Chapter 134
It was a while later, when Vivian was in the shower, that things began to sink in; things that she’d just accepted without question now made sense.
She’d never understood the need for a bodyguard — excluding that one time she’d been shot at — but now she knew her father was a dangerous man, one with enemies that would go after his family. Of course the first thing he did after learning about his daughter was hire someone to keep her safe. And of course that’s why she’d been shot at; it’d had nothing to do with her past at all.
It also explained why Detective Mersey had brought her in for questioning. The woman had been digging for something on her brother, to pin a charge or something on him using the newest member of the family — the one who might not yet feel loyal, who wouldn’t know if something was off. She really didn’t do her research on me, Vivian thought to herself as she rinsed off and stepped out of the shower. Otherwise she’d have known better. To think… all this time I thought it was all about me, but it wasn’t about me at all. When did I get so self-absorbed?
What stuck with Vivian the most was how nonchalant her father and Laurent had been about Sebastian and Gabriel having killed the would-be kidnappers. It was never explicitly said, of course, but the implication was without question.
Drawing from that, Vivian would bet money on Samuel having blood on his own hands. There was no way he’d gotten to his current position without getting his hands dirty; he’d said as much himself. Maybe Paul had done Vivian a favour, desensitizing her to violence from a young age, because what else could explain why, after learning all of this, she found herself unbothered.
Vivian had never raised a hand against another person before — except in self defense against Paul, which had never ended well — and saw no future where that changed. It didn’t mean she thought everyone else should be the same. Violence was as much a part of life as kindness. So long as the reason for it made sense, then who was she to judge?
It sounded like Samuel had done what he’d had to do, that he was willing to sacrifice his morals to find the woman he loved. How was that not a noble cause? Sure, to get to where he was now, he’d had to do some awful things, probably to awful people… but… did that make him a bad person? What about her two brothers who’d followed in his footsteps? Were they terrible people for supporting their father?
She’d also been told that all this was an open secret within certain parts of the extended family, as a number of them were actually on the payroll. It was still best to avoid bringing up the topic, no matter who you were talking to. That wouldn’t be a problem for Vivian, since she rarely talked openly with anyone, no matter the subject; she was also well versed in keeping secrets.
I wonder if Miriam and Theo would still want to be friends if they knew about this…
That was something to worry about another day, she reminded herself. Today her focus was on getting herself together. Tomorrow was Thanksgiving, and Vivian was adamant she not be the reason they miss it. As nervous as she was about meeting the extended family, the last thing she wanted was for them to hear about her breakdown. If Samuel suddenly backed out at the last minute people would talk, ask questions, and probably demand answers; it was just easier to go through with it.
Vivian was also curious about her relatives. Both the Lamont and Devreaux sides of the family came together — something that’d started after her mother disappeared, as a way for them to find support in one another — so it was anything but a small gathering.
Samuel had assured her that, if at any time it became too much to deal with, he had no issue leaving early. Either he, or one of her brothers, would take her home at any time, for any reason. It gave her an easy out if the need arose, for which she was thankful.
To pass the time, Vivian looked through her clothes in hopes of finding something appropriate to wear. The holiday dress code was casual, but Samuel had told her to wear whatever she wanted; some people showed up in a tee and sweatpants, others in a three piece suit, so no matter what she chose no one would look twice.
A knock at the door made her put down the book she’d been reading after settling on tomorrow’s outfit. Samuel entered once she’d called out permission. “I have something I want to discuss with you,” he began, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
Moving over to sit next to him, Vivian nodded. “Okay. What’s up?”
“Now that you… know about everything, I want to know if you’d be comfortable with more people in the house.”
Vivian stared at him, not sure where he was going with this. “I don’t understand. What do you mean, more people in the house? Like… as guests?”
“No, no,” he assured her with a shake of his head. “Before you moved in, this place was fully staffed. Housekeeping, a chef, guards… Well, we still have guards but they’ve kept to the edges of the property so you wouldn’t notice them and ask questions…”
“…you fired your staff before I moved in?” She asked, still confused. This didn’t fit with how she saw her father.
“What? No. They’ve been working at different locations for the time being, waiting until I felt you’d acclimated enough to slowly bring them back in.”
Vivian had always found it odd for him to own such a large place and not have people there for its upkeep. Samuel with a vacuum was a fun thing to imagine, except there was a housekeeper who came by twice a week to do that sort of thing. Did they really need more? “How many are there?”
“Well, there’s the chef, housekeepers, gardeners, security staff… Depending on the day there could be upwards of twenty, or as few as five.”
“That’s not that many,” she replied with a small shrug. “I get you wanted me to feel… comfortable, but you didn’t have to shoo them away for that. I’d have been fine with them around from the start.”
“I’m sure you would’ve been, but I also didn’t want you asking why we had security, or to accidentally hear something you shouldn’t. Everyone who’ll be coming and going are part of the Business, in some way or another; they’ll all be armed, to some extent, and will take action if needed.”
“Oh.” So there would be people walking around the place carrying guns? Vivian thought about it for a minute, and came to the conclusion it didn’t bother her overly much. If they were loyal to Samuel it meant they wouldn’t suddenly turn around and attack; the real question was if she felt comfortable trusting these strangers to be loyal in the first place. “You trust them, right?”
“Yes,” he told her without hesitation. “I trust them with my life, or I wouldn’t let them in our home.”
Nodding slowly, she said, “Okay. Then I’m fine with it.”
“You’re allowed to not be fine with it, Vivian. I don’t mind bringing them back one at a time, so they can earn your trust.”
“No, it’s alright,” she assured him, now shaking her head. “I might be uncomfortable for a while, but if you trust them then that’s all I need. I think.”
“If that changes, you’ll let me know?”
“I will.”
“Great. Now. About you learning some self-defense…”
“….huh?”