Chapter 92: Do they not trust you?
"Hello again~"
Lucian waved at her, Evelyn’s lips parted slightly.
"You came."
She spoke in a soft, melodious voice.
"Are you kidding me? The Evelyn Starling called me, I had to come."
Lucian grinned and that made Evelyn chuckle.
"I was not sure they would let you." freeweɓnovel.cøm
"Neither was I, honestly. It was quite a mess back then."
"I am sure it was."
Evelyn nodded.
Alaric watched the exchange without showing any change in his expression, out of everyone here, he was the only one who actually knew what happened in Lucian’s first mission and why the two seemed as close as they were.
As for the others, they just frowned. Sarah even snorted, not liking how Lucian used his connection to get a top-priority mission like this one.
"You look a lot better than last time."
Lucian pointed out.
Alaric narrowed his eyes, he didn’t feel it was right to bring that up, Evelyn however, just laughed gently.
"I sure hope so."
"Mhm, because that was a terrible first impression."
"It really was, huh."
"Well, don’t worry. I make terrible first impressions too, trust me."
Lucian spoke as he secretly pointed at his ’colleagues.’
Evelyn was taken aback, she understood his secret gesture, she understood his words were a jab at Lucian’s colleagues, she just... didn’t expect Lucian to take such jabs, especially when it was their first time meeting... normally.
The strangest part?
Evelyn didn’t feel strange, not one bit.
In fact, she actually liked what was happening, it made her feel like the two of them were building a silent connection despite being in a room full of people and that made her feel... even more at ease.
Her heartbeat calmed down even further, Lucian noticed that.
He had been observing her since the moment he saw her, and the more he watched, the graver his inner face was becoming, but of course, none of it actually came out.
Evelyn chuckled at Lucian’s remark, but before she could say anything else.
"Miss Starling."
Alaric called out.
Evelyn looked back at him, she had ignored him the first time, however, she knew he was the head of the group Voss Security had assigned to her.
He was important.
"Yes?"
So she shifted her focus to him, though her eyes still moved to Lucian from time to time.
"We will be taking over close-contact security from this point onward. Your public schedule will continue, but all movements must be cleared through this team."
Alaric spoke in a formal tone.
"I understand."
Evelyn nodded.
"You will follow extraction orders immediately if a threat appears."
"Yes."
"You will not separate from assigned protection."
"Understood."
She nodded again, her eyes however, couldn’t help but move to Lucian at the back, who was constantly mouthing ’blah blah blah’ while rolling his eyes as Alaric spoke.
That made her chuckle again, she tried to hide it, but someone as observant as Alaric couldn’t possibly miss it.
He, however, did not react to it. He just looked at Clara, who passed the schedule and—
"We will begin with today’s planned studio movement. Two vehicles, one false route, one active route."
"Yes."
Evelyn nodded.
Alaric then pointed at Lucian.
"And as you requested, Lucian Cross will stay with you at every point in time."
"I understand."
Evelyn smiled.
Alaric didn’t miss how her tone was very slightly different than before, but again, he shook his head and—
"Then let’s move."
He commanded and the room began moving.
Clara spoke to Evelyn’s manager in a low voice. Elise stood near the door, watching every assistant, bodyguard, and hotel staff member who moved in and out of the room. Lila was speaking with Evelyn’s doctor and Sarah only looked around, letting her instincts do the work.
Alaric gave orders to Evelyn’s bodyguards and hotel staff without raising his voice.
As for Lucian—
He watched everything from the side, completely shunned by the group. No one told him where the cars were, what routes they were taking, or which position he was supposed to stand in.
It was almost impressive.
To think they managed to include him in the mission then somehow made it like he was not part of it at all.
’Is this what they call corporate bullying?’
He wondered in his head.
All of this didn’t exactly bother him.
This wasn’t the first time he was being ignored or targeted, he had seen worse.
Besides, he already had his ’assignment’.
Evelyn Starling.
Since he was supposed to stay with her at every point in time, he did exactly that. He watched Evelyn.
She was surrounded by people, yet her eyes constantly returned to him. He smiled, waved or secretly gestured at her every time she looked, that made her chuckle.
"Miss Starling, we will leave in three minutes."
Clara informed.
"Alright."
Evelyn nodded in a calm voice.
Her body however, told an entirely different story.
Lucian heard her raised heartbeat, he noticed her fingers pressing against each other, her oddly straight posture.
She was afraid.
She was trying to hide it behind a brave front, but she was afraid.
And honestly, she had every reason to be.
Whoever was after her was far more persistent than normal, Lucian couldn’t help but believe there was something far deeper in all this than what met the eyes.
For now, however, he didn’t think too much about this.
He only focused on the mission.
"Clara, is the first route clear?"
Alaric questioned.
"Cleared."
Clara nodded.
"Elise?"
"No visible trace on the hotel staff, I will check the elevator and garage again."
"Lila?"
"She is stressed, but that is normal considering the situation she is in. We can move."
"Sarah?"
"The crowd looks normal to me, nothing’s standing out really."
Alaric nodded, then he turned towards the ordinary bodyguards and—
"You will follow Clara’s route, there will be no changes unless I say so. If Miss Starling stops, you stop. If I tell you to move, you move. You are not to ask questions in public."
The bodyguards nodded.
Lucian watched it all while he waited patiently, Alaric however, did not look at him, not even once and that made him raise his eyebrows in awe.
"You see that?
That’s the beauty of teamwork."
He muttered as he leaned towards Evelyn who had slowly walked towards him.
"Teamwork?"
Evelyn didn’t know what to say at those words.
Even she could see the team was actively ignoring Lucian and she...
"Do they not trust you?"
She asked directly.