Xavier O’Brien

by Ingro, Jessica

  He was ready to fight, though.

  Fight for her and for Sophie.

  Fight for forever.

  He found her in the kitchen. Her back was to the entry as she wrote something down on a piece of paper. The moment his eyes locked on her, his world righted itself and he realized that for the first time in forty-three days he was breathing easy.

  His eyes roamed over every inch of her, soaking in every last detail. His brain working to catalog and remember everything.

  Clearing his throat, he made his presence known. She jumped and whirled around. Her hand flying to her throat in surprise. He nearly roared with gratification that his ring was still on her finger.

  “Xavier?” She breathed. Her eyes taking him in as if he was a mirage.

  “I love you,” he said in lieu of a greeting. “I love you and I love our little girl and I want you to come home with me.”

  “Xavier,” she whispered sadly. Tears began streaming down her cheeks and he raced to tell her everything he needed to before she tried to kick him out.

  “I’m so fucking sorry for what I did. I never set out to hurt you. Never even thought what I was doing would hurt you. I’m a selfish prick who doesn’t deserve you, but I need to keep you anyway. Because you’re my fucking world; my light; my everything.”

  The words raced out of him, but how silly he looked or sounded right then didn’t matter as he forged on.

  “I may be able to survive without you, but I can tell you without a doubt that it’s not a real existence. And if you’ll just agree to come home with me, I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I’ll do just about anything you want if it means we can move past this.” He gave a self-deprecating shake of his head knowing that declaration was an understatement. “I’m not throwing in the towel on us and I won’t let you either. What we have is worth fighting for.”

  He took a breath when she took a hesitant step forward. She was still crying but she hadn’t sent him away yet. That had to be a good sign. Right?

  “I always knew what I had with you,” he continued, needing her to hear what was in his heart. “I never took it for granted. I might not have handled it with care, but it never once slipped my mind the beauty I held in my hands, my sweet Féileacán.”

  “I was already coming back to you,” she whispered. The admission floored him. So much so, he staggered back a step.

  “You were?”

  “Yes.” Aurora gestured to where her and Sophie’s suitcases sat next to the front door. “Candy came to see me. She told me what happened and how you left her alone. She told me about Jake. I had already been struggling with my decision to leave you. Some things happened with Marx and I realized that I couldn’t live without you, either.”

  “What the fuck happened with Marx?” he barked, momentarily losing his shit.

  “It’s nothing.” He gave her a look of disbelief, but somehow managed to rein in his temper. “It’s a private moment that I won’t ever share, but what came of it was me realizing that no matter what you’ve done, I still need you. When things got rough with Kevin I tried to make it work and when they didn’t get better right away, I gave up. Love isn’t about giving up. It’s about weathering the storms and finding forgiveness. What you did was deplorable.”

  Xavier opened his mouth to agree, then quickly closed it when she silenced him with a wave of her hand.

  “There’s no denying it.” She incorrectly assumed he was going to argue.

  “No, there isn’t,” he agreed, causing a look of relief to sweep across her face.

  “No matter how disgusted I am by the choice you made—one that you had no right to make—you deserve to be forgiven. Just as Kevin deserved to have me forgive him for being sent to prison and leaving us destitute. I held onto that anger and the self-righteous belief that I was better than him. In the end, though, we are all just human. We all screw up and we all deserve a second chance.

  “This is your second chance, Xavier, but the only way we can really make this work is if you agree that we will be a team this time. I will never be the girl who will sit by and let you dictate our life. I need to know that I’m trusted and valued, and that I’m making my own decisions, not being managed by someone who says they love me.”

  “I do love you,” he interjected. “So damn much. And I promise you that I’ve learned my lesson. I might still strongly suggest things since I’ll never stop trying to protect you.”

  She raised her eyebrow in censure, which made him smirk.

  “I’m not perfect, Aurora. I’m going to fuck up. I think that’s rather obvious. My point is I’m going to try.”

  She nodded as she processed that. “We have a long way to go before I can completely forgive you, but I’m done with running away. I don’t want to live with any regrets.”

  The word “regrets” was barely out of her mouth when he closed the distance between them. Taking her head in his hands, he crashed his lips down to hers. The moment he tasted her, he growled and took the kiss deeper.

  Aurora was in his arms. She was giving him another chance.

  Xavier didn’t think he could be any happier than he was right then.

  Her hands roamed his back and arms as he drank from her. When they encountered the bandage under his t-shirt, she pulled back and gave him an inquisitive look.

