Empire of Deception (Harry Styles AU)

Chapter 14

By the time the cab drops us off at Swann, I can see that Victoria is still visibly upset, and oddly enough, I find that it bothers me more than I wish it did.

I turn to grab the door handle, but Victoria stops me, "Wait," she says. "If anyone asks about today your just going to say that everything went smoothly. Swanson was just asking for more details about how we want the website to look like. Say nothing about the changes or the payment issues. Savvy?"

I nod.

"And whatever you do, don't share any details with Alexander or my brother. You answer to me, okay? And if someone else gives you a task, you make sure I know about it before you do it. Do you understand?"

"Yes." She thanks me before turning and stepping out of the car. "If you have ten minutes, I have bulletins I would like to give you, so you can share it with the rest of the Bolton team." Her voice sounds clouded despite her major efforts to make it sound like everything is fine. But that's just it—her breezy tone is what is drawing red alerts for me. She almost sounds friendly.

It's sometime in the evening, now, and the lobby only has scattered clusters of people and the occasional loner walking around, trying to get to their next destination. The ride up in the lift is quiet, and soon I don't think I can take the silence anymore. "Victoria," I call out, not wanting to take another step until I knew that she was okay. I wanted to try my hardest to just ignore her obviously shaken feelings, but I couldn't. A year ago ignoring the humanity within people was something I was rather good at, but now it's all I notice. The fear of having a weakness festers within me as all sorts of internal alarms go off, warning me about having the very thing my father tried so hard to destroy.

I press the door button and watch them close before she has a chance to step out. "What are we going to do?" I inquire, forcing her to look at me.

"We are not going to do anything. This is my problem, not yours... And I am just going to wait it out and see what happens," she responds, clicking the doors open and making sure I saw her do it. Frustration starts to build.

"Get over yourself, Victoria. We're a team, remember?" I say angrily under my breath as I follow her out, trying my best to keep my temper under wraps. We are in Jarwin Firm territory now.

"Ri."

Victoria flinches at the sound of her nick name, obviously caught off guard.

"What," she growls, livid at the sight of her brother.

He eyes her warily, wondering what on Earth has got her knickers in a twist, but he shakes it off to continue conveying the message he was sent for. "Alexander's looking for you."

Her fury drains and is replaced by something else.

Panic.

"Did he say what for?" Victoria responds. Her sentence is crisp and clear, her words carefully chosen.

"He has some questions... About the other night."

Victoria moves her foot to take the step towards her but it's like an invisible barrier is holding her back. I watch the exchange between brother and sister. Christopher knows something, but not in a way that he is actually holding something from us... More like he knows what is going to happen.

"Do you want me to go with you?" I ask her.

"No, just leave," she replies firmly.

"What about the papers you wanted to give to me?"

"Are they on your desk?" Christopher asks, directing his questions towards Victoria. He seems softer than usual towards his sister, and I can't help but get the feeling that he feels sorry for her.