Chapter 65

Cecilia The knock rattled the door, sharp and insistent. I didn’t have to look through the peephole to know who it was—my chest tightened the moment I sensed him. Alpha Xavier. Harper caught my gaze, her jaw set. Without a word, she reached down and slipped my phone beneath the sofa cushion, her movements brisk, purposeful. The tiny click of the recording app still echoed in my head even after she straightened up. "Stay put," she whispered, her eyes flicking to me before she crossed the room. I sat rigid on the sofa, heart hammering, every muscle braced. When Harper opened the door, Xavier pushed his way inside without hesitation, his presence flooding the apartment like a storm. "Cecilia…" His voice carried straight to me, low and raw, his gaze locking on where I sat. He took a step forward, and I could feel the weight of it in my chest. "I didn’t know about what happened this morning," he said, each word clipped, like they’d been scraped out of him. I forced my expression to stay cal