Chapter 133 - Vivian
Vivian felt cornered. She understood why they were doing it, but it didn’t mean she had to like it. And like it, she did not.
“What sort of information?” her father asked as he circled the island to return to his seat by her side.
“…anything… everything…” she shrugged, heart racing. If Paul found out she was telling them about this… Vivian forced those thoughts to the back of her mind. Now wasn’t the time to think about that.
For a while Samuel was quiet, until he suddenly asked, “Have you ever heard of someone who goes by the name Curator?”
Confused, Vivian furrowed her brow as she gave his question some thought. It had come out of nowhere, and she wasn’t sure what it had to do with… anything, really, so she was more than happy for the switch in topic. “No. Nothing comes to mind, anyway. Why? Who’s Curator?”
“He sent some people to retrieve the phone,” Samuel explained, looking grim, “and to kidnap Abigail for having it.”
“Wait. What? Did they… Is Abby…?” It wasn’t that Abby didn’t deserve to be kidnapped, but the thought of being the reason behind it made Vivian feel sick to her stomach.
“She’s fine, as are her parents,” he assured her, as if sensing she’d been about to spiral into panic. “I’ve relocated them somewhere safe, for now, but we don’t have a lot of information to go on.”
Relief flooded Vivian, but it was quickly replaced with worry. So Paul had this Curator person working for him, too? “So, they’re okay?”
“Yeah, Sebastian and Gabriel took care of the idiots who tried to take her,” Laurent explained.
“Laurent!” His father snapped, drawing Vivian’s attention.
What does he mean, they ‘took care’ of the idiots? Took care… how? “What…?”
“You might as well tell her,” Laurent told their father. “It’s not like you can keep it from her forever, not if you want her to live with us.”
“What… what are you talking about?” She asked, feeling lost. She’d known there was more to them than met the eye, but had always attributed it to the fact they were wealthy. Didn’t wealthy people keep secrets so they wouldn’t be taken advantage of, or have their businesses shut down or… something? She was a newcomer to the family; it made sense they would protect their assets, in case she turned out to be greedy.
Samuel let out a heavy sigh as he ran a hand over his face. “You’re right,” he told Laurent, sounding almost… defeated. She’d never heard him sound that way before, and it made her worry all the more.
Looking from her father to her brother, then back to her father, Vivian tried not to let her thoughts run wild, as she braced herself for whatever she was about to learn.
“When Annie… when your mother went missing… The police were… They didn’t do much,” Samuel began, hesitant at first, as he explained the ineptitude of the investigation, and his frustration at their lack of progress.
He explained how, at the time, he believed that to catch a criminal he would need to become one. He then began to explore the less than savoury side of the business world.
Samuel didn’t hold back, as he told Vivian about what he’d had to do to foster connections, then to maintain them. It wasn’t pretty. None of it was pretty.
Vivian listened without saying a word. Her heart, which had been racing uncomfortably fast, slowed, and she no longer felt like breathing was a struggle.
Her father — her biological father — was a criminal; and not just any criminal, but was the head of one of the organizations that ran the criminal underworld in the city.
And yet… learning about this didn’t bother her at all. Maybe it was because she was still emotionally drained from the previous day, or that Samuel had always treated her so well. He had never raised his voice or hand towards her, and always made sure she was safe and protected. The same couldn’t be said for Paul, who’d played the role of father while doing the exact opposite.
Paul, who was a cop, sworn to uphold the law.
It felt almost ironic, that the career criminal was the good guy; at least that was the conclusion Vivian reached.
When he finally finished explaining the whys and hows of his descent into the life of a crime lord, he said, “So… when Laurent said your brothers went over to have a chat with the Demoines… He meant I sent them as a reminder of who they work for, and why they needed to keep their daughter on a shorter leash.”
“He also made sure Abby got the message not to mess with you again. As for Sebastian and Gabriel taking care of the idiots… to put it simply? They won’t be going after anyone ever again.” Laurent added, earning himself a scathing look from their father. “What? She deserves to know.”
Vivian stared at her father, eyes wide. He’d sent her two older brothers… wait, her brothers were part of this, too? She forced that train of thought away to focus on how her father had threatened Abby and her family. “Why?”
“Why… what, Vivian?” Samuel asked, his attention back on her, now that Laurent hadn’t said anything else.
“Why did you… threaten them? I thought… you agreed to let me handle things first.”
Samuel stared at her for a moment, as if she’d somehow surprised him. “Is… that the part that bothers you? That I took things into my own hands?”
Vivian wasn’t about to say Abby didn’t deserve being threatened — not at all — and a part of her was secretly pleased that it’d been done. She just wasn’t the type of person to do anything like that; having someone else take over and do it without telling her absolved Vivian of the guilt she would have otherwise felt. As for how she felt about the fact her older two brothers didn’t seem to have a problem ‘taking care’ of people? She couldn’t say if this bothered her or not.
In truth, Vivian wasn’t sure how to feel about any of this but, what she did know, was that Samuel was still the same person he’d been since they’d first met. If he could accept her for the things in her past, then who was she to deny him the same thing? The same could be said for her brothers, even Laurent. They’d always treated her well, respecting her boundaries, all while making sure they were available if she needed them. “I think so,” she finally nodded. “You promised you wouldn’t do anything before I came to you.”
“To be fair,” Laurent interjected, “you weren’t really in a good state of mind that day. And I’m glad he did what he did. Hell, I bet Sebastian and Gabriel would have done it anyway. Anyone stupid enough to mess with our family deserves whatever happens to them.”
“What about you?” She asked her brother. “Do you do … stuff, too?
He shrugged his shoulders. “Dad doesn’t let us partake in the family business until after we graduate, and even then it’s a long process of finding out where you’d fit best. None of that interests me. I’m going to get a degree, then I’ll find a job that isn’t part of the ‘business’.”
“I see…”
Samuel let out a sigh, shaking his head. “Vivian… all of this… I don’t want…” He sighed a second time. “I know it feels like a lot to take in, and you’re probably worried—“
“I’m not,” she interrupted him, causing both brother and father to give her quizzical looks. Vivian looked from one to the other before shrugging. “I get that… it’s… that you’re considered ‘not good people’,” she hooked her fingers into air quotes as she spoke, “but… good and bad… they’re relative, aren’t they? You’ve never done anything to me; just the opposite, really. Compared to…” Vivian hesitated for a second before pushing herself to finish. “Compared to some people… you’re practically saints.”