Chapter 5: Crowe’s Price

Adrien's voice slid through the darkness like a knife.

"Vivienne, sweetheart...you should've signed."

Vivienne gasped.

The hallway stretched away in blackness, save the faint red glow from an emergency exit light. Somewhere in the distance, a pipe dripped steadily.

Silas's hand closed around hers, unyielding, firm.

"Behind me," he muttered.

Vivienne struggled. "Adrien is here."

Silas didn't correct her.

"I know."

"You suspected he was following us, and you didn't consider that I need to know?"

"Is this not the ideal time?"

"It is always an inconvenient time for you, isn't it?"

A soft chuckle sounded from the darkness.

"There she is, always defending herself, even from the people who claim they want to help her." Adrien's voice rang out, smooth and maddeningly familiar.

Vivienne's stomach twisted.

This voice was supposed to make her feel safe, was supposed to lull her into a warm sense of belonging.

Now, it made her skin crawl.

"Care to come out and tell me what you were doing, following me around?"she shot back, her voice shaking.

A click of a lighter sounded, and suddenly, Vivienne could see Adrien standing at the other end of the hallway.

His tuxedo jacket was tossed carelessly aside, his white dress shirt stained at the collar, his hair wet from the rain.

Behind him stood two men, both nondescript in their attire, both lacking any hint of a police uniform.

Adrien's face looked haggard, hollowed out by the deep shadows framing his eyes.

If Vivienne hadn't already pulled away from him yesterday, she'd be right there now, taking his hand and telling him everything was going to be alright.

Tonight, she saw the calculating look lurking behind his grief.

"You look terrible," he murmured.

Vivienne stared at him, horrified.

"You had me arrested!"

Adrien's eyes swept over her bruised wrists.

"I tried to stop them."

I, tried to stop them.

"You stood there and said nothing."

"I didn't know your father would go this far,"Adrien said evenly.

Vivienne whirled around, Silas's grip on her hand suddenly feeling far too tight.

"That's not what you told him the night of the gala!"

The men squared off against eachother, and for a long moment, their stares were locked.

Vivienne could feel the history between them, could sense something lingering there.

"I always wondered when you'd show up,"Adrien muttered.

Silas's expression didn't change.

"You should leave."

"I don't belong to you."

"Neither does she," Silas said evenly.

Adrien's jaw tightened.

His men shifted uneasily.

Mara leveled her gun at Adrien. "Everyone's got their emotions running high tonight, don't they? Shall we cut to the chase and find out why you're armed and in our parking structure?"

Adrien turned his gaze back to Vivienne.

"I came to get you out of this," he said softly.

Vivienne let out a mirthless laugh. "Out? Out of what, exactly? Your precious prison?"

"Vivienne, please," Adrien said, moving closer. "You need to hear me out. You need to listen to me. There's something going on with your father, and he's not safe."

"And you are?"

"I made mistakes,"Adrien said.

"Mistakes," Vivienne snapped. "You made mistake after mistake ,Adrien. You took my inheritance and shoved it in your company, you let them accuse me , you told the press I was crazy!"

Adrien's face twisted in fury.

"I was trying to protect you!"

"By holding me hostage?"

Adrien opened his mouth, but Vivienne continued.

I don't think I really know what you're capable of, do I?

Her words hung between them.

Adrien's expression was unreadable.

For the first time since arriving in Geneva, Vivienne saw something flicker across his face other than sorrow.

Fear.

Not for her, but for himself.

And suddenly, Vivienne wasn't angry - not really.

She'd stopped being angry a while ago.

And not because she was happy about any of this.

But instead, because something in her had finally, finally died.

"Come with me," Adrien muttered. "We can leave, all of us. I have a villa outside Geneva."

Vivienne looked into his eyes.

"And then what? You'll pretend I don't exist?"

Adrien closed his eyes briefly.

"I don't want the company,"he said when he opened them.

"Good, because you never wanted me."

Adrien flinched, and for the first time, Vivienne could see it in his gaze - not just love, but something close to regret.

"You did what you thought was best for me," he said quietly, "what you thought was best for us."

Vivienne looked around at the bruises lining her wrists, at the tear in Silas's shoulder, at the sight of Mara's finger tightening around the trigger of her gun. I see.

