Chapter 2
Chapter Two
C ecilia
I loved fall.
It is my favorite time of year. It meant chilly breezes, thunderstorms, and vivid leaves on the trees. It was mesmerizing when the sun was out, and bright red and orange leaves fell from the sky around you while the air felt crisp. I also loved dark grey thunderstorms that make you want to light a candle and cozy up to a book, which is precisely what I planned on doing today in the library, where I just so happened also to work.
I walk into the library, hang my raincoat on the rack by the door, and strut to my desk. I never get tired of the smell every time I walk in here. It smelled like dusty pages, coffee from the coffee bar, and vanilla from the candle I kept on the main desk. It is the perfect combination of scents.
I clock into work and begin my day, doing the same thing I’ve done the last four years since working here. I was twenty years old when I first got hired as a simple bookkeeper, and now that I’m twenty-four, I am the librarian and run the place with the help of my bookkeeper and best friend, Lance.
It was the oldest library in Boston, sitting high like a castle made of old grey stone and brick. Its name, Stone Corridor, fits perfectly, in my opinion. The only new thing about the place was its restructured entry doors and windows that we had installed to look a little more modern and inviting for the outside world to see into and see we were, in fact, an up-and-operating library and not some old, haunted castle. I felt like I should be dressed as a medieval princess every time I came to work just to fit the aesthetic of the old building and its endless maze of books inside. It had two floors, but the upstairs was only used for events and clubs. I used to get lost inside when I started working here, but now I have it figured out to a T.
I ran my hands down the denim blue skirt I wore, which I paired with some black tights and a neon rainbow-striped sweater that hung perfectly off my left shoulder. I then pick up the first stack of books on my desk that were all returned last night and begin putting them away where they belonged. I had a system I liked to do. I would log all returned books onto my computer at the end of the night, and then the following morning, I would put them all back. I liked starting my mornings with a little more strenuous activity rather than just sitting behind my desk, or I would be a sleepwalker the rest of the day.
“Good morning,” Lance beams as I walk past him in the sci-fi section, where I notice he suspiciously spends much of his time. He had a thing for spaceships, the big nerd. “I just came from the coffee bar,” he tells me, handing me one of two cups. “One coffee with a sickening amount of Thin Mint coffee creamer.” I smile gratefully as I take the cup from him like we do almost every morning. He knows how I like my coffee like the back of his hand and never fails to have it ready for me as soon as I set foot through the door.
“Thank you.” I take a giant gulp of it, letting the minty chocolate do its thing and awaken my soul for the day. “How’s it going?”
“Great. I finished making the virtual flyers for your book club last night.”
My eyes widened in happiness over my coffee cup as I took another drink before replying to him. “Wow, that’s so great. Thank you so much for helping me out with that. I would have had no idea where to begin regarding graphic design.”
This weekend, we were holding sign-ups for a new book club I was starting. It was a historical romance book club, where we read regal romances. I planned to have tea parties with all kinds of cute tea sandwiches, desserts, and, you guessed it, tea.
I was super excited about it because I loved historical romance and getting lost in the worlds of different time periods. Also, the men are primarily British and speak very properly. Call me a basic, but accents are so hot.
But I struggle with social media, so besides a few Instagram posts, I wasn’t getting anywhere with getting the word out. So, I enlisted Lance’s nerdy computer skills to make virtual flyers advertising the book club sign-ups that I would send to everyone who’s subscribed to the library’s newsletter. I was excited because I had yet to see what he’d come up with.
“Anything for you, Lia. You know that.” His smile is soft and suggestive, although I’m not sure he means it to be. It wasn’t exactly a secret that Lance had been harboring feelings for me for a while now. We’ve been best friends since my first year of high school, and we’ve always had no issue keeping it platonic and seeing other people, but there have been shifts in our relationship recently that make this tension between us hard to deny.
We’re getting older, and over the last couple of years, we both eventually stopped dating other people and have mostly kept to ourselves and… each other. We get all the benefits of dating without actually dating.
We eat dinner together almost every night. He makes my coffee every morning. I help him do his laundry because, for something so simple, he sucks at it. We both like to read and can spend hours talking about books. He helps me with handyman-like tasks in my apartment that I know how to do but am always too lazy to do. Did I mention that his apartment is right across from mine? So yeah… we practically live together.
So, I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t taken the plunge already. He was handsome with his chestnut brown hair and even warmer dark eyes. He was also muscular and broad, like picking up all these books over the years has really paid off.
And he wanted me.
It is evident in how his eyes always lingered on me or his hands stayed on me a second longer than you’d consider appropriate with anyone else. He’s always there for me whenever I need him. There’s also the way he looks at me with hope every night, like it might finally be the night I ask him to stay a little longer.
So, what was I waiting for? I didn’t know anymore. I just knew that I was waiting for something. Like a sign that I had to hold out for something more or for someone to give me a thumbs up to go for this thing with him. Was there more to hold out for? Or was this falling in love? I wasn’t sure. That was the issue.
