"Was that really necessary?" I said.

"Let's please not start. I've had a terribly long day," Jean huffed back in annoyance. He looked around the lobby, as if trying to locate something. "Where is Alceste?"

"I wouldn't know. I just came home," I said. His question wasn't aimed at anyone in particular but I assumed it was a good thing to stay far away from his path of destruction.

"Where is he? He should have reached by now!" Jean yelled in frustration. Lorenzo entered the lobby from the side door and bore the wrath of his Boss. "Get Alceste here. Now!" he barked.

"What is all this commotion?" came Anna's voice from the top of the staircase. She was wearing a set of pajamas with a nightgown firmly tightened above it. Her hair was coiffed in a high bun and it was clear from her face that she had been asleep.

"Have you seen Alceste?" asked Jean.

"No. He's not here. Is everything alright?" Anna asked. Her voice was laced with panic. She started rushing down the staircase to get closer to her brother. He looked agitated and wondered if this had anything to do with Alexa's murder.

"I need Alceste here. Now!" he replied in his usual caustic tone.

Anna took out her mobile phone from the pocket of her robe and frantically started dialing Alceste's number. She kept dialing it till her frustration caused her to throw her phone across the room. "I'm not being able to get through to him. Do you know where he is?"

"Renz, you got any update?" asked Jean.

"Looks like he just entered your driveway, Boss," replied Lorenzo. He raised his phone to a live feed of a dark blue Mercedes sliding into the gate of this house.

"Good. Get me a clean bowl of water, would you?" Jean asked Lorenzo as he stared at his dirty hands.

"Jesus, Jean. Where have you been?" Anna gasped.

I looked at Jean's hands. The wet blood had started drying on them and the blood spatters on his white shirt burned bright under the luminescent lobby where everything was spotlessly white.

"Work," Jean replied.

"Oh for fuck's sake. Jean, what the hell is going on?" Anna asked.

Jean opened his mouth to retort with a snapping remark when Anna spoke over him, "Enough with the facade of protecting me. I'm a goddam Renauld. I'm your sister. I can handle anything. If you're in trouble, it's my right to know. I am demanding you tell me!"

Jean looked at his sister, with her wild eyes and frazzled hair. She reminded him so much of their mother. They had the same chocolate brown hair and light blue eyes that reminded him of sunshine, water, laughter and love. His mother was a beautiful and gentle soul who had departed this world a little too soon. But the similarity between his mother and sister ended there. Where his mother was emotionally weak, Anna was anything but. She had the resilience and strength of a Renauld. They had inherited this from their father. Jean wanted to keep Anna out of this. The Renauld bloodline ended with the two of them. His soul had already been damned to Hell and his life sentence was left to the will of the Gods. He didn't have a long existence given his current occupation, but he'd be damned if his sister befell the same fate.

"Anna, the lesser you know, the better. You might be subpoenaed to court. The last thing we need is you to perjure yourself over me," Jean replied with as much gentility as he could possibly muster.

"I am not a kid anymore," Anna snapped at him.

"You will always be my little sister. Even when you're old and have grey hair. I don't want this life for you," Jean said. He sounded so sincere but Anna was having none of it.

"That's not up to you, Jean. You're my brother. Wherever you go, I'm going to be right by your side. So if you're in trouble, I need to know. I don't want to hear about it from a fucking newspaper," Anna said. Her eyes shone with the sparkle of unshed tears and her lips trembled from breaking out into a cry. She could see her brother suffering in silence, as if the world's burdens were his to bear alone.

The main door of the house opened and in came Alceste. He was impeccably dressed in his expensive Italian custom designed suit and Gucci loafers. He saw us all assembled at the base of the staircase in the lobby and noticed Jean's bloody hands.

"I assume you have your people under control," Alceste said.

"What the hell took you so long?" Jean said.

"I took only five minutes more than you," Alceste squawked while he pointed at his watch.

Lorenzo walked into the lobby and he was carrying a bowl of water and a washcloth. Jean took it from him and placed it by the console table that hugged the wall. He gently dipped the washcloth in the water and started cleansing his hands. The colorless water slowly started turning a light shade of red.

"Did you make any progress?" Jean asked.

"You're not going to like what I have to say," Alceste replied. His demeanor showed that he was treading carefully while he dispensed bad news to his vitriolic boss.

"Just spit it out," Jean sighed.

"The police will be banging on your doors in the next hour to submit DNA evidence," Alceste said.

"Fuck!" Jean yelled. "Is there anything we can do now?"

"I'm afraid not. The doorman had already given his written statement before we could get to him. As per the law, they have no choice but to get you in for questioning,"Alceste said.

