65. Regrets

Vienna's heart was beating fast as she met his stare. It took a few seconds for Tristan to look away but not before making her tremble. She was witnessing his business side and not just any business side. It was the side she hadn't seen before. His eyes were void of emotion.

When Tristan turned around he ordered his men "Take him away back to his cell. I will finish this later..." The men unstrapped the hooded figure and carried his limp body away. That was when he turned to Jericho. "Well, well, Well." He then turned to Vienna Who was unmoving. His stare didn't leave Vienna as he climbed the metal stairs. He reached her and looked at Vienna as he ordered "O'Brian... Leave us. Go pick yourself a cell and lock yourself in it. I will deal with you shortly."

Jericho breathed "Yes Sir." He knew his boss didn't want to deal with him in front of his lady. She was special. Rules didn't apply to her in the same way they applied to others... He had fifty fifty chance of survival that night. He wished his boss at least let him write a goodbye letter to his family if his boss was going to kill him for showing weakness and not saying no to her. He could have but couldn't find it in himself to refuse the queen anything. His loyalty was to his queen. He lived and breathed to protect her as her personal bodyguard. Her personal requests mattered to him. It displeased his boss. If his boss wanted to give him a quick death, he would have shot him dead right then. Even in front of his woman he would have shot him dead. That was the Irish way. Tristan didn't hesitate. But his boss either wanted to kill him slowly or he was going to let him leave. Either way he knew this was nothing to do with his bloodline and family. No one was immune especially when it came to matters related to the queen.

Tristan stared at Vienna wordlessly while putting his hands in his pocket. He was looking down at her since she wasn't wearing heels and it seemed like Tristan had grown afew inches recently.

When he spoke next, it  made her feel shaken to the core from the coldness and firmness in his voice. "Why did you come here? Who made you come?"

Vienna slowly found her voice "I ... was curious... I wanted to ... come find you... so we could go... I am sorry. No one made me come... I insisted to be brought to you..."

Tristan shook his head as he stared at her with disapproval and said in a low tone "You have no idea Vienna. You don't have the slightest idea... about how much I love you and how much you mean to me. If you did, you would not defied me this way..."

Vienna gasped. She wanted to reply but no sound came out. She felt guilt. She felt regrets. She regretted not waiting. She regretted dragging Jericho.

Tristan stated "You are in Irish territory. You need to live by my rules when you are with me. You defied my orders indirectly. I gave out orders to Trent and O'Brian. Yet you defied it."

She regretted not seeing it... she regretted not seeing how going against obrian and Trents advice was disobeying Tristan's orders. They were acting for him on his instructions and she had defied him. This was no high school game. This was no survival camp. This was real life.

Tristan stated in a chilling voice "You won't be able to do this again... I won't allow it... Let's go now..."

Vienna then found herself being lead away by Tristan. His tone of voice had finality she couldn't refuse to accept. No matter how hard she tried to resist and argue. It was as thought this was a different Tristan. She was in shock. His voice was void of any emotion and his eyes were empty of compassion. He was handling her gently even though she had feared he wouldn't. When he said "Let's go." That was the end of her fight. She couldn't argue.

He was now holding her hand and leading her away like nothing had happened. He seemed calm but his actions had promised rage... on some people. So this was Tristan in real business mode when he was occupied with business she wasn't allowed to see.

When they emerged from the basement onto the ground floor, Tristan stopped walking. He turned to Vienna.

She looked up but then found herself gulping when he looked at her with a stone cold expression "Vienna. Why did you come? I give you one more opportunity to tell me the truth. I will find the truth from O'Brien..."

She managed to say "I am sorry..."

He retorted " Answer the question Vienna. I did not ask you to say sorry. I asked you to tell me why you came down there when I told Trent and my men to not let you come to me..."

Vienna said painfully "I was just ... curious ...  I was told no but I insisted... I ignored warnings to stay back...I told you the truth... it's all true..."

The expression on his face was beyond belief cold and icy. He was looking at her with even a much icier expression. "Very well..." He then lead her away. For the first time she felt, she had crossed the line with Tristan. He had his reasons to want her to remain in the car. She wasn't supposed to know why but when he gave an order on his territory everyone had to obey. She could always question him later. He always gave her time to discuss. "What now?" She asked herself. She couldn't undo her decisions. She just had to face them.

Tristan said "We will talk about this again later after I deal with O'Brien."

There was a force behind his words. A condemning force that didn't leave much to argue about. She wanted to talk about Jericho and asking about his fate but the look in his eyes said, not now Vienna. Maybe it was instinct. She had to wait to see what Tristan was going to do.

