The Four Brothers ~ Completed

Capítulo Dezessete: A Curiosidade

Gemma's POV:

The next few days passed faster than the speed of light, it seemed. My brothers warmed up to me, but I hadn't yet said anything about George's treatment of me. I could tell they were starting to get impatient.

"What do you do for work?" I randomly asked Damian several days after my breakthrough. He stopped sorting books and froze, panic flashing through his eyes.

I had all of my brothers helping me with the library.

Tobias and Zion had a regular excuse of work, an excuse Damian never pulled. Sinclair grumbled the whole way through, but helped nonetheless.

"I'm kinda a jack of all trades. I do a bunch of random stuff." Damian said quickly.

"Really? I haven't seen you do much around here other than cook and irritate Zion." I said, watching Damian's reactions carefully.

I had my suspicions about what it was Tobias and Damian did. Sinclair was painfully obvious, maybe because everyone in the world already knew who he was. Zion was... I wasn't sure he was what he said he was.

I was sure he had his tech business, but there was something that seemed off about it. Some of the things I'd overheard while hanging out with Zion never settled right.

Needless to say, my next goal in life was figuring out what my brothers were hiding.

"Very funny. But I've been travelling a bit. Using Zion's money, of course." Damian said, his expression once again playful and light. I nodded, smiling a bit.

"So is that where all the money comes from? Zion?" I asked innocently. I glanced around, still in awe that I went from sleeping on the floor of a closet to sleeping in a king sized bed literally fit for a king.

Damian shook his head, but his smile was now tight and forced.

"You're too young to be worrying about that." Damian replied. It was obvious that the conversation was over, but my curiosity was far from satisfied.

I knew that something was up with my entire family. My parents were apparently poor immigrants, but Tobias was uber rich without working. Damian's job excuse was suspicious and sorta pathetic. I just had to figure it all out.

"Will you start going through those piles?" I asked, pointing towards another pile. Damian groaned, but did as I asked.

The rest of the day flew by like that. I ordered Damian around, he did as I asked. We ate lunch together, talking about anything and everything. Sinclair came in while we were eating and I roped him into helping with the library, much to his horror.

Dinner was... Somewhat awkward? I had no idea why everyone was acting so oddly when we'd been getting along so well. Then Tobias started the conversation I was dreading.

"We've fulfilled our half of the agreement. It's time for you to reciprocate." Tobias said.

My jaw dropped, not expecting that.

But there was something to add to the archives of my brain. Tobias always sounded like a businessman. Maybe he really was working with Zion. The two of them were a pretty intimidating pair.

"What do you want to know?" I asked softly, stabbing at the steak on my plate. Tobias leaned back in his chair, pleased he got what he wanted.

"The officers said George was negligent. Did anything else happen that we should be aware of?" Tobias asked.

I breathed heavily. My hesitance to answer would be their answer. And I already knew that it wouldn't end well.

"There were a few things I left out of my statement." I muttered, reaching for my glass of water. The sound of my gulping was echoing throughout the silent room. I couldn't even hear anyone breathing.

That may have been because my heartbeat was so loud.

"And what did you fail to mention?" Zion asked, leaning against the table with his forearms. I closed my eyes, trying to regain control of my pounding heart. When my heart stopped feeling like it would beat out of my chest, I answered.

"He smacked me around a few times." I whispered. I wasn't sure they even heard me.

There wasn't an obvious reaction. If I hadn't been studying them for the past few weeks of my living with them, I wouldn't have even noticed the changes.

The stony look in Zion's eyes. Tobias's gritting teeth. Damian's fists were balled up so tightly his knuckles were white. Sinclair's tense shoulders.

"Anything else?" Sinclair ground out. His tone had turned harsh and dangerous.

"Nothing you want to hear about." I said clearly. I picked up my water and drained the whole thing. I looked at Tobias with the question easily seen in my eyes. He nodded, excusing me from the table.

When I got to my room after making a wrong turn or two, I instantly hopped into the shower. I hoped that the scalding water would help me feel better like it usually did, but it didn't. I sat on the shower floor and let the water pool around my legs.

I didn't know what my brothers would do with the knowledge they gained. I knew they were going to do something. Whether that was telling the police or taking it into their own hands, I had no idea.

I knew that Sinclair and Damian were itching to get their hands on George now that they knew. I also knew that those two had no inhibitions about beating a man. I'd seen the way Damian moved. He moved with a fighters grace, something I'd seen up close and personal. I knew that Sinclair had a whole bunch of bikers at his beck and call, willing to do any task dished out.

But I wasn't sure what Tobias and Zion were thinking. Tobias was typically cool, calm, and collected. I wasn't sure what he did for a living, but I figured it was something that wasn't exactly legal. And Zion was just another businessman. What could he do?

I didn't know what was happening with two of my four brothers, but I did know that after I got out of the shower, there was going to be an interrogation that I didn't feel like taking part in.