Chapter 4
Chapter Four
C ecilia
His eyes. His voice.
The words keep chiming in my head like a relentless chant. His eyes. His voice. His eyes. His voice.
I’d never seen eyes quite like his before.
One was light brown, like caramel milk chocolate, and the pupil appeared larger than his other eye, which was a dark thunderstorm gray. They were beautiful in a way that reminded me of war—light and dark, warm and cold.
Except I was only feeling cold from him. There was zero warmth to be seen despite him offering a supposed nicety that only turned out to be condescending orders.
All his features looked cold to me except that one brown eye.
And his voice.
I really hated that he had an accent because I had a thing for them, no thanks to my favorite historical romance books. Thankfully, his accent was easy to ignore when he spoke with such rudeness, but then there’s the rest of his body that makes even that easy to forget.
His hair was pale blonde, nearly white, with the slightest touch of a golden tone and dark roots. I had also never seen hair the color of his before. His eyebrows were dark like his roots, making his face look even more savage. His face looked like it had been cut and chiseled by the jewelry makers he employed himself. His jaw, shoulders, and stone-like body were strong and squared. He looked hard and powerful.
Dangerous.
I tried to remain unbothered, although I was feeling anything but. He'd probably see my legs shaking if my jeans weren’t so baggy. I usually wasn’t this annoying or relentless, but I felt something was wrong about this whole ordeal with my brother. It kept me up all night, making me toss and turn in bed. I couldn’t fathom how quickly and dramatically things changed for him, and I had a gut feeling it wasn’t good.
“Can you just tell me where he’s at right now?” I ask.
His jaw clenches like he’s annoyed I’m still talking, and I knew he probably was. He probably had more important responsibilities, and here he was dealing with me, but I didn’t care.
“It’s against company policy to give out information on my employees,” he says as if the fact pleases him.
“Seriously? I’m his sister.”
“One I’ve never heard of, I might add. For all I know, he wants nothing to do with you.”
The knowledge that my brother has never mentioned me creates an ache in my chest. Was it easier for him all this time without me than it was for me? Did he really not care about me as much as I did him? We were so close growing up, and the fact that his own boss didn’t know he had a sister made me feel like our connection wasn’t what I thought it was.
I look up at James Kingston, noticing that he’s watching me more intently now, and I take another step back like it would protect me from his unwavering gaze.
“Fine,” I relent. For now. “I guess I’ll go.”
“Doors that way,” he says with a smirk, pointing at the obvious door behind me. I roll my eyes and leave, wanting to be as far away from the dreadful man as possible. He may be stunning, but he seemed to be all sour on the inside.
I decided to stay in the city for a couple more nights, hoping I could catch up with Tobias again at some point. I couldn’t get rid of this clawing feeling that something wasn’t right. Or maybe his unexpected presence in my life sparked a fear of letting him go again. I wasn’t sure, but we still had things to discuss, like why he hadn’t mentioned me to his boss.
Maybe he doesn’t like him. Yes… that could be it. Perhaps he doesn’t want him to know anything about me because he’s not a nice person or something. That would make sense because the man I met earlier was enough to repel me from the entire species of men.
He was so arrogant, self-assured, and beautiful but extremely rude. I could understand Tobias not getting along with somebody like that, ignoring the irritating fact that he told me they were friends.
I go back to my hotel room and text Tobias, letting him know I was in the city and where I was staying since my surprise drop-in didn’t go according to plan.
Hours later, I heard a knock on my door, and I sat up in bed, realizing I had fallen asleep. Damn hotel beds. It sucked me right in.
I rubbed my eyes, crawled from the bed, and stumbled towards the door. When I opened it, I was met by Tobias, who didn’t look as happy to see me.
“Hey,” I squeak out.
He brushes past me and walks into my hotel room. I shut the door behind us and turned to face him, my stomach feeling tight like it was about to receive a lashing any moment now.
“What the hell, Cecilia?” he barks out.
“Tobias, listen?—”
He holds up a finger, silencing me, and I do so because he has the right to be a little upset. “I get back to work and find out not only from security but also from my boss that my little sister was there today causing a scene and that he had to personally escort you off the property.”
“Okay, he didn’t personally escort me off. I left willingly…after he said he’d escort me out.”
“Cecilia…” he grumbles.
“I’m sorry,” I cry out. “What do you want from me? I’m having some kind of whacky emotional response from you showing up out of the blue all these years later, and you’re unrecognizable and have all this money now… it’s concerning, Tobias. I was worried about you and just wanted to check on things.”
“I came to you to show how good I’m doing, and you still don’t trust me?” He says it like it hurts him, and that guilty feeling claws itself up my throat.
“How can I?” I fire back. “Your boss never heard of me. What’s that all about?”
“He’s my boss, Cecilia. You’re my sister. You’re a part of two very different lives I want to keep separate. He doesn’t need to know about you.”
“Why? Because he’s not a good person? I want to know exactly what it is that you do.”
He sighs. “I already went over this with you.”
My heart thumps hard as I still struggle to believe him. “Answer me this, Tobias, and don’t lie to me,” I tell him, and he nods, waiting for my question. “Are you in the mafia?” I ask after a moment. There’s a beat of silence before he chuckles, and I feel my face heat. I pick my book up off my bed and chuck it at him for laughing at me. “Don’t laugh. I’m being completely serious.”
“I’m sorry.” He continues to laugh. “I just can’t believe you’d ever think I could be in the mafia.”
