Bound to You

Chapter 18: Threats

“Did Sean say what the meeting was about?” Darcy questioned as she pulled her hair up into a messy bun. Ross shook his head and lounged against the doorframe of her bedroom. “No, he didn’t. He just called and told me to grab you and come to the office as soon as possible.” Darcy nodded absentmindedly as she kept her eyes focused on the full-length mirror adorning the wall. She’d been having a rather pleasant afternoon with the family when Ross had come downstairs and informed her that Sean wanted to see them both. She dreaded going back to Sean’s office. She knew he wouldn’t lay a finger on her so long as Ross was around, but that didn’t change what had happened in the past. He terrified her. She hadn’t known true fear until that afternoon a week before. She finished fixing her hair and reached underneath her bed to pull out her Converse.  “I hope it isn’t about yesterday on set. I thought we did a pretty good job.” Ross spoke up after a few moments. Darcy nodded again. “Yeah, I did too.” she said quietly. Ross didn’t seem to notice that something was bothering her. Which was good; she knew she couldn’t tell him exactly what it was anyway. She quickly finished lacing up her shoes and hopped to her feet. “Alright, I’m ready to go if you are.” She said nervously. Ross nodded and began walking down the hallway towards his own room. “Right…let me go find my keys.” He muttered as he left. Darcy laughed and rolled her eyes. She stepped out into the hallway and saw Riker step out of his bedroom. “You guys haven’t left yet?” he questioned, cocking an eyebrow curiously. Darcy gestured down the hall. “Ross can’t find his keys.” She explained. Riker nodded knowingly. “Figures. So are you going to ask Sean about your sister’s birthday?” he asked. She nodded. “I think so.” She said anxiously. Riker gave her a reassuring smile as Ross reappeared and jingled his keys happily. “It’ll be fine, Darce. I’ll see you when you get back.” He called as she followed Ross down the staircase into the living room.  

**  

“Darcy, Ross, please come in.” Sean greeted them as they approached his office on the 20th floor. Darcy stepped inside cautiously; she stayed as far away from Sean as she possibly could, given the limited amount of space in the room. She sat down in her usual chair and focused her eyes on the far wall. Instead of taking his seat behind the desk as he usually did, he perched himself on the edge of the desk as he had done the last time Darcy came to visit. She knew he was doing it on purpose; he wanted to rattle her. She didn’t give him the satisfaction of showing her fear; she kept her gaze steadily focused on the wall, a steely cold glare piercing through the glass of the tiny window. Ross didn’t seem to notice the tension in the air. “So…what’s the emergency?” He questioned finally. Sean turned his attention towards the blond eighteen year old next to Darcy. “I realized I left Ellington and Ryland’s joint birthday party off of the schedule I gave the two of you for April. I didn’t know there would be a party at the time the schedule was made. So I’m adding it on now. Since it is your brother’s birthday, Ross, I’ll go easy on you. There are no specific instructions except to do what you always do. Act like a couple. Play up the romance. The usual.” Ross nodded silently. Darcy took a deep breath. It was now or never. She turned her gaze from the window to Sean. “Actually. I was wondering if it’d be possible for me to skip the birthday party.” She said hesitantly. Sean and Ross both snapped their heads over to look at her. “What?” Sean questioned confusedly. Darcy took another steadying breath. “My sister’s birthday is next week as well. I was hoping I could be excused from the party so I could go home for a few days.” She repeated. Sean stared at her for a few moments. He didn’t appear angry. He appeared…surprised. Like he couldn’t believe Darcy had actually asked the question. Ross raised his hand as though he were asking for permission to speak. “I don’t care if she goes home. Her sister is just as important to her as my brother is to me. I know how I’d feel if I had to miss any of my siblings’ birthdays. It’s cool with me.” He said helpfully. Darcy smiled gratefully at him. Sean remained silent for a few more moments. Finally, he shook his head. “No. Sorry, Darcy. I can’t let you leave.” He said firmly. Her jaw dropped. She couldn’t believe that he was actually forbidding her to leave. To go home. Could he do that? “Are you serious?” she cried. She didn’t care what he might do to her. Fury and indignation were boiling through her veins. Sean shook his head again. He put on a false apologetic smile, for Ross’s benefit she was sure. “Darcy, I’m sorry. But to the public, you’re Ross’s girlfriend. You’re close friends with the entire family. Can you imagine how bad it would look if you didn’t attend the party? Can you imagine the rumors that may spring up? I can’t risk it.” He explained. Ross shook his head. “Sean, I don’t think it would be that big of a deal. We could always have Darcy tweet and mention that she hates missing the party but she has to go home and visit her own sister for her birthday.” He tried. Sean shook his head once again. “No. And that’s final.” He repeated firmly. Darcy felt a tear slip out and roll slowly down her cheek. She immediately stood and bolted towards the door. “Darcy, wait right there.” Sean’s voice called. It had a soft, fatherly edge to it. She gritted her teeth. He was putting on a show for Ross. He would never show his true colors in front of anyone who would defend her. That’s why he’d asked Riker to leave the week before. “Ross, could you let me have a minute with Darcy, please?” he asked hopefully. Ross nodded and walked slowly past Darcy. He flashed her an apologetic smile before stepping out into the hallway and closing the door behind him. Darcy felt her chest tighten as the familiar ‘click’ of the lock echoed through the room. She took a deep breath before whirling around to face Sean. He was still sitting on the edge of the desk, a smug grin playing at the corners of his mouth. “Don’t touch me.” She growled. He laughed darkly and took a step forward. “I have no intentions to, Darcy. So long as you do your job properly and don’t give me any attitude. Besides, I feel like I got my message across last time.” Darcy scowled. “What is wrong with you? You can’t just…just…abuse and terrify people so you can get your way. It isn’t how the world works.” She snapped. Sean continued moving closer to her. “Oh I think that’s exactly how the world works, sweetheart.” He said smugly. She took a step backwards and felt her back hit the heavy wood of the door; she was trapped. Sean closed the distance between them, standing far closer than she would have liked. “Stay away from me.” She said quietly, her voice faltering slightly. Sean shook his head and took one more step forward, bringing him a mere inch away from her. “And what are you going to do about it? Huh?” he questioned. Darcy felt her cheeks flush with anger. “I’ll tell. I’ll tell Stormie, I’ll tell Mark. I’ll tell somebody.” She hissed. Sean chuckled. “I don’t think so.” Darcy felt her scowl deepen. He was challenging her. Not only that, he was taunting her. He had the upper hand and he knew it. He began slowly rolling up the left sleeve of his striped dress shirt. “Darcy, you went to school in New York. So you’re familiar with the certain parts of town that they…discourage students from going into, correct? Those areas that are, as they would call them, the ‘wrong sides of the tracks’. Where crime lords rule and you either kill or get killed.” Darcy nodded slowly, unsure of where he was going. He continued to roll up the sleeve of his shirt. “Well I don’t know if you know this about me, Darcy, but I grew up in New York. I grew up in one of those very areas. I sold crack for a living when I was fifteen years old. I watched my cousin get killed in a gang fight when I was twelve; he bled out on my living room floor. I killed a man for the first time when I was seventeen. My older brother is one of the leaders of one of the most powerful gangs in the city.” He finished rolling up his sleeve and extended his arm towards her. Her eyes widened as she recognized the tattoo emblazoning the skin of his forearm. It was the symbol of that very gang he’d just spoke of. One of, if not the, most feared gangs in New York City. Probably in the country. She looked back up at him slowly. He was smirking down at her. A twisted, sinister smirk. A smirk of one who knew he had the advantage. “So what are you trying to say?” she asked quietly, a slight edge of defiance evident in her voice. His smirk instantly turned to a scowl. He wrapped his hand around her throat and leaned in dangerously close to whisper in her ear. “It means if you even think about telling anyone, and I mean ANYONE…I will make sure that you never make it back home alive. Or better yet, maybe I’ll make sure you have nothing to return home to. Your family? They might just die in a tragic house fire, the result of a faulty gas line. Your best friend, Ashley, wasn’t it? Well she might just take a tumble into the river. I might not be a member anymore, Darcy. But I have connections. Powerful, powerful connections. If you cross me, I swear you will regret it.” She felt his hand tighten around her windpipe. She gasped desperately for air, feeling herself go weak in the knees. He finally released her and allowed her to fall to the floor. She immediately began choking and coughing as she felt the air rush back into her lungs. She looked up at him fearfully; her entire body was trembling. He crouched down until he was at her level. He leaned in closer and looked directly into her eyes. “I own you, Darcy Davis. Don’t you ever forget it.”

