"Have you been in the gym all this time?" I ask Xavier as he walks past me towards the bathroom the next morning.
His bare torso is covered in nothing but sweat and I try to ignore the way his evident muscles tense as he turns to face me.
Luckily most of the bruising from yesterday doesn't look as bad as I expect it to, but it's still very evident.
"We have to leave here in half an hour" I try to keep my words slow, I know I'm panicking about today but I can't help it. "I really don't want to be late Xavier, we have to call Mason as well."
"We won't be late, relax" his cold tone surprises me as he turns around and shuts the bathroom door behind him, louder than he needs to.
He must be in some kind of bad mood and that doesn't help settle my nerves at all. What's up with him?
Breathing heavily to swallow my unease I make my way downstairs to the kitchen since I was already ready half an hour ago. I know I'm over prepared, I just want everything to go right and I'm unbelievably worried that something will be wrong with our baby or with Mason. Or with Mrs O'Conner who I still have to talk to today.
By the time Xavier finally comes downstairs I already have his keys between my fingers and the things I need for work ready on the table. I'm so busy pacing back and forth, the only thing I can hear is the echoing sound of my heels on the floor. I barely notice him waiting behind me until I turn around again.
Freshly showered and shaven, his hair is pushed back away from his face like it usually is. The perfectly fitted expensive suit on his muscular body makes him look more intimating than normal - if that's even possible. His phones is in one of his hands and I can tell immediately just by his facial expression that his bad mood hasn't cleared up.
"Keys?" He asks, I almost forget for a moment that I'm holding them before throwing them his way. Of course he catches them effortlessly in his free hand, even with my horrible throw... It's a skill I still to this day haven't been able to master.
I grab my laptop case, wallet and phone from the table and follow him out the door he didn't bother leaving open for me. He must really be in a mood about something serious, why did it have to be today of all days?
I lock the front door, but Xavier's already reversed the perfectly polished SUV he loves a little too much from the garage. The latest Range Rover he bought a few weeks ago still looks like it's only just been made. I've lost track of the hours he spends cleaning it whenever he's not working. I'll never understand why boys like cars so much.
"We need to call Mason" I tell him as I open my door, he's pulled dark sunglasses over his bruised nose and now he really does look like someone you wouldn't want to mess with. "His message sounded urgent" I add.
"You have to dial it, I don't have his number on my phone" Xavier's voice is robotic and emotionless which doesn't help my nerves at all.
Still, I nod silently and press the numbers into the expensive touch screen of the car. "You know his number off by heart?"
I don't like the edge to Xavier's voice as he examines me. I try to resist the urge to say something sarcastic in return.
"He's had the same one for ten years."
Xavier says nothing in response and luckily the dialling echoing throughout the bluetooth of the car fills in some of the awkward tension between us. His eyes don't leave the road in front of him and his grip on the steering wheel is tight, like it usually is whenever he's distracted or thinking about something.
"Gracie?" Masons voice is heavy and sounds half asleep through the phone and Xavier glances at me. I know he hates the fact that Masons' always called me that instead of Grace, but he's done it since we were little kids.
"Hey, how are you? You're on speaker" I decide to warn him early since Xavier's not being the chirpiest person today.
"Hey man" he greets Xavier, just by the tone of his voice I know somethings wrong.
"Mason" I send Xavier a warning glance at his clipped response.
I know he's rolling his eyes, even with sunglasses on. "What's up?"
"I've uh - something happened last night."
"Are you okay?" I ask quickly. If something serious has happened to him I'll feel awful for not calling him sooner.
"I'm fine" he pauses. "But one of my teammates - Mitch - isn't, I've been sitting in hospital with him."
His answer confuses me. Mason plays for one of the bigger football teams in the states, he got selected after college and hasn't come home since so we rarely here from him like we use to. Why does he want to talk to us about this? Shouldn't he talk to his coach or friends where he is?
"Why are you telling us this?" Xavier's voice is anything but sympathetic and I nudge him with my elbow. Of course he had to pick today of all days to act like a jerk.