“It’s a serious question. How else do you explain where you’re at in life?” The accusation comes out harsher than I intended, and Tobias clicks his tongue, his eyes dropping to the floor.
“You know, I thought you’d be proud of me.” His voice is painful, and it opens a wound in my chest.
“I am,” I promise. “I truly am. I’m just so worried about you.”
“You shouldn’t be. I’m doing the best I ever have, and I have James to thank for it.”
“Why?” I grimace. “Because he gave you a job?”
“Because he took a chance on me. Then, he eventually put all his trust in me. Do you not get that, Cecilia? A man as powerful as him is delegating his life’s work to me, giving me a share of the responsibilities. I don’t know what that means to you, but it means a hell of a lot to me.”
“I understand that. It’s just that…when you say how powerful he is, that scares me. I haven’t read the greatest things about him.”
“Don’t believe everything you read. You should know better than anyone that most things are a work of fiction.”
“You’re right,” I relent. “I’m sorry.”
“Just don’t go there again. It’s not the place for you,” he says warily, worrying me even more.
“So I keep hearing,” I mutter.
“Come on,” he says, gesturing to the door. “Let’s get some dinner.”
I grab my belongings and flip my pillows around as I look for my phone. “Hey, can I borrow your phone to call mine? I can’t find it.”
Tobias handed me his phone before heading to the bathroom before we left, and I opened it, calling my phone, which began ringing halfway under the headboard. I snatch it and shove it into my purse before looking at Tobias’s phone.
I stare at it for an unsettling amount of time before letting my anxiety get the best of me, and I connect his location to my phone. I click out of it just as the bathroom door opens, and Tobias barrels out, making me jump.
“You find it?” he asks casually.
“Yep,” I answer, quickly handing his phone back to him.
“Cool, let’s go.”
I follow him out of the room and check my phone, seeing his location right next to mine.
Our dinner runs long because, like the annoying sister role that I play perfectly, I make Tobias explain to me exactly what his job duties are, and by the time he’s finished, I’m bored out of my mind.
It all sounded so business savvy and domestic, things I would have never described my brother to be. Having him back in my life reminded me how lonely I’d been lately. Lance was great, but if I was being honest with myself, it wasn’t enough for me. I wanted a family, and I had hardly any left besides Tobias and our dad, who was also somewhat estranged with the same problems Tobias had. I was a girl who needed her big brother, damn it.
I didn’t want Tobias to go anywhere again, so I needed to ensure he was okay. Which meant I needed to do more snooping. I wanted to be one thousand percent sure that he wasn’t doing anything shady.
When I walk back into my hotel after dinner and say goodbye to Tobias, I plummet into bed, feeling worn out from today’s unusual activities.
My phone rings in my purse, and I groan, flopping onto my back. Reaching into my bag tossed on the bed, I pull it out and answer it as soon as I see the capital L flashing on the screen.
“Hey, Lancelot.”
“Am I crazy, or are you not home at this hour?” I laugh at his puzzled tone and roll to my stomach in bed.
“I am, in fact, at a swanky hotel in the city, laying on a very fluffy bed.”
He’s silent for a moment on the other end before speaking again. “You’re in New York City?”
“Yup.”
“Why?”
“I came to check out where my brother works.”
I hear a muffled sigh and my brows furrow. “He’s got you acting all chaotic again already,” he points out.
I didn’t understand his sudden disappointment, and it brought on a wave of anxiety over me. “I’m not acting chaotic. I just reconnected with him and wanted to see where he works.” Honestly, it is more chaotic than that, but it was my doing, not Tobias’s. I was clearly the one with trust issues here.
“I don’t want you to get heartbroken when he hurts you again.”
“That’s a little pessimistic, don’t you think?”
He sighs again. “You’re right. I’m being unfair. I hate that you’re in a hotel all by yourself. I wish you’d told me. I could have kept you company.”
More anxiety rushes through me, and I chuckle, playing it off. “I’m fine. Being alone in a fancy hotel is my kind of relaxation. It’s just me and my book for the night.”
“What book are you reading now?”
I glance at it on my nightstand. “The Earl's mistress. It’s very tragic and forbidden.”
“Sounds like it,” he chuckles.
I lay back in bed, feeling slightly more relaxed now. “How about you?”
“I have about three chapters left of Space Destruction.”
I scrunch my face. “What’s that about? Sounds bad.”
“It…is. It’s a violent take on what could happen if aliens did come to earth and want to basically eradicate us after studying us for hundreds of years.”
“Jeez,” I laugh. “I don’t know how you read that stuff. I’d be freaking out having that kind of scenery play out in my head while reading.”
“You’re not as strong-willed as I am,” he jokes, making me laugh again.
I talked to Lance for another hour before hanging up for the night. I lay back in bed, feeling too tired to read now. I took my phone out and pulled up Tobias’s location, and I paused, taken aback when I saw he was at Labyrinth headquarters. I glanced at the clock, seeing it was past ten at night.
What the heck was he doing there so late?
I set my phone on the nightstand and pulled the blankets up over me, getting comfy and planning to attempt sleep when I knew I was going to do anything but. All I could think about was what Tobias could be doing there this late at night and if he was with James. Maybe this is when they have their little secret mob meetings. Tobias said he wasn’t in the mafia. Honestly, I’m not even sure how accurate the mafia is. Is that still really a thing? I felt like I was too sheltered to know, but what I did know was that I had really bad feelings about all of this.