Leonardo 

A few hours ago

Fragile.

Her trembling legs and her quivering lips narrated the deep-seated truth of her vulnerability. She stood at the hotel entrance, the distant look in her ocean eyes gave the conformation that Zemira Ford was cracking under the weight of her sham.

The crowd chanted her name, inching towards her. For them, Zemira could do no wrong. Even with the security, Haley couldn't keep them away. The avalanche of people crashed threatened to crash through the barricades, engulfing everything in their way.

I had to act quickly. Leaving the engines on, I dashed through throngs of people. Haley helped, fusing my hand with Zemira's as I drew near.

"Thanks for coming." Her erratic words greeted me. "Leave through that exit," she said, pointing towards a smaller metal gate camouflaged by the garden shrubbery. "We'll manage the crowd."

Zemira's unresisting body was easy to navigate. I was tugging a feather-light being behind me.

"Try to move faster," I said but my words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Helpless.

She remained cemented with silence. I drove her back to her mansion but any attempt at conversation went in vain. She didn't move when I opened the door, neither did she look, her gaze fixed on her shoes.

"Let's go inside, Zem," I said but it wasn't Zemira who sat inside the car.

It was a shell I had picked up from the hotel. Her true form remained etched on the walls of the hotel room where she sat for the interview.

"Zemira, come on, we're home."

Still nothing.

Straining my back, I moved inside the car, peeling her off the seat. Lifting her in my arms, I moved inside, walking up the stairs.

Unlike my comrades, she was easy to carry. She wasn't oozing lifeblood into the fabric of my shirt, either. However, the urgency to get her help remained the same.

Numb.

When the pain reached a certain point, the human body would shut down. Although Zemira didn't suffer physical pain, a mental and societal affliction commanded her body.

Placing her on the bed, I cleared strands of raven-colored hair from her ashen face. Gradually, her hooded gaze shifted from the floor to my own face. Hurt danced at the horizon of her ocean blues eyes, brimming over.

I sat beside her, cupping her stoic face. "Zem, talk to me. Say something."

She continued with her unblinking stare, unable to break free from the past. The shock processing mechanism was different for everyone. For Zemira, it was embracing silence.

When I rose from her side, her airy words addressed me. She said something, too feeble to hear.

"Do you need something, Zem?" I asked. "Talk to me. Tell me you are mad, that you want to beat Anto up." I carefully sat again, the mattress dipping under my weight. "But for the love of God, please talk."

Another bout of her silence pricked me in a way that I didn't understand. Like an invisible string controlled my mind and body, I bent and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Every muscle in my body ached, every nerve restrained me as I turned to face the door. I wasn't what Zemira needed right now.

She needed peace. She needed people who cared for her.

The moment I took another step, her father walked inside.

His crinkled forehead and the way he huffed upon evaluating his daughter reminded me of the way my mother used to feel whenever I would appear weak.

"Hello sir," I forwarded my hand but Grand Ford didn't realize my presence till I moved closer.

"Hello, Leo," his concerned voice addressed me, as he watched his daughter.

"I've asked Haley to make sure things are under control back at the hotel. And I'd driven Zemira back. And nobody followed us."

Addressing him, I realized what it must feel like to have a cheerful daughter who suddenly withdrew all her laughter and went into hiding. My back faced Zemira but I could feel how she felt.

Scared. Shocked.

Of the incident. Of her assumptions that the world blamed her.

Of her and Antonio's lies being uncovered.

"Thank you for bringing her back safely," Grand said as he sank into the chair next to her bed. "And thank you for all the help too."

The interview was a disaster. Everything else was too.

But I didn't want to tell that to a father who was trying to remain calm and civil.

There wasn't much I could do at this moment. Leaving Zemira in the care of her father, I walked out of their home.

The drive to the office passed in a blur but the elevator ride up to my designated floor was vexing.

Some people in the office weren't aware of my return and didn't recognize me. The people that shared the elevator car were apparently among them, parroting the questions asked by everyone on social media.

"Did you see the video?"

"Did you see the interview?"

Widely circulated within a matter of hours, Antonio's video had become a matter of public discussion.