Silas's hand on her wrist loosened just enough for her to step away, but she stood her ground, staring down Adrien, the man who had nearly been her everything.

You didn't love me, she thought. Not truly. Don't you know how it feels to disappear?

"Vivienne, I - "

One of Adrien's men stepped forward, but Silas had already moved.

Gunshots went off, and Vivienne felt herself fall. Something hot and wet slicked the front of her dress as, somewhere in the chaos, she heard herself give a strangled gasp.

Mara grabbed her by the sleeve, shoving her toward a side passage as a bullet whizzed past them and struck a concrete pillar. Silas fired back, knocking the guns from Adrien's men and sending them scrambling behind a stack of storage containers.

RUN!"

Mara's shot reverberated through the hallway, and this time, Vivienne didn't hesitate.

Mara andSilas practically carried her through the narrow passageway, Vivienne's feet sliding against the wet floor as another round of shots rang out behind them.

Adrien bellowed her name.

“Vivienne! Don’t trust him!”

Vivienne would've turned around if the thought of seeing the fear in Adrien's eyes hadn't made her so damn angry.

She hated that part of her still wanted to look.

And hated herself more for the fact that she could see the pain in his voice.

Silas kicked open a door at the end of the hallway, and Vivienne stumbled outside just as the rain soaked through her dress.

A black SUV was parked at the far end of the alley, and the moment they exited the tunnel, the driver climbed out and grabbed the rear passenger door.

Silas helped Vivienne in, and Mara pulled up into the front seat.

The moment the last of them were in, the vehicle shot forward, weaving expertly through the narrow streets as the distant sound of gunfire became nothing more than faint echoes bouncing off concrete buildings.

For several minutes, no one said anything.

Vivienne's whole body felt strange - numb all over, yet her arms and legs still throbbed where the bullets had grazed them.

Her throat burned where she'd been choking on blood.

But, the most unnerving part was the stillness inside her, and the way it made her feel like she could cry, finally, but her body just didn't have the strength to do it.

Silas reached for her, and Vivienne shook her head. His hand dropped back to his side.

"What is it?" Vivienne rasped, her voice hoarse with pain.

"Nothing," Silas said, but Vivienne could see the turmoil in his eyes,

He looked as though he wanted to say something bad, something that would make this even worse than it already felt.

Instead, he stared at his hands, which had been injured in the fight.

"What happened to your arm?" Vivienne managed.

Nothing, and not even his answer was as horrifying as the silence that stretched between them.

“Are we being followed?” Vivienne whispered,

"Not anymore,"Mara replied. "We changed cars twice last night, so we should be alright."

"For now," Vivienne muttered, pressing her forehead against the cool glass of the window.

For now.

Nothing was ever really enough, apparently.

Her body felt heavy, and her eyelids grew drooney as she took a shuddering breath.

Adrien's face floated before her eyes.

"I was afraid," he'd said.

She wished she could stop loving him, just a little bit, because loving this man was like falling in love again - and she was afraid to, afraid to let anyone in until she wasn't in so much pain.

But the fact was, Vivienne was tired of being broken.

"Tell me what I'm supposed to feel about that,"Vivienne said, turning her gaze to Silas.

He looked calm enough - if you ignored the dark red stain seeping through the material on the front of his shirt.

"Why does he think I'm not worthy of you?"Vivienne pressed. "What has he done to you?

Silas's jaw tightened.

"He knows me,"Vivienne stated.

"Because I bought his tab."

It took a moment for his words to register.

"What are you talking about?" Vivienne demanded. "Since when have you had money?

"Since right about the time Adrien figured out how to destroy his life," Silas said grimly, "I invested some of my funds into buying up his debt."

"You bought his debts? What does that have to do with me?"

"He thought he was getting rid of me by giving me a chance to spy on you,"

Vivienne's stomach turned.

"He was spying on me?"

"From the outside," Silas replied. "Crowe Holdings has a history of predatory lending practices."

Vivienne swallowed hard.

"I know,"

Silas met Vivienne's gaze.

"You watched me."

"I protected you.

The words should've reassured her, but instead they made her stomach lurch.

