Chapter 162 The Gangster Fell for a Married Woman
The private dining room felt warm, quiet, and overly formal.
A large round table sat right in the center, surrounded by soft cushioned chairs and wrapped in smooth silk wall hangings. A single large painting hung on the far wall, depicting a traditional mountain landscape filled with rolling rivers and light morning mist.
Xander walked over to the table first, pulling out the chair closest to his own spot.
He gestured toward Veyra with a smooth wave of his hand. "Please, sit here."
Veyra glanced at the chair, then at Xander’s polite smile, and finally at the open seats on the opposite side of the broad table.
She offered a calm, neutral smile. "I would actually prefer to sit over here beside Mia."
Xander’s dark eyebrows shot up in mild surprise. "Mia?"
"My core business partner," Veyra said, gesturing gently to the woman standing beside her. "We have a few urgent details to discuss regarding our new drink menu."
Xander’s jaw tightened slightly, a momentary flicker of annoyance crossing his sharp features. He clearly was not used to women casually turning down his direct invitations.
Veyra didn’t wait around for him to object. She walked smoothly around the round table, pulled out a comfortable chair directly across from him, and sat down. She then patted the seat next to her, signaling Mia to take it.
Mia quickly slid into the chair, keeping her hands folded tightly in her lap and her wide eyes fixed on the tablecloth.
Xander stood frozen by his pulled-out chair for a brief moment, his hands gripping the wooden backrest tightly and his expression stiff.
After a second, he simply shrugged it off, walked around the table, and took his seat directly across from Veyra.
Mia leaned her head closer to Veyra’s shoulder, keeping her whisper barely audible.
"Thank you so much," Mia murmured with a small sigh of relief.
Veyra turned her head slightly, keeping her voice low. "For what?"
"For not forcing me to sit right next to him," Mia admitted softly.
Veyra gave her a warm, reassuring smile. "I would never put you in an uncomfortable spot like that."
Mia let out a long, quiet breath as her tense shoulders finally relaxed. "I honestly don’t think my nerves could have handled being that close to him for an entire meal."
Veyra placed a gentle, comforting hand on Mia’s forearm. "You are completely safe here. I won’t let anyone bother you."
Mia nodded, giving her a look filled with quiet gratitude.
Xander watched the entire hushed exchange with narrowed eyes.
He thoroughly disliked being left out of conversations, and he disliked people whispering in his presence even more.
Still, he forced himself to hold his tongue and maintain his cool composure.
His sharp gaze swept across the room until it landed on Leon, who was standing quietly near the closed dining door. Leon stood with his arms loosely crossed over his chest, his face completely unreadable, and his eyes steadily monitoring every corner of the room.
Xander raised an eyebrow, looking back at Veyra. "Why isn’t your husband sitting down to eat with us?"
Veyra blinked in complete surprise. "What did you say?"
"Your husband," Xander repeated, pointing a finger toward Leon. "He is just standing over by the door like a silent hired guard."
Veyra opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself as the realization finally clicked in her mind. Xander still genuinely believed that Leon was her actual husband.
She shook her head softly, correcting him flatly. "Leon is not my husband, Xander."
Xander’s eyes widened in genuine shock. "He isn’t?"
"He is my assigned personal bodyguard," Veyra explained clearly. "He works directly for my husband."
Xander stared at her as his mind quickly processed the news. His face shifted rapidly from sheer confusion to mild surprise, before settling into a look of heavy, visible relief.
"So he is just your bodyguard," Xander repeated slowly.
"Yes, that is correct."
"Which means your actual husband didn’t bother showing up today."
"No, he did not."
Xander leaned back comfortably in his chair, crossing his broad arms across his chest with an air of complete dismissal.
"A mere bodyguard," he muttered under his breath. "That is all he is."
Veyra kept her thoughts to herself, staying silent.
Xander shook his head with a slight smirk. "Your husband couldn’t even be bothered to accompany you to an important business meeting? Instead, he sends a low-level subordinate to trail behind you and keep tabs on your movements."
Veyra’s calm expression did not shift in the slightest.
"Does he actually think I am going to harm you?" Xander let out a sudden, dry laugh. "Does he honestly view me as some sort of massive danger?"
Veyra offered a thin, polite smile. "I believe my husband simply wants to ensure my complete safety wherever I go."
Xander snorted softly. "Safety from a man like me, no doubt."
He cast a condescending glance back toward Leon, his voice laced with clear mockery.
"Your husband must be terrified," Xander mocked openly. "Sending a personal guard to watch over a simple lunch meeting, as if he is deathly afraid I might steal his pretty wife away from him."
Leon’s stone-cold expression didn’t break, his dark eyes continuing to scan the room without acknowledging the insult.
Xander lowered his tone, his voice turning sharper. "Or perhaps he is simply not man enough to step up and face me himself."
Veyra maintained her quiet smile without uttering a single word, her gaze entirely steady.
By the door, Leon’s jaw tightened just a tiny fraction, a rare, subtle sign of rising displeasure at the insult to his master.
Xander leaned forward across the table, his posture turning surprisingly serious and his voice softening into a quiet tone.
"I have been doing a lot of thinking lately, Mrs. Thorne," he admitted.
Veyra raised a brow slightly. "About what?"
"About you," he said, pausing to look her straight in the eye. "I know I have done a lot of bad things in my past. I know the dark reputation I carry across this city. But I can honestly say I have never met a woman quite like you before."
Veyra stilled, her hands resting quietly on the table.
"You walked right into my territory without flinching," Xander continued, his voice surprisingly sincere. "You looked me dead in the eye, stood your ground, and negotiated real estate terms with me like an absolute equal." He shook his head in quiet admiration. "You aren’t afraid of me in the slightest."
"I am not afraid of anyone," she said simply.
"Exactly," Xander said, his tone growing intensely earnest. "And that exact fierce attitude is why I like you so much."
Veyra’s mouth parted slightly in surprise before closing again, completely caught off guard.
Xander didn’t stop there. He leaned closer across the table, his dark eyes locking onto hers with sudden intensity.
"I want to be completely honest with you," he confessed softly. "I have genuine feelings for you, Veyra."
Veyra could only stare at him in total shock.
"I know you are currently married," he acknowledged, his words coming fast. "And I know you have a child on the way. But none of that matters to me." He leaned even closer. "Divorce your husband and stay with me instead."
She sat completely frozen, temporarily robbed of her speech.
"I will treat you like royalty," Xander promised firmly. "I will spoil you constantly and grant your every wish. You will never have to worry about financial struggles or business obstacles ever again."
He slowly reached his large hand across the table surface, moving to touch her fingers.
"I will make you truly happy," he declared.
Veyra frantically reached out and grabbed her glass of cold water.
Desperate to break the bizarre tension, she lifted the glass and took a quick, heavy gulp. The icy liquid hit the back of her throat far too fast.
She instantly choked, spraying a cloud of fine water straight out of her mouth!
Coughing hard, she slammed the glass back down onto the tabletop. Her face flushed a bright, burning red, her eyes wide with utter astonishment.
She stared across the table at the local gang leader as if he had completely lost his mind.
"Are you completely out of your mind?" she managed to ask, her voice dripping with sheer disbelief.