He also hasn’t made any moves, and I wondered if he was also hesitant. It made me wonder if we were gravitating to each other simply because no one else existed in the little world we created together. He was all I had these days, and I was scared that I was making it into something it wasn’t for that very reason.
I smile at him once more before returning to the front desk and hiding behind the mountain of books I should be putting away, but instead, I am ducking behind and shoving a York mint chocolate patty into my mouth from the candy bowl I keep on my desk.
The library doorbell dings and I pop my head up to greet whoever it is so I don’t look like some sugar goblin behind my desk, but the words don’t come out of my mouth when I see that it’s my brother, Tobias. Instead, a strange bubbling noise comes from my throat, and he stands in front of me, looking strangely at me.
“What the hell kind of noise was that?”
As I try to find my words, my mouth blubbers like a fish out of water. “I…I haven’t seen you in four years.” He was bigger than the last time I saw him, which should be a good sign. Muscles and meat on his bones weren’t any signs that he was struggling again, but it was so shocking to see that it still brought on a wave of concern.
“I know,” he grimaces. “I’m sorry.” He sounds genuine, and I try to believe it because despite not seeing him for four years, I still got phone calls from him every couple of months checking in on me. Still, it never erased the anxiety that I felt over what he was doing with his life and why he disappeared so suddenly. That and the last six months have been radio silence from him, and I was terrified of why.
Tears well in my eyes, and I race from behind my desk and jump into his arms as he catches me. I held him tight, and for a second, everything felt right in the world. It doesn’t last long, though, and I let go, shoving him hard in the shoulder.
“Where the hell have you been?” I snap.
He chuckles as he rubs his shoulder. “You’ve gotten stronger, baby sister.”
“Don’t baby sister me, Tobias. Where have you been all these years? What have you been doing?”
“I’ve been in the city,” he says, and a pang smacks me straight in the chest.
“You’ve been that close all this time?” I try not to cry. I lived in Boston, which was only a few hours of a train ride from New York City, where he’s been the whole time that I thought he was dead in a ditch somewhere across the country.
“Don’t be mad. I had to stay away. I needed to get myself together and couldn’t rely on you to do that. If I kept you around, I would never feel alone, and I wouldn’t have worked as hard as I have. I couldn’t have someone to fall back on.”
I blink up at him, confusion and admiration warring inside me. “So, you’re sober now?”
“Going on four years,” he says proudly. Now that I was taking the time to observe him, he was quite handsome and spiffy-looking. He wore a white button-down shirt with black slacks, a jacket, and a fancy belt and shoes. I’d never seen him wear such attire so casually, and the suit looked expensive and tailored to fit him perfectly.
His hair was neatly cut, and his face was bright and clear. He even smelled spicy, like he was wearing a nice cologne rather than smelling like the salty sweat he was constantly expelling every time he was high around me in the past.
“Wow,” I breathe, shocked at this new version of him. “What have you been doing?”
“That’s what I came by to tell you. The next time I saw you, I wanted to be someone you were proud to call your brother. I wanted to be successful, and I am now.”
“Successful in what?”
“I’m chief of operations for Labyrinth Crystals.”
I blink slowly in disbelief. It was not what I expected him to say. “Labyrinth Crystals, as in… you sell jewelry?”
He chuckles. “Not exactly. The company does, but it’s a lot more than that. I’m second in command after the company's CEO, James Kingston.”
“Oh wow,” I sputter. I knew nothing about crystals, but I had heard of Labyrinth Crystals and knew they were a big deal, so it was a little alarming to me to suddenly hear that he was second in command after the CEO.
“I’m doing really well, Cecilia,” he says, breaking me from my thoughts. “And I want you in my life again. I’m a better man now.”
My heart softens despite the anxiety, making it thump harder than usual. “I’ve really missed you.”
This time, he pulls me into a gentler hug, breaking the dam in me. It’d been so long since I’d seen him—even longer since I’d seen him sober and this happy. I think the last time was when we were teenagers.
“Cecilia, what’s going on?” I hear Lance's voice and pull away from Tobias as I wipe under my eyes. Lance’s eyes bounce from Tobias to me and widen as he looks at him again. “Oh my god, Tobias?”
“Hey, Lance,” Tobias waves, then looks down at me. “You guys work together after all these years?”
I shrug, smiling as I glance at Lance, who grins back at me. “He’s a mess without me. I had to keep him close.”
“I see,” Tobias quips. “How long have you guys been together?”
Lance clears his throat uncomfortably as I begin sputtering like a sea creature again. “Oh, we’re not… he’s not my… we’re still friends. Neighbors too. And co-workers…but we’re not…”
“Jesus,” Tobias interrupts me. “Calm down. It was just a question. My mistake.”
“Right,” I rush out, catching my breath.
“Is there any way I can convince you to ditch work today?” Tobias then asks. “I’d like to catch up with you.”
I look over at Lance, who nods, letting me know he’d watch the library for the day. “Sure, let’s go get some lunch.”