As he lead her away, Vienna was thinking about what to tell Tristan. But something told her not to say anything unless she thought it through. She saw Tristan as her boyfriend. She was in a business territory that was different to her own family's territory. She was standing where the Irish did business. Not the Italians. They lived by the Irish rules. By Tristan's rules. She needed to respect his word as law when it came to matters that she didn't know anything about or had no control over such as his business.

As they walked away, Tristan opened a door to a room, "Trent."

Trent was sending telegrams and was startled for a second but then carried on typing "Yes. I am almost done here. I checked every corner by the way. No wires, nothing suspicious, no nothing. I am sending some reports over..."

Tristan said with a strained voice that reminded Vienna of silence before a storm "I will do checks of my own when I am done here.. Stay with Vienna."

Trent hadn't looked at Tristan. He didn't know Vienna was there. He turned and said " Vien... What? What is she doing here?"

Tristan said "O'Brian let her have a wonder... Deadly mistake. I knew he needed to work on his assertiveness..." He then turned to Vienna and spoke in a firm tone "Stay here and don't ask to go on a tour... Your request will be denied. Trent is not O'Brien." He then walked away.

Vienna was still in shock registering what had happened. She had never come across Tristan like this. His voice was unrecognisable. His eyes were just ... haunting her. She covered her face.

Trent stood in front of her "Come in. I can make you a cup of tea. You drink tea. Right?"

Vienna let out a deep breath and then let her hands down as she said "What have I done?... His deadly mistake? What does he mean? Is he going to ... kill Jericho."

Trent started coughing mockingly as he walked to the table that had tea pots and milk jars on. He grabbed a cup and said "Don't call him by his first name Vienna. Rule one. Tristan won't like it. Also don't ask about what Tristan does to his agents when they fail. Tristan won't like that either. He would get very angry if anyone of them got involved with you emotionally."

Vienna shook her head "You don't understand... it's my fault he brought me here. Only when Tristan told his men to lock him up I realised his serious this situation was. I just was curious and now I have regrets. Please help me fix this Trent. I don't want him to die."

Trent said " You don't want who to die..."

Vienna said "Jericho..."

Trent closed his eyes and then opened them "No first names. Vienna. He is no friend of yours. He never was even in high school when he was the senior heartthrob, junior girls hoped to date... He is doing a job on Tristan's orders."

Vienna said "Please help me fix this..."

Trent said " Is this a question I am meant to answer?" He offered Vienna a cup of tea "Take a seat please... Let me go over this..."

Vienna took the cup but didn't drink from it. Trent was her age but at that point he felt like he was much older. Her mind was blank. The look in Tristan's eyes said she shouldn't have been there. He didn't need to spell it out. She had disobeyed Tristan's order and so had Jericho. That meant death. She didn't think this was serious. It made it real when a life depended on her actions.

Trent explained "Vienna. Do you trust Tristan?"

Vienna said "Of course."

Trent said "Good. I am glad you do. Keep trusting him."

Vienna asked "What would happen to Jer... I mean O'Brien?"

Trent said "You do know, disobeying orders is a heavy sentence..."

Vienna said "It wasn't his fault. I told him I wanted to go inside." She then explained what had happened.

Trent said "No conversation should not have happened. He shouldn't have negotiated..."

Vienna said "He couldn't stop me..."

Trent said "He could have... Very easily. It's your safety at stake Vienna. He should have known better. He lead you to the basement instead of leading you to me. He could have locked you in the car. He could have restrained you without even touching you... We have means for that... He messed up big time..."

Vienna said "I don't want Tristan to kill him because of me..."

Trent sighed " Well... actions have consequences. Trust Tristan. Or you will not like his reaction. He doesn't give second chances Vienna."

Vienna said "Don't let him kill jer... I mean O'Brian please... it's my fault..."

Trent said "But it's not your fault... It's O'Brian's... I probably shouldn't tell you this but ... trust me when I say, death is better than some punishments Tristan gives out... He could make him wish for death. Tristan doesn't forgive. I can't confirm or deny if O'Brian will die. It will depend on how he answers to Tristan. His death will be a loss to his formidable squad of security forces... but if he is deemed to be a liability then I say, he has to die... Tristan is fair. He won't murder an innocent..."

Vienna said "What do I do? I want Tristan to talk to me ... He said he will talk to me after he deals with O'Brian."

Trent gave her a half smile " He will be dealt with but O'Brian is a loyal guard... If Tristan demotes him, I will try to acquire him for my security forces ... I honestly don't think he will die if his defence is strong enough and convincing enough when my brother questions him. He may live after this unless .... you call him Jericho in front of Tristan..."