Xo Novel
Chapter 34
Chapter 34
“Yeah, come in!” Ellia called out.
Edward and Tim entered her office, and bowed. When they stood with the royals, they went over to carry the two stacks waiting for them on Ellia’s desk. Xandar put Russell on the floor, and the little boy ran straight for Lucianne’s leg and hugged it while tugging her dress to get her attention.
When Lucianne felt a warmth wrap around her leg, she looked down and saw Russell. She bent down with a smile and the little boy said in a sad voice, “Are you leaving, Aunt Lucy?”
‘I am, Russell. It was so nice to meet you. I hope we’ll see each other again.(This novel will be daily updtaed at www.noveljar.com)” Lucianne said in the same gentle tone she used with him earlier as she caressed his cheek with her thumb.
The little boy threw his small arms around Lucianne’s neck, “Be careful of bad guys, okay, Aunt Lucy?”
Lucianne was so touched by this child. She hugged him back before releasing him and said,(This novel will be daily updtaed at www.noveljar.com) “I will, Russell. You be good, okay? Be strong.”He nodded and managed a meek smile. She then got back up and looked at the Morgans as she said lightly, “Well, it was nice to see you, Ben. Ellia, thank you again for getting us the audits. You both have such beautiful children.” She took one more look at the little boy and girl and said, “We’ll take our leave now.”
Christian mind-linked Xandar, “Damn, the Queen’s good.’
Xandar was equally impressed as he linked back, ‘I knew she could control her emotions but I didn’t know she could act so well! Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!
‘I am not sure how I’m going to act after everything that just happened but here goes.’
‘I’m right behind you.’
Christian thrusted his hand and Ellia shook it awkwardly, “Thank you, Mrs Morgan.” He then did the same for Ben, “Pleasure to have met you, Mr Morgan.” Xandar went next, copying his cousin. Lucianne held the door open and said, “Edward, Tim, here. You both go first. Those look heavy.”
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“T-Thank you, my Queen.” Tim said in slight shock and they both walked through the door before the three of them left as well but not before Lucianne gave a small wave to little Russell, who was waving back sadly. When Xandar noticed a few men stopped their work to look at Lucianne as they walked past, he secured his arm around her waist. Judging by her expression, she didn’t know how many eyes were skimming her body.
They waited for an elevator. When a door opened and Edward said, (This novel will be daily updtaed at www.noveljar.com)“Your Highnesses, your Grace, please take this one down. We’ll wait for the next one. We won’t be far behind.”
“That won’t be necessary, Edward.” Lucianne said firmly as her hand blocked her side of the
elevator door and her head gestured to them, “Get in. There’s enough room to fit fifteen people. We’ll go down together.”
They looked at each other before Tim stuttered again, “T-Thank you, your Highness.” Lucianne smiled in return. They let the receptionists enter before the three of them followed behind. Xandar couldn’t help but kiss her temple at her down-to-earth gesture for the two men carrying the papers. When they reached the ground floor and exited through the entrance, Christian motioned to them, “Tim and Edward, follow me. The documents are going into my car.”
“Yes, your Grace.”
Lucianne then said, “Christian, Xandar is taking a stack. You can’t expect to go through all of that by yourself.” 1
Christian seemed to have suddenly recalled that they had to act like they were taking the actual audits. When in reality, he was going to dump all of this in the recycling pile outside his house as soon as he got home. When he snapped out of it, he managed to say, “R-right, of course.” 3
Before he fumbled over any more words, Lucianne looked at Edward and said, “Edward, right this way. Xandar parked on this side. Tim, you go with the Duke.”
They nodded and uttered, “Yes, my Queen.”
Lucianne thanked him after he had unloaded the stack in Xandar’s car. Edward then bowed and said, “It’s an honour to be of service, my Queen.”
When the cardoors were slammed shut, Lucianne let out a sigh of exhaustion as she kicked off her heels and slumped into the seat. But when she noticed Xandar started the engine without making a move to start driving, she looked over to him in confusion. He was looking a ther with a huge smile plastered on his face.
