Balance (The Balance Series Book 1)

by Janelle Stalder

  The band was playing “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You” by Elvis. It was perfect. He wrapped his arm tightly around my waist, pulling me in as we swayed back and forth. I linked my arms around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder.

  “I have the most beautiful girl here,” he murmured into my hair.

  I smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

  He leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips. Someone cleared their throat beside us, breaking into the moment. We turned together to see Dermot standing there in all his glory. He was wearing a dark suit with a canary yellow tie. He looked extremely handsome, but I still got the same odd vibe I’d felt from him ever since our last conversation.

  “May I cut in?” he asked, smiling at me. I wanted to say no and hold Caleb tighter around the neck so he couldn’t move, but I knew that would be rude.

  Caleb unwrapped his arms and stepped away from me, so his father could take over. “I need you to go over and talk to Devon,” he was saying to Caleb, nodding his head in the direction of the front entrance. There was a boy standing there that looked to be Caleb’s age. His eyes were trapped on us. Caleb nodded and headed off in the boy’s direction.

  “Shall we?” Dermot said, bringing my attention back. He stepped closer to me and took me by the waist.

  I suddenly felt very nervous. Hopefully we wouldn’t have another one of our sentimental conversations he was so very fond of. “You look very beautiful tonight, Vivian.”

  The song had changed by this time, and I wished he had just conceded to stop dancing all together. Swaying here in his arms made me feel trapped. There was a little voice inside my head screaming at me to run. I tried to keep calm as I answered him. “Thank you, you look very handsome too,” I said.

  “Are you enjoying yourself so far?” He was obviously trying his best to make small talk.

  “Yes, sir. We just got here, but everything already seems so lovely.”

  “Our closing arguments are this week. Will you be joining us at court again?”

  “I’m not sure. I hadn’t thought about it.”

  He nodded. “I feel pretty confident that we will be victorious with this trial. You know, with Brian back on the streets,” he said, looking down at me with an odd expression. “Well, just be careful where you go. Especially if you’re by yourself,” he added. His eyes were suddenly very cold, and if my gut instincts were correct, I would say he was threatening me.

  He couldn’t possibly be threatening me with Brian Connor, could he? I tried to step back a bit, but he held me firmly in place. A sense of panic began to rise in my chest.

  I tried desperately to find my voice against the dryness in my throat. “Thank you?” It sounded like a question. I didn’t know what else to say.

  “I just want to make sure you stay safe.” He smiled down at me, a smile that gave me chills. “It would be a pity if anything should happen.”

  Suddenly, as if God had answered my prayers, I heard someone behind us say “may I cut in?” I threw a thank you up towards Him, and turned to see Caleb – except it wasn’t Caleb who was rescuing me.

  Dermot looked as surprised as I was. Artem stood there instead, politely waiting for an answer. Dermot’s eyes narrowed as he regarded the young man standing in front of him, but let me go and stepped back.

  “Artem,” he said in a stiff greeting. “I didn’t realize you knew Miss. French.” He sounded suspicious, which made me wonder what he had against the poor boy. I was a little apprehensive myself, but at this point I would take the Russian over Dermot any day.

  “We are acquainted with each other through a mutual friend,” he explained in a smooth, slightly accented voice. This was a lie of course, we had never actually met, but I wasn’t going to negate him. I stood there, patiently waiting for Dermot to leave so I could breathe normally again.

  “I see,” Dermot said, returning his eyes to me. “Well, I shall leave her to you then.” And with that he walked off.

  I sighed in relief, and then slightly panicked again as Artem moved in and pulled me to him as we picked up where Dermot and I had left off. It was very weird to be so close to a complete stranger like this, and yet I felt a lot safer with him than I had a moment ago with Doctor Doom.

  “Thank you,” I said quietly, trying to avoid looking at him.

  He didn’t reply, so I gave up and lifted my head to see him looking down at me with that same concerned look he had given me in the court.

  Finally he spoke. “I don’t know why Caleb would leave you with that man. He must be insane.” He sounded almost pissed off by it. Part of me couldn’t help but agree. Obviously Caleb didn’t realize how creepy his father was. If he just didn’t know, I really didn’t want to be the one to tell him.

  “Listen, Vivian,” he said in a serious voice, making me instantly alert. It was weird to hear him say my name with such a familiarity. “I need you to be careful about who you decide to keep company with. The Banks family is not what you think it is, and I can’t be around to save you all the time.” His words were coming out in a harsh whisper.

  I looked up at him in confusion. “What are you talking about?” I asked, a little annoyed. Who did he think he was to show up all mysterious like, and warn me against the Banks family? Especially when I had strong feelings for one of them? “You don’t even know Caleb and his family,” I accused.

  “I know a lot more about them than you do, trust me on that. They deal with people and circumstances that are dangerous for you. They aren’t good people. In fact, they’re about as bad as they come. You shouldn’t be around any of the sons, and especially not Dermot.”

  I stood in his arms, absolutely shocked. We had stopped dancing all together and stood motionless in the middle of the floor. The other couples around us didn’t seem to take notice, but I could imagine that Dermot would be quite interested in the exchange happening right now. I sensed his eyes on me, as I always somehow could.

