Alpha's Moon

Chapter 21

Light filtered through the open door and across the plush seats of the private plane as the stewardess smiled at them, "Have a lovely day."

Theo grabbed his briefcase and stepped onto the stairs ahead of Alex, "Thank you Charlese."

"Thank you," Alex told the smiling woman, before following Theo down to the runway. A cold breeze blew against her cap and she was grateful for the pale blue cashmere coat that Gabriel had sent to her room to wear for the journey. Not that the thoughtful gesture could make up for the irritation of having been dragged to New York with no explanation. "A few words would have sufficed..."

Theo looked back, his brows rising under his tussled blonde curls. "Did you say something?"

"No." Alex tried to shake her annoyance. "I'm just wondering if Mr Moncrief will ever get off the phone."

A black mercedes van pulled up at that moment and a driver rushed out to take Theo's briefcase. "Welcome, Vice President," the man said, in greeting. Theo gave him a nod, then looked back to the plane from which Gabriel had yet to alight. "Let's get in the car first, shall we?"

The van door slid open, revealing a spacious interior, several panels with buttons and four leather seats facing each other with three neatly bottled drinks in the cup holders beside them. Two of the bottles contained a green liquid; Alex smelled spinach, celery, blue berries, green apple, ginger and turmeric. The third bottle was beside the seat that must have been meant for her as it had fresh pineapple juice. Who, she wondered, had noticed she liked drinking pineapple juice in the mornings?

"So, you must have questions," Theo grinned, settling down across from her.

"A few," Alex agreed, straightening out her coat beneath her. "For starters, what am I doing here?"

"Seriously? I knew he wouldn't have explained in detail, but not even the basics...the man is truly a master at leaving people in the dark. Do forgive him, Ms Turner. You see Gabriel has everything sorted in his head, so it doesn't occur to him that other people need to know what's going on," Theo lamented as he opened his drink and took a sip.

Alex crossed her arms over her chest, "Was that meant to be an answer to my question?"

"Hah!" Theo laughed at her sarcastic tone, "You're right of course, that was hardly an answer, but I'm afraid I don't know why he brought you. We are here for a meeting about a piece of technology we are developing at Lupus Corp. I really can't see how that has anything to do with you."

Her curiosity piqued, Alex reached for her pineapple juice. "What technology?"

"Ah, well that's a secret, at least for another week or so," Theo winked. "But let's just say that it will be capable of preventing 80% of deaths caused by heart-attacks."

That sounded impressive. It also sounded like very sensitive information, so Alex didn't press. She looked out the window to where the stewardess still stood waiting by the plane door.

Waiting. Alex felt like she seemed to be forever waiting to figure out what made Gabriel Moncrief tick. All she had been able to discover since arriving in America was that the source of his block was not meditation.

"You know Gabriel well," Alex began, wondering if she could pry some information from his cousin. "Is he always this busy?"

Theo's knowing eyes considered her for a moment, once again giving Alex the impression that there was a completely different man behind the ever-happy visage.

"Gabriel's a routine kind of guy. He wakes up at 5:30, goes for a run, showers at 6:30, has a double espresso, then leaves the hotel at 7:00 for Lupus Corp. Meetings might take him out of the city, but his lunch-" Theo held up his own bottle of green juice, "Rarely changes. Then unless there are scheduled dinner meetings or events to attend, he will work late, check on hotel business when he gets back to the penthouse and work through the night."

Alex frowned, "But he was at the gym yesterday at lunch."

"Indeed," Theo agreed, his eyes twinkling again. "He's been doing all sorts of uncharacteristic things since he met you."

Alex made no comment, not giving Theo's implication any credit. Her mind went back to the gym, to the look on Gabriel's face when they had been lying on the floor...she pushed the image away. Men were attracted to multiple women at once. And what she had felt in return, even if it was attraction, meant nothing. The man had a fiancée!

"I've given you quite a bit of info, so it's my turn now," Theo propped his elbows on his knees, his smile friendly as lowered his voice. "Who are you really?"

Alex willed her expression not to change at the unexpected question. "What do you mean?"

Theo continued to smile, but his eyes were deadly serious. "You know, I thought it was strange, how quickly you got used to the hotel, the room, the staff. After living in a shed in the woodlands of Hong Kong, a bit of an adjustment issue would have been the expected...but you fell into hotel life as if you'd been staying in five star establishments your whole life." He cocked his head as if to observe her from a different angle, "Say that was just your versatile personality. But today? You didn't show surprise or hesitation, not once. Not at the lack of security checks at the private airport, not at the hidden seatbelts inside the couch chairs onboard, not at the loudness of the engines or the difference in motion from a regular plane. No sign of nerves or surprise; I saw you scrunch your nose once, but I'm pretty sure that was about an unpleasant smell that only you caught."

Was he watching her this entire time? Having travelled in her parents plane throughout her childhood, she hadn't thought to act surprised by the experience. Now, Alex felt like a fool for having been so complacent. Theo, for all his boyish looks and cute smile, was one the greatest business minds of their times. Of course he was going to be observant. And if he had noticed all of that, would Gabriel, his boss, not have seen it too?

"Did you want me to be in awe or afraid?" Alex asked, injecting as much disinterest in her voice as she could muster. "If you pick one, I'll attempt to imitate a feeling to satisfy you."

Her derision had no effect on Theo, who just leaned a little closer and lifted his hand, "Can I touch you, Alex?"

"Theo!" The low growl from the door froze them both.

Theo sat back immediately, while Alex took in the man who was now entering the car.

Windswept hair, dark sunglasses, expensive watch peaking out from beneath the cuff of his grey cashmere coat; Gabriel Moncrief looked like he belonged on the cover of GQ. Alex watched him unbutton his coat as he settled into the seat beside his cousin, revealing a white shirt, navy tie and a soft-blue cardigan she knew would match his eyes perfectly.

"We can go, Joffrey," he said, before pushing the button that rolled up a screen between them and the driver. Then he turned to her, "Did you have a pleasant flight?"

"It was fine," Alex said. "Though it might have been more pleasant if I knew why I was flying to begin with."

"Ah, yes. Of course, you're right," Gabriel agreed. "I should have explained. It's just been a busy morning -" his phone rang before he could finish his sentence, making him frown. "Apologies, I need to take this..."

Alex leaned back, watching both men talking on their phones for a moment, before gazing out the window. She couldn't remember if this was the airport she used to fly into when coming to New York; there were probably a few private runways around the city. Taking another sip of pineapple juice, she thought of the last time she had come here.

She had a mother, a father and a brother back then. The world had felt warm then, while now...

A snowflake fluttered past the window as the car sped down the highway towards the skyscrapers in the distance.