"Did you call Mia?" Victor asked Elijah who was sitting opposite him.
"Yeah."
"What did she say?"
"The usual. Crying and pleading to forgive her this time amd that she won't cause any trouble again."
"Scare her a bit more and let it go then."
"Okay. But do you think she'll be able give back the paintings. I mean she has already sold all of them, it's not easy to get them back."
"She won't be able to even if she wants to."
"What do you mean?"
Elijah followed Victor's eyes that were looking at something kept in the corner of his office.
"Don't tell me-," He said standing up.
He walked towards that thing and removed the cloth that covered it only to see the perfectly laminated artwork placed neatly there.
"When?" Elijah asked.
"I bought them the very next day."
"You should have given them back to Lila. It would've made her happy. She's not really on good terms with you these days," Elijah said with a small laugh.
"I was planning to give them to her earlier but then she told us about her hand. It was before the therapy sessions started. If I'd given these to her at that time, looking at them would've upset her.
"Moreover her birthday is coming and I'd a chat with Alaric. He said at the pace she's improving now, her hand would be completely recovered by then."
"So you have already prepared the birthday present," Elijah said shaking his head. "I too need to start working, can't lag behind you."
"Okay. Now go away and let me work," Victor said pushing Elijah out.
The rest of the day passed swifly without much disturbance. It was only in the evening that Elijah barged inside his office.
"I sent my men to Mia's apartment to threaten her a bit but she's not there. There's no clue about her location," Elijah blurted out in one breath.
"So?" Victor asked, bored.
It was not the first time Mia was out of reach. There were times when she would disappear for months to spend their money.
"That's not it. They found a note there."
Victor picked up the small peice of paper Elijah had thrown on his desk only to crumble it and throw it away.
Next time it will be you sister instead xo
Anger coursed through his body and he clenched his fists to prevent himself from hitting something.
"The Russians?" Elijah asked, even though he knew the answer was obvious.
"What should we do now?" He asked once again when Victor didn't reply.
"Where's she?"
"In her room."
"Don't let her go out and don't let any stranger to enter the house for a while now. And increase the security."
"What about Alaric?"
"Don't let him come until we have figured out the situation."
"Okay."
"Talk to dad and inform him about everything. It's time for him to come back here."
After a brief call with his dad during which he explained everything to him, Elijah came back to the office.
"What did he say?"
"He will be coming tomorrow, in the morning."
"Morning, then let Lila go to school tomorrow. She's not yet ready to meet him," Victor said thoughtfully.
Elijah turned around to leave but before he could do so Victor stopped him again.
"Don't tell Lila that we have cancelled her sessions. She won't understand if we don't give her a solid reason.
"On the contrary, she'll think that now we are even depriving her of the one thing she enjoys the most."
Elijah nodded and left to complete the task he had just been given.
The next morning after the twins and Lila left for school, everyone started preparing for their father's visit but unfortunately due to some issues, his arrival shifted to noon.
"Call Xander and ask him to come home now," Victor told his brothers.
"Why?" Elijah asked confused.
"Why what? Once dad comes, he won't leave anytime soon. Do you want Lila to come home only to see dad sitting in the living room and chatting with us like a perfect family," Damien snapped. "I bet he did that deliberately."
"There are more chances of them meeting at home. I can ask the twins to keep her busy until dad leaves."
"I don't think that's a great idea Lijah. It's safer at home. Beside we can make it look like some business meeting and ask her not to come down for a while."
"And what if she comes down?"
"Do we have any other option?"
Elijah thought for a while but he knew that what Damien said was correct.
Lila wasn't yet ready to meet their father and it was not safe for Lila to be out for too long at this time. So calling her home and asking her to stay in her room sounded like the best option.
"Alright you both, stop talking and go back to work." Victor who had been quietly watching the interaction between his brothers, finally interjected.
And once again the room was filled with deadly silence.
Only if they knew that it was the silence before the storm.
~
Any opinions?
Btw where are you guys from?
I'm from India, hby?