Fallen Actress' Comeback: Torn Between the Director and the Mafia Lord-Chapter 18: Traitorous Daughter

Chapter 18

~Xena’s POV~

For a second, I forgot how to stand correctly.

Xavier’s eyes on me were too direct, warm, and entirely too confident for a man who’d recently just started talking to me with his perfectly sculpted face and voice that insisted on making my heart skip, whether I liked it or not.

I cleared my throat and forced myself to act normal.

"Good thing you know your customers," I replied, giving him a pointed look. "Otherwise, my daughter might have dragged me here either way."

He gave a lazy smile, the type that made it seem like he’d won something. "Trust me, I remember you."

My stomach did an unnecessary flip. I hated that it did. "Let’s just get the cake before Skai starts chanting for a cake with your name," I muttered.

Behind him, a man I assumed was Xavier’s friend stared at Xavier as if he had just started levitating.

His brows shot up, almost lost in his hairline. I blinked, trying to figure out why he looked that shocked.

Xavier didn’t glance back at him. He practically ignored him, then simply placed a hand lightly on Skai’s head and said, "Come on, little pumpkin. Let’s get you something sweet."

Skai brightened instantly and clung to my hand tighter. "Cake!" she whispered, as if it were a sacred word.

We walked inside the bakery together, the warm smell of butter and cinnamon wrapping around us. Xavier held the door open for us, and Skai walked in first, humming a little tune that only toddlers understood.

"So, Skai," Xavier said as he crouched a bit to her height, "do you like chocolate cake? Or strawberry?"

She scrunched her nose in deep thought, lips pursed just like she did when trying to pick her favourite spoon during meals. "Hmm... I like appo pie," she answered proudly.

"Apple pie," I corrected gently.

"Appo pie," she insisted again.

Xavier chuckled softly. "Apple pie it is then. You have excellent taste."

Skai grinned, revealing her tiny teeth. "My mummy likes it too."

"Oh, I know," Xavier responded with the same charm as he glanced up at me with a look that made my heart drop straight to my stomach. "I remembered."

I folded my arms to hide the flutter in my chest. "You remember too many things."

"Only the important ones," he replied without missing a beat.

I blinked hard. It was practically almost impossible to escape his flirt. And God was he so impossible.

Xavier rose to his full height and nodded toward the counter. "Your usual is kept aside. I figured you might return."

"Or you hoped."

This time he smirked without denying it. "Maybe both."

Skai tugged his sleeve excitedly. "Mr Zavyah... can you make a small cake too? For Nanny Nancy? She’s sick."

He softened just a little. "Of course I can. Anything for my favourite little customer."

Skai gasped dramatically and looked up at me. "Mummy... am I fav-i-wit?"

"You might be," I whispered with a smile before giving Xavier a sharp look. "You spoil her."

"She deserves it," he replied easily. Then his eyes lowered just slightly, warm and pointed. "Both of you do."

My breath hitched before I could stop it.

"Besides, I should have delivered it to you, but I didn’t have your address."

"Ohh, I didn’t realise that free delivery comes with this service."

"Well, Xena, you do not know everything about me." Before I could respond to him, Xavier dusted his palms as if finalising something.

"I’ll pack everything," he said, turning toward the shelves. "You two wait here."

As he walked away, Skai leaned into my leg and whispered, "Mummy... Mr Zavyah is nice."

I chewed my bottom lip, staring at the broad line of his back as he moved. He was no longer in his all-white chef outfit, but this time he wore an all-white suit, even down to his shoes.

I was starting to believe that he loved the colour more than usual.

"Right?" My daughter’s chirpy voice broke my thought.

Nodding, I put on a smile as I replied, exhaling quietly. "Yes, he is."

But that wasn’t the problem. The problem was how my heart reacted every time he was close, and I wasn’t sure how long I could keep pretending I didn’t notice.

A few minutes later, Xavier stepped out with the box of pie and cake. I knew I would have my hands full.

Seeing how my gaze darted between both boxes, Xavier smiled warmly. "Like I said, I could have delivered it to your house if I had your phone number at least."

I lifted a brow. "Is that your way of asking for my number?"

"Would it be bad if I said yes?"

The flicker in his eyes as he licked his bottom lip a little made my breath hitch.

"Umm, no but..."

"Then you’ll give it to me?" he asked, his voice dropping just slightly, smooth enough to annoy me and warm enough to make my pulse jump.

I narrowed my eyes at him, holding the box of apple pie closer to my chest. "Only for delivery," I warned, as clearly as possible. "Strictly delivery."

Xavier’s lips curved in a slow, knowing smirk. "Hmm. I doubt that."

Excuse me?!

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"That you’ll use it for more than delivery," he said easily, as if the conversation were already settled.

By now, both of us had completely forgotten the other guy behind him, focusing only on us.

I scoffed. "You’re assuming too much."

"And you’re pretending too much." He leaned a little to the side, lowering himself enough to brush Skai’s cheek softly with his knuckles. "Right, little pumpkin? Mummy pretends a lot."

Skai giggled. "Yes. Mummy p’tends."

"Traitor," I muttered under my breath. My traitorous daughter only grinned.

Xavier extended his phone toward me, arching a brow. "Number, please."

I shouldn’t have. I knew I shouldn’t have. Especially since it was everything Xade warned against, but something about the look in his eyes, and my wanting to defy Xade, pushed me.

I typed it in anyway, quickly, so I wouldn’t overthink it. When I handed the phone back, Xavier didn’t look at the screen.

He looked at me slowly, with so much intensity as if he had just been given something more valuable than digits.

"Thank you," Xavier said, softer than before.

"For delivery," I reminded him. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"For more," he countered.

I looked away before my face betrayed me.