Page 11 of King of Ruin

He gestured animatedly with his hand as he spoke.

"Then Elise walked in."

Cassian frowned slightly, searching his memory, while Lucius gave a small nod.

"She already had the revised documents prepared," Elias continued. "She stepped in without making a scene, took responsibility for the mistake before anyone else could, redirected the entire discussion, and somehow managed to negotiate an even better percentage than we'd originally asked for."

A low whistle escaped Cassian.

"I remember that."

Elias looked back at Xavier, the grin on his face becoming impossible to hide.

"But that wasn't the part that caught my attention."

He leaned back, folding one arm across his chest.

"It was you."

Xavier's eyes narrowed slightly.

"The entire meeting..." Elias said with a quiet laugh, "...you couldn't stop looking at her."

He shook his head in disbelief.

"I've known you for years. I've watched you sit through billion-dollar negotiations without blinking, but that day..." He pointed at Xavier with a knowing smile. "Every time Elise spoke, your eyes followed her around the room."

Cassian looked at Xavier, then back at Elias.

"...Now that you mention it..."

A slow smile appeared on his face as the memory returned.

"You really did."

Lucius nodded once.

"It wasn't just that meeting."

"There were dozens of little things," he added calmly. "You always knew where she was in a room. If she disappeared, your attention followed her. Whenever someone criticized her, you defended her before anyone else had the chance. And every decision you claimed was 'for the company' somehow ended up benefiting her."

"Exactly."

Maverick nodded in agreement, making a small gesture with the whiskey glass in his hand before resting it back on the marble table. Leaning comfortably into the sofa, he looked across at Xavier with an amused expression that suggested he'd been waiting for this conversation for a long time.

"The woman looks at you like you'd hung the moon."

His words drew Xavier's eyes to him immediately.

Maverick shrugged, completely unconcerned by the look he received.

"Have you ever actually watched her around you?" he asked. "She'd do just about anything you asked."

He glanced around the room before continuing, trying to jog everyone else's memory.

"I've been to your office more than once. There were times we'd ask for one thing, and before anyone else had even started working on it, Elise would come back with five different proposals and lay them all on your desk."

He laughed quietly to himself, shaking his head.