Chapter 223: In Love
Roxana’s slap echoed in the hallway. Even the FBI agents looked stunned.
Jared slowly turned back toward her in disbelief. Roxana’s chest rose once with restrained fury behind her otherwise composed expression.
"How dare you?" she asked quietly. That calmness was somehow far more terrifying than screaming.
"How dare you use federal agents against my husband?"
The entire precinct went dead silent.
Husband.
Jared stared at her as though the word itself had physically struck him. "You married him?" he asked hoarsely.
"Yes," Roxana answered coldly. "Legally. Voluntarily. Happily."
Every word sounded deliberate.
"But... but your father..."
"That..." Roxana pointed at his scratch, "is to help you remember. And if you ever try something like this again," she continued, adjusting her glasses with terrifying composure, "I won’t merely embarrass you publicly. I’ll destroy you and your family legally."
William slowly leaned back against the desk beside him, deeply impressed.
Maximilian, meanwhile, finally smiled faintly for the first time since Alexander was taken.
Ah.
Now he finally understood why Alexander had married her so quickly.
Roxana was terrifying.
And absolutely perfect for him.
The agent in charge stepped forward carefully, clearly trying to salvage the disaster before it exploded into something career-ending.
"Miss Hollister, we sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding—"
"Mrs. Preston," Roxana corrected immediately.
Her tone was not loud. That somehow made it worse.
"Misunderstanding?" she scoffed. "If your agency had exercised even the bare minimum level of competence," she continued coldly, "you would have discovered that I already submitted my legal name change documentation."
The agent opened his mouth again, but Roxana did not let him speak.
"Kidnapped?" she scoffed, disbelief flashing across her face. "What exactly did you people imagine happened? That I’m some sheltered thirteen-year-old lady who eloped with a stable boy?"
Bobby coughed into his fist to hide his laughter.
"I am a thirty-three-year-old attorney," Roxana continued sharply. "A licensed adult woman fully capable of making her own decisions. And yet federal agents stormed in and detained my husband based on what? A bruised ego and a rejected proposal?"
Every word struck harder than the slap.
The room had gone painfully silent.
Even the FBI agents looked like they wanted the floor to swallow them whole.
"I want names," Roxana said. "Everyone involved in authorizing this operation. Everyone who approved it. Everyone who bypassed verification procedures. I want records pulled and an internal investigation opened immediately."
"Mrs. Preston," the agent tried again, voice tightening, "perhaps we can resolve this privately—"
Roxana raised one hand.
Instant silence.
"No," she said flatly. "You dragged an innocent man into custody and treated him like a criminal because powerful people thought they could abuse federal authority without consequences."
Her eyes sharpened behind her glasses.
"And now you’re discovering consequences."
William slowly folded his arms tighter across his chest. Even Maximilian’s brows lifted slightly. She was not emotional or hysterical. There was no panicking. She was dismantling them clinically.
Roxana finally took a slow breath and straightened her sleeve.
"Now that everything has been clarified," she said calmly, "I would appreciate it if you released my husband immediately."
Then her gaze swept over the room once more. Cold. Precise. Dangerously intelligent.
"And for your own sake," she added, "you should all pray he accepts your apology."
From the side, the head of the local precinct—Chief Morgan Hayes—watched the entire scene with barely concealed satisfaction.
The man was a broad-shouldered veteran in his late fifties who had known the Preston family for decades. Half the officers in this town had either grown up with the Prestons, worked for them at some point, or owed them favors.
And more importantly—
the local police and the FBI had been butting heads for years.
So watching federal agents get verbally flayed alive by a Hollister-born attorney who had just married into the Preston family?
Oh, this was glorious.
Chief Hayes slowly sipped his coffee and scoffed loudly enough for everyone to hear.
"Damn," he muttered. "Y’all got yourselves cooked."
One of the FBI agents shot him a glare.
Hayes shrugged without remorse. "What? Don’t look at me. I checked the marriage registry twenty minutes after they brought him in."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Then... the interrogation room door finally opened.
Alexander stepped out.
His suit jacket had been removed, sleeves rolled slightly upward, but despite everything, he still looked composed.
The moment Roxana saw him, the steel in her expression cracked.
She walked straight toward him.
Fast.