  Without answering, he pulled his sleeve up and peeled down the white gauze.

  Aurora gasped when she saw the tattoo. Her pointer finger gingerly traced it as her bottom lip quivered.

  “It’s you and Sophie,” he unnecessarily told her.

  Two days before they found Aurora, he sat in the same tattoo parlor where she had her butterflies done and had a custom piece inked on his skin. It symbolized everything that was right with his world. The background was dark swirls and in the light of the foreground sat a beautiful butterfly floating down to a leaf where a ladybug waited.

  “I love you,” she whispered before bringing his mouth back down to hers.

  Breaking the kiss, even though his body screamed for him to keep going, he shouted, “Sophie, come here.”

  The little girl bound into the room enthusiastically and bounced from foot to foot.

  “Are we going home?” She asked brightly.

  “Yes, baby, we are,” Aurora answered before he could.

  “Yay,” she shouted at the top of her lungs before sprinting out of the house to grab her dolls.

  “You got everything?” Xavier asked as he moved to where their suitcases sat.

  “One last thing,” she answered. He turned to look at her as she joined him empty handed.

  “What’s that?”

  “I’m not Alyssa anymore.”

  His eyes closed and his head dropped. She had listened to his messages. Each one it would seem.

  “Xavier,” she called out softly. He lifted his gaze to hers. “I’m Aurora—your Aurora—I’m not that girl anymore. Part of her still lives in me, but I’m not her. I’m the person I’m meant to be.”

  “I don’t deserve you,” he admitted, allowing his vulnerability to show. She was the only one he ever trusted with it.

  “And I don’t deserve you, so we’re even.” She gifted him a beatific smile. “Can we go home now?”

  “Fuck yeah,” he muttered against her lips before kissing her one more time.

  With Aurora on one side of him and Sophie on the other, Xavier O’Brien walked proudly to his car. Then he took his girls home where they belonged.

  Epilogue

  Ruth

  The following year…

  It was the season for giving, for love, for compassion. All these things were on Ruth’s mind as she opened the mail. Throwing away the junk and filing the bills, she was left with one unopened envelope. Her first Christmas card, she thought happily. Slicing open the envelope, she pulled the card out, wondering whom it was from.

  The picture was that of a room meticulously decorated with Christmas cheer. Lights twinkled from the gino
rmous tree, which was loaded with ornaments. Packages dotted the skirt underneath. Garland and lights glowed from the fireplace where four stockings hung. Taking in the words, Ruth felt her heart stop and then start again. Tears filled her eyes as she read each one over and over again.

  The stockings were hung by the chimney with care and this year we have some good news to share.

  Our little girl will be making her debut next May.

  Love ~ The O’Briens.

  Ruth wiped away her tears and not for the first time did she feel a sense of pride at the woman that the lost girl had become. Sitting down, she picked up a pen and began writing her own personalized note in the Christmas card Mikey had carefully constructed for them.

  My dearest Alyssa…

  Epilogue II

  Marx

  Marx stared at the card in his hand. His heart twisted violently in his chest.

  It wasn’t so much the fact that he didn’t do Christmas cards. It was the message the card conveyed.

  Aurora was happy and her future set.

  A future that didn’t include him.

  Ripping the card in two, he strode to the garbage can. The motion of his hand opened the lid and he hesitated for a moment before tossing the pieces into the trash. With a muted thud, the lid closed, as did that chapter in his life.

  It was time to move on.

  And what better way to do it than to face past demons?

  For it was green, guileless eyes and honey colored hair that had haunted him for far too long.

  Torturing himself had gone on long enough.

  It was time he went after her.

  Epilogue III

  Xavier

  Xavier O’Brien stared with unfocused eyes at the muted television in the corner of the room. Sophie was tucked against his side, her soft snores filling the quietness. His little miracle was bundled up and held tightly to his chest. And Aurora was passed out in the bed across the room, exhausted from her stellar performance a few hours before.

  He had everything at that moment. Absolutely everything he could have ever hoped for.

  As he sat in silence, his mind wandered over poignant moments in his life—the day his dad left them. The day his sister died. The day his mom died. He had endured so much heartache in those years that it was no wonder he became a cold and callous man.

  A smile played at his lips as he remembered the day Aurora stumbled into The Den. He could still remember the instant his eyes took in the young girl whose light emitted from her soft, guileless eyes. He knew in that moment that without a doubt his life was going to change forever. He never could have imagined how great of a change it would be or the sheer amount of happiness she would bring into his world.

