Crushed (29 page)

"Impressed? I didn't think I was clever enough to come up with the plan myself."

For all of her seriousness, Diana did look impressed. Now it was her turn to smile at him.

"I should've expected something like this from you, Robert. I've heard many things about your work." She took a step forward into the room.

"I hope they were good things." He added, sounding mock-concerned. "I know Cleo enjoys complaining about me."

"You've done well for yourself so far. Beat out most of your competition."

"I still have a long way to go before I'm at your level." He replied.

Diana turned to look at Sophie. "You must know that I've figured out your reasons for coming. It was a nice diversion, but I'm not blind."

"You still showed up, so we must've done something right." Robert glanced at Sophie out of the corner of his eyes. It was a silent order to let him do the talking.

"I find it very irritating that you had to break into my house to catch my attention."

"The cat doesn't like being played with by the mouse? How disappointing."

"I won't tell you anything about your parents." Diana's eyes were locked on Robert. "I can smell Cleo's influence all over this mission."

"Then, you've sentenced her to death." Robert's voice had grown serious. "Cleo thinks she knows something about the paintings. She won't let her go until they're found."

"You must've heard me wrong." Diana smiled serenely. "I won't tell you anything, Robert. You happen to be Cleo's puppet, and are no doubt in this for your own gain. I owe her parent's my life, but I owe Cleo nothing." Her harsh smile turned momentarily sad. "You look just like them, Sophie. A mix really. Your father's hair, and your mother's eyes."

Sophie ignored Robert's glare as she began to reply. "I've only seen them in a picture once, but thank you for the compliment." She paused, thinking of how to continue. "Will you really tell me about them?"

"I'll tell you everything. Including the things I kept from Slavsky." The distrust that Diana had shown Robert vanished when she turned to Sophie.

"Thank you so much. I'd really appreciate the help." Sophie's heart lifted in her chest. Finally, she was getting somewhere.

"I just want one thing in return. I want to know why you're working for Cleo. The last I knew, you're grandparents had you hidden from her."

"Her grandmother wanted me to find her." Robert answered instead, his eyes cold. He didn't like not being in charge.

"He's telling the truth. My grandmother left me a note, promising he would come for me." Sophie added.

Diana looked pensively at the floor. "Then, they must've thought they had no other choice."

"They would have rather her been in Cleo's hands than with Max." Robert was staring at Diana intently.

"Your mother never wanted this lifestyle for you." Diana began, frowning.

"I don't mean to be rude, but it's a little late for that. If this life was good enough for her, I thought it would be good enough for me."

"Your parent's were too good for this lifestyle. They came in as innocent children, and Cleo corrupted them."

"I don't have a choice anymore. I have to find those paintings." Her eyes watched Diana with determination.

"Then, I have no choice but to help you." Diana turned her eyes back on Robert. "I'm honestly surprised you've decided to work with him."

Sophie glanced between the two of them, wondering why Diana's voice had just turned disgusted.

"Well, I'm devilishly handsome. Isn't that enough?" Robert joked.

"Now is not the time to be smiling, Tristan."

At Diana's comment, Robert froze. His smile evaporated, and his eyes widened in fear.

"It must've been a long time since you heard that name. You're a fool if you thought I didn't have the resources to figure out who you were."

"Cleo..." He began.

"Cleo was supposed to erase everything? I'm the kind of person she would ask to do that. I know a thing or two about how this business works, and I've got you all figured out."

Sophie noticed that Robert had clenched his fists tightly.

"I will not allow you to use this girl as a pawn." Diana whispered. "She's not going to be apart of your game."

"You don't have the right to tell her." Robert pulled his legs off of her desk, his face pale. "She doesn't need to know."

"She has every right to know, and to be angry." Diana smirked at him. "Sophie, if you want the truth, you're going to get the entire truth. Not just the parts he wants you to hear."

Sophie's body had turned cold at the change in the conversation. Just liked she'd known all along, Robert was hiding something from her, but it wasn't something small. It was something that would change everything.

"Tell me." She ordered, her eyes focused on Robert's shocked face. For the first time she felt like he was sincerely being himself.

"Does the surname Fallbrook mean anything to you?" She asked Sophie softly.

The name sounded familiar, but it took her a few moments to find the meaning behind it. The realization of what Diana was trying to tell her came slowly.

"Aren't they focused in banking?" Sophie asked, still trying to put the pieces together.

