Chapter 165: Something to Hide

Stepping away from Vance Holdings for five months brought several unexpected changes.

One of them was that Alexander no longer had an entire corporate security department available whenever something suspicious landed on his desk.

Technically, he could probably still make a few calls. Vincent would undoubtedly help if Alexander asked.

But that wasn’t the point of his leave.

For now, he had Elias, Giovanni, and himself.

Not exactly an investigative task force.

Still, it was enough to start asking questions.

Alexander made one call that morning.

The other end picked up after three rings.

"Vance."

"Sebastian."

Alexander leaned back in his chair.

"You can listen to me or hang up, Andrei. This isn’t work-related, so I’ll understand if you’re busy."

Andrei was quiet for a moment.

"Of course I’ll listen. I respect Alexander Vance, not merely the CEO. What can I do for you?"

"What are Victoria and Dominic up to lately?"

"That is an extremely broad question."

"Fair."

"Unless you tell me what you’re looking for, I won’t know what’s relevant."

Alexander tapped his finger against the desk.

"Has Victoria been unusually worried about anything recently? Particularly something involving my family?"

"I haven’t heard anything."

That wasn’t particularly helpful.

Andrei continued, "Dominic is still recovering from donating his kidney to our father. Victoria has been taking care of him at home. Beyond that, I haven’t had much reason to involve myself in what she’s doing."

Alexander hadn’t really expected otherwise.

"All right. Thanks."

"Is there something I should know?"

"Not yet. I’m probably chasing nothing."

"But you’re chasing it anyway."

Alexander smiled faintly.

"Unfortunately."

"Then let me know if you find something that concerns my family."

"I will. Send my regards to Conrad."

After the call ended, Alexander stared at his phone.

Andrei had given him nothing.

Unfortunately, that did little to settle the question bothering him.

Maribel could’ve had any number of reasons not to want Elias around. But she’d specifically mentioned Victoria, then disappeared from the convenience store before Elias could speak with her again.

Suspicious, certainly.

Useful?

Not particularly.

Alexander set his phone aside and tried to concentrate on work.

The attempt lasted approximately ten minutes.

He had invoices to review, a materials list waiting for approval, and several calls regarding the damaged workshop that actually deserved his attention.

He got through two of them before looking at his phone again.

Ridiculous.

By lunchtime, he called Giovanni.

"Gio. Is this a good time?"

"Yes. Have you eaten?"

Alexander looked at the untouched lunch sitting on the corner of his desk.

"That’s irrelevant."

"So, no."

"I called because of something else."

"I’m listening."

Alexander kept the explanation short.

"Elias accidentally ran into Maribel last night. She warned him not to come back because Victoria didn’t want them seeing each other."

There was a short pause.

"Why?"

"She apparently thinks Maribel told Elias something."

"What?"

"That’s the problem. Elias doesn’t know."

"And Maribel wouldn’t tell him?"

"No. Elias went back to ask again, but she’d already quit."

Giovanni was quiet for a moment.

"That is suspicious."

"Thank you."

"I didn’t say it proves anything."

Alexander frowned.

"You’re becoming annoyingly reasonable."

"I’ve always been reasonable."

"Debatable."

The line suddenly went dead.

Alexander pulled the phone away from his ear.

"Gio?"

Nothing.

He tried calling back.

Busy.

Alexander returned to his lunch.

A few minutes later, his phone rang.

"Sorry about that," Giovanni said as soon as Alexander answered. "Where were we?"

"You were being annoyingly reasonable."

"Then the call didn’t interrupt anything important."

Alexander smiled despite himself.

"I think Victoria’s hiding something. I just don’t know whether it actually concerns me."

"Do you have a reason to think it does?"

"Not yet."

"Then find the connection before you decide there is one."

Alexander leaned back.

That was easier said than done.

Whatever Victoria was worried about could belong entirely to her own family. Alexander had no reason to assume otherwise simply because Maribel and Elias had unexpectedly crossed paths.

Except Victoria had been part of Alexander’s life for years too.

Which meant there was one obvious place to start.

