Crushed (8 page)

"I've been here the whole time." Gwyn replied, looking like she was about to smile. "So has Rylan." She motioned to him sitting at the kitchen table. "It's our first time meeting Max, as well." She informed Sophie.

"Max?" Sophie muttered. "Is he Cleo's friend?"

"Friend?" Gwyn winced. "More like enemy…but you can ask her for the details."

Robert entered the room before Sophie could ask her next question. He motioned for them to come to the living room, and Sophie watched as both Rylan and Gwyn exited the kitchen.

"What's the deal with Max?" Sophie whispered curiously, hoping Robert would give her something. "Why can't he find out about who I am?"

Robert paused, his expression turning cold for a moment. "Do you really want to know? It will only make your test harder."

"Tell me." Sophie pressed, ignoring his warning.

In one sudden movement, Robert leaned in until his lips were only inches from her ear. His whisper tickled, as well as sent shivers down her spine.

"Max Canaan is the person who is responsible for your parents death."

Sophie felt her body become numb.

"Now are you ready to meet him?" Robert questioned, looking at her with judging eyes. "The man who murdered them?"

All of a sudden she was filled with more hatred than she had ever known.

She tried to stop the tears, but his comment had been too sudden. Her hands began to shake, and she had to force herself to remember to breathe.

"Take me to him." She whispered through her teeth.

Robert's eyes widened.

"I can do it." She continued, furiously brushing away her tears. "I can face him."

There was only doubt in Robert's expression, but Sophie was beyond caring.

She pushed passed him, and headed straight for the living room door.

CHAPTER FOUR

My meeting with Max was only the beginning of a much larger and a much more complex game.

The sound of her heartbeat racing was the only thing Sophie could hear. Everything else was muted in the wake of her drumming heart. She felt like it was the only sound pulling her forward, towards her difficult task.

The anxiety which clenched her body was foreign to her. Sophie had never been an emotional person, and as a rule she refused to cry in front of others. However, today was different. Today something had gotten to her, and broken through her walls. It had been only momentary, but the intense wave of emotion was enough to almost immobilize her.

Robert's one sentence had changed everything. He'd crushed her composure that she'd worked so hard to build. Now, Sophie felt both guilty and embarrassed for letting him see her cry. She felt ten times as motivated to face the challenge than she had before. Robert's comment could not be allowed to break her completely. Not yet, not this early.

So what if he said Max had killed her parents? Who was she to cry over strangers anyway? The only family Sophie had in the world was her grandparents, and Max hadn't been responsible for their deaths. She could face him just like she faced any challenge before her. As Sophie walked down the hallway towards the living room she raised her head high, and set her mouth in a firm line. No weakness would show through now, not even the tears which had been so fleeting.

For a moment she wondered if Robert would stop her out of concern. When she turned to look for him, he was no where to be found. In the back of her mind she could hear him reminding her not to trust him.

"Of course." She whispered to herself, realizing that he wasn't the kind of person who would help her in this situation. He wanted her to leave, and facing someone like Max was the perfect way to push her to the brink.

Only, that wasn't going to happen. At least not now that she knew his plan.

Screw Robert and his test. She was going to prove to him that she was stronger than he thought.

Sophie walked into the living room with determination that radiated around her. Her entrance collected the eyes of the entire room, and she had to force herself not to smile. Until now she'd been shaken by nerves, but there wasn't anything to be nervous about. She trusted herself and her skills enough to know she could handle anything. Now, her role was to pretend to be a boy, and she was ready to do that to the best of her abilities.

"Ah, Max you're in luck. The new addition to my family has just arrived." Cleo's smooth voice sounded amused. Sophie turned her attention to her boss, who was grinning up at her mischievously.

While it made Sophie sick to see the woman so amused, she forced her face to remain impassive. Her goal was to make herself seem serious and bored. She didn't want to attract too much attention.

