Chapter 3
Chapter Three
J ames
The flashes of cameras blind my vision, and I can physically feel my face harden like ice, unable to smile or present any warmth. Crystals are like ice. Hard and Transparent yet radiant. Cold. I found comfort in being like the thing I appreciated most in the world, but I knew others didn’t. It was my one flaw, but it was why I now liked having Tobias at these kinds of things with me. He may look like a Brute, but he knows how to smile when the circumstances call for it, and he has what I’m sure others would assume is a charismatic, approachable smile.
We were opening another storefront in Buffalo, New York. We have storefronts across the country, with New York City being the most successful, so it only made sense we put one in the second most populated city in New York. We were constantly growing by the second, not just our storefront but our business behind closed doors as well.
We may or may not have a significant hand in crystal trading in the illegal market. The more I make it out here, the bigger I make it in there.
I pause for a moment longer for pictures of our grand opening before nodding to Tobias, who has already agreed to take over supervising the rest of the event. This was precisely the kind of thing I hired him to do. I was CEO, and I didn’t have time, nor did I have the desire to stand around a store all day while men tried to flash their money around, and their wives flashed even more around if it meant I’d talk to them. It was no secret I was rumored to be the king of the rich. It was a play off my name and the fact that I was one of the wealthiest men in the country, and it’s all built on the backs of crystals. What could be richer than that?
I leave the event and head to Labyrinth headquarters, ignoring reporters trying to gain my attention as I get into my car. I had enough social interaction throughout the morning at the opening and felt utterly drained for the day.
When I’m there, I close myself in my office, ripping my tie off my neck again. I don’t know why I bother wearing the god-forsaken things in the first place. I could do hardly any work in them, choking me constantly.
I go to the bar to the side of my desk, pour myself a glass of whiskey, and toss it all back, letting the burn calm the anxiety that felt like pins and needles dotting over my skin. I had a touch of social anxiety, I’ll admit. I preferred to be locked away like a king in his castle, overlooking everything and delegating from the inside, but life doesn’t always let me get what I want. Appearances must sometimes be made, and it’s a sacrifice that constantly exhausts me.
I turn my computer on and open the internet browser, then open the map platform and put London, England, into the desired location to travel. When all the routes and transportation options appear, I stare at them all like I’ve done a thousand times before, memorizing each and every course.
Calmness washed over me as I clicked across the map, my eyes tracking each curvature toward my home country—the one I was ripped from.
A buzzing noise rips me from my task, and I sigh, that irritated feeling filling my chest again like a never-ending pressure.
“What is it?” I ask, answering the intercom.
My secretary's voice filters through. “Sir, there’s a problem down at security.”
“Then why isn’t security handling it?”
“It’s a visitor for Tobias Bowen. She says she’s his sister and demands to see him. She says it’s an emergency. Her I.D. checks out, sir, but she won’t leave even after we’ve told her he’s not here.”
Tobias has a sister? My curiosity is momentarily piqued, and it distracts me from the anxiety swimming in my veins.
“I’ll be right down,” I say.
I rip off the jacket of my suit, feeling hot now. This day was nonstop, it seemed, and I was getting hot in my frustration. Still, I couldn’t help but feel a new determination. I welcomed it like a balm over my usual responsibilities. I was curious about this woman who claimed to be Tobias’s sister, and I was even more curious why Tobias had never mentioned her. I’ve spent nearly every day with him for the last five years. I helped build him up and saw him through all of his struggles and withdrawals from a wrong time in his life. We’ve shared many late nights that have resulted in many conversations. I thought he was alone, much like I was. No parents or siblings. It was why I felt drawn to him more than others, but I was apparently mistaken.
I take the elevator down to the lobby, and as soon as I step off, I immediately hear the noise of a woman’s raised voice. I became irritated because this was a place of business. There was no reason for her to be shouting so immaturely. It bugged me when people acted so unreservedly.
I walked closer to them, my eyes tracking her animated hand movements. My security kept their hands placed at her chest level, never actually touching but keeping her at a safe distance from entering further into the building. I walked around the guards, and for a moment, when I was ready to interrupt her rambling, I was struck speechless.
Her hair was like a lioness of dark black curls, thick on her head and reaching nearly down to her hips. It was shining like black velvet, but it wasn’t just that. It was her eyes that were blue aquamarines, vast and crazy, staring down the men in front of her. Their color was just as startling as the depth of emotion I could plainly see in them. It was unsettling.
I took in her clothes, which were a bit of a headscratcher. Where she looked ethereal with her silky curls and angelic eyes over her pale luminous skin, her clothes were more…that of what a toddler would wear.
