6

Nathaniel stared at the house he had grown up in with disdain; it had never been a home, never seen a Christmas tree or any kind of celebration that made it noteworthy, it was just a house with no pictures on the wall, filled with shadows of unpleasant memories.

Stepping out into the rain, he nodded at the man who had opened his car door, walking briskly up the short stairs where two men held another set of doors open for him.

“Valerie!”

He braced himself for the tornado that was his sister; true to her nickname, she barreled into his legs, holding on tight, and Nathaniel wobbled dramatically before lifting her into his arms.

“You’re getting heavy beautiful girl.” She kissed his cheek and tapped his nose twice. What that meant he didn’t know, but Valerie communicated differently and they were all learning how it worked.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Nathaniel, she got away from me again.” Fiava, the housekeeper and Valerie’s nanny was out of breath, but the fond smile on her face didn’t waver. “She’s getting too fast for these old bones.”

“You don’t have to chase her bambinaia” Nathaniel kissed his nanny, “I’ve told you to throw your feet up once in a while.”

Fiava had been in the house longer than he remembered; she was the only thing warding off the gloom that clung to the walls, armed with the smile that was never far from her lips

“If I did that, you all wouldn’t have anything to eat. You and your brother are hopeless in the kitchen and this one-” Fiava tickled Valerie’s belly and was rewarded with a soft giggle. “-only eats out of a box”

“I admit we’ve spoilt her” Nathaniel grinned sheepishly, steering them towards the kitchen. “I’m happy she’s eating, I don’t care what it is.”

“She can’t eat cereal for the rest of her life” Fiava huffed, “We’ve had this conversation a million times; she needs real food. Nutrition is very important and you don’t seem to be taking it seriously.”

“She’ll eat real food when she wants to bambinaia, don’t worry too much” He deposited Valerie on a high stool in front her ipad. “Where’s Leon?”

“Your office” Fiava sighed, “He didn’t look very happy when he got here, e per favore try to keep your voices down if you’re going to get in a fight; you know Valerie doesn’t cope well with raised voices.”

He knew the extent of her trauma all too well, he carried scars himself, scars she was too young to bear; he kissed her head, a rare display of affection that was reserved for her.

The conversation with Leon was going to be a difficult one, as it always was when they spoke to each other. Leon only came to the main house when he had something to say to his face, a matter that couldn’t wait, other than that, he made sure to stay out of his way and silently asked that Ivon stay out of his.

Leon was sitting on the couch, legs stretched out, with arms behind his head; he opened one eye and then the other. “I was going to leave if I had to wait another hour.”

“I didn’t know you were going to be here or I would have left the office sooner.” Ivon walked to his desk and sat down behind it. “Valerie is upstairs so keep your voice down, what do you want to discuss?”

“Two things; one, your ex-girlfriend who we can’t find, and two, when were you going to tell me about the new nanny you hired?”

Picking the safest and only question, “Carys is not a nanny; she’s a tutor who will be helping her with her studies. We withdrew her from school, but she can’t remain idle and we both know she can’t attend classes on her ipad, she gets too distracted.”

“This woman you hired looks like trouble, and we agreed that whatever concerns Valerie will be a decision we both make.”

“I sent you several mails, attaching her cv and other documents; her background, family, past relationships, basically everything I found and you didn’t respond to any of them.”

Leon was quiet for a minute, a real first for him. “I haven’t had the time to look at my phone or I would have responded, this one is on me. You’ve hired her, what do you think about her?”

“She’s sharp, very witty and obviously smart judging from the recommendation letters. I did leave out the part about Valerie’s not-speaking condition, a test for when she comes.”

“She’s coming here? When?”

“Saturday, Valerie is harder to deal with on Sundays. Why?”

“She hasn’t done anything out of the ordinary since she landed, but I don’t want to take any chances so security is going to be tight-”

“I’m sorry” Massaging the vein pulsing on the side of his head was not going to ease the headache plaguing him, “Since she landed, have you been following her? She looks like trouble? You have been following her”

“You asked and answered your question. I didn’t know who she was until today, or have you forgotten my job is to know who comes into our city.” Leon leaned forward, exposing the gun tucked in the band of his jeans. “Did you also forget about the little birdie you let fly away?”

“What did you want me to do with her, Leon? Break her neck? Tackle her to the ground? For fuck sake you killed someone, you shot him in the head and I was too shocked to react.”

“Your lack of reaction has exposed us brother” The term held no respect, Leon had always broadcasted his little to no feelings; he was bound by duty and loyalty to serve and Ivon never mistook the two for anything more.

“Your girlfriend has something that will make the feds come sniffing for more, and after Canon’s murder, we don’t need the attention. All you had to do was sit in your pretty castle, your one job and you managed to fail spectacularly.”

“We’ve danced this dance before, Leon. I fucked up, and I am going to clean up this mess. Aielle is just scared, she’s going to surface one of these days and everything will be fine.”

“You’re delusional if you think Aielle is going to be waiting when she has a goldmine in her hands. If she hasn’t gone to the authorities, she’s going to and when she does, I’ll be waiting nearby to put a bullet in her head.”

Ivon beat down the wave of nausea, swallowing thickly; he said “No one has to die, Leon.”

“It’s okay if you’re queasy about blood, that’s my area of expertise; leave me to worry about the details. You weren’t supposed to be involved in this part of the business but you got yourself involved; now you’re in the know.”

Standing to his feet, Leon looked down at his older brother. “The feds are going to get involved sooner or later and you need to be ready. I can take care of my end of things, but your little company will be their first target. Let’s be clear, absolutely nothing can lead them back to our backyard.”

“Let me worry about that” Ivon spoke past his clenched jaw

“I’m happy we’ve reached an understanding, and while you’re at it, try not to bring any woman to the house, who knows whose brains I might be blowing out.”