"New addition?" A sharp voice commented. Sophie could already make out the man's personality through his voice alone. The haughty tone spoke of money and power, and when she turned to look at him she found she was right.

Max was standing in the corner of the room, his posture both stiff and threatening. His cold gray eyes were hawk-like and they roved over Sophie like they were searching for a weakness.

There was a quality about him that mirrored Cleo, which Sophie could not name. These two were unexplainably similar, despite their supposed differences.

"Does this addition have a name?" Max asked, expecting Sophie to answer.

"No." Cleo replied instead. "I just picked him off the streets. Nothing but raw talent in this one."

"Raw talent." Max scoffed, finally turning his attention away from Sophie. For the moment, it seemed, he wasn't suspicious of her gender.

"Silent as the night, he is." Cleo joked, winking up at Max. "Robert found him and suggested I take him under my wing. Oh, you know how I'm a sucker for a handsome face."

Max didn't acknowledge Cleo's joke in the least. "He won't last long." He remarked. "I don't know why you bother hiring more of them anyway. I only have one, and he's enough to get the job done."

Cleo's smile faded slowly. "Now, Max. What have I told you about talking like you own those who work for you?" She shifted in her seat, stiffening her back and lifting her chin in the air. "You also know that I've been short on workers of late. I imagine you can figure out whose fault that it as well."

Max grinned at her comment. His twisted smile was excruciatingly hard to watch.

"Cleo, if you don't like the rules, don't play the game."

"I'm sure you would enjoy that." Cleo's voice was controlled, but there was biting quality to it. "I apologize, but I am a very busy woman. Someone with as much leisure time as you wouldn't understand, would you?"

As Cleo stood to face Max, Robert entered the room. Sophie didn't turn to look at him, though she felt his gaze on her.

"I guess it's time to leave." Max seemed amused by Cleo's rudeness. He began walking towards the living room door, and both Rylan and Gwyn stood while they watched him. The two had been siting quietly on the couch, nervously looking between Max and Cleo. They'd been introduced before Sophie had entered the room, and she'd forgotten their presence.

"It was good seeing you again." Cleo said caustically.

"I enjoyed meeting your recruits." Max's gaze hovered over Gwyn, Rylan, and Sophie. "We'll see how well they do." He reached out his hand to Rylan, who shook it quickly. Max then moved to Gwyn, but as he turned towards Sophie he paused. "You look familiar." He mused, his eyes turning cold.

Sophie's breath caught in her throat. Fear crept into her chest as panic began to take control. He couldn't' find out who she was...but the look in his eyes made her think he already had. There was something about Max that made her realize she couldn't fool him.

She tried to think of some kind of response, but her mind was frozen. All she could think about was not moving, and her fear clenched any reply she could've made.

Max's eyes narrowed as he watched her, the corners of his lips moving into a smile. He was about to speak when he was interrupted.

"He must remind you of me when I was younger." Robert broke in, stepping in front of Sophie so that Max could not see her. "If I remember correctly, I was just as quiet, though probably more handsome." Robert smiled at Max, and offered out his hand to say goodbye.

Max took it reluctantly, a flicker of suspicion in his eyes.

"You sure you won't consider joining me?" Max asked after a moment, as he walked towards the front door. Robert and Cleo followed after him, leaving Sophie standing frozen in the living room.

"Really, Max. Trying to recruit my best worker right in front of me?" Cleo's voice had returned to being friendly.

"I could use a guy like him. He's wasted here."

"Sorry." Robert said in the fake polite voice he'd used on Sophie the first time they'd met. "Cleo would be distraught without me."

"Don't regret that decision."

Sophie's head snapped around. Max's comment seemed laced with a threat.

"I won't." Robert's reply was just as determined.

A few minutes of tense silence followed, until the front door closed, signaling an end to Sophie's first test.

Rylan let out a long breath, sinking back down on to the couch. "That was..." He couldn't find the words to continue.

