The Four Brothers ~ Completed

Capítulo Onze: A Conversa

Gemma's POV:

The door creaked open, the sound echoing and ominous. I wasn't sure what was about to happen, but I knew whatever it was wasn't anything good. Of course nothing good was about to happen, I'd been kidnapped for goodness sakes. The sharp clicking of heels hitting the floor resonated in my mind as I breathed in deeply, trying to keep from spiraling into a mindless panic.

A cool, calm fell over me as I imagined that I was in a movie. This was just another action movie and any second I was going to use all the skills Tom Cruise taught me in all of his Mission Impossible movies to escape with ease. If things got to tough, I could call for a break and everything would shut down.

I knew it wasn't real but the thought made me calmer, which was what the aim was.

"Gemma?" The voice, the oh so familiar voice, rang out as someone popped their head through the cracked door. My breath caught in my chest as I realized who I was looking at. Was that... Victoria?

"Victoria?" I asked. I'd only seen her once, only spoken to her shortly, but she'd clearly been a maid working in Tobias's mansion. She'd said something about her granddaughter being the same size as me as she handed me the first set of clothes I'd ever gotten as a gift. I'd met her during my first week, my first day, at Tobias's estate and that had probably been to make sure I was real. 

She was a bad guy who pretended to be a good guy so she could learn about me.

My life had long since surpassed bad action movie. This was moving more into psychological thriller territory.

"You remember my name? You only met me once." She said with her head cocked, sharp eyes looking me over. Her appearance had caught me off guard so my shoes, the ones I was going to use as weapons, were held at my hips as I gazed at her in confusion.

"I've got a good memory." I snarked, my top lip curling back in a snarl when she tried to approach me. She held up her hands in an act of surrender that I didn't believe for a second. Her eyes lingered on the blood hardening on my forehead, then her entire face softened with pity.

Good. Pity me. Feel bad for me. I can use that against you.

"I can tell. Now, why don't we go and get you cleaned up? I have no doubt you want to get out of that dress." She said with a small, warm smile that was no doubt supposed to send my walls tumbling down. I didn't trust her one bit but I'd let her believe I did.

"Where are we? Why are you here? I don't understand." I whimpered, dropping my shoes so I could hug my arms to my chest. Victoria took another step towards me and when she saw I stayed in my place, she touched me on the shoulder in an attempt to ease my fear.

"We're safe. My friend, Boryslav, he's in charge of this place. Everyone here answers directly to him so you have no reason to fear any of them." She said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. She led me out into the hallway. My eyes burned from the light and my head started to pound.

Was this what it was like to be hungover? No thank you.

Boryslav was a Ukrainian name. I knew I was right.

One who likes fighting for fame. What a fitting name.

"But... Why am I here? Where is this place? Where are my brothers?" I asked tentatively, still playing the timid, demure victim who was a little too innocent for her own good.

If I could keep stalling, keep asking questions that took a long time to answer, my brothers had more time to find me and find this place.

Victoria hesitated, her step faltering for just a moment. That was enough to tell me that just like all the soldiers, she was under Boryslav's control herself, no matter what she thought she was to him. And that meant he knew this conversation would take place, told her what she could and couldn't tell me.

Which meant he was underestimating me. Just like everyone else.

"You're here because your brothers took something very important from my friend and he wants it back. And your brothers are in their own rooms, getting washed up for dinner." Victoria said, gesturing to one of the doors we were passing during our walk.

How naive did this lady think I was?

My brothers weren't in their rooms getting washed up. They were tearing the world apart searching for me. If my brothers were in this building with the knowledge that I was here too, they'd be screaming and clawing and ripping through all the men and women lining the halls with weapons.

"What did they take?" I asked, genuine curiosity slipping into my tone. My fear had dwindled because why would they hurt someone who was exceptionally naive and still useful?

Victoria shifted uncomfortable as she stopped us in the middle of the hall, crouching down in a position I knew must've hurt her old lady joints.

"Your youngest brother, Damian, took the life of another boy when he was twelve. That boy was Boryslav's brother." Victoria whispered as if she was sharing some top secret information.

Huh.

Was that it?

A whole war started, thousands of lives lost, all because my brother killed someone?

I mean, there was a line of people that wanted revenge on Damian because he'd killed someone they loved. But those people also knew that while my brother was slightly nutty in the head, he wasn't beyond reason.

If Damian didn't have a reason to kill someone, they weren't killed. It was that simple. And at twelve, Damian must've had a damn good reason too.

But, of course, damsel in distress over here had to act like this was the most crushing news I'd ever heard, I hadn't seen my brother literally rip a man's throat out with his bare hands.

Let's see how stupid Victoria actually was.

"Oh my gosh." I gasped, a horrified expression dawning on my face as I covered my mouth with my hand. Victoria shushed me, pulling me into her chest long enough for me to drop my expression into a deadpan look. When she felt as though I was composed enough to continue our conversation, she pulled me away and I had to fix my facial expression really quickly.

"Before we get you changed, I need to know something very important," She started, looking at me with an intensity I hadn't seen before. I nodded. "Do you know a man by the name of Daniel Garcia?"

Oh fudge.

That was the leader of the Mexican Cartel.

And also the guy I stole ten million dollars from.

Shit.