Conflict of Interest

48: Explanation

(A/N) ⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ This chapter contains situations that may be triggering to some individuals involving torture.

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After a very awkward breakfast and running to register our guns with the safety team, we were all escorted to a meeting room with a long oak table with black cushy chairs lined on either side.

Once everyone was seated, me with Parker to my left and, much to his dismay, Colton on my right, Aaron walked in and smiled at us "Good morning everyone I trust that you all slept well."

Colton gave me a side eye glare and I swear I could just about slap the look right off his face at this point.

"So I know that there's been some tension and a lot of unanswered questions for some time now. Rest assured that you are all safe and your questions will be answered respective of your clearance level. There are some specifics you may not be allowed to know but I promise I will try my best to answer your questions as thoroughly as possible." He paused looking around at us "Sound good?"

Everyone kinda nodded and mumbled out a jumble of "yes's" in response.

"Before we begin," he started to say before pulling his briefcase up and onto the table and clicking it open "I need each of you to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement so take one and pass it down. Parker, Jane, Mr. North, and Harper you are also required to sign one despite your involvement due to the protocol under which we are currently operating. Yours also states that if any of the individuals in this room breach the agreement, all of you will be brought in for questioning."

Parker muttered something under her breathe as everyone did as instructed, pens and papers being passed down as each of us read over the small print for only a second before signing. Once finished we all passed them back down and Aaron looked them over before locking them back in his case and setting it at his feet.

"Alright so I'm just gonna start off with a very blunt overview." Aaron stated, pausing as he looked to Parker "As I'm sure you know, this is Ms. West, CEO of the West Company. What I'm assuming you don't know is that The West company works closely with the government witness protection program. Due to the secrecy and nature of this agency it needs to be understood that this information never leaves this room unless speaking in a secure location as will be explained later, are we clear?" Everyone nodded and he continued on "Ms. West was involved in the program sometime ago, the reason why must remain a secret, but it has resulted in her being targeted by some dangerous individuals apart of a much larger organization. These people are the reason you're all here right now and why your safety has been compromised."

"Oh, so it's her fault?" Colton stated glaring over at her

"Colton it's not her fault." I replied crossing my arms over my chest as I looked over at him

Aaron let out a sigh "Let's not act like children, we have a lot to cover and pointing fingers isn't gonna help anyone."

"I'm just having a hard time seeing why this is our problem or why they even give a fuck about us." Colton shrugged staring back at Aaron

Aaron got a strange look in his eye, clearly losing his patience "Well maybe if you'd shut up I'd be able to get to that part." He paused, seemingly daring Colton to speak up again "One of the people involved with this group of bad individuals is someone Harper thought was her friend but was really just using her to get close to Talia and Parker, someone you would know as Aurora."

Luna looked over at me, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Don't be fooled by any previous interactions you may have had with her, she's dangerous and she's a pro at deception. She's directly tied to the attacks on West Towers, escaped when being transferred by the federal government, and kidnapped both Talia and Harper but who knows who else she's hurt or what else she's done." Aaron stated looking between all of us

My mom, in a rather shaky voice spoke up "Who is this Talia you keep mentioning?"

Fuck.

"She's connected to why I was in witness protection." Parker stated

My mom nodded "Okay I just, I can't picture Aurora doing all these things I mean I met her multiple times and she seemed like such a nice girl."

"Same." Luna mumbled out

I let out a shaky breathe as I turned to look at them "I had a hard time believing it at first too but," I paused, my heart racing as the memories came flooding back "I've witnessed first hand just how cruel she can be and she's nothing like I thought."

Luna's eyes were glossy, tears seemingly threatening to spill "What did she do?"

~4 Days Ago~

I could barely keep my head up as she spoke, the words jumbling together in my head.

Suddenly I felt my chin being pulled up, my eyes opening to see Auroras blurry face inches from mine "Are you even listening to me?"

She let go and my head fell as I sputtered out "So b-blurry."

A sharp pain erupted on my cheek as my head swung to the left "I need you to focus!"

Using every bit of strength I had left I looked up at her, my eyes heavy.

"Where is she?" Sam questioned

"I don't know." I mumbled out

She grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, looking down at me "Maybe it's time we step this up a bit then to jog your memory."

~Present~

I looked back at her, my head in a daze "Horrible things."

Under the table Parker took my hand in hers and squeezed it causing me to relax slightly.

"She's done a lot of horrible things to a lot of good people and we need to find her." Aaron stated looking around the room at everyone "You were all at risk due to your proximity to Harper now that she's such a high level target which is why you're here."

"Why does she want Harper?" My mom questioned "I mean, it just doesn't make sense."

I let out a shaky sigh "Mom I need to tell you something."

"What sweetie?" She asked looking over at me

My heart felt as though it stopped "I uh, I helped them bring her in so I kinda double crossed her."

More like I'm fucking her enemy but okay.

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