Chapter 4: close quarters
1158 Words
The first thing Victoria noticed was how small her world had become.
By noon, every movement she made was observed. Every door she passed had a guard nearby. Every window felt like a liability. The Sinclair estate, once a symbol of freedom and excess, had turned into a carefully controlled perimeter.
And at the center of it all—
Leo Martins.
He was everywhere without ever being in the way. Always a few steps behind her. Always aware of her surroundings. Always watching.
Victoria hated how quickly she noticed his absence.
She stood in the sitting room, flipping through her phone in frustration. No notifications. No invitations. No calls she was allowed to answer without clearance.
“This is ridiculous,” she muttered.
Leo stood near the doorway, arms crossed. “This is temporary.”
“You keep saying that like it means something.”
“It does.”
“To you,” she replied sharply. “Not to me.”
She turned to face him. “I want to go out.”
“No.”
The refusal was immediate.
“I wasn’t asking.”
“Yes, you were.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re enjoying this.”
Leo didn’t react. “I don’t enjoy control.”
“Then stop exerting it.”
“I can’t.”
She stepped closer. “Or you won’t?”
That finally got his attention.
His gaze dropped briefly to her face—calm, guarded—but something unreadable passed through his eyes.
“This isn’t about power,” he said quietly. “It’s about keeping you breathing.”
Victoria scoffed. “You talk like I’m already dead.”
“You almost were.”
The room went still.
She looked away first.
Later that afternoon, Richard Sinclair arrived.
Victoria heard him before she saw him—his voice carried authority even through closed doors. She found him in his study, Leo standing nearby like a fixed presence.
“This situation is under control,” her father was saying. “The board has been reassured.”
“I’m not a company asset,” Victoria snapped as she entered.
Richard turned. “You’re alive. That’s what matters.”
“That’s all that ever matters to you.”
His jaw tightened. “Be careful.”
“Or what?” she asked. “You’ll lock me up even tighter?”
Richard glanced at Leo. “Martins will do what’s necessary.”
Victoria followed his gaze.
“You’re really comfortable with this?” she asked Leo. “Taking orders about my life like I’m a package?”
Leo met her eyes. “I take orders to protect you. Not control you.”
She laughed bitterly. “You can’t have one without the other.”
Richard interrupted. “Victoria, this isn’t the time.”
“No,” she said. “This is exactly the time.”
She turned back to Leo. “Do you ever question him?”
Leo hesitated.
Just slightly.
“I assess risk,” he said carefully.
“That wasn’t my question.”
Silence stretched.
Richard’s expression darkened. “Enough.”
Victoria took a step back, her chest tight.
“Get out,” she said. “Both of you.”
Richard studied her for a long moment, then left without another word.
Leo remained.
“You should apologize,” he said.
“I should breathe,” she replied. “And you’re making that difficult.”
“I’m not your enemy.”
“Then stop standing between me and everyone else.”
He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “The people you’re angry about losing access to? They don’t care if you live.”
Her eyes flashed. “You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
The certainty in his tone unsettled her.
“You talk like you’ve seen it before,” she said.
“I have.”
Something in the way he said it made her pause.
That evening, Victoria insisted on dinner in the main dining room.
“It’s my house,” she said flatly. “I’m not eating alone.”
Leo allowed it under conditions.
Two guards. Doors locked. Windows secured.
He stood near the wall while she ate, his presence a constant weight.
“You’re staring,” she said without looking up.
“I’m watching.”
“For what?”
“For anyone who shouldn’t be here.”
She lifted her gaze. “And me?”
His eyes met hers. “Especially you.”
Her breath caught before she could stop it.
She pushed her chair back. “Sit.”
“I can’t.”
“You won’t.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“If I relax, I miss things.”
“Not everything needs to be watched,” she said.
“Yes, it does.”
She stood and walked toward him slowly, deliberately.
“You don’t trust anyone,” she said. “Not even me.”
“I trust you not to mean harm,” he replied. “That’s different.”
“From what?”
“From being safe.”
They were standing far too close now.
Victoria looked up at him. “You think I’m reckless.”
“I think you’re unguarded.”
“Same thing.”
“No,” he said. “One is careless. The other is hopeful.”
The word surprised her.
“Hopeful?” she repeated.
“You expect the world to protect you,” Leo continued. “It hasn’t earned that trust.”
She swallowed.
“You sound like you stopped believing in it a long time ago.”
His jaw tightened. “Belief is a luxury.”
She studied his face really studied it.
There was something heavy there. Something restrained.
“Leo,” she said quietly, “what happened to you?”
His gaze hardened instantly. “That’s not your concern.”
“It is if you’re going to be this close to my life.”
Silence fell between them again.
A phone buzzed.
Leo glanced at it, then at her. “You have a visitor.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Who?”
“A man named Adrian Cole. Claims to be a friend.”
Victoria’s expression shifted. “He is.”
Leo didn’t like that answer.
“He’s not cleared,” Leo said.
“He’s been in my life longer than you have.”
“That doesn’t make him safe.”
She crossed her arms. “You’re jealous.”
“I’m cautious.”
“Same thing,” she said, echoing his earlier words.
Leo’s eyes darkened. “He can wait.”
Victoria smiled thinly. “Now you’re definitely controlling.”
“Now I’m doing my job.”
She held his gaze, refusing to back down.
“Let him in,” she said.
For a long moment, Leo didn’t move.
Then he spoke quietly. “I’ll be watching.”
Something in the way he said it sent a strange shiver through her.
“Good,” Victoria replied. “So will I.”
- Writer