The dread of the situation started creeping into me. Was it possible that Jean was heading to jail? Or would he find a way out? This man was capable of getting me into this country with barely an advance notice and zero documentation. Surely, he could figure out his way from a false charge.

"Is this DNA test related with Alexa's death?" Anna piped in.

Alceste remained quiet and looked to his Boss for guidance. Jean stared at his knuckles that still had some traces of blood on the creases. He started rubbing them off roughly with his cloth when he answered Anna. "Yes."

I noticed how Jean avoided his sister's eyes. Was it out of humiliation or was he too focused on his hands?

"It didn't take you too long to put it together, huh," Jean said as he glanced up at Anna.

"It wasn't that hard. Which probably means it's not going to be that hard for the police," Anna said. "And I'm assuming your DNA will be a match."

"Yeah," Jean said.

"I spoke with the Durham's," piped in Alceste.

"Do you think we shall be able to settle this out of court?" asked Jean.

"I'm afraid not. They want justice for their daughter. In public," Alceste added gravely.

Just then, the main door opened to reveal a tall man enter the foyer in a dark hoodie. He reached up to uncover his face and I saw Vincent underneath it.

"Vince," Jean nodded at his childhood best friend.

"Alceste called. I heard shit's hitting the fan," Vincent said.

Jean sputtered a sarcastic laugh. "You could say that."

There was a brief silence where everyone was lost in their thoughts. Everyone's minds wandered to the different scenarios that could possible play out an hour from now. With the police banging on his door in less than an hour, we all needed to construct a decisive course of action.

"So, what's the plan then?" Anna's voice pierced the silence.

Jean kept the wet washcloth on the counter and turned towards us. His head bowed down, chin resting on his clavicle, he looked at the ground while his mind churned out the best course of action.

"The media has already smelled the smoke and will be posting a quarter page article in tomorrow's front page. Whatever steps we take now, has to be very careful, so as to not disrupt the business," said Vincent.

"The Durham's will take this to court. The only options I see fit are — we either twist their arm into dropping this witch hunt or you falsify evidence. Neither of which is going to be remotely easy, or even possible," said Alceste.

"Don't we pay the police enough every year to handle cases like this?" asked Anna.

"We pay them to look the other way when it comes to money laundering and arms trafficking. Not murder," said Vincent. "That too of a public figure. That's a lot above their pay grade."

"But if Jean didn't kill Alexa, then who did?" I asked.

"We don't know," said Vincent. "I've tried going over the footage but I found nothing. Maybe it's been tampered with. On top of that, there are no eye witnesses besides the doorman seeing Jean leave."

"Someone must have seen SOMETHING," Anna said, frustratingly.

"If they did, they probably don't remember it. Or have been paid to forget," Alceste piped in.

"So, does that mean . . . Jean just goes to jail?" asked Anna.

Quietness descended upon the room. The tense atmosphere remained untouched while the brightest minds in the business tried to figure out a way from this thick maze. Anna walked over to her brother and draped her arm around his waist as she murmured soothing words to him. Jean bestowed her with an affectionate half smile and gave her a tight squeeze before letting her go.

"Let's head to the police station," he said to the room.

"What?" Anna bellowed in confusion.

"They're going to come barging in my house anyways. I might as well get this over with," Jean said. "Alceste, I'll need you to accompany me."

"Of course, Boss," Alceste replied.

"Vincent, you can crash here tonight. I don't want anyone on my private property. Take care of the girls," he said as he walked with Alceste towards his study.

I stood in the foyer, completely unaware as to how to proceed further. Jean's dual personality of being ruthless one moment and utterly kind and protective the next towards me was giving me a whiplash. Vincent headed towards me and offered me a consoling smile. He then turned towards where Anna was standing still and gave her a tight hug. "It'll be alright," he whispered in her hair. Small tears fell through her eyes and I saw the anguish and fear that were gripping her in this very moment.

I left the two of them and sneaked towards Jean's study. I made my way across the glass corridor, past the small living room and knocked on the door of his study. The incomprehensible murmurings of the room stopped and the door opened to reveal Alceste. "What are you doing here?" he asked me in his usual contemptuous tone.

"Can I speak with Jean?" I asked with as much courage as I could muster in this moment.

"I don't think he has time. We're headed towards the police station," he said.

"I promise not to take long then," I said.

"Let her in, Alceste," came Jean's voice from inside the study.

Alceste begrudgingly opened the door and allowed me to enter the study room.

"Is everything okay?" Jean asked me.

"Umm . . . ," I said while I turned around to notice that Alceste was standing less than two inches away from me. I looked back at Jean and he could understand the hesitancy in my stance.

"Alceste, could you give us a few moments?" Jean posed it as more of a statement than question. 

"We have to leave soon," he said.

