I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 186

Nora frantically pulled her torn collar tightly around herself, her voice trembling on the edge of breaking. "I don't know him at all."

Xander's expression was freezing. He stepped forward, taking off his suit jacket and draping it over Nora's shoulders. "Put this on."

He turned around to look down at Gideon, who was pinned to the floor, and gave his assistant a low command. "Call the police."

The assistant immediately pulled out his phone and dialed 911.

Even pinned to the floor, Gideon refused to surrender. He thrashed his body around, fighting to lift his head, spewing filthy complaints. "You have no right to touch me! This is between two consenting adults! My cousin set us up, she's my wife! Who do you think you are!"

Xander walked over slowly, unfastening his cuffs as he moved, rolling up his sleeves to reveal his muscular forearms.

He stopped in front of Gideon, bent down, and grabbed the back of his collar, hauling his upper half slightly off the floor.

Gideon was forced to crane his neck up, his acne-scarred face gleaming with grease under the hallway lights.

Xander glared at him and drove a brutal punch straight into his face, a flash of pure malice crossing his features.

He didn't hold back an ounce of power. Gideon's head whipped to the side, and blood instantly gushed from his nose, painting half his face crimson. He crumpled back onto the floor like a sack of dead weight.

He wailed in agony on the carpet. "Why did you hit me?! You just wait! I'm not going to let you get away with this!"

Xander straightened up, taking a wet wipe from his assistant to clean the blood off his knuckles. There was zero warmth in his eyes, and his voice was absolute ice.

"Save your breath for the cops."

He tossed the wipe into the trash can and gave the security guards a curt order. "Take him out of here and wait for the police."

Xander was silent for a moment. Without saying a word, he took off his glasses, grabbed her hand, and placed them into her palm, his voice flat. "Hold these."

Nora gripped the glasses, confused, feeling the residual warmth of his skin on the frames. But the very next second, she was swept entirely off her feet.

Undisguised shock flashed in her eyes as she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.

Xander had actually picked her up. His strides were fast and steady as he carried her down the hallway toward the elevator.

His assistant jogged behind them, pressing the elevator button in advance.

When the doors opened, Xander turned sideways to step in, leaning his back against the elevator wall without putting her down.

Nora kept her eyes closed, enveloped by the faint, crisp scent of cedar radiating from him. A subtle, seductive tension floated in the air, spreading rapidly between them.