Inside his chamber, I was greeted with the sight of Antonio nesting his head between his palms. Haley stood beside him, yelling at someone on the phone. The room smelled putrid like something rotting up inside.

Truthfully, something was decaying – our reputation.

"Little one," I called out. His eyes flickered as they rose to meet mine.

"Leo."

He dashed towards me, embracing me with such force, my ribs felt as if they might crack.

My arms enveloped him, and I felt the vibrations from deep within his chest. His hands were locked behind my back, fingers digging at my skin.

Antonio was clawing at me as a means to protect himself. During his childhood, he employed this technique in the wake of his nightmares.

Today, he was hiding from the monsters of reality.

"Don't worry. It'll all be fine. I promise I'll take care of it," I said, breathing in the clove-infused cologne that he always used in excess. "Think of this as a minor glitch, okay?"

"It's not anything minor," Antonio answered into my shoulder. "Nobody will trust me now."

"You're assuming the worst, Anto. Don't do that." I peeled him off, jostling his hunched shoulders to brighten up his expression.

Like warm liquid, my training flowed through my veins.

Forward march, soldier.

"We need to come up with an explanation," I said. The tone of my voice made Antonio nod. He walked back to his seat, palms clasped to rest his chin. "I'll have to call Zemira too. She's collateral in all this."

"No, please don't." Antonio leaned into the table. Guilt danced over him. "I won't be able to face her... ever..."

"It's not like you actually cheated on her. You weren't really dating."

Haley walked back from a far corner of the room, expression as diminished as Antonio's, her head hanging low.

"What's the issue, Haley?" I asked.

Her gaze bore into the floor. "The news channels won't take the video down. They're saying it's genuine."

"It is genuine," Antonio cried out, gripping his hair.

Frustration hung above him, darkening and swallowing every last inch of light.

"Did you record it yourself? " I had to confirm. Our path forward rested on his answer.

"No. Nooo. I wouldn't do that to a woman." He moved out of his chair back. "It must have been a hidden camera."

I could taste the tang from my nerves working overtime, ideas and plans rushing to fill the gaps, to fix the issue.

The world only saw a discrete thread standing out in the tapestry of Antonio's lies.

I had to ensure, nobody tugged onto it.

"I'll be in my office. When I have a game plan, I'll let you know." I said. The hammering inside my head increased with every passing second, drilling holes into my skull. "Do not interact with anyone in the meantime."

"But, Leo. We can't just let them play the video while we devise a plan," Haley said. "I'm trying to get our lawyers involved. These media channels must be taught a lesson."

"Listen, Haley. I know what I'm doing. I also know how to get Antonio and Zemira out of this mess."

"You could." Her voice echoed inside the room. "But I've been trained for situations like these. Let me help you."

Haley knew a lot about damage control. What she didn't know was how to handle people when they came after the Brentons.

"You went to college for this but me and Anto, we've grown up with this." Closing our distance, I towered over her. "You've been trained to help control damage while I and my brother were taught from our childhood how to handle situations like these."

"Fine." Taking a step back, Haley nodded. "You've been doing this longer than I've been a part of this Company. I trust you to get us out of this."

I walked out to the sight of Antonio nodding and Haley typing something on her phone.

Inside the privacy of my office, I heard the nagging voice that always appeared whenever doubts clouded my judgment.

What's the plan, Sergeant?

The web of lies spun had been exposed to the winds of truth. If people went snooping, everything would unravel.

The channels kept flashing Zemira's photos on a loop. A photo montage of her life since childhood flooded the news while the words 'scandal' flashed up on screen every few minutes.

Like scavengers, everyone picked at her. Tabloid journalists chewed on whatever they could find, barfing it out for everyone's entertainment.

In the heartless world of ratings, Zemira wasn't a woman or a victim. She was a trending topic. A favorite hashtag.

When I tried searching for her number, I heard Antonio's voice in my head. "Save her number, you'd need it someday."

"Trust me, I won't," I had said.

In reality, I had been evading her.

The way she looked at me dug out my vulnerability. My past remained buried beneath fake smiles and assurances of my well-being.

I couldn't let anyone dredge it up.