"It won't take more than five," Jean said. I watched Alceste's back turn towards us and his presence exit the room.

"What can I help you with?" Jean asked.

"Are you going to end up in jail?" I asked.

"Does it matter it to you?" Jean asked with furrowed brows.

I stood mute. I had been asking myself the same question for days and I was still being pulled in different directions. The logical part of me was adamant in the belief that I only cared about being on the right side of the law, irrespective of who got hurt. But then, there was this other minuscule fraction of my brain that was revolting against the thought of this family breaking up with Jean's imprisonment. I couldn't put my feelings aptly into words.

"There's a car that's been following me around for a few days now," I said instead.

"What car?" Jean asked.

"This black tinted Toyota sedan. It's been following me for the past week. It followed me and my friend when we were trying to get home from college tonight. Should I be worried?" I asked.

Jean gave it a moments thought and then dismissed it. "I wouldn't be. It's probably the police. This sloppy work can only be accredited to them."

I breathed a sigh of relief. If it was the police, I didn't have to lose sleep over it.

"Are you sure it isn't Daniel?" I asked. I was still slightly perturbed by the warning the cupid faced man had given me and I knew the matter wasn't yet over. The Vanderbilts and Renauld's we're slowly ebbing towards a crescendo.

"It isn't. You and Anna are both protected. You won't go through another incident like . . . that again," Jean said, referring to the incident where Alessandro had been shot and I was left unconscious.

"Oh," I said. "I didn't know that. I thought Gabe was assigned to Anna and Lorenzo is assigned to you. With Alessandro gone . . ."

"I have other men on you. You shouldn't be worrying about Daniel's men," Jean said.

"Okay," I said. Something didn't seem right to me but I couldn't put a finger to it.

"Is that all then?" Jean said. He stood up and fetched his pockets for his cigarette and lighter. He lit one up and drew in a huge lungful of smoke.

"Yeah," I said. I slowly started making my way outside the room when I decided to breach another reason why I had asked to see Jean alone. "Why did you kiss me?"

The question blurted out of my mouth before I could stop myself. The kiss had been bothering me for a while. His attention towards me had caused me to question my worth. Anna's caustic words the last time we spoke were haunting me. Was I so incredibly blinded by my one sided attraction to this man that I had forsaken all my values in the process of being accepted by a man?

"What kiss?" Jean asked me. His eyebrows were drawn together in abject confusion and bewilderment.

"The kiss," I whispered. I cleared my throat and spoke up louder, "You kissed me. In this office."

There was a moment of haunting silence before Jean spoke up. "Ella, I have no idea what you are referring to."

I looked at him and felt my heart sink. It felt as if someone had taken my body and dipped it into ice cold water. Every nerve in my body was revolting at the thought of Jean not recalling our kiss.

"When was this?" Jean asked me. His voice was demure and patient.

"After I woke up from the accident," I said slowly.

"I . . . can't recall anything. I had been drinking for hours before I had come home," Jean said. "I don't even recall being driven home by Lorenzo."

A single tear fell from my eye. My own body was betraying me. I tried to quickly wipe it away before Jean could notice how his words were slowly breaking me. I wondered how a broken heart could still hurt. And over something so stupid and trivial.

Jean made a move towards me and I bolted out of the room. He caught my arm and spun me around. "Wait!"

"Let me go," I told him. I couldn't look at his face because he'd see how the tears were collecting into my eyes and how humiliated I felt.

"Okay, listen to me," Jean stern voice penetrated through my self deprecation when we heard a loud bang on his study door.

"Now what," Jean snapped as he let me go and opened the door. Alceste was on the other end of the door with a sour look on his face. "Police is at the main gate and making their way inside. Our time is up," he said.

Jean turned towards me and whispered just for my ears, "We'll discuss this later."

I ignored him and shoved him aside as I left his room. I entered the main foyer to find Anna and Vincent standing at the opened main door. I could hear the sirens and the light blue squad lights in the distance, slowly approaching the entrance to our house. Alceste and Jean joined the rest of us and we watched as the police car stopped right at the end of the stairs.

The door opened and revealed Inspector Andre and his partner. Andre sported a smug look on his face. He raised his right hand in the air to show all of us a piece of paper that was dangling in his hands. "Warrant to take you down to the police station for a DNA test, Renauld."

Jean stepped passed all of us and made his way to Andre. His face sported a poker expression. "Enjoy this moment while you can, Andre."

"Oh, I plan to, Renauld. There are many such moments I expect to enjoy in the future," Andre retorted.

"I highly doubt that," Jean said.

"Handcuff him," Andre ordered his partner.

"That is not necessary. We are willing to come to the police station without any of this fuss," Alceste spoke up.

"It's not required," Andre agreed, "but it doesn't mean I can't get to have some