Chapter sixteen

The cool blue lights stained his face, turning it azure and she wasn't sure if his eyes were brown or black due to the light. Soft classic music was playing in the background and there a champagne flute was attached to both of his slender fingers as he watched her broodingly.

In his eyes, Vivienne looked really tired but he was more concerned about his privacy that had been disrupted. He was on his way to a dinner party and wanted to enjoy his time alone before he was swarmed by the ladies.

The chauffeur driving him to the venue of the party lacked ethics and he was not going to forget to give the driving company a bad review.

"Hey." Vivienne greeted him with a small smile on her face.

"Hey." He replied, uninterested.

"I'm sorry for the inconveniences. It's really dangerous out there this late and there was no one to pick me up."

"You were with a man." He said.

Vivienne didn't understand him. "Huh?"

"He looked to be your lover or something of the sorts and you both got into a car. How are you standing in the middle of the bridge?"

Slowly, Vivienne began to realize who and what he was talking about. She would have given him a really rude reply if she wasn't in a situation that was likely to be bad for Trent's driving services.

Instead, she smiled. "It's complicated. A lot happened."

The man scoffed and swirled his drink. "Indeed."

Vienna studied him. He was dressed in a dark suit and looked dressed for a dinner party. That was why he was in a limo. She began to wonder who he was because a common person was likely not able to afford a limo.

Her phone buzzed and her attention immediately diverted to her phone. Eva was calling.

Fear kicked in. Vivienne knew who was calling. It wasn't Eva but her abductors. She closed her eyes and picked up the call.

"What do you want from me?"

A laugh was heard at the other end. "Why not come to the central club downtown tonight?"

The voice was deep, masculine.

"What for?" She asked. The man beside her was giving her a suspicious stare so she inched away from him and curled herself at the other corner as she cupped the loudspeaker in her hand.

"Do you want to save your secretary or not? She'll be dead by tomorrow if you decline my invite. And I am sure you wouldn't want someone dying for something that's entirely not their fault."

Viviennne's hands were already trembling in fear. She deliberated.

Marcus needed to be alerted about this new update but she remembered what Gavin told her earlier today about upsetting them and getting Eva killed. And it was also risky to go there alone. If she didn't, Eva would be dead by tomorrow.

"I'll be there in thirty minutes."

There was a smile in the speaker's voice. "Smart of you, Vivienne. Now, we wouldn't want you alerting the police and putting the life of your secretary in danger, would we?"

"No." Vivienne replied in a really shaky voice. The man beside her already noticed her fear and raised his brows in curiosity but he asked her nothing.

As soon as she was done with the call, he noticed how her had changed . She gulped and let the phone drop to her lap before leaning back against the seat.

Vivienne slept off and was awoken with a tap on her shoulders. She jolted awake and looked around. No one was in the car and Trent was looking down at her.

"Ma'am," He began. "I'm at the front of your building."

"Ohh." She stepped out immediately and thanked him profusely. "I'll wire the money to your account first thing tomorrow morning."

"Not to worry." Trent told her.

Vivienne rolled her eyes and began to walk away from him. "I'll send it to the account number you gave me the last time!" She called over her shoulder.

When she got to the lobby, she greeted the security guard who gave her a weird look. She totally agreed with him. Bo normal person dressed in running clothes by this time of the day. She had had one hell of a day.

A message entered her phone. It was from Gavin. She didn't open the text and entered the elevator. She called Marcus on her way and informed him that she was already home and when she asked about Eva, he told her that there was no news of her. That was when she decided that she would go see whoever called her.

As soon as she was in the confines of her room, she pulled off her clothes and hurried into the shower for a quick bath. She hadn't taken her bath for the whole day and she was sure she smelt of sweat and atmosphere. She needed to wash it off her and maybe feel relieved from all of today's stress.

A hot bath was what Vivienne took and it loosened her tight muscles. She needed that. When she stepped out of the bathroom, she quickly dried her body and did her usual skincare rituals before slipping into a comfortable dress; khaki combats and a plain black top that partially covered her belly.

Vivienne was putting on her shoes when a call came in. She has received a lot of calls today and it was wearing her out. But she went ahead to pick anyway.

It was Amelia. Vivienne scoffed. "Yes?"

"Yes?" Amelia repeated. "That's how you speak to me now, right?"

"Oh, please. Why are you calling at this time of the day? After everything that happened?"

"I was busy." Amelia replied after a few seconds of silence.

"Oh, that's nice." Vivienne chuckled. "I am also busy right now. We'll talk whenever I am chanced."

Vivienne didn't wait for her friend to speak. She immediately hung up and flung her phone on her bed.

Viviennne was so livid. It felt like she was retching. Amelia was unbelievable right now. How could she call and still get mad at her?

Shaking her head, Vivienne took the keys to her second car, fully aware that she left one of her cars at the company due to the rush and messiness of the whole situation.

Locking her doors, she hurried towards the elevator. She had less than ten minutes to be there and the club was a five minutes drive. Today was Friday and the streets would be brimming with people.

She told the security guard that she would be returning late as she rushed out of the lobby. Not waiting to get to her car, she opened her car with the remote control and quickly pulled it open. She was going to drive like she never had and didn't care if she broke driving rules.

And as she drove through the dark New York streets, she vowed to bring everyone involved in whatever was happening to book. She didn't care how close they were.

Amelia came to mind.

No matter how hard she tried, Vivienne could not get the thought of Amelia having something to do with all that was happening out of her head and if it was true, it was going to break her. It was really going to break her.

Over the years, the trust she had for men had dwindled greatly and Amelia was starting to make her not trust both genders. Why did life have to be unfair to the good people? It was right that good people suffered while the bad ones got a share of every good thing while stepping on others.

She was glad that the roads were quite free. From her double tinted windows, she watched people dressed to party move about and as she neared the club Eva's kidnappers had directed her too, she became afraid. Her grip around her steering wheel tightened as she drove forward.

Eva was her priority at the moment. Her company be damned. Santa Monica was all gone and she would hate herself if she didn't save Eva's life.