
seat and turned on the ignition. “This guy Qin will keep coming after me now.
He’s pissed that I got the better of him, and he won’t rest until I’m dead. Not
to mention he seemed to have been after you before I even entered the scene. We
need to tread carefully.”

“Okay, X.” Cassandra yawned, her voice slurred with sleep.

“You’re my world now, and I can’t let anything happen to you.”

Cassandra’s soft snores filled the cabin of the car.

Xavier knew he would have to explain things to her again when
she woke up. There was no way he was going to allow her out of his sight with
an asshole like Qin on the warpath. He was just going to have to keep her safe,
despite her objections.

When he brought the Land Rover to a stop outside her home a few
minutes later, Cassandra was sound asleep. He was tempted to turn around and
drive her back to his apartment.

After surveying their surroundings, Xavier slowly climbed out
of the car and made his way to the passenger side door. He gently shook her
awake and helped her to the front door amid her soft protests and her staggered
treads along the way.

Monique opened the door for them without him having to knock.

“What did you do to her?” Monique hissed. “You’d better not
have given her any alcohol or drugs!”

Xavier ignored her ranting and started up the stairs with a
barely conscious Cassandra.

“It’s almost three in the morning. Why are you just bringing
her home? Do you know how young she is?” Monique shrieked.

“Shh, Moni.” Cassandra opened her eyes and stared her sister
down. “Give it a rest. X is mine.”

“Girl, what you know about a man being yours? You still got
milk around your mouth,” Monique said scornfully. She continued glaring at them
and seemed more like a pissed-off parent than a concerned sibling.

Xavier stopped outside Cassandra’s bedroom door, not caring one
bit that Monique trailed behind them in obvious agitation.

“How did you know which room was hers?” Monique asked, her
voice coming out as a loud shrill.

“What’s going on here?” Duane entered the hallway from his
bedroom across from Cassandra’s.

“Why are y’all in my business?” Cassandra grumbled. “I’m an
adult and can make my own decisions.”

“What adult? You’re a damn kid,” Duane roared. “I thought you
were different from your lousy sisters!”

“Hey,” Monique protested.

“Just don’t bring another fucking baby in this house,” Duane
threatened. His glare was solely for Cassandra.

Xavier pushed off the wall that he had been casually leaning
against and stood inches in front of Duane. “Don’t ever talk to her like that,”
he said with chilling intent.

Duane took a step back, putting some space between them.

Xavier stared down at the smaller man. “This one is mine.” He
had no delusions of the effect his size and demeanor had on other men. Duane
was no different; he backed down in the face of such imposing aggression. “Don’t
ever fuckin’ disrespect her like that again.”

“Man, I didn’t mean anything by it. Y’all niggas go around
impregnating my sisters and leaving me and my brothers to take care of them.
You say you’ll take care of this one? I cool with that.”

“You still don’t get it. What this sister does or doesn’t do is
none of your damn business. I’m taking her out of here tomorrow.”

“I really hope that none of you are trying to make decisions
about my future without my input.” Cassandra slouched against a nearby wall
next to her bedroom door and glared at them.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Xavier responded without taking his
gaze from a still slightly irritated Duane. He then turned to face Cassandra
and let his gaze drink her in. Her pouting lips and the threatening murder in
her amber gaze made him want to laugh out loud. She looked like a petulant
child denied her favorite toy. Her dress hugged her body deliciously,
proclaiming her all woman; she was no child. “Go to bed, Cassandra.”

“You don’t—”

“Go to bed,” Xavier demanded softly.

Cassandra harrumphed in annoyance, stood from the wall, pushed
open her bedroom door, and slammed the door behind her after she entered her
darkened room.

Xavier turned and held Duane’s gaze. “Do we understand each
other?”

“Yeah, man, take care of ya business. Just know that Qin Wong called
me tonight asking about her earlier. You may want to rethink your intentions
once Qin decides he wants her. He’s a very powerful Chinese.” Duane shook his
head, clearly overwhelmed, before returning to his room.

Monique stood with her arms folded and resting under her amble
breasts. She glared at him. “My brothers are idiots, and my sister is too
innocent to see that you’re just like all the rest. You think I don’t know
you’ve probably already talked her out of her virginity? You think I don’t know
that, by the end of the summer, you will be out prowling for your next
conquest, your next tail. Shit, you probably already have another tail in
America where you came from. Y’all bastards are all the same. Thinking that you
can just screw us island girls and go on your merry way; thinking you can leave
your damn seed everywhere. I have news for you, Mr. Big Bad Playa. If you hurt
my little sister, I’m going to Lorena Bobbitt your ass! And they won’t be able
to find your dick to sew it back on!”