Thirty minutes later, we arrived at the restaurant, which was fancier than I had anticipated. I didn’t even know Boston had a restaurant like this, and I felt underdressed.
“You look nervous,” Tobias says as I sit across from him in one of the booths.
“That’s because I am.”
“Why?”
“This all just feels…a little surreal to me. Also, I’m pretty sure I could eat my lunch off the floor of this place, and it’d be sanitary enough. Are you sure you can afford?—”
He waves his hand out, cutting me off. “It’s no problem for me. Seriously. Money is a nonissue.”
“Wow, must be nice.” The second they blast through, I shove the reminder of my student loans right out of my head. I wasn’t struggling by any means. I made enough to live and have extra money here and there, but did I always have never-ending bills that I felt I’d never be able to pay off? Yes. It was stressful all the same.
His brows furrow, and I can’t help but stare at him. He looked so grown up now. Granted, he was thirty years old and bound to look grown, but I guess he looked like a man now.
“You’re not having money problems, are you?”
I wave my hand now like he did. “Oh, no. I do fine. I have student loans and things like that, but that’s life.”
He observes me for a moment longer before pulling his menu off the table to gander at. “I see,” he says, and I can’t help but giggle. He looks at me over the menu, and I quickly silence myself by pressing the tips of my fingers to my lips. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.”
“Lia.”
“Nothing, it’s just…you sounded funny, saying, I see .”
“What’s funny about that?”
I shrug. “It just sounded fancy.”
“How do the two words, I and see , sound fancy?” He sounded exasperated now, and I couldn’t help but giggle again.
“It just does.”
He shakes his head. “All right then. I’ll try to sound less fancy.”
“No, please. Sound as fancy as you want. I enjoy it, although I don’t know where it came from. Is your boss a fancy man?”
He chuckles now. “Fancy isn’t the word I’d use to describe him.”
“How would you describe him?” I was all too curious about the man who trusted my brother enough to be promoted all the way to the position just under his.
He looks up toward the ceiling as he thinks about it. “He’s… viciously determined and a bit of a sarcastic prick. He’s a really great guy.”
I blink slowly. “I’m not sure those are all great qualities.”
“There’s obviously more to him than that.”
“Well, how well do you know him?”
“Pretty well. We spend almost every day together.”
“So, you’re friends then?”
He pauses for a second before answering. “Yes. He might be my only friend.”
My heart began to ache at the idea of my brother only having one person to talk to while he tried to get himself together. I wish I could have been there for him so he wouldn’t have been so lonely.
“Well, then, he must be great like you say,” I note, trying to remain positive, although I was still skeptical. I hated being a downer, but my brother had let me down one too many times over the years, so I wasn’t quick to trust this new facade he had going on. Even though he looked good, it didn’t mean he was doing good. I needed proof to believe it.
It’s the evening by the time I get back home. Tobias dropped me off and promised to visit again soon after catching up today. I wished he could have stayed, but he was a coo now, whatever that meant, and he had work to return to.
The idea was still concerning to me. It was strange to see him so well off now when he was strung out the last time I’d seen him and couldn’t even rub two nickels together. It made me wonder what kind of business he operated at Labyrinth if he wasn’t just a jewelry salesman like I had first assumed.
I pull up the internet browser on my laptop and search Labyrinth Crystals in the search bar. Of course, I am directed to all their shopping sites and advertisements. I click on the news tab and scroll through, mostly passing articles about the new sales amount they’ve reached. Yada yada.
Then I came across an article titled: “ CEO James Kingston arrested under suspicion of involvement with New York's most wanted Stefano Luccio .”
I click on it and read about all the suspicions of money laundering, gunrunning, and unregulated trades to the freaking mafia that Stefano Luccio is a part of. But before Luccio went to trial, all charges were suddenly dropped, and James Kingston was cleared of wrongdoing.
None of it sat right with me. Was my brother in the freaking mafia? Is that what this was? Is that why he’s moved up the company so fast and is practically rich now? It was the only logical explanation that could explain how he was where he was in four years. Although he had mentioned that he’s worked for Labyrinth for five years now, which meant he was involved with them when he wasn’t sober when I had seen him at his worst. This meant he was mixed up with no good people, which was probably his way into this shady industry.
My brain was firing at all corners, and I slammed my laptop shut to try and calm myself down.
It was okay. Everything was going to be okay.
I think back to how good my brother looked and how well he seemed to be doing. Maybe I was wrong. Perhaps he had a completely regular office job, and I was overreacting. Maybe he was just that good at what he did.
I believed that he was sober now, which means the right kind of people surrounded him to be sober… right?
I slowly opened my laptop again, searching for the headquarters of Labyrinth Crystal and plugging the address into my phone. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to check on things and ensure everything looked okay and legal.
Yes… that wouldn’t be a big deal, right? I mean, it’s coming from a place of love and concern over my brother. He’d do the same for me… I think.
I wasn’t sure, but as I crawled into bed for the night, I set my alarm for early morning.
I was going to New York City tomorrow.