The Four Brothers ~ Completed

Capítulo Doze: A Verdade Parte Um

I'm incredibly sorry for how long it's taken me to update. I've been dealing with a lot of family drama and personal mental health sort of stuff. I feel terrible because I have a plan and know where this is going but my life has been so out of control lately I haven't had any motivation or time to write.

Anywho, here's the chapter!

Gemma's POV:

I pursed my lips, hoping I looked deep in thought and not stressing the heck out. Victoria waited for me to mull over the name impatiently, her grip tightening on my upper arms and her gaze became even more intense. I had two options and neither were good.

Option One: Tell her I knew who the guy was, tell the truth about how I knew him, wait for all hell to break loose.

Option Two: Tell her I had no clue who the guy was, wait and see if she or her boss knew the truth, and still wait for all hell to break loose.

I licked my bottom lip, coming up with a shaky plan. I would be lucky if this worked but with all my recent bad luck, I felt like I had some good luck saved up. I'm pretty sure that's not how luck actually works, but that's what I was believing in an effort to keep myself from spiraling into a panic attack.

"The name sounds familiar. Was he associates with my brothers?" I asked cautiously, watching her reaction to my words. She blinked slowly, lips curling up into a relieved smile.

She didn't know the truth about Daniel Garcia and I's rocky relationship. While that didn't mean her boss wouldn't know the truth, it did mean I had a couple extra seconds to wriggle information out of Victoria and think of a new plan and a new backup plan.

God I missed my brothers.

If they didn't get here soon I was going to be so screwed. My bullshitting abilities could only keep me so safe for so long.

"I'm glad to hear that. Your brothers and Mr. Garcia knew of each other, in a way. They never worked together but they're the same kind of men." Victoria said, obviously testing my loyalties to my brothers. She was seeing how I would react to her supposed insult to my brothers and if I was telling the truth.

If I jumped to my brothers defense, it meant I knew what kind of man Daniel Garcia was and that would go against my saying I'd barely even heard of him. But if I didn't jump to my brothers defense, I would be acting just a little too timid to not be suspicious.

"What do you mean? What kind of men are they?" I asked. I figured it was easier to just ask questions, act like a stupid, overly curious kid than give a direct answer.

Victoria sighed, tugging me down the hall slightly behind her. She didn't want to answer, but I dug my heels into the carpet. She stopped for another moment, looking down at me with something close to contempt, before contorting her expression into something far softer and more empathetic.

She wasn't a bad actress, she was just way too obvious.

Ugh. Nothing ruins the mood like an obvious facial expression.

"They're bad men, Gemma. You can't trust them." Victoria explained, pressing a motherly hand to my shoulder. I kept my expression troubled, like I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

I might've been born at night but it wasn't last night. I wasn't stupid enough to think my brothers were some kind of saints. I'd figured that much out in the first three times I'd spoken to them.

"But my brothers have been good to me." I defended them slightly. Victoria had given me the ammo I needed to act just loyal enough to not cause suspicion but also not convince them I was undyingly loyal to my brothers. My best chance at getting out of here was letting them think they could convince me my brothers were evil, let them think they could use me against my brothers. That would buy my brothers enough time to find me.

If they didn't find me in all that time, I'd kill these assholes myself.

And then I'd slap each of my brothers upside the head for their stupidity.

"They're good actors, Gemma, nothing more. They don't care about you, they never have. I have proof if you want to see it." She claimed, pulling me behind her again. I let her drag me this time, keeping an eye out for any guards that might be trailing us or lingering around in the halls.

There weren't really any guards around us and a thought suddenly hit me, a thought that made me bite down a burst of overjoyed laughter. I sincerely hoped I was right.

Let's be real here, when have I not been right recently? Actually, don't answer that.

"What proof?" I asked, forcing my voice to tremble as tears lined my eyes. Victoria didn't even spare me a glance and I felt slightly irritated that my beautiful acting wasn't being put to use the way it was meant to. I didn't work this hard to convince just anyone, you know.

"You'll see in a moment. We're late." She hissed from the corner of her mouth, not even bothering with pleasantries. I held back a smirk at her fading facade. She broke far too easily.

With another look down the hall, my idea was practically confirmed. I knew why Victoria's boss was attacking out of the blue like this. He didn't have anything left. My best guess was that Victoria was his last chess piece on the board and he was taking full advantage of her. This guy didn't have any soldiers. If he was siding with Daniel Garcia, the man people only ally themselves with when they're incredibly desperate, then he was practically penniless.

Victoria stopped abruptly and nearly yanked my shoulder out of its socket with the force of our stop. I glared up at her, trying to wiggle my arm so she would lighten up on her grip. Didn't she understand the epiphany that was not abusing children?

She did just assist in the kidnapping of a child so I would guess that's a foreign concept for her.

"Mr. Bilyk, I brought the child." Victoria knocked on the closed office door. The door creaked open and light spilled into the dim hallway, momentarily blinding me.

When my eyes stopped burning enough for me to finally look into the room without my eyes watering, I glanced around. I had to do a double-take as my jaw went slack and my entire facade fell.

What.

The.

Fuck?!