Page 10 of Vows of Silence

“I—” how could I answer when his eyes were sparkling like that? As though there was so much left unsaid in his one simple question. “I don’t like his presence.” I finally settled on saying.

“Understandable. The man is very… peculiar. How did you get along with him, Vittorio?”

“I’m sorry?” My dad stammered.

“During your business meeting,” Adrien frowned, lowering one of his arms to the table and drumming his fingers against the cloth as he waited for an answer.

“Daddy?” I whispered, though no one appeared to have heard me.

What possible reason could my father have for entering into business with the mafia, for fuck's sake? The man sold houses for a living, not fucking guns!

“Well… I, err… I mainly worked with Rafael, but Silas was pleasant enough, I suppose, considering he doesn’t speak.”

“And you got the business all wrapped up nicely?” Adrien persisted.

“In a lovely bow,” my father bit back with a tic in his cheek—almost as if he was holding himself back.

“I heard there were some issues at the dock.”

“Taken care of,” my father waved his concerns away, his face paling considerably.

The room was silent, the tension so thick it could be cut with a knife. The only sound to be heard was Adrien’s occasional drumming of his fingers as he continued to stare at my father.

And then he nodded. “Good.” And life seemed to be breathed back into the room.

Luca:Say nothing else, Isabelle. I have this under control.

Isabelle:There’s nothing to bring under control, Luca. You’re being paranoid because you don’t like Adrien.

Luca:And you’re relaxing because you don’t know him.

Isabelle:And you do?

He didn’t answer. As expected.

Everyone began eating again, and conversation resumed much more pleasantly. My mum told Adrien all about the arrangements she had made for the engagement party, he asked Frank’s permission to measure my finger for the ring (although why had he looked so mockingly at my bodyguard when he said it?) and he had even coaxed my brother into talking about his love life.

Everything seemed so normal. So calm.

And yet my skin was buzzing with warning.

A warning I didn’t understand, but I was damn sure going to get to the bottom of it.

Isabelle:What do you have under control? How are you involved here?

Again with the typing bubble appearing and disappearing. Maybe I had never noticed it before, but I could swear Luca had never been this careful with his words before.

Luca:It’s obvious you’re uncomfortable, little ember. And I’m not involved. I just know Adrien’s guards.

I smothered a gasp, though I wasn’t entirely surprised. Luca was clearly involved in something I had no idea of. He had cameras covering every inch of this house, had somehow got my number, and had even managed to sneak roses into my bedroom before.

Knowing Adrien’s guards took me off guard for the briefest flash of a moment, but it wasn’t completely unrealistic.

It did, however, blow the last remaining shutters off my innocence. Clearly I was involved in something bigger here. Something monumental. And I hated not knowing what it was.

A rush of activity from the corner caught my attention just as I was beginning to reply. A suited man came over and whispered in Adrien’s ear. His lips thinned as he listened, and his eyes flashed lightning.

“I’m very sorry,” he said once he’d waved his employee away. “It seems something has come up and I’m needed elsewhere.”