Page 207 of King of Ruin

"You want to sleep here?" she asked.

When Astrid nodded eagerly, Elise thought for a moment.

"Okay. Let me ask the maids to arrange the guest room, and we can sleep—"

Before she could finish, Xavier sharply pulled Elise away from Astrid, holding her against his body as he looked between the two women.

His eyes narrowed at Astrid.

"Didn’t I tell you that she has bad intentions toward you?" he said seriously.

Then he looked back at Elise, as if trying to make her understand.

"Look at her. She's acting like your boyfriend. Opening car doors for you, taking you on dates at nights, bringing expensive gifts for you. If I let her stay around you any longer, she is definitely going to convince you to marry her."

His gaze shifted back to Astrid, completely suspicious.

"She's already convinced you to sleep with her."

Elise covered her mouth, trying her best to hold back her laughter at his words.

“Astrid didn't mean that kind of sleeping together. She was only talking about having a girls' sleepover.”

"No," Xavier said firmly, his expression turning serious. "You are not having any kind of sleepover with her in bed with you."

He tightened his hold on Elise slightly as if making his point clear.

"In fact, remember this—if she is sitting on the bed, you are not sitting on that same bed. If she is sitting on a cozy fucking couch with Netflix on, you are not getting anywhere near that damn couch."

Elise stared at him in disbelief.

"Xavier!"

She drew in a slow, deep breath, forcing herself to remain patient as she lowered her voice. Leaning closer to him, she tried to make him understand rather than argue with him.

"She has been through such a long journey, and you're really just going to let her walk away?"

But Xavier didn't look like he had any intention of changing his mind. He remained completely firm.

"No. I already told you I don't like her. She's not sleeping with you."

Elise turned back toward Astrid, her expression softening as she gave her an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, Astrid. Let's meet again tomorrow. Your hotel is probably more comfortable than this house anyway, so you can get a good night's sleep."

Astrid's expression fell for the briefest moment before she quickly hid it behind a resigned smile.

"Alright, Elise. If that's what you want, then I'll listen to you." She let out a small sigh. "I'll go back to my hotel."

Stepping forward, she wrapped her arms around Elise in a tight hug.

Elise smiled and hugged her back just as warmly.

For a long moment, Astrid rested her cheek against Elise's shoulder. Then, without moving from the embrace, her gaze slowly lifted until it landed squarely on Xavier.

The softness disappeared from her face.

A smug little smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she met his icy stare head-on. Still hugging Elise, she silently mouthed the words only he could see.