Entangled (Vice Games) (6 page)

‘Father,’ Tristan coldly acknowledged. The temperature in the room dropped and I felt Anna’s cold fingers wrap itself around mine. I gave her a reassuring squeeze.

‘Son,’ said Elliot.
It was clear that the relationship was not a warm or natural in any sense.

‘
As we discussed last night, I’ve hired someone to take care of Annabelle. She has taken up residence at my house and there’s no need for Annabelle to return here.’

Elliot Vice looked at me with his cold eyes. I lifted my chin and held my ground against his assessment.

‘What are your qualifications?’

‘I have none that
you would think of as relevant,’ I found myself saying. Tristan seemed to freeze at my answer. ‘But I possess a quality that you desire.’

Elliot Vice was not moved by my reply. ‘And what is this quality?’

‘The ability to command obedience,’ I said. ‘Your daughter will listen to me and it has come to my attention that she refuses to take her medication.’

Anna began to panic. She tried to pull her hand away from mine. It was as if my words betrayed my promise to her. But I held on tightly and gave it another s
queeze. She needed to trust me. Elliot’s eyes momentarily glanced over his daughter and Karen narrowed her gaze towards us.

‘Prove it,’ she said. The young stepmother walked towards the table and took a pill out from each prescribed medicine bottle.
Anna began to breathe heavily and took a step away. I sensed the onset of a panic attack and immediately spun around to face her. I placed my hand on her face.

‘Hey,’ I whispered. ‘I need you to trust me, okay?’

‘But the pills, I don’t want to take the pills,’ she began to cry as she shook her head. I glanced over my shoulders and saw that Karen had placed the pills into a small dish.

‘I’m going to need a minute,’ I announced and quickly led Anna out
through the door. I pushed her into the nearest room and closed the door.

‘You said I wouldn’t have to take the pills,’ she sobbed. ‘You lied to me.’

‘Hey, you haven’t taken them yet. Look, the only way to get your father to agree is that you do as she wants,’ I whispered.

Anna shook her head and attempted to run out but I blocked her path.

‘Listen to me, I’m not finished yet. I only said you have to take the pills, it doesn’t mean you have to swallow them.’

That got her attention. ‘What?’

‘Have you seen the size of those things? They’re miniscule. Take them and hide them under your tongue. It’s a test. If you do as they expect you to do, they’ll let you go back to your brother’s house.’

Anna stopped her tears and blinked at my genius suggestion. She had never thought to do that before.

‘Let them see you take it but don’t,’ I whispered. Anna nodded and although her eyes were still fearful, I saw that she understood what she had to do.

With her hand in mine, I led her back into the large room where Karen, Elliot Vice and Tristan waited. Tristan gave me an enquiring look and then cast his eyes over his sister. I took the bowl of pills from Karen and held it out towards Anna. The fearful teen sniffed and slowly, she picked each pill, one by one and placed it on her tongue. Karen blinked with surprise at the girl’s sudden complacency. I poured a glass of water for Anna and she drank it all up.
I found Tristan watching me in wonderment.

‘There,’ I said and turned to face Elliot Vice without a hint of fear towards him.
‘I made her take her pills without protest.’

‘Very well,’ said Elliot Vice. He turned and left without another word.
Karen followed after him and Tristan immediately pushed us in the opposite direction towards the door. We were quick to leave and Anna struggled with the bitterness that grew in her mouth.

The car remained where Tristan had left it and I jumped in the back seat with Anna.

‘Not yet,’ I told her. The butlers watched us from the steps. I reached out and pulled the seatbelt over her body. It strapped her back against the seat and Tristan was quick to leave his father’s grounds. When we were out through the gates and far away from the cameras, I held out my hand and Anna spat out the pills.

Tristan glanced at us through the rearview mirror and realized what I had done.
He cracked a momentary impressed smile.

‘That tasted horrible,’ complained Anna, her face contorted with disgust.

‘Horrible yes, but it was worth it.’

Half a month without the pills allowed Anna to settle into being a normal teenager. And my relationship with Tristan stalled. He avoided talking to me as much as possible and kept his icy demeanor on like a shield. It made no sense why he acted that way and my numerous attempts at conversation always failed. I eventually gave up and we coexisted in the same space out of necessity. He paid me by the week and did not say anything about my employment. There seemed to be no need for words as I understood clearly what he wanted me to do – take care of his sister. I was allowed to make my own judgment on things and I took his lack of protest against my actions as acceptance towards the decisions I made.

Anna’s
teachers came to Tristan’s house to do her lessons. They were stern and expected Anna to take her pills before each lesson. No wonder the girl was going crazy before I came into her life. It was clear that these ‘teachers’ were also getting paid to monitor Anna and make sure that she was being medicated. We continued with our ruse and I sat through the lessons with Anna.

As the days passed, I began to understand why she desperately needed a friend.
Being homeschooled meant that the girl didn’t have a chance to meet anyone outside the house. She was closed off from the outside world. The medication she was on only made things worse.

‘Tristan did try to get me out,’ said Anna when we were by ourselves at the mall. We hadn’t spent any money and was just window shopping for the sake of it. ‘But father
always made me go back and Tristan’s always off on business trips.’

‘What does he do? I mean, what sort of business is he running?’

Anna shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Tristan never talks about it and I’ve always been too out of it to care. But most of our money comes from mom. Tristan has half of her fortune and I’m set to inherit the other half.’

We brought kebab wraps for lunch and she was perfectly content with sitting on the bench and eating them
with her hands. Jace picked us up at four and we returned home with nothing but what Lorraine put down on the grocery list. At first, the housekeeper was reluctant to give me the week’s shopping list but I convinced her that a trip down the fresh foods aisle was necessary for Anna’s sense of normalcy. Jace attempted to take in all the bags himself but I wouldn’t allow it. Anna happily volunteered to help with the load.