Her jeans were baggy and distressed. She was wearing a dark, ugly green short cardigan. Underneath it was a dark red satin tank top. Her white chunky sneakers were worn and not as white as I’m sure they once were, but they were nothing to write home about.
“Does he have an office? I would assume someone of his caliber would have one. I could wait for him in there,” I hear her suggest. I snap out of whatever trance I am in and finally step forward, my gaze zeroing in on her.
“Is there a problem?”
Her gaze snaps to mine, and one of her eyebrows lifts as if unimpressed by my presence. “Yes, there is, actually. I’m here to see my brother.”
“Tobias Bowen, correct?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you were told your brother isn’t here.”
“Yes, well, I thought if he had an office or if there was a waiting room or something, I could just wait for him to return.”
I scoff in annoyance. “This isn’t a doctor’s office. We don’t have waiting rooms.”
She scowled at my remarks, her gaze burning through me. “So, you’re saying I can’t wait for my brother? What kind of Fort Knox place is this?”
“It’s a place of work, not personal family affairs. I suggest you leave a message for your brother and be on your way.” She looked out of place here, and something told me she knew little about her brother's work life, especially if this was the first time I had ever heard about her or seen her here.
“Who are you? Head of security or something? Are you going to throw me out if I don’t leave?” She challenges.
I chuckle because I find her defiance slightly endearing, but it doesn’t change the fact that she’s way in over her head, and I would do just as she says and throw her out on her ass. Hell, I’d make her stand in the cold rain and wait for her brother for all I cared.
“I’m not head of security, babe, but I will throw you out should you keep defying me,” I respond. I take pleasure in how she blinks for a moment, faltering at my bluntness, but she stands a little straighter again, that scowl fixing her mouth once more before one of my security guards finally speaks.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Kingston. We’ll escort her from the building.”
Her eyes widen now, snapping from him to me. “You’re James Kingston?” she sputters. “You don’t look…you’re not what I expected.” She honestly looked displeased, and I couldn’t remember the last time a woman was displeased at the sight of me. The idea felt ridiculous to me only because it felt foreign. It made her more irritating.
“Yes, I’m sure. Now, please leave the premises, or I’ll have you escorted out. This isn’t the place for your hysterics.”
She doesn’t move, and one of the guards grabs her forearm. She struggles against him but never takes her gaze off me. “Wait, so you’re the one that promoted my brother to be your chief of operations?”
Even more frustration bubbles inside me because I didn’t discuss private business matters so openly, especially in the lobby. “Leave us,” I snap to the guards, who promptly let go of her and both stalk away to their posts. I step towards her, looking down at her wild blue eyes that are peering straight back at me with so much defiance that I could actually admire it if I weren’t so annoyed. “I’m going to offer a bit of nicety, just this once, since your brother does happen to be a close confidant of mine. This is my place of business. You don’t walk in here with the manners of a bloody zoo animal and think you can call the shots. It gets you nowhere and, possibly, may even get you hurt. I don’t know who you are or what your brother has told you, but he does work for me, and that’s all you need to know on the matter. Now leave before I make you myself, and I’m not as gentle as my security.”
I don’t miss how her breaths are coming in faster now, but I can’t decipher if it’s out of fear or anger, and the puzzle she presents has me slightly intrigued.
“What do you mean I may even get hurt?” she asks, surprising me with her question and blatant disregard for everything I’ve said. “What exactly goes on here? I want to know what my brother does for you.”
I bite my lip hard enough to draw blood in an attempt to keep my annoyance, which was quickly turning to anger, in control. “What did you say your name was?” I ask her curiously.
“I didn’t,” she responds.
“Indulge me, babe.”
“Will you stop calling me that sickening term of endearment if I do?”
“Yes, although you’re mistaken if you think it’s a term of endearment.”
“Then what is it?”
I step closer, crowding her so she’s forced to stumble back towards the exit, where I wish she’d turn around and leave. “It’s my term for spoiled little girls that try and cross me. It’s an insult, babe. You’ll never find endearment from me.”
She swallows, and I hear that breathy noise quickly escaping her chest once more, and I finally get my answer to my earlier thought. It’s anger, not fear. For some reason, I’m happy that’s what it is.
“So, what is it?” I ask again.
“What?”
“Your name,” I remind her.
“Cecilia,” she says, unsure if she wanted to tell me.
Cecilia. I don’t think I’d ever met a woman by that name before, and I found that fact oddly nice.
I tilt my head, letting my gaze roam her face before locking onto hers again. “Leave, Cecilia.”