“You have no argument from me, Monique. I owe you and your
siblings no explanation. You care about your sister; I get it. Just know that Cassandra
is my life, and I would sooner cut out my heart than hurt her.” Xavier stepped
around Monique and descended the stairway. He felt Monique’s eyes boring into
him, but he didn’t turn or try to alleviate her worries any further. He exited
the house, walking out into the dark night, his senses fully alert to the
ominous threat he felt in the air.

Xavier climbed into the Land Rover without letting on that he
had seen the two Asian men who were observing the house from nearby bushes. The
neighborhood dogs were almost in a frenzy. It was one thing he could count on
in the Bahamas he noticed. It seemed that every household in the Bahamas had
dogs in their yards. Cassandra had explained that these dogs were called “
potcakes.
”
Apparently, the dogs, while not likely to hurt you, definitely alerted everyone
around that someone strange was in the area. Even without that warning, Xavier
would have noticed the two armed men, who didn’t seem competent enough at
surveillance to shield themselves properly.

He drove about half a mile away. No one had followed him.
Mudderfuckers
are there for Cassandra. I knew what Qin’s play would be. Why the fuck did I
let Cassandra have her way? Never again!
He parked the car in a vacant dark
area off the road, ensuring that it wouldn’t be easily seen by passing
motorists. After checking that his gun was loaded and his knife was easily
accessible, Xavier ran back to the house, moving with stealthy swiftness. All
along the way, the siren of dogs barking filled the air. At least the men wouldn’t
know that he was approaching because the dogs were already reacting to the
Asians traversing their territory.

Xavier approached Cassandra’s house from the neighbor’s yard
and almost had a set of canines sinking into his ass for his efforts.
I
don’t know what the hell Cassandra is talking about. Those damn dogs she calls
potcakes are like fucking pitbulls! And they travel in packs!

Scaling a high wall topped with barbed wire, and cutting
through a patch of thick bushes before gaining access to Cassandra’s yard,
Xavier was pissed when he finally came up behind the Asians climbing through a
window on the ground floor of Cassandra’s house. He briefly wondered where the
family’s guard dogs were and why the house alarm didn’t go off once the window
was opened.
Why the hell was that window open anyway? It’s obvious these
guys didn’t have to break the glass to get in.

The first man was already in and the second was just climbing
through when Xavier pulled him back by the waist of his pants. As soon as the
Asian turned to confront him, Xavier delivered a vicious fist to the Asian’s
nose, sending the man toppling to the ground. Covering his now profusely bleeding
nose with his palm, the Asian screamed in pain. The animalistic sound was loud,
momentarily silencing the dogs.

“Shut the fuck up,” Xavier muttered as he drove his fist to the
side of the Asian’s head, hitting him unconscious and causing him to crumble to
the damp grass.

The other man stuck his head back out the window to see what was
happening to his friend.

Xavier pulled him out by his neck, letting him land hard to the
ground six feet below. The Asian sprung agilely to his feet and immediately
assumed a fight stance. In no mood to get into a martial arts fight, despite
his own expertise, Xavier threw his blade, hitting the man in the middle of his
forehead. The Asian crumbled to the ground, lifeless.

Xavier dragged both dead-weighted bodies to the edge of the property
and handcuffed them to a nearby tree.
When this other bastard wakes up and
finds himself tied to his dead comrade, he’s going to shit his pants. Bitch
will talk then.
He took out his phone and keyed in the special code. He
didn’t even want to think about the mood his boss would be in when he had to
send another sweeper unit out for an additional prisoner. The paperwork alone
to extradite another prisoner would piss him off.

Xavier couldn’t care less at this point.
These bastards were
coming after what’s mine. They’re fucking lucky I’m not killing them and
leaving them on the beach for the fucking vultures.

Xavier knew he had to get more information on Qin. Since the
attack at the restaurant, he hadn’t checked in with his contact on the in-depth
check on the bastard that he had requested. His only knowledge was that gleaned
from his brief surveillance of Qin’s operation and what Cassandra had told him.
He needed more intel to bring the prick down.

The men in his custody now were obviously Chinese and had
responded to his attack with Mandarin, not English. Whoever Qin was, it was
apparent he had enough connections on the island to surround himself with
native Chinese and didn’t bother with the locals to carry out his nefarious
deeds.
Let Qin wonder what the hell happened to his men.

Unfortunately for Xavier, he had yet to sense the other
danger that was lurking so close. This man was losing patience on when he could
complete his mission and return home. He had finally located Xavier a week ago
after years of searching for him. To have his prey in sight and still not be
able to get close enough to do what had to be done was frustrating. He knew
that in a fair fight, it was very possible that Xavier would defeat him. He had
no intention of making any fight between them fair.