  Glancing over Artem’s shoulder, I noticed Alan Mansfield also watching our exchange.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I began.

  “I don’t expect you to understand,” he interrupted, “I just need you to trust what I’m saying to you. You need to distance yourself from the Banks family as soon as possible.”

  He must be crazy, I thought to myself. Artem suddenly stiffened as he looked over my shoulder, so I turned to see Caleb approaching us. If looks could kill, I was pretty sure Artem would be nothing but ashes at that moment. I had never seen Caleb look so angry before. He made me a little frightened myself.

  “I think you should go,” I said turning back to him. “I can take care of myself, but thank you anyway for your concern.” I stepped away from him. He remained standing in front of me, making me want to physically push him so he would move.

  “Don’t underestimate them,” he said turning the full impact of his greens eyes on mine. Then he turned and walked off the dance floor, leaving me to deal with Caleb.

  I turned to face him, with what I hoped was a calm and happy smile. “Where were you?” I asked as he reached me. He wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were busy following the retreating form of Artem.

  “What was he doing dancing with you?” he asked in a cold voice.

  “Who, Artem?” I played dumb. “Oh, he just wanted to formally introduce himself to me, since we are both acquainted with Alan. It was no big deal.” I shrugged my shoulders.

  Caleb tore his eyes from Artem to look down at me. They narrowed as I fidgeted beneath his stare. “You two looked pretty tense for just a formal introduction.”

  “Did we?” I laughed, hoping it didn’t come out slightly hysterical. “It must be that Russian posture – they’re always so overly formal, aren’t they?” Even I could tell my voice was not at all convincing. “I think I need a drink.” We stood there silently looking at each other for another half a minute before he finally broke eye contact.

  “Ok then,” he said, grabbing my hand and dra
gging me off the floor. Kellan was waiting with my drink still in his hand, looking at Caleb and then at me with an alarmed expression.

  “Everything ok?” he asked as we approached.

  His question was directed more toward Caleb, but I nodded my head anyway, reaching for the drink he held out. Taking a big slug, which did not go unnoticed by either of the boys, I turned away from them and took another unhealthy gulp. It felt as if I was in way over my head, and I didn’t understand why. I finished my glass of wine, and walked off to get another one.

  After two glasses of wine I felt a heck of a lot better. Caleb’s mood didn’t seem to recover as the night wore on, but at least Artem had made himself scarce.

  By midway through the night, I decided to tell Caleb to smarten up, because his sour mood was seriously putting a damper on my night. The wine helped with my newfound confidence.

  “Look, I don’t know what your issue is,” I began, bracing myself in front of him so he couldn’t escape, “but you need to get over this little tantrum you’re throwing, and start having a good time. I don’t like it when you’re all moody like this.” His eyebrows shot up, as he looked down his nose at me.

  “Tantrum?” he said in a dark voice.

  “Yes, a tantrum,” I replied, my confidence slightly faltering.

  He stared down at me silently for another minute, before grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the entrance. I struggled to keep up – partly due to the pace he was setting, and somewhat due to the glasses of wine I had consumed. “Where are we going?” I asked breathlessly.

  He didn’t answer as we walked outside toward the line of cars waiting there. We approached our limo, where he simply opened the door and stood there in stony silence. I hesitated for a second before climbing in. He gave the driver some quick instructions that I couldn’t hear then joined me in the back seat, with the same pissed off look he had worn all night.

  “Caleb,” I said slowly, “are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

  “You want me to stop throwing a tantrum, so we’re leaving. I didn’t want to be there anymore, and leaving seemed to be the best solution,” he said, not looking at me.

  “Ok,” I said settling into the seat. “But where are we going?”

  “Home,” was all he replied.

  We sat in the car in silence until we finally came to a stop about ten minutes later. I sent my mom a quick text, telling her I was staying at Amanda’s for the night so she wouldn’t freak out. When the door opened I was surprised to see that he hadn’t meant my house when he said we were going home. He’d been referring to his own. I sat in the back of the limo shocked. I had never been to his place before.

  He waited patiently beside the door for me when I didn’t move. “Are you coming?” he asked, looking in. Nodding slowly, I forced my legs to move and pulled myself up.

  They lived in the biggest high-rise in town. He had never invited me over before, so I stood outside of the car for a moment, unsure of myself. Caleb walked towards the front entrance ahead of me. I snapped out of my open-jawed study of my surroundings and picked up my pace to keep up with him.

  The doorman greeted Caleb as we entered, holding the door open for me. Glancing at him, I thanked him quickly, trying to keep up with the man on a mission ahead of me. Caleb stood in front of the elevator that was furthest away from the entrance. The doors had just opened when I finally caught up.

  “Some of us are wearing heels you know,” I said breathlessly as I stood beside him. The doors slid shut, and then the elevator began to slowly climb the floors while we stood there in silence. It was already almost midnight and I was exhausted. I leaned against the elevator wall, ignoring Caleb and his sour mood.