  **  

Darcy kept her gaze focused on the road ahead of her as Ross turned the car into the driveway. She was barely holding herself together. Never mind that Sean had threatened her personally; he’d threatened her family, the people she loved the most in the entire world. She knew their lives depended on her keeping her mouth shut. And that was exactly what she intended to do. Ross looked sorrowfully at her as he pulled his key out of the ignition. “Darce, I’m sorry.” He said apologetically, referring to her sister’s birthday. She shook her head, her gaze still focused out of the windshield. “It’s fine. Just a part of the job.” She replied flatly. She swung her door open and stepped out onto the pavement. Ross walked around the front of the car and came to stand before her. Before she could react he wrapped his arms tightly around her and pulled her into a warm hug. “I’m really, really sorry.” He mumbled into her hair. She sighed and allowed him to comfort her for a few moments. She knew it wasn’t his embrace that she needed. It wasn’t his gently thumping heartbeat that she longed to feel beating against her own chest. She needed Riker. She felt the tears threaten to spill over. It took every ounce of resolve she had to keep them from spilling over right then. Ross broke his embrace after a few moments and she followed him slowly into the house. As soon as she stepped through the front door she bolted towards the stairs. Ross didn’t follow, sensing that she needed a few moments alone. She made her way down the hallway to the eldest Lynch boys’ bedroom. She knocked twice and waited. Riker threw open the door after a few seconds. He was wearing sweatpants and his glasses. He was bare-chested as well; clearly he’d been dozing off. “Darcy, what’s wrong?” he asked worriedly. She wordlessly flung herself into his arms. His arms wrapped around her immediately as she began sobbing loudly. “Darcy, you’re scaring me. What happened?” he questioned frantically. She shook her head wordlessly; she could feel her tears rolling from her cheeks onto the bare skin of his chest as terror gripped her heart. He began rubbing her back comfortingly with his fingertips. “Sean’s not going to let you go, is he?” he asked quietly. Darcy shook her head again, indicating that he was correct. Of course, that was only a small part of her problem. But it was all Riker needed to know. She felt herself begin to tremble slightly. Riker sat down on the edge of his bed and pulled her down to sit in his lap. “It’s okay.” He said reassuringly as he pulled her closer to his chest. She rested her head against his shoulder and allowed the tears to drip down onto her own blouse. Her tears ran dry after a few minutes; she could feel her red, swollen eyes growing tired. Riker was still trailing his fingers up and down her back. After a few moments she began dozing off, her head still rested against his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Darcy.” He said quietly as she began slipping in and out of consciousness. She shook her head slightly as she finally succumbed to sleep. “I should have stayed in New York.” She whispered as her eyes slipped shut.