Continental Life

Seventeen

Xander hadn't yet made it out the door of the DDTC when he heard Dominic's voice over his shoulder.

"Can I have a word with you?"

When he faced him, Dom's eyes seemed strangely veiled.

With his briefcase and jacket in hand, he followed Dom to the conference room on the top floor. Once there, he found all the board members seated at the table. All except for Dalberg that is. Standing in a corner, leaning against a wall, he was glaring at Xander. As he glanced around the room, he noted half of the members present were in street clothes, making him wonder what the emergency meeting had been called for.

When Dominic pulled out a chair at the front of the table and gestured for him to sit, he suddenly felt as though he were being put on trial. He studied their expressions to get a feel for the room, but they were as blank and indecipherable as water.

As he stood next to the chair, he questioned them. "What's this about?"

"It's been brought to the board's attention that you and Bella have had physical contact outside of the DDTC," Dom answered when Xander refused to sit.

Casually, he set his briefcase and jacket on the table and crossed his arms over his chest, and addressed the accusation. "Where did you hear that?"

"It makes no difference. Is it true?" Garret asked as he leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table.

He had been one of the members who had voted against Bella's acceptance, and by his bold, black eyes and smirk, he was happy to hear a rule had been broken.

"Yes, we have," Xander admitted knowing that denial would only hurt his reputation further.

Dominic shook his head and sighed while the others began discussing what should be done.

"You think the rules just don't apply to you, don't you?" Dalberg blurted with disdain.

Xander turned his body and stared in his direction with deadly concentration.

Dominic promptly joined in. "Let's not start this again."

"Why not? It's the same old bullshit as before," Dalberg snapped at Dom before casting his critical gaze back onto Xander. "Same old Xander. You never change. You snuck your way into your position at this school by fucking one of the board members, you married a former student who you were probably messing around with while she attended the program, and you make your own rules as to what you will and will not do here as an instructor. To top it off—you get your girlfriend accepted into the program without her so much as filling out a proper application by threatening to quit. And now this. Un-fucking-believable."

Dalberg might as well have declared war between them.

"So that's where all this is coming from," Xander growled as his arms fell to his sides, and he fisted his hands in rage. "All right, let's get into it. As for fucking one of the instructors to get my position here, how about you get your facts straight before you open your mouth." He moved forward, ready to break Dalberg's jaw for having made a heinous accusation about Joy. "How-fucking-dare you accuse me of fooling around with a student. My relationship with Joy started long after she left the program. Christ, you know what kind of person she turned out to be and how she lied to all of us about her intentions for being here. And that girlfriend you're referring to is my fiancé. Why don't you just admit that you never gave a shit about the reputation of this school, and you didn't want Bella here because you just don't like me!" He roared.

Their eyes locked in open warfare, and with blood-chilling anger, Dalberg's face twisted. Straightening up, he pointed a finger in Xander's direction as his fury spilled out of him.