"Banking, investing, politics. The Fallbrook clan has their hands in many wealthy professions. The truth of the matter is that they don't have to work at all. This generation of Fallbrooks has inherited all of their money." Diana paused briefly. "The easiest way to express their wealth is to compare them to others in their circle, such as Cleo and Max."

"What exactly are you getting at?" Sophie's voice was just above a whisper. At this point she knew she was trying desperately to avoid the obvious.

"He's one of them." Diana whispered. "Tristan Fallbrook is the sole heir of the empire. One day his influence will rival that of Cleo's."

Sophie stared at Robert and suddenly knew it was true. The truth was written across his expression. Suddenly, she could no longer ignore what was right before her eyes. The feelings of anger and betrayal gradually began to well in her heart.

"You're one of them?" Sophie asked, too shocked to think clearly. "After all that talk about greed and selfishness...you're one of them?"

Sophie felt her head grow dizzy. For a moment she didn't want it to make sense. The Robert she knew wasn't like Cleo. He'd told her numerous times that he was disgusted with money, and insulted her because of her supposed greed. He'd seemed born to be a thief, and she'd found it hard to imagine him outside of this world.

"It doesn't matter." He turned towards her, his voice calming. It was like he was trying to wipe away the issue.

"I think she has a right to be pissed." Diana commented, glaring at him.

Sophie's voice rose as she stared at him. "I have every right to be angry." She hissed at him. "This is a game to you! Stealing, working for Cleo, helping me...it's all just a game."

"Sophie..."

"No... you lied to me. How many times have you told me how disgusted you are by money?" He tried to speak, but she interrupted him again. "How many times?" She asked, her voice louder now. "One day you're going to be just like them, if you're not just like them now. Do you and Cleo have some kind of sick partnership? Were you so bored with your rich lifestyle that you had to steal for some amusement? Is collecting art not thrilling enough for you?"

He stood from the desk, trying to approach her, but she pushed him away.

"My parent's entered this lifestyle because they had nothing. Nothing. The kids are going to end up working for Cleo because they don't have a choice. But you, you." Her voice had filled with hatred. She could't imagine being more filled with rage than she was now. "You made us think you were one of us, when you really just treat us like a joke."

"Sophie, listen to me, I'm trying to help you." His voice was weak.

"Help me? No, I don't need your help. I don't care how good you are, you're just like Cleo. I don't want to entrust my life to someone who thinks of this as only a joke." He reached out to her, and she shoved him as hard as she could. "Stay away from me." She ordered, her voice stronger than she ever remembered it being.

Diana moved between them, blocking her from his sight.

"I want to leave." Sophie whispered between heavy breaths.

"There's a car waiting for you downstairs. No one will stop you." Sophie was too far gone to be calmed by Diana's voice.

She turned towards to the door, which clicked open as soon as she touched the handle. Sophie didn't even bother to look back as she bolted out of the room.

She didn't mind walking through the entrance hall without any shoes, and she didn't care about the curious stares she was getting from onlookers. As soon as she'd exited the mansion, she ripped off her wig, and threw it to the ground.

The depths of her feelings of betrayal couldn't be put into words at that exact moment.

The car waiting for her honked, as if it had been expecting her all along. She didn't know how Diana had predicted how things would turn out, but she was beyond caring at this point.

Climbing into the car, she slammed the door behind her. Thankfully, there was a black screen separating her from the driver. She didn't want to communicate with anyone right now.

As the car pulled onto the long driveway, Sophie closed her eyes in frustration. Now that she was surrounded in silence, she allowed her emotions to get the better of her.

One tear slipped down her cheek, before being furiously brushed away. She refused to cry over someone as pathetic as Robert...or Tristan, or whoever he was.

Right now she needed to plan. The mission had thrown her the biggest challenge yet, and she was just going to have to overcome this next hurdle.

It would take much more than this to bring her down.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The change started as a passing thought, then grew over time into something that would consume my thoughts.

It was a night of disappointments and hard decisions that faced Sophie on her way back home. The loneliness that followed her away from Diana's mansion was almost tangible.

Throughout both car and planes rides she was numb. She felt like someone had punched her in the gut.

The realization that she'd been fooled again was impossible to swallow. She felt like hitting her head against a wall for being naive enough to believe in someone like Robert.

From day one she'd known what kind of person he was. She'd known he was a liar and a thief, and she shouldn't have been surprised with this new secret. He couldn't be trusted. Hadn't he told her as much?

The moment she kept replaying in her head was of Robert telling her to trust him. That time had filled her with so much hope, but now the memory was just another lie.

