. . .
Xerxes Creed
I took my suit jacket off as I entered my office and draped it on my chair. I folded up the sleeves of my shirt and watched the screen of my laptop.
"We are very sorry," the man was saying. "There have never been any cameras in our club. We do not know how it happened."
"There is a video," I said slowly, as I sat down. "Of my brother. A video which holds the potential of causing a lot of problems for him."
"I-I understand, sir. But we didn't know about the camera. As I said, there are never any cameras in the club. No electronics are allowed, ever."
"Yet, there is a video. Maybe, there are more."
The man was sweating now, his face was all red and I could see him shaking with apparent fear.
"I'm burning your club to the ground," I said, calmly. "You have fifteen minutes to evacuate."
"W-what-"
"Fifteen minutes," I repeated and then ended the call.
I watched the blank screen for a while. Half of me wanted to kill him, but he may prove to be useful in the future.
The door opened as Ashton entered, a book was in his hand with a bright pink bookmark jutting out of it. It was probably one of Olivia's. She liked sharing bookmarks with him. "I could have handled him," he said.
"I never liked him," I said. "We should have bought the club as Zavier wanted."
"If Zavier could, he'd buy the world."
There was no denying that.
"Where is she?" I asked.
"Talking to Daisy. Daisy is trying to convince her to participate in the exhibit."
"That exhibit would provide exposure," I muttered. "Put more eyes on her art."
"And on her."
There was always that. Olivia was, sometimes frustratingly, unaware of how alluring she could be. Eyes followed her everywhere. She thought it was because of her, but more than half of the time, it wasn't.
The door opened again and this time it was Olivia who marched in before Zavier, who was carrying three giant, canvasses in his hands.
He set them down on the table.
"You will help me choose," she said to us, putting her hands on her thin waist. She was dressed in a pink dress that reached her knees. I could see the outline of her nipples through the thin fabric. I shoved the decider to touch her away and focused on what she was saying. "I think all of them are one of my best works."
"Okay," I said, ready to grab one of uncovering it but she shook her head instantly.
"I will open them."
"You can barely pick them," Zavier said dryly.
"I can pick them. You shoved me out of the way so that I wouldn't."
"You're not picking heavy shit on my watch."
She got on the tip of her toes and kissed his cheek. "You're cute when you're grumpy."
"You must think Xerxes is fucking adorable then."
"He is adorable."
I frowned. "Not the word I've heard people using for me."
"They don't know you," she said to me as she opened one cover. "They should see your grumbling."
"Did you get your daily spanking, yet?"
Her face pinked. "N-no-"
"I'll be the one spanking you then, hm?"
She gave me a tiny nod, shyness all over her face. "Okay, daddy."
I kissed her hand. "Show me."
She took the canvas out and rotates it so that Ashton and I could see. "This is option one. I made this like...three years ago." She nodded to herself.
The canvas was covered with shades of red and orange. A woman was in the middle, head tilted and hands raised as if dancing. A table was behind her, set against a giant window that showed the stars, and pages, half lit of fire, were surrounding her. There was something so utterly soft about this one.
"I made it during my SATs," she said. "Hated that time," she mumbled under her breath. "Don't say anything right now!" She said when I opened my mouth to praise the fuck out of her. "See all of them and then choose."
We nodded.
"Second option." She showed up the canvas, which was somehow larger than the last one. She was behind it so only her eyes peeked out above it. "I made it like a day before I had to leave for New York."
It was about three feet and made with intense detailing, probably painted with the thinnest brushes. It was a painting of a mansion that had ivies crawling up at it but somehow, as they crawled up, they turned darker and darker and changed into what looked like chains. The mansion, too, looked beautiful, but as I dragged my eyes upwards, it was clear that Olivia had added cracks into it, matching the change of the ivies. I observed that the background at the bottom of the painting, where the ivies were normal and the mansion walls were not cracked, was bright and blue. But as I dragged my eyes upwards, little by little, I realized that it got darker. At the top, it was nothing but pure blackness.
"Third Option. This is one recent."
She set the canvas on the table. It was a bit shorter than the last one, so we could finally see her pretty face.
It was of us. I spotted that instantly. We were on the ground which looked to be made of wood and was all looking up at the viewer. Our faces were nothing but an oval of golden glitter, and the rest of the painting was black and white. She was in Zavier's tatted arms on the ground. I was on a chair, and Ashton was leaning against a wall. We looked relaxed. Unknown and happy in a room that was as normal as a room could be.
"So," she asked, bouncing on the tip of her toes. "Which one?"
"I," Zavier said. "Have no fucking idea, Kitten."
She frowned. "What about you two?" She addresses Ashton and me.
"I don't know," I said, truthfully. Ashton nodded in agreement.
She set the canvas down, suddenly looking very unsure of herself. "I...I have other paintings that you may like. But maybe this was an m-"
"Olivia."
She sniffled. "I thought they were pretty."
Fucking hell.
I grabbed her waist and pulled her to me. I pinched her chin between my fingers and made her look at me. Her eyes were shiny.
"Baby," I said, slowly. "The only reason we can't choose is that they are all so fucking good," I assured her. "I love all of them. You are so fucking talented, Little love. Everything you make is beautiful. Arnaud will love these."
"Y-you think so?"
"Yes." I kissed her. "She will love these."
The uncertainty was removed from her face and soon enough, she was trying to figure out which one she wanted to select with Ashton and Zavier.
But I looked at the second canvas.
It was beautiful.
But the darker edge to her paintings, which I had one thought had entered her art because of us, was slightly hinted at in that painting.
I looked at her. Olivia didn't have much darkness in her if any, but she had a lot surrounding her.
