His Hope

Part 7: Down to Business

7

Xavier stilled when he noticed the small girl next to him was shaking. He frowned and wound and arm around her without a thought pulling her closer, trying to comfort the beautiful girl. He didn't have to know her for long, to understand that she had a sensitive soul, he saw it in her when she helped the small animal yesterday. He wasn't sure what he had said or done that could have upset her, and his mind raced as he tried to figure it out.

"Lou, what's wrong," he whispered into her ear, so the other men couldn't hear.

"I'm sorry..." She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She felt his fingers on her side and his warm breath moving the hairs on the top of her head. She wanted to move away, silently reprimanding herself for being so emotional in front of a person she barely knew.

"It's okay, you never have to be sorry for expressing your feelings." He spoke softly in her ear, reassuring her that she had nothing to be sorry for.

"I just remembered something that I haven't thought about it in a while." She admitted, taking a deep breath. She rubbed at her eyes until they were dry before lifting her head away from his side as she sniffled.

"Well, if you want to talk about it, I'm happy to listen," he offered.

"No... No, I'm okay. I'm sorry." She apologized again, her cheeks warming in embarrassment. She sat up a bit straighter moving away from his side as she ducked her head not meeting his eyes.

He wanted to tell her there was no need to apologize but kept quiet. He kept his arm around her, despite noticing her putting some distance between them. He wanted to speak more about it, but he knew his men we're probably listening, and he didn't want to push her. He didn't know the full meaning behind her words, and he couldn't take his eyes off her as she visibly closed in on herself.

He kissed the top of her head again, before lifting his head and catching Aiden's eyes in the rear-view mirror. Aiden raised his eyebrows in question and Xavier shook his head in response, hoping he got the message to let it go. He didn't know much of anything about the girl in his arms, but he vowed to find out every single bad or good thing that had happened in her short life.

It took them another 20 minutes of driving before they made it to their destination. He helped her out of the car and hid a smile when she clutched his hand in hers when he went to pull away. He didn't want to leave her either, but he had to get this done today. He sighed and knocked on the large door in front of them, that opened not even a second later and they were led inside.

***

The door to the meeting room opened and everybody's heads snapped up to see what was going on. Xavier's voice flowed into her ears along with the man he was speaking with. Louisa remembered the Sheriff so clearly it was as if she had seen him yesterday. Memories and words that had been spoken to her screamed in the very pack of her brain, and she closed her eyes briefly to try and block them out.

The two men were clearly in a heated discussion, but Xavier's responses had her confused. Sheriff Lionel spoke fluent Spanish, and Xavier was attempting to do the same. She leaned over to Sebastian who was sat beside her and quietly said, "does Xavier actually know Spanish?" She kept her eyes on the room but had one ear tuned in to Sebastian.

"Very little, why?" Sebastian asked, surprised by the sound of the girl beside him speaking. She had kept to herself since the incident in the car, and he hadn't expected her to talk until she was back with Xavier. He didn't hear all their conversation earlier, despite being right beside them, but he couldn't help but be curious as to what happened.

"Is there any way you can let Xavier know, that guy is basically telling him to go to hell?" She said, surprised by how angry she was at what she said. She glanced at him meeting his eyes for a moment before they lowered back to her shoes.