16. Reflection

"Jeez Xan, people on the Web are going crazy. How big of a following do you have?"

Xander smirked at his uncle's question. It's barely been a day since he made Liam put a bounty on those lowlifes on the dark web, questions and reports on them have been piling up in his mail. So he sent half of them to their uncle.

"What do you think? He's the so called Crimson heir. I won't be surprised if you start receiving their heads as gifts on your birthday." Liam muttered, browsing through Xander's mail.

The amount of shocks and surprises his brother had been giving him from the past few days definitely topped the surprises he received in the previous 18 years of his life. Not even the one where Xander had suddenly decided to take him to China surprised him more than the tenderness and love he'd been showering Alexandra with.

Liam had really wanted to know more about her, to make sure his brother wasn't walking into another trap but one look from Xander made him want to lock up his laptop and bury it six feet underground from him. He was not going to loose his most prized possession in exchange for his curiosity. Nope.

Liam raised his head to sneak a glance at Xander, the sound of the keys from Xander's keyboard overtaking the playing music. Liam's lips twitched in amusement as Xander's eyes kept drifting to his phone on the table from time to time, as if he was holding himself back from texting her.

Jeremy, who was sitting beside Liam on the armrest of the couch peered at the screen of his laptop. "What exactly did you order them to do?"

"Scare them."

Liam and Jeremy shared a look. "How?"

Xander shrugged, throwing his empty cup of coffee in the bin. "I don't really care. As long as they're alive it's fine."

Liam's mouth curved in a grimace, disgust showing in his eyes. "There are so many psychopaths out there but these assholes completely deserve what they're getting."

"Why? What did you find?"

Liam turned his laptop towards Xander and Jeremy. "They're fucking disgusting. They record videos of themselves taking drugs and doing all sorts of obnoxious things...or some of the people on the Web did. I don't think I want to know."

"Release them in public." Xander said casually, flipping open the diary of Hagann Knight on his desk. "Particularly on the school's blog."

It was really inhumane of him to do so but he was gone beyond the point of caring. Besides, this wasn't really the worst of it all. They were lucky he didn't have much free time on his hands or else he would've personally taken care of them all. Just this morning, he had ordered Tobias to interrogate Julian Summers and get info on that bastard who dared do those things to Alexandra.

Xander himself would've gone to interrogate him personally and best the shit out of him if it wasn't for the work that had piled up last night. And he was planning to finish up the rest of it in advance so he could spent more time with her.

His lips quirked up in a fond smile when he thought of her, something that Liam and Jeremy were slowly getting used to.

Alexandra... It was crazy how her mere name was enough for his heart to go in a frenzy. Xander glanced at the time in his phone.

Still over an hour left.

He couldn't wait to see her again, to hear her soft voice that seemed to calm his racing heart down in a matter of seconds. He wanted to hold her in his arms again, and to feel that warmth of hers, to feel her heart matching the rhythm of his own.

It was also crazy how it sometimes seemed as if he was looking at his own reflection when he saw her.

"The end of the world is coming." Liam whispered to Jeremy, his eyes not moving from his brother who was grinning as if he'd heard something funny.

Jeremy nodded, completely poker faced. "Don't worry. I have the bunker ready."

"I thought you were kidding about that bunker."

"He's not." Xander said, writing something down in his journal. Then he put back Hagann Knight's journal in the secret compartment of his desk. "Uncle, quick question. What do you do with the people who come to you for aid but keep contacting with the enemy again and again?"

"In our side?" Jeremy asked. He was the Head of the Griffith Crime Empire, Xander and Liam's maternal family. They've also been loyal allies of the Knights and Fraziers since generations, having ties going back to decades. Ethan and Amelia had already been engaged when they were young with Jeremy being engaged to Ethan's younger sister, although it was broken later on. To this day, Jeremy refused to even look at Ethan's sister Jeanette.

Xander nodded, twirling the pen in his hand. Jeremy creased his brows. "Well, we give them a strict warning first -"

"The warning part's done but he still didn't listen to me."

"Is this about George?" Jeremy demanded, hot anger flowing in his veins. Xander once again wondered what George did to offend his uncle so much.

Xander nodded. Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Why do you hate him so much?" Liam asked curiously. Xander also cast their uncle a curious glance, prodding at him to answer.

A dark look passed Jeremy's eyes, his mouth twisting in distaste. "Well, aside from the fact that he tried to kill me plenty of times, he stole what rightfully belonged to me too."

"He tried to kill you?!" A murderous glint passed Xander's eyes. His fingers which were twirling the pen paused suddenly, his grip on it tightening. A sudden hatred surged forth inside him, hatred for George Villin who was continuously hurting the people who meant a lot to him. The only reason Xander didn't go right now to take his head was because he was Alexandra 's father and she loved him a lot.

