Page 10 of King of Ruin

The three men exchanged looks.

Not one of them believed him.

Xavier noticed immediately. His eyes narrowed as he looked around the room, his fingers tightening slightly around the whiskey glass.

"How the hell do you all even know about this?"

His gaze moved from Elias to Cassian before finally stopping on Lucius.

Of all of them, Lucius was the one who had said the least tonight.

Xavier leaned forward slightly, studying him.

"You knew first, didn't you?"

Lucius remained completely relaxed, resting one arm against the back of the sofa while holding his glass in the other hand. The faintest hint of amusement appeared in his eyes.

"Yes."

Xavier's expression hardened.

"How?"

Lucius let out a quiet breath and settled farther back into the leather sofa. A faint smile played at the corners of his lips.

"Come on, Xavier," he said evenly. "You can't possibly be that blind."

Across the table, Xavier's brows lifted almost imperceptibly. His dark eyes stayed on Lucius, waiting for him to continue.

Lucius took an unhurried sip of his drink before setting the glass down on the marble table.

"The first time I thought something was different was when I visited your family's house a few months ago. Your father was furious with you."

Cassian and Elias both looked over, their curiosity immediately piqued.

"He kept asking why you weren't treating Elise properly. If I remember correctly, he was upset because you never took her out to lunch, never spent any time with her outside of work, and barely paid her any attention."

Lucius gave a small shrug.

"At the time, I assumed he was simply angry because she worked for you. I thought he was telling you to treat one of your directors better."

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"But then I started noticing other things."

Elias nodded, setting his own glass onto the table with a quiet clink before leaning forward.

"I noticed it too."

His eyes shifted toward Xavier, a grin slowly spreading across his face as another memory came back to him.

"Remember the Henderson acquisition?"

Xavier's expression remained unchanged.

Elias didn't wait for an answer.

"The negotiations were falling apart because of that mistake in the contract. Everyone in that conference room thought the deal was finished."