Deadly Silence (complete) Chapter 29

“My sister. She’s off limits.”

“Whoa, calm down,” he laughed, raising his hands in defence. “I didn’t mean nothing by it. Just curious is all. So this is your sister, eh? She’s a sweet looking thing.”

“She’s off limits, Ivan.”

“I can look,” Ivan countered with another shrug. “Anyway, do you want this shipment or nah?”

“Yeah, give me five minutes,” Gabriel nodded.

“Got it,” Ivan nodded before turning and walking away from them.

Vivian had too many questions to count as her brother finally relaxed and looked back at her again. Something in his expression told her that her being there was an issue. “Want me to wait in the car?” She offered, not wanting to do that at all but throwing a tantrum would only cause problems down the line. She’d enjoyed her time with Gabriel, and if she selfishly demanded to go with him to receive this shipment it was possible he’d never bring her back to hang out with him again.

“This will take a while,” he told her with a sigh as he pulled out his phone. “I’m gonna get Bass to come get you.”

It felt like she was being punished and Vivian couldn’t understand why but she kept her mouth shut as Gabriel called up their eldest sibling, explaining what was going on before hanging up. “He says it’ll be ten minutes before he gets here.”

“I can stay in your office then, if he has a key to get inside the building?”

Gabriel looked at her for a second then nodded. “Yeah, that would be best. Come on.”

As they walked back to the main building, Gabriel kept a hand on her shoulder while his gaze roamed the backlot. Why was he being paranoid? What was going on?

Even once they were inside, he didn’t let up until she was in his office. “I’m really sorry about this, Vivian,” he told her, the expression on his face showing the guilt he must be struggling with inside.

“It’s fine,” she told him as she moved to his chair and sat down in it, enjoying how comfortable it was as she ran her hands over the arm rest. “Work is work.”

“Yeah, something like that. Look, I need you to promise not to open this door for anyone that isn’t Sebastian. Can you do that?”

Looking up at Gabriel, Vivian frowned. Why was he paranoid about this shipment? Were the people delivering it dangerous? Was he doing something he shouldn’t be doing and keeping her as far away from it as possible? “I can do that,” she assured him after a few seconds of silence had passed.

“Thank you,” he breathed, relief evident as he stepped out of his office and hesitated. Half turning, Gabriel looked at his sister. “You’re not going to ask about it?”

Vivian shrugged her shoulders. “Would you answer if I did?”

Surprised by her response, Gabriel shook his head. “Sebastian only. Remember,” was all he said before closing the door with a click.

Getting to her feet, she moved to the door and slid the deadbolt into place. On the other side, Gabriel rapped his knuckle against the door twice, as if thanking her for doing as he asked, before the sound of his footsteps down the stairs faded into silence.

A normal person would have asked him about all of this.

A normal person would take advantage of being left alone in Gabriel’s office to look for clues on what was going on to make him act so paranoid.

Vivian was not a normal person in this regard. Her curiosity had died a long time ago through punishment. The rule had been simple: do not ask questions. Do not try and understand things you’re not meant to know.

Whenever she’d given in to her curiosity, by asking questions or snooping, she’d been punished. Once she’d been locked in a closet for an entire day with only a bucket; another time she’d been slapped so hard her body had crumpled to the ground.

By the time she’d been given the name Vivian St Peter she’d stopped asking questions, but she’d never stopped trying to understand. There was a lot to learn through observation, and there had never been a rule about observing others.

Over the years she’d fallen back into the habit of asking questions, but to Vivian they were surface level ones that weren’t meant for deep understanding. The rule of thumb she followed was a simple one: ask nothing she wouldn’t want to be asked by others.

She had no plan to ask Gabriel what was actually going on, but she had asked if he’d answer should she decide to ask. He’d avoided her question, which was the answer she’d expected, and that was fine.

Whatever he was doing was his business, his life, and so long as Vivian knew nothing about it then what harm could it bring? Plausible deniability was a wonderful thing that came from not searching for answers, and she loved having that safety net available should anyone ask her about it later.

Ten minutes later, almost to the second, there was a knock on the door. It startled Vivian from her thoughts as she stared at the door. “Who is it?” She called out, unsure what else to say given the circumstance. Maybe she should have texted Sebastian to ask if it was him?