Bound to You

Chapter 25: Warning

Darcy’s grip tightened around the metal handrails of the elevator as it slowly climbed to the very top floor. It was the first time she’d visited Sean’s office in nearly a month. His threats kept replaying in her mind. Everything he had told her during her last visit. About his brother, abouthimself… About the things he could do to her, to the ones she loved, if she didn’t obey. If she didn’t keep her mouth shut and do what he asked of her. “Darce?” Darcy jumped when she felt Ross’s hand come to rest on top of hers. She had almost forgotten that he was with her. Ross raised an eyebrow curiously as he gestured to the open elevator doors. “You getting off or are you gonna hang out in here all day?” he joked. Darcy half smiled as she stepped out behind him into the brightly lit corridor. “Is going back home an option?” she asked tiredly. Ross smiled sympathetically. “I wish.” He stopped in front of Sean’s office door. Darcy felt her stomach tighten as he knocked twice. Before he could take a step back, the door flew open. It swung wide and slammed into the wall behind it. Sean was standing in the doorway before them, his lips pressed tightly together. Darcy’s heart clenched with fear; he didn’t look happy. She was immediately thankful that he had called both of them in, rather than just her. “Inside.” He said tersely. Silent rage was boiling in his dark brown eyes. Darcy shrank back behind Ross as she stepped through his office door. As she stared at the tousled blonde hair before her she found herself silently wishing it was Riker with her instead. She never felt safer than when she was with the eldest Lynch; no offense to Ross. She flinched when the office door slammed shut with a loud BANG. “Don’t sit.” Sean said gruffly just as Ross dipped towards the cushioned office chairs. He immediately got back to his feet, nearly knocking a glass ornament off of the polished wooden desk in the process. Sean wordlessly moved to stand behind his desk. He rummaged silently through a stack of papers before throwing a glossy printed photograph down before the two of them. “Would you care to explain this to me?” he asked tightly. Darcy took a hesitant step forward and glanced down at the picture. It wasn’t great quality and the lighting was poor, but the blonde head peering out at her from the grainy darkness was impossible to miss. It was Ross, with his arms wrapped around a shorter, slightly darker blonde girl. Her eyebrows raised in confusion as she glanced over at Ross. He had an equally confused expression on his face. He shook his head slowly, clearly wondering if he was missing whatever was supposed to be obvious. “I don’t understand-” he started. They both jumped when Sean slammed his fist down on the wooden desktop. “Was I not clear from the beginning? NO outside relationships. What is THIS?” he repeated, tapping his finger angrily on top of the photo. Ross quickly shook his head as he gestured to the picture as well. “Sean, that picture is almost two years old. I met this girl Grace, the girl in the picture, at a show and we dated for a few months. The fans know who she is; they aren’t going to think anything of it.” The cold glint was still in Sean’s eye. He didn’t seem to believe what Ross was telling him. Or perhaps he did, and simply didn’t care. “I don’t care who she is.” He said slowly. “I’m not taking any chances. This arrangement revolves around the fans believing you’re with Darcy and I’m not going to let anything screw that up.” He snapped. Darcy bit down on her lip nervously. She would love to tell Sean a thing or two about himself. It wasn’t Ross’s fault that the picture was just now coming to light. For God’s sake, new pictures of Ellington and Kelly popped up on Tumblr every other day. The fans were smart enough to know that the picture was ancient history. She was sure they wouldn’t think anything of the picture of Ross with Grace. But she knew better than to say so in front of Sean. He had made her role very clear from the beginning. She was to sit down, keep her mouth shut, and do as she was told. Or else. She turned her attention back to Ross. He was staring at Sean in disbelief. “Sean, I had no control over this picture being posted, well, wherever it was posted. How did you even find this? Where did it come from?” he questioned. Sean pulled the picture back towards him; his eyes stayed firmly locked on Ross. Although Darcy pitied the position he was in, she was grateful that for once she wasn’t the one facing Sean’s wrath. “Someone tried to sell it to a magazine this morning. I know the editor of the magazine they tried to pawn it off to. She called me as soon as she received it. We nipped this one in the bud, fortunately.” His eyes flitted over to Darcy and then back to Ross. “I cannot stress to the two of you enough: there is no room for error here. One wrong move, one wrong comment, one questionable fan photo…this whole thing could come crashing down.” He snapped. Ross’s eyebrows knitted together in anger. “Sean, look I’m sorry. Am I just supposed to pretend that I don’t have an ex? Darcy isn’t the first girl that I’ve ‘dated’.” He retorted, putting overly large air quotes around ‘dated’. Darcy sighed and closed her eyes, wishing desperately to be anywhere else. Her thoughts drifted to Riker. It had felt so amazing that morning, waking up next to him. It felt…right. More right than anything else she’d felt since she had arrived. Her eyelids flew open when she heard Sean’s fist slam down onto the wooden desktop again. “I’m not asking to hear your excuses.” He spat. She kept her gaze focused across the room, trying to ignore Sean’s rant before she opened her mouth and told him exactly what she thought about him and his contract. If only Riker were with her… She felt her heart drop. Riker. She had been so busy trying to tune out Sean & Ross’s conversation that the truth of the situation hadn’t fully hit her. The contract. “Rarcy”. If anything about her and Riker were to come to light… She knew she was already walking on extremely thin ice with Sean. If he were to find out about them… Or even worse, if they fanswere to find out. Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes. Her fingers brushed across the skin of her wrist. Memories of all the times Sean had grasped her a little too roughly returned to the forefront of her mind with a painful sting as the realization struck: there couldn’t be anything for Sean to discover. There couldn’t be anything that could be leaked, anything that could jeopardize the contract. Anything that could jeopardize her safety, her family’s safety. There couldn’t be a ‘her and Riker’. She was pulled back to reality when she felt Ross tugging on her shirt sleeve. “Come on.” He said quietly. She could hear the edge in his voice. She wordlessly turned and followed him out the door, breathing a silent sigh of relief when Sean didn’t call her back into the office as he had many times before. As they stepped into the elevator she kept her gaze carefully focused on the patterned tile floor, willing the tears that threatened to spill over to stay put.