"Mitch got winded during training so I told him to walk home to my flat while we finished up. It's pretty close to the field so I normally walk home from practise, the same route he took. He didn't have his jacket so I gave him my team one, with Mason written across the back of it. We're about the same height and his hair colours basically the same as mine. He got beaten to a pulp, he's still unconscious and I think whoever did it was doing it on purpose thinking it was me."
"If you think that then you must've seriously pissed someone off" Xavier answers smoothly while I gap in shock. Is that what those men would've done last night if Xavier couldn't protect himself? Surely this can't just be a coincidence. "How do you know it wasn't just a random lowlife with nothing better to do?"
"Because a random lowlife isn't usually a girl in leather who climbs into a Mercedes Benz afterwards."
"A fully grown footballer got his ass kicked by a girl?" I slap Xavier's shoulder as he smirks with obvious amusement, is he serious right now?
"Maybe he just had a crazy ex with break up issues or something."
"Mitch is nice to everyone, nobody would do that to him. The whole towns in shock because of it and if I'm honest, the only way I can imagine a rich girl beating up an innocent guy is if it's related to a gang somehow. Know any women who would've wanted to kick my ass last night?"
"It happened last night?" Xavier's smirk is long gone and I swallow, tightening my fingers together on my lap.
"Yeah, why? What happened last night?"
"Some guys tried to do the same thing to Xavier" I answer before he can. I feel his warning gaze on me but I really don't care right now. I want to know what the hell is going on.
"What the - " Masons voice is loud at first, but then I can hear some kind hushing from his end of the line and what sounds like the voice of an old lady telling him to be quiet. "Fudge" he finishes in a bare whisper. "Are you serious?"
"They tried to get Noah as well."
"They what?" I cut Masons shocked response off and eye Xavier who looks much more tense than before. Is that why he's been weird this morning? "Why didn't you tell me? Is he okay?"
"He's fine" Xavier's voice is sterile, I know he doesn't want to talk about this now but at least I know Noah's okay. "They got a couple of punches in, but he fought them off. I can't say the same for your friend though Mason."
"I'm sorry we aren't all heavy weight fighting champions who specialise in how to fight psychotic bad guys who attack us out of nowhere" Mason answers in a hushed tone. "One of my best friends nearly died last night and it's my fault, now you're telling me it was some kind of planned attack and they targeted all three of us? How do they even know who I am?"
"I don't know" Xavier replies coldly, accelerating faster than he should be down the highway. "I'll figure it out."
"You'll figure it out?" I can almost see Mason slapping his forehead as he groans. "Can you at least let me know the next time you think they'll be trying to whip my ass?"
"You'll be fine, just lay low until I know what's going on."
"You better figure it out fast, this is fucked up" Mason snaps into the phone and then hangs up, before I can even try to say anything.
"What the hell Xavier?" I turn in my seat so I can face him properly. "Were you just not going to tell me about Noah? Mason doesn't even have anything to do with you and they're targeting him. What if the girls were with Noah?"
"Damnit Grace, I know!" his loud voice silences me quickly, his jaw tightens and I know he's pissed off, but Mason has every right to be as well. "I don't have a magic wand, I can't just fix everything all the time and you reinforcing the fact that this is a fucking mess isn't helping right now so just stop talking."
Without saying another word I turn and stare straight out my window, away from Xavier and his stupid face that looks scary enough to terrify anyone right now. I don't expect him to have a magic wand but I don't know how else to react to this.
Mason could've easily been the one in hospital, Noah nearly got killed and Xavier as well. I don't know how to react to something like this. Everything was going along fine for so long and then this happens, two weeks away from the wedding and straight after I find out I'm pregnant.
Neither of us say anything for the short rest of the drive to the clinic. The tension between Xavier and I is almost unbearable and he climbs out of the car almost as quickly as I do once he parks in an empty space. His phones pressed to his ear straight away and I'm left leading the way towards the terrifying building. He trails behind me, somersaults churning low in my belly as I walk.
"Hi Dear" the lady behind the front desk smiles when she sees me. Her glance moves to Xavier whose followed me into the building but stayed back from the counter. He's talking to someone in a hushed, obviously agitated tone through the phone. "Is he okay?"
"He's - " I look behind my shoulder to his ridged form that flexes tightly under the material of the suit and force a fake smile to my quivering lips. "Fine, just busy with work."