It was just another one of those moments she would have to forget.

On her journey home, she was faced with a new choice: where was she going to go from here?

She needed Robert, no matter what role he'd decided to play in this game. No matter how betrayed she felt, she had to put up with him at some point.

What killed her inside was knowing that she didn't want to hate Robert. She didn't want to see him as a bad person, and for just a brief moment she'd begun to like him. Maybe the feeling had been stronger than just "like."

She wanted to believe in him. So much so, her heart now burned with disappointment knowing he wasn't the kind of man she'd wanted him to be.

Robert might not have been her white knight, but she'd been willing to let him be her partner, which was so much more important.

Sophie felt like she'd run out of options. It was either work with him, or give up altogether. No matter how long she thought about it, those were her only answers.

She arrived home by taxi in the early hours of the morning. The kids weren't expecting her until midday tomorrow, so she wouldn't have to worry about putting on a show. She had no intention of sharing Robert's secrets with them. They didn't deserve that kind of blow.

As she walked towards the front door, she took in the form of the shadowy house. The image in front of her had begun to look increasingly like a prison.

The sound of buzzing coming from her pocket caused Sophie to momentarily snap out of her daze. After returning to their hotel, she'd discarded her dress and wig in favor of a sweatshirt and jeans. She'd been so out of it since boarding the plane, she hadn't even thought about checking her phone.

A number she didn't recognize had called her cell phone half a dozen times since the plane had landed. She didn't even consider that it might've been Robert. Someone with his kind of pride would never stoop so low as to apologize.

The person had left a voicemail on her phone, which Sophie proceeded to check.

Surprisingly, the voicemail was from Diana Apell. She hadn't expected to hear from her mother's friend so soon.

"I hoped to catch you before you left. I don't have much time to speak, but I'll make this message brief. I'm leaving the country on business tomorrow morning, and I won't be back until after two weeks. We can talk then, but I realize that's a long time for you, so I'll give you something to chew on while I'm gone. The file you received from Slavsky does not document all the evidence. From what my sources told me during the case, Max received a letter from your father. I don't know the details, but it was some kind of challenge. Obviously, it didn't help Slavsky at all. However, if we find that letter I might be able to give you more information. It's up to you if you want to find it, but it can't hurt to try. I'll be in touch soon, goodbye."

Diana had spoken so quickly that Sophie had to listen to the message three times before she understood all of it.

Once she'd gotten the gist of what Diana was saying, Sophie momentarily felt a surge of hope. Another mission meant another chance at finding more information. So far the two missions she'd gone on had been successes, and she was hopeful that the third would be the same.

She had Slavsky's file on her parent's case, which had shown them all the leads and dead ends in the investigation. She also now had Diana on her side, who knew her parent's better than anyone. Diana had hinted that she didn't know where the paintings were herself, but Sophie suspected the woman had a few guesses.

Everything for the mission was falling into place, even if it had seemed like everything was falling apart.

She stood staring up at the house, considering the information she'd just been given.

Without warning, a thought hit her like a bullet.

It was so taboo, and so reckless, she instantly brushed it aside. She didn't know where it had come from, but without her control the idea had already sunk its teeth into her unconscious.

Sophie had just come up with a third option, but she wasn't brave enough to accept it just then. Her idea was going to take a lot of working out before it was plausible, and tonight was too early to make a decision just yet.

With a heavy heart, and a racing mind, she walked up the stairs to her home.

As she unlocked the large oak door, she couldn't help but notice that she didn't feel any relief at having returned.

The comfort she'd once known here had vanished.

________________________________________

Sophie awoke to three curious faces staring down at her.

Had she not been so exhausted, she might've been surprised by their presence.

"How'd the mission go?"

"You're home early?"

"Where's Robert?"

The questions were thrown at her at the same time, and she groggily tried to realize who had asked what. She knew it was Gwyn, Rylan, and Teddy, but her mind was too fuzzy to put the pieces together.

"It went fine. He had some business to wrap up, so he stayed. I missed you guys so I came home earlier. Is that everything?" She lifted her head, groaning at how much it throbbed in pain. It felt like she was hungover.

"Did you meet Diana?" The person speaking now sounded a lot like Gwyn.

"Yeah, everything went according to plan."

"Did you run into any bad guys?" Teddy sounded excited for more details.

"Guys, let her wake up before we start grilling her." Rylan motioned for them to leave the room. "We've fixed breakfast. Come down when you're ready."

