Bodyguard Romance Thing (Sabrina Holland and Corvus)

Adeline could tell Jeremy was omiting something, he wouldn't look her in the eyes. He had always been a terrible liar because whenever he even thought about lying he wouldn't look her in the eyes.

"Jeremy what was the scandal." Adeline said directly.

"Ah. It's not important." Jeremy replied still not looking her in the eyes.

"Jeremy. People who are involved in trivial scandals don't stalk people, ransack their apartments, and leave behind notes written in Chinese. What am I dealing with here?"

She knew her brother better than he knew himself, and she knew exactly what he was going through his head as he looked to his left at the corner of his desk for a minute before looking back at her. He was deciding how much to tell her.

"Some higher ups in the company got the company involved some... bad things in China." Jeremy admitted "Drug trafficking to be specific. The products that Peterson Pharmaceuticals distribute in Asia are different than the ones in the US. In most of Asia opiates are still used in many medicines and the use of opiates by legal vendors like us is completely legal. This means we can transport opium legally. Some people in the company started transporting opium for a drug gang under the ruse of being legitimate for the business business. The issue came to light shortly after I began heading the company I fired all the members who were thought to be involved and hired new drivers for all the trucks in China. I thought I had snuffed out the corruption, I guess I was wrong."

Adeline nodded slowly proccessing the knowledge. She could tell her brother was still holding something back.

She caught her brothers eye. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

He looked away, "No nothing."

Silence filled the room after Ray left. Adeline tried to organize the million thoughts running through her head. Nothing added up if the drug traffickers were the ones who wrote the note why would they want to stop Peterson pharmaceuticals. Perhaps they felt double crossed and were looking for revenge, but why go after her? What did they think they could get from her. Most importantly why was her brother hiding something from her? 

"Do you think it was the gangsters who have been following me?" Adeline finally asked her brother.

"Yes." 

"Why?" Adaline said holding her brother's gaze. "Why go after me if they are after the company? What do they think they can gain from me?"

Jeremy shifted in his seat his eyes darting away before returning to her gaze, "I'm not sure. Maybe they are after me. They can't get any information on me because my house is well protected and so is my office. If they could get information on me through you who is a much easier target they could get to me that's probably why they ransacked your apartment and that's also why they never went after you personally because you're not the end target. I am." 

"Okay. Makes sense." Adeline said what she wanted. "Why didn't you tell me about this? Seems like a hell of thing to omit."

"I just didn't want you to worry." Jeremy replied he looked her in the eye he was sincere but it wasn't the whole truth. "Especially not about something I thought was taken care of."

"You're lying." Adeline said biting her lip and turning away from her brother.

Jeremy didn't deny it. "Just trust me Adi. I've told you everything you need to know. I'll hire some people to investigate in the meantime I'm going to have Ray stick to you like glue, twenty four hours a day. I don't want them thinking they can kidnap you or something to get to me. Just give me a few weeks okay?"

"Okay." Adeline replied. "I trust you."

It took them four hours to put the apartment back into basic working order. Ray got settled into the second bedroom where he would be staying until Jeremy managed to sort everything out. Finally everything was settled and Ray started working on his homework at the coffee table. Adeline needed to study to but she couldn't bring herself to focus with all that was going on she didn't have many thoughts anymore just a growing feeling of frustration. Frustration of being in a situation she didn't deserve, of having to wait for someone else to solve the problem rather than doing it herself, but what upset her most was that her brother would lie to her. She decided to take out her frustration on the growing pile of dishes in the sink. Scrubbing the dishes muttering to herself things like distrustful punk. Adeline kept hearing a constant clicking noise behind her she glanced over he shoulder to ree Ray staring incredulously at his homework and clicking the top of his pen repeatedly. She tried to shrug it off and go back to washing the dishes with an overabundance of aggression but every click did nothing to stami her frustration. 

"Will you stop clicking the damn pen!" Adeline shouted. Realizing she had just lashed out at the wrong person she immediately felt bad. "Sorry. Click all you want. I'm not mad at you I'm just..."

"Don't worry about it. Being lied to doesn't sit well with you, I see."

He was more perceptive than Adeline expected. Ray could tell exactly what was bothering her and she found that both impressive and irritating. She had never thought of herself as someone easy to read and yet Ray never had any problem figuring her out. Finishing with the dishes she pulled the plug on the drain and looked back at Ray still staring at the same part in his notes. 

Adeline walked over and kneeled down beside him, "What part do you not understand?"

Adeline was actually surprised that Ray could understand what he could for this course there was a lot the professor expected students to know from previous courses.

Adeline started at the begging pointing at the beginning of the notes she said, "To understand this you need to know the 5 major theories of Globalization. This excerpt comes from a famous transformationalist..."

She taught Ray for another fifteen minutes and he caught on quickly now that he had the background information he needed. He definitely wasn't book smart but he could apply a practicality and worldly view to the material that her naive classmates completely lacked. 

Finishing a large part of the notes Adeline finally asked what she had been wondering for over a week, "Why do bother with studying? You don't have to study to do your job so why do you?"