So I didn't have her number but I did have her father.

Grant Ford picked up on the second ring.

Unlike my father, who had been deafening people around him since the interview fell apart, Zemira's father possessed a calming tone that soothed the fire in my throat.

I knew better than to hope that he would remain the same once I introduced myself.

"Good afternoon, sir. I'm Leonardo Brenton."

Polite formality might buy me a few minutes before Mr. Ford channeled his anger for destroying his daughter's reputation.

"I'm calling to talk about the next step, sir. Again, I'm extremely sorry about the interview and what you and Zemira must be going through."

I heard a deep, long sigh. My mouth turned sour. I could smell the stench of angry words seeping from his end of the line, searing the insides of my nostrils.

When he cleared his throat, I braced for impact.

"It happens to the best of us, Leonardo," he said in a gentler tone even than before, almost inaudible. "But I want you kids to be very careful now. In fact, I'd like to speak with you regarding the arrangement my daughter has conjured up with your brother."

"Sure sir."

Grant Ford was a good businessman who knew losing his temper would do him no good. Dave Brenton could have learnt a thing or two from him.

"If I may," I continued. "Could I please have a word with Zemira? She wasn't herself when I left her so if I could just..."

The rest of my words fused over my tongue - blame for not warning Antonio, for letting him play a rogue.

Another part, the self-centered one, rejoiced. Once all this was over, Zemira would leave and I could go back to being the recluse I was always accused of becoming.

I would live the rest of my life in peace, knowing I had saved an innocent woman from getting mixed with the likes of us.

When Zemira took over the call, her tone was grave. She had given up on hope, readying herself to lead a hermit life till the storm settled.

It was hard, convincing her to meet. And even harder to get her to fight again. I closed my eyes, leaning over my table.

"Zem." From the deepest trenches of my gut, I called her name. "You are the greatest gift the Brentons could have wished for."

My mouth stayed ajar long after I spoke, shock consuming me.

Somewhere between getting her to speak and making her understand the impending situation, I had let the truth escape.

There was silence from her end. Only the ragged breathing confirmed her presence. The quick-witted Zemira remained in hiding.

"What do you think I should do?" she asked, her tone meek like a child asking for permission.

Life may have knocked her out in the first round but she was determined to fight back. For her, the match wasn't over... yet.

"Meet me at my office." I was delivering marching orders. "Take the executive's elevator and do not talk to anyone."

In Antonio's chamber, I found my brother frozen in the same thinking state in which I had left him.

When I towered over his chair, he didn't look up. Only his feeble voice acknowledged my presence.

"So? Anything?"

"Zemira is coming," I said.

"That's great." Haley palmed her chest, falling on the leather couch. It hissed, deflating under her weight. "Then we can discuss how to–"

"We won't discuss anything, Haley. No strategies. Nothing." My arms lifted, slicing through her words. "Zem and Anto would amicably separate. Everyone will talk about it but it will die... eventually."

"Just like that?" Dad's voice mocked me from behind. The door slammed shut after his entry.

I turned to see him resting his hands in his pockets, his narrowed gaze scoping me out as if about to blast me.

"You really think the news will blow over in time?"

"I do." It was a rhetorical question, but I answered it anyway. "All I need is Zemira, so I can tell her what she needs to do."

"And what is that?" Dad's voice drowned all other voices in my head. "Run? Just like you do every year?"

Anger bubbled up from my gut, spilling into my bloodstream.

Dad and I weren't an ordinary father-son duo. We were two alphas who rounded each other every chance we got, slashing the other with lethal injuries.

"I didn't run away and neither will I ask her to."

My chest expanded, my gaze heating up as I churned cool air into hot huffed breaths. His fiery gaze lingered on, boiling me.

"Then what's your strategy?"

Even Dave Brenton knew better than to challenge a madman. He took a step back and loosened his tie.

Tainted with mockery, his tone nudged me to think.

My plan was simple– ensure a successful merger while hiding Antonio and Zemira's plot.

Unlike an architect, I ignored a crucial planning aspect– of man's proposal and God's disposal.

~

I'd jump through all barriers and hoops, just to see you smile. Isn't that enough?

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