Then suddenly threw her arms around him.
"I’m sorry," she whispered tightly against his chest. "I’m so sorry."
Alexander blinked in surprise before immediately wrapping both arms around her waist.
"What are you apologizing for?" he asked softly.
Roxana clenched his shirt tighter. "This happened because of me."
Alexander’s gaze slowly lifted toward the agents standing nearby.
And something in his face changed.
The warmth disappeared.
His arm tightened protectively around Roxana.
Then he looked down at her again, noticing the faint redness in her eyes.
His wife had cried.
Because of this.
That realization alone made something cold settle in his chest.
"It’s alright," he murmured gently, kissing her forehead once before turning fully toward the agents.
The softness vanished completely.
"No," Alexander said calmly when one of them tried to approach with another apology. "We’re beyond apologies now."
The FBI agent stiffened.
Alexander’s blue eyes were icy.
"You detained me publicly, humiliated my wife, frightened my family, and abused federal authority over a personal grievance." His voice remained controlled, which somehow made him more intimidating. "You don’t get to apologize and move on."
William stepped forward immediately beside his brother.
"We’ll be pursuing this legally," he said flatly.
"And publicly," Maximilian added.
Every eye turned toward him.
Maximilian stood there with one hand in his coat pocket, calm and elegant as ever, but his eyes were merciless.
"You wanted spectacle," he said softly. "Let’s have one."
The agents visibly paled.
"A media storm sounds appropriate," William continued coldly. "Especially considering the misuse of federal resources."
Chief Hayes almost smiled into his coffee.
God.
The FBI was going to get dragged through hell.
Roxana slowly exhaled against Alexander’s chest as his hand rested protectively at the back of her neck.
Then Alexander looked at the agents one last time.
"You should have verified the facts before touching my family."
And with that, the four men and Roxana walked out of the precinct together.
The moment the cold night air hit them outside, Bobby immediately walked over from beside the trucks.
-----
Back at the Preston compound, the moment the trucks rolled through the gates and came to a stop, the front doors burst open.
Catherine ran out. Actually ran. Not gracefully. Not with composure befitting the Preston princess everyone knew.
She practically flew down the steps.
William had barely stepped out of the truck before Catherine’s eyes swept over Alexander and Roxana in one sharp glance, confirming they were unharmed.
And then... she went straight to Maximilian.
The force of her collision against him nearly made Bobby whistle.
Catherine threw herself into his arms so completely that Maximilian instinctively caught her around the waist before she wrapped herself around him without the slightest bit of shame.
"Missed you, Love," she breathed against his lips before kissing him.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
Absolutely shamelessly.
Maximilian’s entire face softened in a way that should have been illegal for a grown man to look.
His arms locked around her immediately as though his body had been waiting for her weight against him.
"I was gone for a day," he murmured against her mouth, unable to stop smiling.
"That was too long," Catherine whispered back before kissing him again.
Complete body contact. No restraint. No dignity. No awareness whatsoever that her entire family was standing there watching.
Silence fell over the courtyard.
Bobby slowly lowered the beer can in his hand. Jonathan blinked. William looked genuinely shocked. Even Miranda and Sophia stared with widened eyes.
Because the Catherine Preston they knew... would have walked down those stairs elegantly. She would have checked on Alexander first. Asked Roxana if she was alright. Offered calm words of comfort. Maintained composure.
Then, perhaps, after everyone had settled, she would have walked toward her fiancé gracefully.
Not this.
Not throwing herself at a man like she had been separated from oxygen itself.
Alexander stared at his sister clinging to Maximilian like her entire world had just returned safely to her.
Then slowly... he looked at Maximilian.
Maximilian, meanwhile, did not appear embarrassed in the slightest.
If anything, the man looked devastatingly pleased.
His hand rested possessively at Catherine’s waist while the other cradled the back of her head gently, like he treasured every second of this.
And somehow... that made the brothers feel even stranger.
Because for the first time, they fully understood something horrifying.
Their sister was not merely in love. She was attached: deeply, completely... Dangerously attached.
Bobby finally let out a disbelieving laugh. "What the hell happened to our dignified little princess?"
Without even looking back, Catherine answered immediately from Maximilian’s arms.
"She fell in love."
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