Jeremy, smiling softly at his nephew got up and ruffled Xander's hair, messing it up more than what it already was. "That was in the past when he was the heir of the Villins. And besides, do you really think he, or anyone for that matter, can kill me?" The arrogance in his eyes was like the pride of a person who played with the hands of death on a daily basis.

"No," Liam drawled from the couch, dangling Jeremy's phone in his hand, "The one who's gonna kill you is you, yourself." He swiped at the pictures in his uncle's phone and showed them to Xander. "Bungee jumping, sky diving and what is this? Rock climbing too?"

"You're almost 50, when are you gonna stop doing these?" Xander demanded, crossing his arms on his chest. "People your age drink themselves to death but you-"

"You're gonna yeet yourself to death." Liam interrupted, earning a nod of agreement from Xander.

Jeremy shrugged, his dark sapphire eyes glinting with amusement. "Hey, I was born cool. I will die cool."

"Can you not talk about death that easily?" Xander glared at him, throwing the pen at him. Liam flopped back on the couch, putting his legs up. "I second that!"

"Hey take your shoes off." Xander ordered Liam who let out a loud groan. Jeremy raised his eyebrows at him. "Okay what happened to you?"

"Yeah." Xander agreed, "You've been groaning and making sounds this whole morning. The hell happened?"

"Nothing." Liam mumbled, putting his hand over his eyes, hoping not to let his frustration seep into his voice.

It was silent for a few seconds. But the next moment, Liam felt something hit his hand. A crumpled paper ball. He ignored it. Then another one hit him. And another until he shot up like lightning. "What?!"

Xander snickered, pure amusement dancing in his eyes that were slowly getting their light back. All thanks to her, who was possibly the legitimate heir to the Villins, their arch nemesis. 'Well,' Liam thought, 'As long as he's happy.'

"Are you going to tell us or should we annoy the truth out of you?" Jeremy asked, throwing a crumpled paper ball in the air and catching it.

Liam blinked at him. "Xan's right. You're such a kid sometimes."

"And you're not?" Xander asked, faking curiosity.

A defeated groan erupted through his throat. "You're both annoying."

Then after a brief pause, before Xander could ask again in a more gentler tone, Liam spoke. "Why are the girls from the Villin family so damn beautiful?"

_______________

"You?! Going on a date?!"

A soft smile playing on her lips, Alexandra fiddled with the purple roses, the sunlight dancing through the tiny water droplets on the purple petals. "Yeah."

"Who is he?!" her cousin, Zayla asked with excitement in her voice.

A sarcastic smile quipped Alexandra's lips. "His name is Xander...Knight."

Zayla was silent, just like Alexandra expected. There were zero to no secrets between her ahd her cousin. At least that's what Alexandra used to think before finding out everything. It was as if the cold winds of reality had slapped her hard in the face just when she thought she wouldn't face more betrayal than what she already had.

"That's great." Zayla answered with an edge of nervousness in her voice. "But are you sure you can trust him?"

Alexandra felt a scoff escape her mouth at the pure absurdity and irony of her words. "Why? Is it because he's the heir of the Knights? Sworn enemy of our family?"

"Alexandra please listen-"

"No." she denied, wounds of betrayal opening up again in her heart. "How could you of all people hide this from me? How could you not tell me that we belong to a fucking Mafia family and my dad was supposed to fucking take over it?!"

Zayla sighed, helplessness and desperation heavy in her voice. "I sorry." she said with sincerity as clear as the drop of water, "I really am. I wanted to tell you, believe me I did. But uncle George practically forbade me from telling you. Grandfather...he doesn't know that my mom and your dad are still in contact with each other. It was for your safety-"

"What safety? I almost died. Twice!" Alexandra exclaimed, incredulity slipping in her voice. "And it was because of uncle Jordan. Xander was the one who saved me. If he hadn't been there I would've...and do you know what's worse? As if he doesn't have the obligation to explain everything, dad fucking brought Olivia home!"

"What?!" there was a hint of anger along with disbelief in her tone. "Is he insane?! Did you tell him what she did?" Zayla demanded.

"No." Alexandra huffed. "What's the point? He won't believe me. Even mom thinks I'm lying."

"Give the phone to her. I'm gonna speak-"

"There's no need for that. And you don't try to change the topic. I'm so mad at you right now." Alexandra sat in her swing chair, a calmness washing over her irate heart, the memory of him holding her in his arms as if they were made for her suddenly reminiscing in her mind.

