Chapter 59 Trigger

Adalia then moved closer to Xzavier and placed a pouch in his hand. He checked inside the pouch and found a few dozen gold coins in it, confused when Adalia would have gotten that much of gold coins but suddenly he looked aghast and Adalia coated see it in his eyes.

He probably knew where the pouch of gold coins was from before Adalia even told him given Adalai a questioning look.

"Tacy… she entrusted me to deliver these to you, Xzavier." Adalia finally revealed to him as she stared into his face. The atmosphere suddenly changed as Adalia could see Xzavier's mood totally change.

Xzavier instantly sank into a gloomy silence for a moment, staring into space and appeared to be lost in thoughts. He then slowly walked to the door and looked back at Adalia where she stood.

"I'll go with you to the city to accept the commendation, but I have business I must tend to before we go on this journey," he announced. He then walked out of the room, leaving Adalia alone.

Adalia looked in the direction he was leaving and seemed to be thinking about something.

Xzavier headed to the underground exchange in search of Tacy. His mind was full and heavy with thoughts of why Tacy would return the gold coins he gifted to her. Immediately Tacy noticed the presence of Xzavier through the voices of men in the exchange standing in a corner looking suspicious as always and the tameness of the middle-aged man with load of bandage wrapped tightly over his broken arm groaning in pain as if his arm just got broken in the sight of Xzavier.

It was a kind gesture that came purely from his heart and the greatest opportunity that a woman such as Tacy could get in an extremely patriarchal world such as this. The gold coins were supposed to be her golden ticket to a life of affluence, freedom and self-security. Something she would not normally come across easily in this society.

He found Tacy at the underground exchange and she seemed to be avoiding him for reasons unknown to him, he thought about what could influence this behavior of hers but could not come up with much. Why would she give up the chance to live a nice life?

Actually the reason was the strong emotional connection that Tacy felt towards him, she loved him but she felt that she could not have him to herself. She felt unworthy of such a man, after all, she is just a simple girl with no ambition. All she wanted was to lead a simple life of tranquility, quietness and peace.

"Greetings, Tacy," he greeted her as she bent her head down, pretending to be busy with work, she avoided looking straight at his strong, perfectly made face or his beautiful eyes. His strong figure and the charisma he commanded all reminded Tacy of why they cannot be together, right there and then she was a prize she could not win.

Having been seen a girl as beautiful as Adalia beside Xzavier contributed greatly to the way, it made her feel greatly inferior and seeing him beside her, the man of her dreams that she could not have, someone she loved but due inferiority complex, she could not even confess her strong love for Xzavier. His presence there filled her with heartache.

For a minutes, Xzavier maintained silence before Tacy finally turned to face his side.

"Halo…" Xzavier began calmly.

"Hello, Xzavier," she replied, all the while making herself busy with what she had been doing before he showed up, trying to avoid eye contact with him.

"You're still here, I see. And you returned the money I gave you to leave this place behind and start a better life somewhere else, why would you do that?" he referred to her seriously.

"I should leave here and go where, Xzavier? I'm a simple girl and there ain't much out there for someone like me in this world… all I want is some peace and a simple life free of sorrow and pain," she explained to him and he felt pity for her.

"This has always been the home I knew."

"I've lived my own life here with Kadin and I don't think there is another place better for me to live than here." She answered with a seriousness that matched Xzavier's own mood.

"Can't you go anywhere but here? Can't you do more with your life?" Xzavier protested.

"At least I have a life here, Xzavier. Out there, there is a lot of chaos and many unknowns. My place is here and I have accepted that." She finally looked up at him and stared into his eyes and it took her all her strength not to let tears stream down her eyes.

"I never demanded anything from anyone other than you come for exchange and I pay your dues as instructed, nothing more than that." She answered in a quiet and straight voice that was barely above yelling.

Xzavier found himself speechless as smart as he has always known himself but this time, he felt the urge of something different.

Convince that Tacy was serious and wasn't just saying this absent mindedly. Xzavier took his time to understand Tacy's statement before he made up his mind. It was at this moment that Xzavier realized that there was nothing he could do to convince her to leave.

He was not going to force her or anybody else to do things they did not want to do. As Xzavier continued consoling Tacy's mind from her emptiness, she lifted her gaze slowly to meet up with Xzavier's face and she found compassion, love and care in his face. Not being able to summon the courage to express her feeling towards Xzavier, she quickly buried her face in the ground to quench her curiosity.

Tacy has grown affection for Xzavier but she didn't know how best to express her feelings to him instead she determined to keep it all to herself.

She was so inferior to face Xzavier and confess her true feeling to him. Her low self-esteem killed her pride and courage to walk up to Xzavier to confess the love she has for him. She has always been thinking she wasn't good enough for him as a partner, not his perfect mate or his type, yet Xzavier was keen to fight her battle to victory. Tacy was transparent in her thought, he watched as a look of realization dawned on her.

He felt bad for her and somehow in his mind he felt responsible for her safety and so, to make sure that she continued to be safe even in his absence he reached to his side and unholstered his sidearm and gave it to her, it was a glock-19. He also gave her a few dozen bullets to go with it.

The caliber of this weapon is 9mm, the rounds capacity is 15, and it is concealable. Just the type of weapon a woman needs in this world where animalistic men **** women and still blame the women for it.

He stood up immediately and Tacy looked up surprisingly and anticipate what would happen next. Xzavier softly pulled her up and he took a step forward showcasing the motive to run like a cheater. They both ran out of the underground exchange to an open area. Tacy could not question his ability and instinct of what he had in mind though she already knew what would happen where were.

Xzavier released Tacy's hand and took some steps forward to check for a perfect view where his plan would work as expected.

"Here we are…" he said.

"Where is this place?" Tacy asked.

"Why are we here anyway?" Tacy's asked with the act of pretense being a hoodwink.

"Okay Tacy, listen and listen well. There must not be mistake here or you are dead." Xzavier said confidently.

Xzavier handed Tacy his pistol slowly and carefully, after the pistol is in her hand, Xzavier let go of the pistol calmly.

"Take a closer look at me and do exactly as I do." Xzavier instructed flatly.

Then he continued…

"I'll teach you to use this weapon, Tacy. It should at least keep you safe if you're choosing to stay here." he put the gun in her hand and she stared at it while he searched for a clearing with the intention of training her to use it. He then took the gun from her and began to show her.

"The first thing you do is click the safety off, and point, aim and pull the trigger," he clicked the safety off as he had said, pointed and shot at some trees.

The sound of the firearm made Tacy shake a little bit and then Xzavier offered her the weapon, whispering "Now it's your turn, Tacy." She took the gun and followed Xzavier's instructions, she pulled the trigger and fired the gun, she missed some few times as the recoil of the gun shook her hands and the gun even fell off her hand once.