Thunder growled in the distance, a prelude to the chaos brewing both outside the safehouse and inside Xander's chest.
The moment that second message hit his phone, something inside him snapped.
Dominic had crossed a line.
Threats were one thing. But to target her?
Unforgivable.
Xander stormed out of the bedroom, bare-chested, body still glistening from their earlier heat, but now pulsing with fury.
He barked into his phone, "Get every man on standby. We're moving everything to lockdown protocol. And bring me Dominic's location. I don't care how deep he's buried."
Daisy watched him from the doorway, a blanket wrapped around her, shivering though the room wasn't cold.
"Xander… what if he's serious?"
"He is," he growled, throwing on a black shirt. "And that's why I'm going to make sure he never gets near you again."
She stepped closer. "You're not thinking straight. You're emotional"
"Of course I am!" he snapped, turning toward her. "You think I'm just going to sit here and wait while he plots how to touch you?"
His voice was rough, possessive, trembling at the edges.
She'd never seen him like this.
Unhinged. Dangerous. Terrified.
Not for himself.
But for her.
As Xander loaded a gun, he told her something he never had before.
"I was eight the first time Dominic killed someone."
Daisy's eyes widened.
"He didn't mean for me to see it. But I did. Our father was proud. Said it meant he was finally a man."
He locked the bullet chamber.
"Dominic became what they wanted him to be. A weapon. Me? I pretended. I built an empire, a fortune, a clean image. But I kept records. Secrets. I waited."
"Waited for what?"
He looked up, his voice low. "For the day I'd have something worth protecting. Something he'd want to destroy. Someone."
Her throat tightened.
"You waited for me?"
His jaw clenched. "I didn't know it was you until it was too late. Until I needed you more than I feared him."
The storm outside cracked the sky open as they moved into the command office. Thick security screens blinking red alerts.
Xander dragged her in with him, not letting her out of sight.
"You're not leaving my side," he growled.
The power flickered.
Lightning flashed across the skylight.
And then…
He kissed her.
Hard. Violent. Starved.
He shoved papers and files off the desk, sat her on the edge, and pulled her thighs apart with both hands.
"Xander" she gasped.
"No more rules. No more pretending. You're mine," he growled, tugging the blanket off her and baring her skin to the cold air and his hungry eyes.
He didn't wait.
His mouth trailed fire across her chest, down her stomach, until she arched against him, helpless to stop the wave of need crashing over her.
"You always act so strong," he murmured between kisses, "but right now? You're trembling for me."
Her fingers dug into his hair. "I hate how much I want you."
He looked up, eyes black with lust. "Good. Because I'm never letting you go."
When he took her, it was wild, rough hands, soft moans, thunder crashing like applause. The table creaked beneath them as he claimed her again, not just with his body but with his obsession.
Afterward, wrapped in a robe, Daisy stared at the monitors in silence.
One screen showed a still image Dominic entering a luxury hotel under a false name.
Xander stood behind her.
"We have a location," he said darkly. "Now we end this."
But Daisy stepped forward.
"No. I end this."
He blinked.
"I want to meet him."
Xander's face hardened. "Absolutely not."
"You said I'm yours. You said you'd protect me. Let me do the same."
He looked away, jaw working.
She moved closer. "This started with my father. I deserve the truth. And if your brother is the monster you say he is, then I want to look that monster in the eye."
Later that night, as Xander stepped out to make calls, Daisy wandered back into the bedroom, heart still pounding from everything.
She slipped into her robe pocket and felt something.
Her old phone.
She hadn't touched it in days.
It must've been there when she grabbed her robe.
She turned it on, hesitating.
One new voicemail.
From an unknown number.
She hit play.
"Daisy. If you're hearing this, you're already in too deep. He's lying to you. Check the left drawer of his office desk. You'll find the real truth about your father's death. Don't trust anyone. Especially him."
She stared at the phone.
Her blood turned to ice.