She nods and takes my name, typing it into somewhere on the computer. "Take a seat, Dr Cave will be with you soon."
I thank her quietly, making my way through the small hallway without bothering to look back at Xavier. In the oddly quiet waiting room I'm greeted by a very unimpressed looking girl who'd be barely over 17 and her friend beside her. She has streaks of red through different parts of her hair and countless amounts of piercings on different areas of her face.
I smile politely and both asses my much more different appearance without making any kind of gesture back. I just take a seat a few away from them, across from a couple who hold each other's hands tightly. I can see the wedding rings on both fingers and the large smiles on their bright faces. The tall girls stomach is swollen so she's much further along than I am.
Unlike the two girls, the couple smile widely when I sit down and I do my best to send a convincing one back. Even though I'm utterly petrified and wish Xavier would get off his stupid phone.
Why did this all have to happen now? I know I should've been more understanding in the car but I'm not use to dealing with things like this like he is. My natural instinct is to freak out.
"It better be sorted by the time I call you back." Xavier's voice makes me jump. His large figure walks through the doorway of the still room and his finger presses the screen on his phone harshly. I don't miss the way the two girls sit up when they see him, offering very obvious smiles his way. Now they decide to be polite?
He sends a very cold glare in their direction as he walks past them. He looks like some kind of angry time bomb about to explode at any second. The girls flirtatious gleams seem to disappear quickly from their faces as he sits down on the chair beside me.
He leans forward in his seat, elbows resting on his knees as his fingers continue to tap against the screen of his iPhone without a glance in my direction. I swallow dryly, unsure of what to say to him without making this worse. I don't want to remember our baby's first scan like this, but I also have no idea what to do to possibly make this situation any better.
The couple who smiled at me earlier look between each other when they see him and the obvious bruising to his tan skin. Worried looks are obvious on their kind looking faces when they meet my nervous gaze. I'd be confused if I was them as well.
"Can I help you?" Xavier asks suddenly. His voice fills the silent room and I sit deeper in my seat as he looks up from his phone. He looks directly to the now uncomfortable looking couple with a questioning look that would terrify anyone. It doesn't surprise me when neither of them can answer.
I feel sorry for them, they're obviously lovely people and it's not their fault that all these things are going on right now. "My fiancé and I didn't come here to be stared at" he sends his cold glare back to the young girls as well who look at the floor.
"Xavier stop" I whisper, sending an apologetic frown to the married couple who are to mortified to even look anywhere near us now. "You're not helping anyone by acting like this."
He tilts his head to look back at me, stormy eyes quickly falling on my fingers that tremble without me meaning to let them. I fold them together but I know he's already noticed. "You're scared."
He doesn't ask, he states, because he knows me to well. I look at the table covered in out of date magazines instead of at him.
My trembling fingers always give me away, they trembled the nights before big exams at university when he'd have to stay up with me for hours until I could fall asleep. They trembled when I first met him and on our first dates and whenever he taught me intimate things I never knew anything about. They tremble still when I'm worried about work or have a big presentation I know I have to do. It's a bad habit I haven't been able to shake off since I was a little girl.
"Don't be worried about this, our baby will be fine." One his hands easily fits over both of my shaking ones, squeezing them gently as he gazes at the large engagement ring on my finger.
Where has this Xavier come from? Moments ago he was glaring and being beyond rude, now his glare has softened to an almost reassuring one that confuses me. "What's that look for?"
"You just..... confuse me sometimes" I admit quietly so the onlookers around the room can't hear, holding his stare. "Who were you talking to on the phone?"
"Noah" he runs his tongue along his bottom lip, not pulling his hand away from mine. "You know that Italian Mafia family I told you about last night? The one I thought was behind the guys who tried to attack me?" When I nod he swallows. "It was their men who came at Noah and I last night and the leaders daughter who thought she was beating up Mason."
"Daughter? How do they know who Mason is?" I stumble over my words, unable to think of the best ones to say.
"Zana-"
"Grace?" A women in a white doctors coat cuts Xavier off before he can say anymore. She stands in the doorway with paper between her thin fingers and smiles when she sees my nervous expression. "You can both follow me if you'd like?"