Friday night
An expensive bottle of whisky hit the off-white wall of Gustav’s brownstone home. Aleck covered his face with the back of his hand to avoid shrapnel of the bottle from sticking to his face. His boss was not happy for the weekend meeting.
Each Friday, his men----in charge of different states gather at his elaborate home to report to him personally the status of their business. Every fifteen of them were present except for one. Detroit is missing. Along with ten million worth of goods.
“Find the bastard. Leave no stone unturned, Aleck. I need him alive.”
“Consider it done, sir.”
**M**eredith’s POV:
Conrad Knight. Ah.
Where do I begin?
He has been getting to me on major levels. I failed at hiding my growing feelings for him and I am starting to feel that he’s taking a hint. It is such an amateur move, and I know better than this. Gut cringing inwardly with a tight contraction and shame washes over me at such a faux pas.
It’s Friday night and I decide to visit Gustav. Because I need to be put on track again. I see Aleck coming out of the large dining room that’s used for his meetings. Cussing myself for forgetting that he’s occupied during Fridays and a lot of men are present in the house.
“What are you doing here?” Aleck throws me an icy glare that’s usual for his normal asshole self, but it hits me like a slap because of how he has been the last few weeks. He’s instantly pissed at me, and my mood dies a horrible death.
“Not for you, that’s for sure. The last time I checked, you and I are both employees here.” I didn’t need a reminder of today when I’m sensitive from an excessive night and should have spent the day on the couch instead.
“Ahh. The sexy Miss Gomez. Nice to see you.” One of the familiars leers at me, and I throw him the same smile I gave Aleck earlier to cover it with an ‘I’m in such a smiley and overly friendly mood’ but Aleck butts in. Fury all over his face, and I honestly cannot tell if it’s real or not. Knowing him, most likely genuine.
“Wait at the study. He will be with you shortly.” He snaps at me.
“Okay, okay.” I stumble over my words, but realized that somehow, he was herding me away from a co-worker. I’m reeling, which is screwing up my ability to compose myself for a quick recovery. “Thank you.”
“See you!” The same man said to me as I felt his eyes give me a quick assessment. “Damn, that’s Gustav's latest fuck? No wonder he kept her all this time! That’s some fine meat there!”
I heard Aleck put the man in his place in a menacing way before I turned in a corner to the study. “If you have nothing better to say, zip your mouth.”
He’s not bad at all. I mused.
I catch sight of Victoria in my line of vision, walking behind the men who are all piling into the door as she throws me a concerned look then rushes to me.
“You’re here. You know it’s Friday, Meredith. Full house. Haven’t you learned anything from your stay here? There’s a reason why you are not allowed to roam the brownstone that day.” She throws me a warm smile, a gentle hint that she sees I need comfort. Probably spotting the mist of tears in my eyes, I keep my back to the men.
I should have stayed home. I’m not mentally equipped today, and now I will feel like shit.
“Sometimes I am stupid, thanks.” I bite sarcastically, a tinge of upset in my tightening tone. “Aleck is wearing his piss suit.”
“Ignore him. This is how he is sometimes. He has to keep up appearances.” Victoria pats me on the shoulder as I enter the study, seemingly in the know, and she fills the large urn we have in there for coffee. I can feel her eyes darting from me to what she’s doing, but she stays quiet. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine.” I smile through my frown and try to wipe it off my face, telling myself I’m being overly sensitive.
Victoria nudges me a moment later, breaking the odd little daydream I was having as I turned over the Conrad Knight situation in my head, and I realize she has all the trays ready. At the back of my head, I wished that I was not having this conversation with her. It could have been easier if I talk about this with Wyn or Gustav because we are in it together since day one.
Though I hate to admit it, they have become some sort of my comfort place now because I can’t go back to my old life and to the old people I had before it all.
“Wanna share?” Victoria gives me another gentle smile, a reassuring moment that she has my back, and I snap myself out of it and lift that stubborn chin, reigniting that inner fire I possess. I almost let it slide last night but this morning I am back on the offensive and overly aware of how I am supposed to play. Right now, I’m being weak and stupid, and well, at least it opened my eyes to the ability to revert to kind and reminded me why exactly I should pull back and be wary of getting too deep too fast with my target.
I need to be tougher than this. I used to be tougher than this. I let myself second guess everything but not anymore. Don’t trust the man who can make you feel worthless so easily. “Thank you, but I think I got this.”
The answer and the motivation that I need was staring at me right in the face. I don’t even know why I came here to seek validation from Gustav as if he had any of it. One, he’s not a real friend and two, he’s not my father whom I can give my full confidence. He might just laugh at me for assuming that he had the love to even relate to what I am going through. I left before his men could inform the man of my presence.