Alexander glanced through the temporary office window toward the ancestral home.

"My parents."

"What about them?"

"They were around Victoria far more than I was back then. If anything happened that involved the Vances, Mom might remember something."

"That sounds more useful than guessing."

"Exactly."

"Let me know what she says."

"I will."

A brief silence followed.

Then Giovanni asked, "Have you eaten yet?"

Alexander looked down.

He’d managed approximately four bites during the entire conversation.

"Some."

"That wasn’t my question."

"I’m eating."

"Good."

Alexander shook his head.

"Bye, Gio."

"Bye, fiancé."

The call ended.

Alexander stared at his phone.

Apparently, Giovanni intended to get as much use out of that word as possible before replacing it with husband.

Alexander wasn’t particularly opposed.

It was well past the usual lunch hour when Alexander finally left the temporary office.

The warehouse rehabilitation continued around him, but for once, nobody needed him. He took advantage of the opportunity and headed toward the ancestral home.

The bed-and-breakfast crowd had thinned considerably by then.

Alexander found his parents finishing their own late lunch.

Alejandro looked up first.

"Have you eaten?"

Alexander stopped.

Seriously?

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

Rosalie immediately pulled out a chair and pushed a plate toward him.

"Because apparently no one trusts you to remember."

Alexander looked from the plate to his mother.

Giovanni and Rosalie were becoming dangerously similar in certain areas.

He sat.

"I ate."

Alejandro glanced at him.

"How much?"

"That isn’t relevant."

Rosalie started putting food on his plate anyway.

Apparently, that answer had betrayed him.

Alexander picked up his fork.

"I actually came here because I wanted to ask you both something."

Alejandro continued eating.

"That usually means trouble."

"Not necessarily."

Rosalie gave him a look.

Alexander reconsidered.

"Fine. Possibly."

That got their attention.

"Elias ran into Maribel Ortega yesterday," he said. "Apparently, Victoria didn’t want them speaking. Elias tried to find her again afterward, but she’d already left her job."

Rosalie frowned.

"Maribel?"

"Yes."

"I remember her."

Alexander nodded.

The Vances and Sebastians had been neighbors for years. His mother had little reason not to.

Alejandro set down his glass.

"And you think this concerns us?"

"I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to find out."

"What exactly are you looking for?" Rosalie asked.

"Anything you remember involving Victoria that seemed strange at the time. Something that might explain why she’d be worried about what Maribel could tell Elias."

"That covers a lot of years."

"I know."

Rosalie leaned back in her chair.

Alexander continued eating while she thought.

He deliberately didn’t offer suggestions. There was no point leading his mother toward the answer he expected.

If she remembered something, he wanted the memory itself.

Several seconds passed.

Alejandro glanced at his wife.

"Anything?"

"I don’t know."

Rosalie frowned.

Then her gaze drifted toward the kitchen.

Alexander noticed immediately.

"What?"

She didn’t answer.

Instead, the longer she stared toward the doorway, the more thoughtful her expression became.

Finally, she said, "There might be someone who remembers more than I do."

Alexander followed her gaze.

Dishes clinked somewhere beyond the dining room. A moment later, Tomas Reyes’s familiar voice called out an order.

Alexander looked back at his mother.

"Who?"

Rosalie slowly set down her glass.

"Angelina."

Alexander paused.

"Angelina Reyes?"

"Yes."

"What would she know?"

"I don’t know exactly."

Rosalie’s brow furrowed.

"But I remember hearing something years ago. Something I didn’t think much about at the time."

That got Alejandro’s attention too.

Alexander put down his fork.

"What did you hear?"

Rosalie shook her head.

"Not enough. That’s the problem."

"About Victoria?"

A pause.

"Maybe."

Alexander waited.

His mother looked toward the kitchen again.

"I think you should ask Angelina yourself."

Alexander followed her gaze.

Angelina Reyes was probably less than a minute away.

And apparently, whatever Alexander had spent the entire morning trying to find might have been sitting inside his family’s kitchen for years.

Rosalie picked up her glass.

"Ask her what she remembers about your grandfather’s accident."