. . .
Arnaud seemed to have fallen in love with Olivia's art. Olivia decided to ask her for help to choose, and before long Arnaud asked Olivia to visit her home and show her all of her best pieces.
Which was followed by Olivia going over there almost every day. Miss Summers was there, too. I didn't know what these three did, but Olivia always came back saying that Arnaud was so nice and Miss Summers and Aruad seemed like an old, married couple.
I didn't know what exactly was between Miss Summers and Arnaud, but I knew that Arnaud's husband had died a few years ago.
Arnaud decided to make an exception for Olivia and a few other artists, so their multiple pieces were going to be displayed.
I watched as Olivia stepped out of the cafe with Daisy. She was wearing a tiny dark red dress and a giant coat. She spotted my car instantly, and I knew something was wrong.
Daisy and Olivia parted ways, and Olivia made her way toward my car. I got out of the car and opened the door for her. She mumbled a simple 'thank you' and sat down.
The drive back to the mansion was filled with tension. When we were about fifteen minutes away from the mansion, I stopped the car and turned to her.
"What's wrong?"
She was staring at her hands. "Nothing," she said, her voice strangled as if she was close to tears.
"Olivia."
"Xerxes."
"Look at me."
"No."
"Olivia-"
"No."
"Look at me, baby."
"N-no." Her voice broke.
I tried to take her hand in mine, but she shrank away.
She never lifted her eyes from her hands.
"Did I do something?"
She stayed quiet.
My jaw clenched. I was a patient man. But I needed to know if there was someone who I needed to kill.
"What the fuck happened, Olivia?"
Her hands fisted. "I want to spend Christmas here," she said. "Carrie invited me."
"Like hell," I hissed. "You're not spending Christmas with her. You are spending Christmas with me."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"Why?" She asked, eyes finally lifted to meet mine. They were filled with tears. "Because it's unsafe?"
"Yes."
"Is it ever going to be safe?"
My jaw clenched again. "I'm trying my fucking best to keep you safe."
Her bottom lip trembled and then she pressed her lips into a thin line. She wiped a year from the side of her face. "There were more videos."
I gave no reaction to that.
"It was of you," she said. "With a woman. Having sex with her very...roughly."
"It was consensual." I didn't need to know who she was talking about to know that.
"I know," she said. "I know."
"Then, what's the problem?"
"Brian wasn't the only one who bullied me. He was the one who took it too far," she said, slowly. "There were others, too. There was this group of three hurtful girls."
Fuck.
She wiped the tears from the side of her face again. "It's not your fault," her voice broke. "But I can't get it out of my mind."
My hand clenched and unclenched around the steering wheel. "You should have called me right away."
"I didn't want to disturb you."
"You know you can never disturb me, baby."
"There was one of Zavier also. With another woman. She too was one of those three. I'm sure there is one with Ashton in it, too."
"There...is one of Ashton."
She let out a breath. "I didn't see it."
"We deleted it."
She ran her hands up and down her forearms. "I think you're grandmother is right."
"Don't say that."
"You should be with other women. This thing isn't going to work out."
"You want to break up because of the fucking videos? They didn't mean shit, Olivia."
"I saw what you did to them. Ashton said he was rougher with others, which I presume applies to you and Zavier, too. I'm just one person, and I can't take that much pain. It'd be better for us to break up now than to keep wasting each other's time. You need wives and kids so that you can run the mafia, I don't even know if I want kids."
I took in a deep breath. This wasn't fucking happening.
"If you don't want kids, we're not going to fucking have kids."
"That's not the point. That would be unfair to you."
"That's fucking bullshit."
She looked down at her lap. "You deserve someone who can stand equal to you. Someone who can take what you give them. Someone who has what you need. Someone who you don't share with your brothers. A normal relationship."
"Olivia, don't fucking say that. Nothing about me is normal. Nothing about my brothers and I is fucking normal." I grabbed her chin, bringing her closer. "The first time I got stabbed, my brothers flinched more than I did. We bleed together, for years and years. You are our fucking reward, you're our fucking destination. You're our fucking everything. So don't..." I swallowed. "Don't take everything from us."
She turned her face away. "You'll forget all about me soon enough. Zavier said I fit into your world, but I don't. You can't deny that."
"I will make space for you in our world. The mafia will bow down to you." I swallowed. "I will bow down to you."
"I-It doesn't matter," she whispered. "I can't get over being hurt one time. And you have been hurt for ages. I cry because of everything. I'm not strong. I'm not...anything." She ran her hands up and down her arms. "I asked mom. She said she'd help in paying for my tuition. I can move back into my dorm with Daisy. You should go back to New York."
I started the car. "You want to break up because we betrayed you before we even knew you."
"The videos were the last push to make me see how incompatible we are. You don't need someone whose hands shake every time people look at her. I'm meant to be an artist who hides behind her art. Nothing else. I can't handle this."
I took in a deep breath. "You don't want anything to do with us, then?"
"I don't. That's the only way to ensure you'll move on."
"Move on," I repeated. "Move on."
I felt her eyes on me. For just a moment. And then she looked away. "It'll be easy. You could...d-date the Marsh triplets. They're nice."
"And who will you date? Fucking Declan?"
"I won't date anyone."
I shook my head. The car was speeding. But it wasn't out of control. I could never endanger her like that.
"You're fucking crazy if you think I will date anyone."
"You should. Your mafia will never accept me. I will always be a weakness."
"That's not fucking true."
"It is."
I stopped the car in front of the mansion. "Zavier and Ashton are inside. You already broke up with me. I think you need to do it with them too."
. . .
So.
Yeah.
Mhm
*Hides*