Chapter 163 Ready

Adalia felt as if cold water had just been poured on her head. She didn't quite understand. Was Xzavier pushing her away? Did he not care for her anymore? What was happening?

"What?! Why?!! What's wrong Xzavier???"

Xzavier didn't answer her immediately, and this further fanned the already raging flames in Adalia's heart. Finally, Xzavier sat down at the bed. Then he looked at the semi-naked agitated blonde sitting upright in his bed, and asked her to simply follow his instructions for her own good. Adalia noted the somberness in his tone and voice. She instinctively knew that he was serious. Though Xzavier didn't give an in depth explanation, Adalia trusted him completely. So, she decided to do as he said.

The very next day, Babara sprang into action. As early as possible, Babara went into town to hire a carriage that was to take both her sister and Janae out of town. She couldn't risk any of Quaid's spies sighting Janae, so she had to go get the carriage by herself and bring it back. Tears stung Babara's eyes as she made her way back to her home in the hired carriage. This was all so unfair. She had only just got her sister back.

But as painful as it was, she had to part with her sister. It was kind of cruel that after all these years, after finally coming together, they were now being forced apart by circumstance. Still, it was the only way to keep her alive. Upon getting back to her house, she saw that Adalia had already arrived in her absence and had been waiting for her to return. Babara noticed that Xzavier wasn't with her.

Being the prudent thinking one, he had decided that it was best that she set off alone, so Quaid wouldn't suspect that they were onto him. Under Xzavier's instructions, she had disguised herself, hiding her iconic hair and face behind a veil and very modest apparel, so as to limit her chances of being recognized. The plan was to leave no trail whatsoever.

Babara wasted no time. She bundled both Janae and Adalia onto the carriage, and paid the driver handsomely to take both of them to a secret location outside of town where she had arranged in advance. There, they would not be discovered. They would be safe from Quaid's spies. While fighting to hold back her tears, Babara waved them goodbye (her sister and the driver, not Adalia) and quickly rushed back into her house before she could give into her emotions and ride off with them.

It was a brave sacrifice, but it was worth it.

All through that morning, right up till early evening, Xzavier was restless. He went to the training area on the mansion's grounds, and channeled all of that energy into working out. Sweating like a pig, Xzavier trained furiously till his veins were literally popping out of his forehead. While he physically worked out, he worked things out in his own mind.

The game was already afoot, and he had made his first proactive move by securing both women whom he had set free. The more he thought about it, the more clearly he saw just how right Babara had been about that move. Babara's genius thinking augmented his own skills as a field agent. He could see that very clearly now. So, comforted by the fact that they were both safe and out of sight, he could now focus on handling Quaid square on.

As Xzavier lifted up and incredible array of weights, he began to brainstorm. The next stage was to confront Quaid now. Ever since Xzavier had found out about the sex slave business, he hadn't been comfortable with Quaid at all. He had hoped that freeing Janae would tone down his raging thirst to do something about it, but instead, he found himself even more driven. Something had to be done. If he held in his disdain any longer, it would begin to show out in the open. And that would not be good at all.

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So, after nearly six hours of working out, after pushing his mind and his body to the limits of a full work out session, Xzavier stormed out of the training ground with a new plan in mind- he was going to see the governor and lay it all out on the table. It was time to end this.

A few minutes later, after cleaning himself up, Xzavier presented himself before the governor, fully determined to lay down his terms. Brimming with confidence, he ambushed Quaid in his home office. As always, Quaid was alone. Even at this late hour, he was still bent over his desk, doing whatever it was that people in administration did. Try as he may, Xzavier had to give Quaid the credit. There was no gainsaying it; Quaid was a hard worker.

This was actually one of the few things that Xzavier admired about him. Despite the fact that he had hundreds of underlings whom he could assign random work to, Quaid spent a decent amount of time handling his own business. And in Xzavier's books, this was commendable. It was just too bad that he was erring on the side of sex slaves.

Xzavier shook off all these interfering thoughts and focused on the issue at hand.

"Good evening governor. Mind if I join you for a bit?"

Quaid answered him without even looking up; "Of course not Xzavier. Sit."

This was just another one of his typical maneuvers. The fact was that Quaid was actually happy with the fact that Xzavier had come him again. Quaid's business model was simple. Rein in the prey with just enough bait, and keep hooked and automatically they would keep coming back for more. At the beginning, he had had a difficult time reading Xzavier. He spoiled him with a title, and offered him lands and other things that came along with it, but Xzavier had remained stubborn. But just when he was starting to lose hope, Xzavier had come to him for Adalia.

That had been a stroke of pure luck. But Quaid wasn't one to miss out on an opportunity. He had capitalized on Xzavier's need in that moment and took advantage to push his own agenda forth. It had worked like a charm! Then, just when Quaid was looking for another opening, Xzavier came to him for Janae. It had all been too good to be true. Quaid didn't want to jinx it yet, but it truly seemed that he had found Xzavier's weakness.

Quaid remembered his initial supposition about Xzavier in the beginning; a young man that had been raised outside of civilization by a secret cult or something. Maybe Xzavier was finally getting a taste of the forbidden fruit, and was finally coming into his own as a man. This made sense to Quaid's logical mind. So, it was on this basis that he judged that Xzavier coming to him once again was probably a good thing.

Quaid was thirsty for more weapons. And now that he knew what made Xzavier tick, he sure as hell was going to milk him dry. Unfortunately, he was about to find out just how wrong he was. Before he could even open his mouth, Xzavier took him by surprise.

"We need to talk about the issue regarding your private imprisonment and illegal sex slaves."

Quaid didn't know if he was imagining, it, but he could hear the underlying tone of judgment in Xzavier's words. The governor's mind turned itself inside out just trying to figure Xzavier out. What was this about? For the first time in forever, Quaid frowned slightly in the presence of another person. His face was always a mask of indifference- expressionless and totally unreadable. But now, a look of worry crept across his face, and for good reason too. No one had EVER spoken to him in such a condescending tone.

Another thing that made Xzavier's affront all the more surprising to Quaid was the fact that he thought Xzavier had been under his spell this whole time. He had literally just handed him the second woman he had asked for, and now this? It was all too much for Quaid to process all at once! Struggling to understand the full situation, Quaid asked Xzavier the only question that was on his mind;

"What is the meaning of this Xzavier? Where exactly is all this coming from?"

Xzavier had anticipated that Quaid might deny it and pass off his accusations as mere speculations. So, Xzavier fired back at Quaid with all the results and information that Babara had gathered over the course of her investigation. Xzavier was well prepared for this, so he gave Quaid no chance to counter or defend himself. it was nothing but the truth, and it made the governor cold because they were all established truths. Xzavier blasted on for a full three minutes without stopping. And when he finally stopped, Quaid was as quiet and as still as a gravestone.

Quaid said nothing, but within him, he was already boiling like a steam engine of a locomotive train. At the center of his heart was a raging wild fire that was threatening to burst out and consume everything in its path- including Xzavier himself. Quaid was livid with fury. There was no one in Victoria City who would dare to speak to him in this manner. Just who did Xzavier think he was?! Had Xzavier grown so fat on Quaid's graciousness that he was now speaking back at him like they were equals?

Even as he sat his seat and watched Xzavier come at him like a small child, Quaid had half a mind to teach Xzavier a lesson there and then. But then again, experience and wisdom prevailed.