Beautiful Stranger (Completed)

CH 14

Nolan

"Your dads coming by?" I asked my cousin before filling up my mug with coffee.

"Yes," he looked at the clock on his wall in his kitchen. "In a few hours. I want to wait until she's up again."

I nodded, adding a bit of cream to it.

I felt relieved. Charlie wasn't dirty and the intel she collected the past year was more than enough. She'd be cleared and a very prominent crime family's network would be in shambles. That was definitely a win.

"Did you add cream?" Xavier asked. His eyes looked glazed. He was exhausted and I knew he was worried about her.

"Yeah, do you want your own cup?" I asked, reaching to grab him one.

He shook his head no. "Just a sip of yours. I'm going to try to get a few hours of sleep before my ba(爸)arrives."

Ba was how you say Father in Mandarin Chinese. Xavier and his father always talked to each other in Mandarin. In fact, they did it so much when I was younger, I learned it.

I handed him my cup and he took more than a sip. "You said a sip." I was joking.

"Don't be petty." He handed it back to me.

"Are you going to tell him?" I asked, taking a sip.

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "I'm mulling it over. What do you think?"

"I think you're dad will take one look at her and know you're in love with her. Then, he's going to be annoyed with you for not telling him."

"Yeah, I know. Crap."

They had a great relationship except for when it came to Xavier dating and getting married. According to his father, he should have been married ten years ago and have had three kids by now.

"Are you staying?" He asked.

"While it's always enjoyable watching you two argue in Mandarin with each other, I think I'm going to have to sit out today's performance. Besides, I need to go meet up with Judge Edwards. See where we stand."

"Yeah, you're right." Then he perked up. "She has a best friend. I'm thinking she's single because she didn't mention her having a man."

"I'm good. You're the one that needs to get married, not me."

He rolled his eyes. "What if she's hot?"

"Then, I'm interested." I said obviously.

We both laughed. I wasn't trying to be in any relationship. I loved my job and that was enough for me. But, I knew my cousin was different. Charlie was proving to be good for him. He seemed...different, but in a good way.

"Don't worry about uncle Kai. You're into her and that's all he's going to care about." I moved to do the bro hug with him.

"Yeah, I don't know. Guess it'll depend too on what mood he's in." He pulled away. "Lock up before you go. I'm heading to bed."

"All right, I'll swing by later when I'm finished with the judge. We need to update John too. He's going to be mad we waited this long to tell him." I told Xavier something we both knew.

"Whatever, I'll deal with it when I have too." He said before leaving his kitchen.

I finished my coffee before leaving his place. I still was trying to figure out how they found Charlie's storage locker. That part still didn't add up to me.

She claimed no one knew about its location but her. I was starting to believe and trust her. Everything she had told us had been true and her intel checked out.