As we entered the house, I noticed something d
ifferent about it. There was a strong smell of perfume lingering in the air and Lorraine came out of the kitchen with a sour face. Anna’s smile quickly faded away and Jace fell silent. I frowned at everyone’s reaction and wondered what was going on.

‘She’s here, isn’t she?’ said Anna, her tone as cold as her brother when he spoke to me.

Tristan Vice came down the stairs and I was surprised to see him home. It was Thursday and not yet six o’clock. He was usually still at the office. He had on his white shirt but it looked as if he had put it on himself in a hurry. It was the first time I’ve seen him like this. The top three buttons were undone and his hair was messy. Our eyes met momentarily and I enquired him with a glance. Although I lived in his house, Tristan made an effort not to speak to me. Conversations were only made if they concerned Anna.

A woman walked out of his room and revealed herself to me. She was tall,
blonde and looked like a model. She wore one of Tristan’s shirts. It was long enough to cover mid her thighs and she did not wear any pants. She made it no secret what went on between her and Tristan behind closed doors. I felt sick at the realization and my heart cracked with pain. The woman must be the dreaded fiancée I’ve yet to meet. Of course she must be. Who else could she be?

Anna immediately dropped the grocery bags and left. I turned after her but she was already out through the door.

‘Anna,’ I called out after her. Placing the bags down, I chased after the girl. ‘Anna!’

Anna was running down the driveway a
nd out through the front gates. She continued to run until she was out of breath and when I finally caught up to her half way down the street, I saw that her face was covered in tears. She threw her arms around my neck and sobbed.

‘I hate her! I hate her! I hate her!’ she repeated in my ear.

‘Hey, everything’s going to be alright. I’m here now.’

‘That bitch is going to ruin everything,’ Anna cried.

It’s been a while since I’ve heard Anna speak like that. I sat her down on the sidewalk, partly because I also needed a rest from the running. My legs were weak and jellylike. We plotted ourselves down on the concrete and Anna drew her knees up towards her chest.

‘Talk to me,’ I said to her. She rocked back and forth slightly as she spoke.

‘She’s horrible and Tristan isn’t Tristan when she’s around.’

‘What do you mean?’ I asked.

‘He turns icy and treats me as if…’ Anna’s chest began to heave and I sensed the imminent wave of a panic attack. Although being off the pills did help her a great deal, Anna was still prone to having outbursts when it got too stressful for her. I moved and wrapped my arms around her. It always helped her to remain calm.

‘Hush,’ I told her. ‘I’m here now. We’re in this together and I need you to stay calm.’

Anna struggled to keep it under control. She breathed in deeply and held the air in her lungs until her face turned slightly purplish.

‘Alright, so Tristan turns into a complete ass when she’s around, have you ever tried talking to him about it?’

Anna released her breath and shook her head.

‘Do you want to talk to him about it?’

Anna shook her head again.

‘That’s not going to solve anything, now is it?’

‘He never listens to anyone when that bitch is around.’

‘Then you’ll have to talk to him when she’s not there. I mean, come on, you do live with him and he is your brother. When he’s in the right frame of mind, I’m sure he’ll listen to you.’

Anna shook his head. ‘When it comes to her, Tristan never listens. She has him under her control and he just shuts me out. He even tells me to go and take my pills.’

I was surprised by the report. I knew that Tristan was against his being unnecessarily medicated and approved of the ruse that Anna and I carried out when it came to taking her pills. But for him to tell her to take it is another matter.
I began to wonder what sort of person Tristan became when it concerned his fiancée. It also dawned on me that this woman did not have good intentions towards Anna.

Jace found us on the sidewalk and was relieved to see my arms wrapped around Anna as if she was my baby sister.

‘We got so worried,’ he started.

‘Jace,’ I said, ‘can you go back and get the car. I think Anna and I should eat out tonight.’

Jace gave me an enquiring look but I did not say anything. I simply nodded for him to move and he eventually complied with my request. Going back to the house right now was too emotionally dangerous for Anna and I needed to stabilize her before doing anything else. Tristan’s fiancée’s presence would only make things worse.

As
we waited for Jace to come back, I felt my heart drop and the splintering effect at the thought of Tristan being with another woman. I felt stupid to even having such feelings towards the situation. I’m only here because of Anna. He just happens to be her brother and the man that is also paying me my weekly wage.

‘Where to?’ Jace asked. I sat in the backseat with Anna.

‘Somewhere,’ I said. ‘Just drive around for a little while.’

Jace did as instructed. Anna had slipped into a volatile state and he trusted me to make the decisions.
I eventually settled for a fast food joint three streets away and the three of us sat together at the small table. Anna picked at her food and I didn’t feel like eating. We went back to the mall and meandered around for a little bit more with Jace behind us like a security guard. After a few hours, I checked my watch and found that it was almost eight.

‘I think we should go back,’ I said when I
judged Anna to be stable enough but she was reluctant to comply.

‘I’m not going home if she’s still there,’ she said with her arms crossed. I saw
heat bubble beneath her skin and it felt like I was negotiating with a volcano. But Anna could not control these things. The drugs had messed with her system for so long that it would require time and guidance to help her through it. It was this knowledge that allowed me to be patient with her.

I took out my phone and allowed her to see the screen as I flicked through the numbers in the list. I stopped and Tristan’s name and pressed the button to call him. Pressing the phone to my ear, I waited and listened to the ringing tone. Eventually someone picked up.