It was crazy how he seemed to have that effect on her even when he wasn't here physically. Her anger forgotten, her heart raced at the thought of seeing him again in the evening. For their date.

"I know." Alexandra heard Zayla groan. "I even told uncle George that you'll stop talking to him altogether if you find out the truth, but he was hell bent on keeping it a secret. Mom also tried to persuade him so many times but he never listened. I'm sorry." There was genuine honesty in her voice.

When Alexandra remained silent, mulling over her words, Zayla spoke again." Dude I'm really sorry. Please forgive me." she pleaded.

" Okay. "

" I really am- wait that easily?"

Alexandra shrugged." You said you didn't have a choice so, it's okay. But no more secrets from now on. Okay?"

Zayla sighed in relief. "Thank you and I completely agree. No more secrets."

Alexandra hummed in reply. They were both silent for a few seconds before Zayla couldn't help her curiosity. "So you're really going on a date with Xander Knight?"

"Yeah."

"You sure he's not using you for his ulterior motives?" Zayla asked, "He really hates our family."

"No Zay, I'm sure." Alexandra explained the incidents of the past few days, save for the details about the bookstore he revealed his identity in. She suspected it was a really important place to him, like it was a place for him to escape to among the many books and novels in the shelves.

Although she wondered what the story behind the paper airplanes hanging from the ceiling was. She had noticed it later on that the entire ceiling, which was the dark colour of the sky was filled with white, gold and yellow dots representing the stars and the constellations. But instead of planets, metal wires of gold and silver shaped in the form of paper airplanes hung through the ceiling.

"Huh?!" was all Zayla managed to say after hearing the whole story. "But...but how? What....this is unbelievable."

Alexandra frowned, feeling slightly offended. "Why?"

"Do you know what he's called in the Crime world? The Crimson Heir. Because his hands are tainted with freaking blood." Zayla sounded really troubled as she spoke. "Lexi, I'm really happy that you finally found someone you like, but you have to know what kind of a person he really is before you get involved with him too much. Because he might just be the most dangerous person you'll ever meet."

"He said that too." Alexandra mumbled, dejection casting a shadow over the happy and excited flowers that had started to bloom in her heart.

"He did?" Zayla asked in surprise. "Maybe he's not as bad as I thought he is."

"Why would you think he's bad?" Alexandra couldn't stop the defensive words flowing out of her mouth. The Xander she knew was like a mirror image of herself. He knew and understood what was in her eyes before she could even speak. He was kind, only to her, only ever looking at her with those blue eyes of his that seemed to just stare right at her soul.

Zayla teased, "Already getting defensive of him? Anyways, the Knights absolute hate our family because grandfather and uncle Jordan had a hand in the death of Ruen Frazier's pregnant wife. And it's a known fact that the Knights and Fraziers are really close allies."

"Despite that," Zayla said and Alexandra could've never braced herself for what Zayla was about to say next. "Grandfather tried to get Xander Knight engaged into our family...to uncle Jordan's illegitimate daughter."

"What the fuck?!"

Zayla snickered. "Yeah. Apparently he had a fling before he met aunt Elizabeth. She died while giving birth to his daughter. She's a year older than you. Her name is-"

There was the sound of a male voice from Zayla's side at which she stopped speaking. Alexandra heard her cousin say something along the lines of" yeah I'm coming" before she spoke again.

"I'll tell you the rest after I get back, all right? I'm getting late for my class."

"Okay. Take care."

"You too. Enjoy your first date."

Alexandra didn't get to ponder more on the supposed proposal to Xander nor Jordan's illegitimate daughter as her phone buzzed with a text.

'Ready?'

Excitement replaced every single thoughts she had. Slinging on her bag, she paused in front of her mirror. She had let her hair down today and had tried to style it like her cousin used to pester her about. But she gave up after a few frustrating tries. Besides, dressing up, and styling her hair and putting on make up...these were never her style.

Al though she did make an effort to look good for him.

She didn't bother telling her parents that she was leaving as she had already informed them about their date this morning at breakfast. Cole had given her a look of mischief saying he was going to annoy the hell out of Xander. Alexandra wished him good luck.

She took a moment to take a deep breath before opening the door. She was really doing this.

And there, outside the open mini gate, sitting on his motorcycle in all his glory was Xander Knight, taking his eyes over her like he was looking at her for the first time with that beautiful smile of his that managed to make her heart race yet calm it down with the comfort it brought.

It was after she moved her eyes downwards from his face that she realised the reason for his smile.

He was wearing a dark denim jacket with its sleeves rolled upto his elbows, over a white T-shirt and ripped black jeans...just like her.

Truly a reflection indeed...