***

“What the fuck do you mean you haven’t been able to reach Tai
and Li?” Qin’s dark gaze drilled into his second, his Dragon Tail, Sai.

Sai stared steadily back at him and replied in Mandarin, a
language they used instead of the haltered English they were often forced to
speak on the island. “They were to return with the girl more than an hour ago
after the American left her at the house.”

“He shouldn’t have been able to take her in the first place,” Qin
foamed.

Sai bowed his head in respect and acknowledgement. “It should
have been an easy extraction. Her brothers had secured the dogs and left a
window open for our men. They haven’t called in since, nor have I been able to
reach them.”

“I’m tired of all the fuckups! Send a team out. I want
Cassandra under me by tonight.” Qin turned and went back into the bedroom. The
young girl on the bed couldn’t be more than sixteen years old. He had hoped
that taking this girl, who had the same skin color and hair as Cassandra, would
appease his lust. Cassandra had looked so beautiful in the restaurant. She was more
sassy and sexy than he remembered, only wetting his appetite to have her.

The young girl, still heavily under the influence of the
aphrodisiac, stared at him with fevered lust. With the picture of Cassandra
still vivid in his mind and his frustration of not being able to have her, Qin
fell on the young girl with a brutality that left the girl barely alive once he
was done.

***

Xavier lifted a sleeping Cassandra to the makeshift bed he
had made for them on the floor of her bedroom. Cassandra stirred slightly but
didn’t open her eyes. Instead, she snuggled against Xavier’s chest and promptly
fell back into a deep slumber.

Xavier wrapped his arms around Cassandra. After his discussion
with his friend Neo Zuberia little while ago, he was now well aware of who Qin
was. He didn’t fool himself into thinking he could take the bastard on by
himself and hope to protect Cassandra.

Qin was a Triad. He headed one of the most powerful families
based out of Hong Kong, and the fact that he was in the Bahamas made the US intelligence
agencies very nervous. Given the very porous borders of the Bahamas, having
direct links to North and South America, Europe, other Caribbean Islands, and
now Asia, this small country had apparently become a hub for these unsavory
organizations. The less than cooperative and often questionable ethics of the
local authorities had made the environment in the Bahamas a virtual haven for
the criminally minded.

US authorities had monitored and known of the South American
and Caribbean gangs who had taken up residence on the island, but no one had
anticipated the presence of the Triad. Based on what they had uncovered
tonight, it was apparent that the organization here was very substantial and
already embedded in the criminal network in America. Under the cover of
employment for local construction jobs for two major hotel projects on the
island, the Triads had managed to smuggle hundreds of their men onto the
island.

Now, given the bureaucracy involved in mobilizing sufficient
men to deal with the nests of the various criminal elements, Xavier had reached
out to one of his long-time friends for help, even before he had known who he
was up against.

While he had come to the island knowing that his friend Neo had
connections here with his former SEAL commander, Xavier had had no intention of
making contact. However, he had needed someone to watch his back, and he had
called Neo when he realized the Asians were trying to follow him. Xavier hadn’t
spoken to Neo in years before now, but he had known that wouldn’t matter. Neo
had immediately come to assist and had provided the intel he needed on Qin.

He and Neo had been teammates on the same NFL team right out of
college and had both left after the first year. The team had made it to the
conference finals, and despite their loss in the finals, they had all been
proud of the young team’s efforts. On a night of celebration at a local club in
Chicago, a teammate, who was from the area, got into a vicious scuffle with another
man.

At first they had thought nothing of it, and with at least ten
of them in the club, no one thought any man in his right mind would challenge
them. However, with tempers hot and apparent bad blood flowing, guns and knives
soon entered the fray. He and Neo had grown close during the season, so when
the fight came toward them, they had each other’s back and were able to escape
with only minor cuts and bruises. Six of their teammates were not so lucky. Fifteen
men lost their lives that night, including the two men who had started the
fight and five of their other teammates.

Both he and Neo had been shot as well, but both had taken the
bullets and still been standing. No one else had known that they had been shot.
The men had looked at each other that night and known immediately that they
were kindred spirits. It had been the first time in his life he hadn’t felt
like a freak and an anomaly. Neo had been a few years older than him and had
looked at him with those piercing black eyes with complete knowledge. After
witnessing the senseless killings, he and Neo enlisted the next day. Despite recognizing
their brotherhood, they had forged different paths with him going to US Special
Forces and Neo becoming a Navy SEAL.

With Cassandra’s safety at stake, he had reached out to his
brother for help.
I’m damn glad that I did. Now that we know who the fuck
we’re dealing with I can’t afford to wait for the bureaucracy to get to Qin.
Qin had the resources to impose his will once he realized that his men had
failed tonight. Xavier had only a few hours to get Cassandra to safety. And
then they would have to bring Qin down.