  At last the elevator came to a stop on the final floor. The doors opened to reveal a round foyer with deep green marble flooring and mahogany panelled walls. There was a dark, wooden table in the middle of the foyer with an oversized gold vase in the middle. The opposite side had an arched doorway that led further into the apartment.

  Caleb walked out, so I quickly followed him around the table and through the doorway at the opposite side. The hallway beyond the foyer brought us into a large sitting room that had cherry wooden floors with an ornate rug in the middle. The room was filled with oversized leather couches and chairs.

  On three sides of the room were built in bookcases along the walls, filled with what looked like hundreds of books. The far side was filled with three floor-to-ceiling windows that were each framed with dark, chocolate drapes. The room was lit in a warm, low glow from a massive crystal chandelier hanging in the middle of the room.

  Caleb headed left through another arched doorway without breaking stride. We walked down a second hallway, closed doors decorating either side. There was one at the end that Caleb seemed to be heading for. We still hadn’t said a word to each other, but I was so busy observing my surroundings that I didn’t take much notice.

  When we walked through the door at the end of the hallway we entered another expansive room. Two French doors on the right wall led to an incredible balcony that offered the only light from the full moon. The walls were a dark grey, and had a deep, red rug on the floor covering most of the space.

  On the left side of the room there was a king size bed. Dear God, we were in his bedroom, I realized. My feet froze by the door as Caleb moved around the room taking off his tie and throwing his jacket on the back of one of the wingback chairs that sat at the end of the bed.

  Caleb turned to see me standing by the door and gestured toward the room, as if to invite me further in. “Don’t you want to take your heels off?” he asked, speaking for the first time.

  It sounded like an appealing idea, since my feet did feel as though they were about to fall off, so I finally willed my body to move and went to sit on one of the chairs. As I started to remove my shoes, Caleb walked to a desk by the windows and poured himself a glass of water from a decanter set that sat there.

  “Would you like some water?” he asked without turning. My throat definitely felt dry.

  “Sure,” I replied softly.

  He brought me a glass and I accepted it with a thank you before watching him take a seat in the opposite chair. He regarded me from his spot, his expression telling me nothing of what was going through his head.

  The silence had finally become more than I could take, so I decided to bite the bullet and talk. “Do you feel better now?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  “Are you going to talk to me tonight at all, or are we going to play the quiet game for the rest of the night?” I asked angrily.

  His expression, or lack thereof, didn’t change. Taking a slow sip of his drink, he watched me, his head tilting to the side after a moment. His blue eyes burned bright in the darkness of the room, which made him look – otherworldly. “What would you like me to say? Why can you keep things from me, but I can’t do the same?”

  What the heck was he talking about? “What are you talking about?” I voiced.

  “I’m talking about you keeping the real details of your conversation tonight with that man from Russia from me.”

  Ah, and the pieces fall into place. Was he jealous, or did he just know what Artem was probably saying to me? I really didn’t want to reveal the whole conversation with him, since telling someone their family is regarded as dangerous to be around isn’t really something they would likely want to hear. I decided a half-truth would work the best. “Are you kidding me?” I said, almost laughing, but still keeping my anger in place. “If that was what was bothering you, why couldn’t you just say so?”

  “I’m not going to force you to tell me something if you don’t feel like you can on your own. I’d like you to be honest with me without being forced into it.”

  Damn him and his good guy routine, I thought bitterly. I fidgeted in my seat, the sweat from the glass making my hands even clammier.

  “I have no issues being honest with you, Caleb,” I started, trying to make my voice so
und calmer. “I just didn’t want to get into the details at the ball, since we were supposed to be having a good time. It felt a little inappropriate to tell you that he had come to dance with me to save me from your father.”

  There, I had said it.

  Caleb took a deep breath, the sound in the quietness of the room causing goosebumps to rise along my arms. My little revelation seemed to have only made him madder.

  “My father?” he said, his voice still infuriatingly even. “What does that dirty Russian know about my father?”

  “He is not a dirty Russian,” I blurted out in Artem’s defence. His hand gripped the armrest. I stood up, my body thrumming with energy. “Plus, he has a point,” I added, straightening my spine under the blazing fire of his eyes.

  “A point?” he asked, letting out a harsh laugh. I flinched at the sound, hating how angry and disappointed it sounded. At the same time, my anger had reached its climax and the next words started to tumble out before I could stop them.

  “Yes, a point! Your father is quite possibly the scariest person I’ve ever met, to be frank. He has a very mean side to him that maybe you don’t know about. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, but he is not always the nicest person, and clearly Artem knows that about him and was surprised to see you had left me with him. He was nice enough to come and relieve me from the situation.”

  “What are you talking about?” he asked, quieter now. I was hurting his feelings, but it didn’t stop me.

  “I’m talking about how your dad decided to have a little private chat with me that day I went to the courts with him. That’s right,” I said as I saw his eyebrows go up. “He decided it would be the best opportunity to ask me not to get involved with you.”

  “Why would he say that?”

  “Apparently you are very important to him, more so than your brothers, and he felt our relationship would be too much of a distraction for you. Seeing that I didn’t really take the hint, he decided to use tonight to try to get his message through to me one more time.” Tears of anger and frustration were welling up in my eyes, blurring my vision.