  The vision of Aurora in a strapless lace gown with a white flower in her hair made his heart skip a beat. He could still see her in his mind’s eye as they stood on the beach while she vowed to love him in sickness and in health. He could still feel the wet of the tears he wiped from her cheeks as he vowed to be hers until his dying day.

  The baby in his arms stirred and a soft coo came from the bundle. He pulled back the blanket and let his index finger softly trail over the plump cheeks of his daughter. With a face just like Sophie and the dark hair of her mother, Emily Rose stole Xavier O’Brien’s heart the minute she was born.

  When the nurse put Emily in his arms, she immediately stilled and stared up at him like she was seeing straight through to his soul. It was in that moment that his world became complete and the last piece of the puzzle that made him whole clicked into place.

  My mom and sister would love her, he thought wistfully. It was why they chose to name her after his sister. So that her sweet innocence would never be forgotten.

  “I love you so much,” he whispered in her tiny ear and then placed a gentle kiss to her forehead before softly humming a lullaby. He was determined to be the best husband and father he could be. It was a struggle, but one he would continue to best with Aurora by his side.

  At the sound of a camera clicking, he raised his head and scowled at his wife. She gave him a cheeky yet slightly doped up grin in response. He couldn’t help letting his face soften and his lips separate into a wide grin.

  “I love you.” Her head fell back onto the pillow but her eyes stayed locked with his.

  “I love you too and thank you.” She cocked her head inquisitively, so he explained. “Thank you for loving me despite all the times I’ve fucked up and for giving me this beautiful life.”

  A tear slipped down her cheek and she gave him a trembling smile.

  His mother always said some things in life were worth fighting through hell to come out the other side for. Xavier O’Brien had found his something and he was never going to let them go.

  Note From the Author

  I sincerely hope you enjoyed the ending to Aurora and Xavier’s story. It was a labor of love and I’m so very grateful to everyone who stuck by me over the last few years. As a thank you for waiting so patiently for this story, turn the page for a sneak peek into Marx’s story!

  Love,

  Jessica XO

  Marx

  “Stephen?” Her voice was hesitant as she spoke, her throat slightly raw from screaming behind the gag. A gag that, thankfully, now rested around her neck.

  A swift tightening in his groin made his hands clench.

  He was sick.

  Sick and depraved.

  “I’m here, Mirabelle.” Whereas hers had been timid, his voice was gravelly and tinged with need.

  He moved closer to the bed, her scent like an aphrodisiac to him. He could no more help being drawn to her than Icarius could to the sun.

  “You saved me,” she breathed in relief.

  He could see why she would think that, but he hadn’t.

  Not really.

  Images of her hands and feet bound as she fought against her restraints assaulted him. Her heart shaped ass tilted in the air. Her little gasps as the vibrator danced across her clit—the plump, magnificent clit he imagined himself sucking into his mouth. The sweet, heady rush of his orgasm that had come as a result of witnessing her struggle still fresh in his mind.

  Remembering it all, his entire body locked, so full of need, he considered covering her naked body with his and taking her right then and there.

  His hunger would scare her even more than what she had already been through.

  Fuck, he was so fucking sick.

  “No,” he denied vehemently, with a shake of his head for good measure.

  “You did.” Her voice was stronger now as she got up on her knees and moved to the edge of the bed. Gripping on to the collar of his opened button down shirt, she caught him off guard as she pulled him to her. He opened his mouth to protest, but she closed the distance, fusing her mouth with his.

  Unleashing the beast within, he took what she was offering and then some. Within minutes his cock was out and he was driving into her tight, wet heat.

  His last thought as he lost himself in her body was that he hoped she could forgive him for being a monster.

  About the Author

  Jessica is the author of the Love Square and Concierge series. She grew up in Central New York, where she currently lives with her husband, daughter and two dogs. Her days are spent as a Security Analyst at an IT consulting company. In her free time, she enjoys reading books and developing ideas for her own stories. Writing is her secret passion that she’s been fostering since elementary school, when she wrote her first book about a puppy. It has always been a dream of hers to be able to share her stories with the world.

  Also by Jessica Ingro

  Love Square Series

  Love Square

  His Ever After

  Their Merry Little Christmas

  Bound in Blue

  Concierge Series

  Love, Your Concierge

  Forever Your Concierge

  Aurora James Series

  Aurora James

  Xavier O’Brien

&
nbsp; Standalone Titles

  The Taste of Mr. Davenport

  Man Candy

  Urban Love Prophecy

  Take Me There

  His Esclava

  Against the Glass