"He knew," Vivienne whispered. "All this time, he knew."

Silas pushed his sleeve up, revealing the angry red marks on his fore-arm.

"He doesn't know," Silas said grimly, "any of what your father is capable of."

Vivienne blinked in surprise.

"My father wouldn't hurt me."

"Of course he would," Silas corrected, "he's just not inclined to, not unless he's forced to, I imagine."

"What?" Vivienne asked, a sick feeling blooming in her gut.

"He started taking money out of the company about five years before you turned sixteen,"

Vivienne paled.

"He was robbing us , wasn't he?"

"He was hollowing it out," Silas said carefully.

"What is he planning to do with all of it?" Vivienne asked, a sick feeling twisting in her gut.

Silas glanced at her then back out the windshield as the streetlights blurred past in the rain.

"As much as it would comfort you, I think he intends on killing you the moment his son graduates,"

Vivienne didn't ask how he knew such a thing. She was too busy thinking of the long, slow, inevitable torture he was probably preparing.

"My mother knew,"

"Yes,"

"And your mother knew," Vivienne said. "My mother knew what my father was really like and she let him raise me."

"That's not easy to do," Silas said, his expression unreadable. "No matter what circumstances it is under, it's not easy to survive a childhood with monsters and live to tell the tale."

Silas turned in his seat and held Vivienne's gaze.

"I can understand how this has frightened you, but your mother did what she had to do to protect you,

"And you?"

"Same,"

Vivienne looked away.

"Why now?"

"This?"A smile touched his lips. "This is when he decides his daughter is no longer a novelty to him and his guests."

Vivienne swallowed hard.

"What does that mean?

"It means,"and Silas's glance dropped to the bruises marring her wrists. "he's no longer playing games with you."

"Why are you showing me this?"

"Because I love you,"

Vivienne closed her eyes.

"Who told you the things your father wanted you to know?"She asked, voice trembling slightly, "was it him?"

"No," Silas said. "your mother did."

Vivienne looked up at him sharply.

"When?

The moment Vivienne caught sight of the pendant on Silas's chest, she knew there was no easy answer.

It had been her mother's favorite piece of jewelry -a tiny oval pendant with an intricate etching of a rose, which Vivienne had worn almost everyday before her mother's death. She remembered peering desperately through the hospital's gift shop for it, and when she came up empty, Lucien had said it had been misplaced somewhere.

Vivienne swallowed hard.

"Where did you get it?"

Silas placed it gently in her hands.

"It was delivered to me the day she died," he replied.

Vivienne's fingers curled tightly around the chain.

There was a letter tucked inside the pendant as well, and Vivienne carefully opened it to reveal a single note in Marguerite's small, delicate script.

Vivienne barely registered the hush of the approaching gate as the SUV came to a halt in front of an immense, crumbling stone estate half-shrouded in forest.

Mara eased the wheel past the great gates that groaned shut behind them with a resounding clang. A few more streets past the gates, the building loomed before them like a forgotten castle, its upper floor windows dark beyond.

"This is where you live?"Vivienne marveled, her breath coming fast in her throat.

"For now," Silas said.

The SUV rolled up to the massive front steps of the house. Vivienne felt herself slowing as Vivienne inhaled sharply and looked back at Silas.

"You can stay in the vehicle if you wish,"he said, opening his door. "but we'll be safe here for now."

"This isn't exactly a hotel," Vivienne muttered.

"If it becomes that, then yes, it will be,"

Vivienne stepped out of the SUV and into the frigid night without answering him.

The rain had stopped hours ago, but the air still held the damp chill that crept beneath ones skin and made it uncomfortable to breathe.

Vivienne took a deep breath as Vivienne followed Silas into the house, the locket burning in her palm.

When she turned it over, something clattered inside the small, oval container.

Vivienne stopped mid-step and turned around.Silas was already backtracking to meet her, his expression carefully schooled into something akin to bewilderment.

"What is it?"he asked.

Vivienne pried open the metal clasp on the pendant and carefully pulled out a small slip of paper scribbled over in her mother's script.

Vivienne's breath caught in her throat as Vivienne turned the slip over, revealing another name just beneath the signature and message scrawled across the page.

Helena Crowe.