She sat up and asked, “What? Is there something on my face?” She was reaching for the mirror on the sun visor but Xandar caught her cheek and pulled her into a kiss. When he felt her lips move in response to his, he deepened the kiss and leaned in closer to her. When his lips released hers,(This novel will be daily updtaed at www.noveljar.com) he looked deep into her beautiful black orbs and said, “I love you.”
Traces of discomfort started entering her eyes as Lucianne tried to look away and whispered,” I know, Xandar. B-but I mmph…” He stopped her with another short kiss and said, “It’s okay. You don’t have to say it now. I just want you to know that I love you, more than anything.” He pecked her on her lips again before he brought back his body to the driver’s seat. Lucianne reached for his hand before he started driving and they locked their gaze as she said, “Thank
you.”
He smiled and kissed her hand before she retracted it when he started driving. He then started their conversation, “I didn’t know you could act so well. That moment when Tim and Edward came in. You thanked Benjamin and Ellia like nothing happened.”
Lucianne looked at him with narrowed eyes, “Really, Xandar? After everything that happened there with the fake audits, and how I was not acting up until that point, you chose to start this conversation with the what…seven minutes that I did put on an act?”
Xandar chuckled, “I can’t help it. I mean, it was so natural even I started to doubt if you were acting.”
She shrugged as she looked out the window to enjoy the scenery, “It just takes practice. Anyone can do it.” He chuckled at her humility,”And how did I do?”
“Not well.” Lucianne said without hesitation.
“Wait, seriously?”
“Mm-hm.”
‘I was just copying Christian though.”
“He was just as bad.”
Xandar burst into laughter before asking, “Okay, my dear. How would you have done it?”
She turned to him with a smirk, “You should have spoken first, not Christian. On any occasion I’ve seen you both in, it was always you to thank your guests before Christian followed suit, not the other way around. And the handshake was too much. Think about it, your style is only to end the conversation with a handshake when you started the conversation with a handshake. Christian’s style is like that, too.
Neither of you shook Ellia or Benjamin’s hands when you first met them. It was unlikely that the exchange would end with it. And what you both said to Ben was ‘Pleasure to have met you, Mr Morgan’.”
Lucianne shook her head with a teasing smile, “Tell me, my King. When have you ever said that in a normal acquaintance-like exchange, or any exchange?”
Xandar burst into a second round of laughter, “So uh..” he chuckled, “How was it supposed to g
o?”
She shrugged simply, “Just say what you normally would say to an actual acquaintance, Xandar. Yours could be ‘Morgan, it’s been a pleasure’, or a plain ‘Morgan’ with a slight head nod, or just ‘Pleasure’ and a slight head nod. Christian should just stick to a simple smile and a plain nod. He normally doesn’t say anything to an acquaintance after you. When you both used the words ‘pleasure to have met you’, a sharper listener would have been able to catch that something deeper went on. But I don’t think Edward and Tim suspected anything.”
He stole a glance at his beautiful mate and said, “You’re really good at this. How did you even learn all of that?”
“Oh, you pick it up as you go along.” She flipped her hand in the air in front of her like it was n o big deal.
“Go along what?”
“Life. You meet people. You speak to them. If you pay enough attention, you can easily see how their intonations change with what they’re saying, how their eyes shift when they want t o avoid something, how their demeanor alters when they’re starting to lie.” She shrugged, “It’s no big deal. You’ll pick these up.” They came to a stop at a traffic light that just turned red. Xandar grabbed the opportunity to pull Lucianne into another kiss before uttering in awe,“ You’re amazing.”
She had a small smile but her eyes showed disapproval as she said, “You are too, Xandar. Now eyes on the road.” She pushed his shoulder back and he took her hand and kissed it again before letting her take it back.
After they reached the dining hall in time for tea, Xandar got a call from his doctor about Lucianne’s blood test results. He insisted that there were no traces of silver ever entering her system but he would be interested to ask her a few questions if they could make the time. Lucianne agreed to meet with the doctor. So they decided to skip tea and head to the doctor’s office instead.