Broken Promises

six

|Xavier's POV|

For the second time tonight, I catch this woman in my arms, but unlike the first time, she doesn't open her eyes again.

My hand instantly cups her cheek, "Sage!" I hiss, lightly stroking her cheek as I try to wake her up but nothing works.

The crowds begin murmuring and when I look up, I find Alistair's eyes glaring heatedly at his daughter and then back at the crowd as if he is angry at her for fainting.

"What happened to her?"

"Is she on drugs?"

"Was she drinking tonight?"

And many such horrid remarks are heard from the crowds and I shake my head and bend down to pick the girl up in my arms, holding her in bridal style. Her grown trails on the floor slightly but that is the least of my worries right now.

I cannot have my newly announced fiancée fainting without anyone to look after her.

It would make for bad press which cannot be good for either of our families. Especially not on her birthday.

At least, these are the reasons I give myself for feeling so concerned about a girl I had just met not moments ago.

"I need to take her to the hospital." I tell my father and hers.

"I'll show you the back exit." The third man, Polo— as he had introduced earlier, tells me.

I quickly nod and begin to follow the man in magenta, all the while my gaze keeps dropping down to the redheaded girl lying limp in my arms.

My men follow behind me and the moment I am out, a car is waiting for me.

I quickly and carefully place Sage in the backseat before getting in after her and placing her head in my lap. Caige sits behind the wheel while Raphael takes the passenger seat.

"Drive fast." I growl at the two of them and I don't have to tell them anything twice.

The car is swerving through the streets of New York, breaking all traffic rules but I cannot care less about that.

My eyes are focused on the unconscious woman lying in my lap, as my hands cradle her head to ensure that no bumps or speed breaks would cause her neck to jerk too much.

How the hell did she faint?

Had she eaten something that she was allergic to?

I shake my head as I look down at her, wondering why in hell was I so f*****g concerned.

The moment she had bumped into me, I had thought of her to be the most beautiful mirage in this whole world. But then when Alistair joined us and called her by her name, all those feelings were pushed back and instead, all I felt as anger and frustration when I realised that this is the woman responsible for me not getting the throne for the last three years.

I have been ready for years, to take over from my father, however, we have been waiting for this girl to turn twenty five. And only once I am wed to her, can I rule the mafia of New York.

What an absurd condition!

However, as I stare down at her, her porcelain skin, her beautiful face, her silky hair...I cannot help but wonder if all of my wait had been worth it.

Surprised by my own thoughts, I shake my head.

No, that can't be true.

Before I can torture myself with more thoughts, Caige is hitting the breaks in front of the hospital and as Raphael opens the door for me, I step outside first and then pick up Sage in my arms once again.

Raphael and Caige flank my front and my rear as I rush inside the hospital and turn straight towards the Genovese wing that is funded and run by me.

Instantly, a bed is brought out and I lay Sage down on it before the nurses begin to wheel her inside one of the private rooms.

I try to follow but I am stopped by Dr. Gayle stepping in my way as she fixes me with a narrow stare.

I look past her and see from the window of the room Sage has been taken inside and find the nurses taking her temperature, heartbeat etc.

"What the hell happened?" Dr. Gayle asks. She is the only doctor I trust with treating anyone from my family or my men. She is experienced and knows how to keep her mouth shut about bullet holes and stab wounds. "Which side of your life is this from?" She questions me pointedly.

My eyes are still focused on Sage's limp body inside the room but I somehow manage to meet Dr. Gayle's grey eyes, "she is my fiancée. It was her birthday tonight and then she fainted mid celebration." I tell her in all honesty, surprising my own self as I realise how easily I accepted Sage as my fiancée in front of an outsider.

I mean, of course I always knew what my fate was, but I just never thought that I would be able to say it out loud or accept the Princeton heiress as anything but a contract marriage deal.

And yet, here I am, accepting it in front of Dr. Gayle.

Whose eyes widen the moment my words register in her mind. She is staring at me as though I have lost my mind, but then she seems to remember her role as a doctor and nods her head instantly.

"Alright, I'll run some tests and see what caused her to faint." And saying that, she turns around and enters Sage's room.

I stare inside, not caring how that looks to anyone watching, because the more I look at Sage, the more drawn towards her I feel. And in this moment, as she is laying there unconscious, there is a strange ache in my chest that refuses to go away.

I shake my head, a deep frown covering my lips.

What the hell is wrong with me?