Chapter 198: Forging Identity
Angel leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, her eyes locked on Xavier. "Fine. Then tell me what cover you want. Nationality? Fake corp? Who the hell am I supposed to be in this deal?"
Xavier didn’t hesitate. "You’ll be acting as the company’s accountant. Someone who handles all the financial matters, the numbers, the decisions on the surface. You’ll be the reason Ethan thinks the deal is legit. And one more thing, the company will be legit. My uncle runs it."
Angel raised a brow. "An accountant? You want me crunching numbers instead of pulling strings behind the scenes?"
"You won’t just be crunching numbers," Xavier said, his tone sharp. "You’ll be the one they can’t bypass. Every decision will pass through you, which means every decision will be mine."
Angel let out a short laugh, shaking her head. "That’s a big role to hand me without even talking it through with your uncle. Shouldn’t you at least... I don’t know, discuss this shit with him first?"
Xavier’s smirk was calm, confident. "There’s no need. He’ll follow through with whatever I decide. End of story."
Angel studied him for a long moment, then sighed and muttered under her breath. "Cocky bastard."
Reva chuckled softly from the bed, biting into her food again. "You’re only realizing that now?"
Angel shot her a look, but Xavier leaned back in his chair like the whole room already belonged to him, no doubt in his eyes about the plan he’d just set in motion.
Angel leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. "Alright, fine. But I’m not pulling this shit out of thin air. Whose identity am I assuming? What’s the background? Nationality, fake credentials, corp records—I’ll need a solid trail, or Ethan will smell bullshit the second he checks. Who knows, he might even hire an accountant himself. And I need a timeline. You can’t just toss this on me and expect me to improvise everything."
Xavier tilted his head, smirking like she’d just asked for the easiest thing in the world. "You’ll have the trail. I’ll hand you everything you need. Your only job is to forge it so clean no one will ever know it’s fake."
Angel narrowed her eyes. "Still sounds like you’re underestimating how much work that is."
Before Xavier could respond, Reva leaned in, her lips quirking into a teasing smile. "You’re acting like you already own Sterling Corp. But tell me something, Xavier. Are you sure this is the right move?"
Xavier glanced at her, his smirk not budging. "Why wouldn’t it be?"
Reva leaned back on the bed, crossing her arms under her chest. "Because once Ethan sells that company, he’s going to use the money to hire a top-ranked space mercenary. Which means he’ll basically be setting a bounty on your head... with your own money. Doesn’t that bother you?"
Angel turned her head toward him at that too, watching closely.
Xavier didn’t even flinch. "I already have that under control."
Reva raised a brow, clearly curious. "Do you now? Care to explain?"
Xavier stood, walked over, and bent down so his lips were right at Reva’s ear. Whatever he whispered made her eyes flicker in surprise, then slowly curl into something between shock and amusement.
Reva chuckled low, shaking her head. "You’re insane."
Angel crossed her arms. "And what the hell was that about? Why keep me in the dark?"
Xavier straightened up, his smirk sharp as ever. "Because it’s a surprise. You’ll find out soon enough, and trust me...you’ll love it."
Angel muttered a curse under her breath, glaring at him, but Xavier only leaned back on the bed like the world was still moving exactly as he wanted.
Angel sat hunched over her console, fingers tapping quick across the glass surface while lines of forged trails and fake ledgers stacked one after another. The room was quiet except for the faint hum of the ACs and her drones working overhead.
But the quiet itself was what made her suspicious. She shot a glance over her shoulder, expecting to catch Reva straddling Xavier or Xavier’s hands wandering where they shouldn’t. Instead, the two of them were slouched on the bed, heads down, scrolling their phones like bored teenagers.
She narrowed her eyes, then turned back to her work. A few minutes later, though, she peeked again, but this time she spoke up.
"Xavier, go sit on the couch or something. You sitting that close to her is distracting me."
Reva lifted her eyes with a lazy smirk. "We haven’t even made a single sound. Now you’re just jealous."
Xavier didn’t argue. He stood, stretched his shoulders, and walked over to the couch, planting himself down with no fuss.
Reva frowned. "So what, her word matters more than mine now?"
Xavier leaned back, calm as ever. "This is her room. She’s working on my gig. I’m inclined to listen to her."
Angel’s lips curved as she shot a quick side glance at Reva. "See? Someone around here respects the grind."
That smug tone sparked the banter. Reva clicked her tongue. "Fine then. From now on, whenever you feel like fucking, go to Angel. She will fuck you while working on your gig."
Xavier tilted his head. "Then I won’t let you drink my blood anymore."
That actually made Reva sit up, eyes wide. "Hold on, don’t be an ass. I don’t want to be that bitch, alright? I will forgive you just this once. Let’s just keep it how it is. Equal benefits."
Xavier smirked. "Answer me this then. If you had to choose between sex and my blood... what would you pick?"
Reva leaned back, tapping her chin like she was weighing stock options. After a pause, she shrugged. "Both."
"Only one."
She thought again, then grinned, sharp and playful. "Then I’ll suck your blood by biting your dick."
Xavier blinked, then laughed under his breath. "So basically you chose both anyway."
"Exactly." She smirked. "I don’t lose."
Reva leaned back on the bed, smug as hell after her "solution." Xavier just shook his head, half amused, half entertained by her nonsense.
Angel finally slammed her palm against the desk and spun her chair halfway around, glaring at both of them. "You two are fucking shameless. I’m sitting here trying to forge twenty years of fake company history, and you’re debating whether she should bite your dick for blood. Do you even hear yourselves?"
Reva grinned, unbothered. "Hey, multitasking is a skill too."
"Yeah, well, your multitasking is polluting my airspace," Angel snapped. "Keep it in your pants until I’m done or I swear I’ll rewire your biometrics into the system as a wanted criminal."
Xavier chuckled at her threat, but before he could add to the fire, his phone buzzed on the table. He picked it up, glanced at the screen, and his smirk faded into something sharper.
"What is it?" Reva asked, sitting up a little.
Xavier slid the phone into his pocket and stood. "Oliver’s at the club entrance. They’re not letting him in. I’ll go deal with it."
Angel swiveled back to her desk. "Don’t start a fight in the hallway."
Reva tilted her head, eyes narrowing. "Why the hell would they stop Oliver? He’s supposed to be your guy."
Xavier was already at the door, voice calm but edged. "That’s what I’m about to find out." He opened the door and stepped out, leaving the two of them behind.