"Thanks, Ry." Sophie smiled, but she knew it wasn't sincere.

She didn't feel like smiling at all this morning.

Rylan paused, having noticed something off. However, he was kind enough not to bring it up.

"See you in a little bit." He whispered as he closed the door.

It took everything in Sophie to get out of bed. She felt like hibernating for at least a month. She hoped that if she kept sleeping, she would find out this whole ordeal was only a dream.

Finally, after almost fifteen minutes of deliberating whether it was worth it, Sophie pulled herself out of bed. The trip downstairs felt like she was getting hit by bowling balls, with each step down the staircase causing her head to throb in pain.

The scene she saw once she walked into the kitchen was just another of a string of disappointments.

The kids were all sitting around the table, in their normal setup. Teddy was swinging his legs back and forth, drawing faces in his food. Rylan was glancing shyly at Gwyn, who was scolding Teddy for not eating.

She'd seen them act like this a thousand times before, but she'd never felt this hurt by looking at them.

In the past, this sight had warmed her heart. Now, it felt like everything was fake. Their smiles, laughs, words...everything could just be another lie.

It was irrational to think this way, but Sophie wasn't in the mood to be practical. She almost raced to the medicine cabinet, reaching for any kind of migraine pills they had. The kids ignored her as she shuffled through the medicine containers. After finding the right kind of pill, she quickly swallowed it with some water, and begged for relief to come soon.

She wouldn't make it through the day with a headache like this.

Rylan politely waited until she'd taken a few bites of her omelet before he casually started the conversation.

"Robert called before you came down. He said he'll be home in a few days."

"Oh, did he?" Sophie kept her eyes focused on her plate.

"You two didn't get into a fight?" His eyes were watching her intently.

"Not that I know of. Why, should I be mad?"

"No, it's just...strange." Now it was Gwyn who was speaking. "Shouldn't you be happy?"

"I'm finding out more information about my parent's murder. That's not exactly a happy mission." Sophie was more blunt than she'd intended, and she instantly felt guilty for being so rude. "Sorry, it's just I have the biggest headache. I'm probably not going to be any fun today."

Gwyn nodded in understanding, but Rylan winced apologetically.

"Today's going to get worse before it get's better. Cleo's coming over after lunch to hear about what happened. She insisted on coming in person."

Sophie wasn't surprised at all. "That's fine, I needed to discuss the next mission with her anyway. It'll be a good chance to figure out where we're at."

"Does she still think you know where the paintings are?" Gwyn sounded concerned.

"Hopefully she's realizing that I'm not going through all this trouble for nothing. If I knew where they were, I would've found them by now."

"She won't let you go, even after realizing it?" Rylan frowned deeply.

"Probably not. It is Cleo we're talking about. She doesn't give up easily."

Sophie glanced at Teddy, who was struggling to keep up with their conversation. As the youngest member of their family, it was tradition to keep him out of most discussions. He was proving to be very perceptive when they did let him listen.

"To answer your first question..." Sophie flashed him a small smile. "We didn't run into any bad guys. Just a group of scary old women."

Teddy scowled, disappointment evident on his face. "Darn."

"So," Sophie turned back to Rylan and Gwyn. "What's your plan for the day?"

"We thought we'd stay here." Gwyn shared a long look with Rylan. "Meeting with Cleo isn't fun, but we like to know what's going on."

"I'll be spending most of the day going over Slavsky's file, so you shouldn't force yourselves to stay here. It's a beautiful day, so why don't you take Teddy to the park?" Sophie tried not to make it obvious, but she did want them out of the house. It meant one less distraction, and she didn't want them to be around when she spoke to Cleo. "It'll be almost like a date."

Both Gwyn and Rylan blushed, glancing down at their plates.

"Well, if you really want us to." Rylan grinned up at Sophie.

"I'm going to go ahead and get started on my work." She stood from the table, flashing them one last fake smile. "Let me know when you get ready to go."

Teddy and Rylan seemed pleased with her performance, but Gwyn was not so easily deceived. She watched Sophie carefully, searching for a reason behind her strange behavior. Somehow, she wasn't buying the headache excuse.

Before Gwyn could read too much into Sophie's actions, she slipped out of the kitchen, beelining for her room.

Rylan was right that today was going to be a difficult one, but Sophie hoped she would have a better grasp of where she was headed by the end of it.

*  *  *

"What kind of plan do you have in mind?" Cleo asked, tapping her long, pale fingers on her leg. Her eyes weren't impatient, but filled with curiosity.