"I don't like him." Gwyn commented, more to Rylan than to Sophie. "When he stared at me, it felt like he was looking through me."

"Well, at least it didn't seem like he found out about Sophie." Rylan flashed her a thumbs-up. "You were very convincing."

Sophie stared blankly at the floor. Now that she had time to think, the pieces fell together perfectly.

"You knew." She accused without raising her voice. "You knew what he did."

Her thoughts flew back to Rylan's strange behavior this morning. Something had been eating at him, and Sophie finally knew what it was.

"You knew that Max killed my parents." Sophie was forced to pause at the immensity of what she'd just said. The word "parents" was unfamiliar to her, but when she spoke it out loud the situation became even more painful. Half of her hadn't believed Robert when he'd told her this before, but now that she'd said it, she realized it must be true.

These people had no reason to lie to her. All the far fetched stories they'd told her until now had held a grain of truth. She would've been contradicting herself if she refused to believe Robert now.

Rylan's grin faded, having been replaced by his former guilt.

"I did know." He admitted slowly.

Gwyn turned and looked between them, her eyes growing wide.

"I knew a long time before you came. My father told me, but I just assumed you knew. Robert only informed me this morning that you had no idea." Rylan refused to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry for not telling you, but Rob ordered me not to."

"That is a ridiculous excuse!" Gwyn shouted, shoving away from Rylan.

Both Sophie and Rylan turned to stare at Gwyn in surprise. Neither of them had thought she was capable of such anger.

"How cruel can the two of you be? I don't care who she is, you had no right to play with her like that. If I'd known..." Gwyn clenched her fists tightly. "I wouldn't have sat there and been so polite. He's a murderer!"

Even Gwyn seemed shocked by her own statement. She seemed to be struggling with accepting what she'd said.

"Is that really true?" She continued. "Did Max really kill her parents?" Something in her voice pleaded for it not to be right.

"As far as I know." Rylan tried to reach out to Gwyn, but she pulled away. "I don't know if he pulled the trigger, but he was definitely responsible."

"My parents died in a car crash." Sophie whispered, growing dizzy all of a sudden. "The authorities said they'd been run off the road by a drunk driver. We never found out who it was."

All three of them waited in silence, letting the truth sink in.

"I've never been so disappointed in you." Gwyn hissed at Rylan after a few moments had passed. "The two of you have lost all my respect." She spun out of the room, storming passed Sophie and up the stairs.

"What was that about?" Robert asked, entering the room with a surprised expression. "Who set her off?"

Rylan stood from the couch, looking like he'd just been slapped. His face was red, and his eyes were burning with anger.

"This is all your fault!" He shouted at Robert. "I told you not to do this, and now you've gone and made me the bad guy."

Robert's eyes went from surprised to neutral. He knew what this was about, but he was obviously not budging from his position.

"What if she never forgives me? What will you do then?" Rylan walked forward and shoved Robert in the chest. "We're supposed to be a family." He turned to point at Sophie. "To us, she's family now. You can't do things like this to family. It's cruel and wrong."

"Since when have we been a family." Robert asked coldly. "I expect this kind of thing from the kids, but aren't you a little old to throw a tantrum?"

"I could ask you the same question." Rylan lifted his head in challenge. "I may be sixteen, but I'm mature enough not to hold grudges. Making her face Max is something a bully would do. An insecure, pathetic bully. I don't care how much you want her to leave. She's here now, so we need to make the best of it. We let you get away with being mean at first because we respect you, but not anymore."

Rylan took a few moments to catch his breath.

"You don't think we're a family?" He continued heatedly. "You know you're all we've got. Cleo doesn't care what happens to us, but we trust you. You're responsible for us. Don't forget that."

Rylan turned and charged away, slamming the front door on his way out of the house.

Sophie turned to stare at Robert, and he stared back, his eyes unwavering.

His raised his eyebrow in question, expecting her to yell at him too.