"You've been drinking all day!" A look of terror on his wrinkled face at the mess before him. He held open the door to her room and watched her struggle out of her bed, her platinum curls unkept. He growled and walked over to the windows pulling the curtains aside.

"Have you gone mad, Gina? You missed going to the office today, why?" George Hobart couldn't understand why his daughter was acting up. No matter how much she drank a night before it never interfered with her job as a journalist, it was the next thing she loved after Theodore.
Speaking of Theodore, George felt a twinge of spleen at the notion of Theo being the reason why Regina was self sabotaging.

There was no other way he could've gone about it, he needed her maximum attention and the earlier she snapped out of it the better for both of them.  "Is this about Theodore?"

Regina stood before the long mirror, her hands to her face mumbling words into her clasped palms. She brushed her hair behind and turned to look at him with bloodshot eyes.

"Jesus Christ! How much did you drink? Why are you throwing your life away? Is it because if that man who has turned his back on us?" George cried.

"Go away,"

"Get it together Gina, I warned you about him in the past, Theodore is a savage and takes no prisoners. He's made his intentions clear to us that his loyalty lies only with himself but we can't give up. I had a meeting with the colonel and he has promised to help us. You know he's a member of the ruling party, he can sneak me in, get me rolling with the big team soon enough," he clapped his hands together for emphasis. "But like every good thing, a price has to be paid."

"What price?" Her shoulders fell when she saw the familiar look on his face. "Oh no, you're not shitting me Daddy. I'm not doing that, we—" she paused to raise a finger. "—Are not selling Theo to that man, he's not what he seems Daddy."

George moved closer to stand before her. "And neither is Theodore! We have to make a choice soon enough. I've been getting threats, series of vague threats from a foreign number with nothing but the abbreviation SAN," he shut his eyes for a moment before pulling them open to stare right at a fuming Regina. "I don't know what it signifies or who it's from but they seem to have something incriminating about me. But the thing is... I don't know what they want or who they are or which one of my enemies is trying to get at me—"

"Dad," she called in between.

"—You see, I'm at the verge of being exposed. What if the FBI or the state police soon open a file against me, Gina? What if tomorrow whatever this—this person has against me comes to light and is spread all over the news what will I do? How will I get out of it?"

"Daddy stop!" She finally got his attention and managed to stop his ramblings. "I've had it up to here with your rambling, my head's about to split from so much talking!" She seethed before walking into her closet and away from a stupefied George.

*******

Insecurities, anxiety, uncertain, unsafe, they were all the same feeling. A moment, you're so sure you're the air they breath, then the next minute... it's like do you even exist? Do you even matter to them? It's ugly, quite ugly to fall from cloud nine because there's no actual way to explain that. Regina didn't bother to return the fake smiles thrown at her as she stepped into the foyer of the restaurant Jose had texted her he was at.

She wasn't in the mood for hangouts or public appearances but if what Jose had to say to her involved Theodore in someway then she'd gladly sit through an agonizing day with him. She desperately needed to know that her previous encounter with Theo wasn't the end.

In a bid to quash her insecurities, Regina had opted to dress in the most provocative manner possible. The red dress had slits by the sides, a V ran from her neck down to her belly, exposing what's left of her B cups. Her clean shaved legs trudged seductively one after the other as she stepped into the calm room, without minding the ogling eyes, she searched for Jose and found him perched at the bar looking dejected.

He whistled when she walked over. "Damn! Ms. Hobart, you're gonna set the world ablaze looking like that."

She plopped on a nearby chair, totally ignoring his tease. "Dry Martini please," she told the barrister.

"Woah, take it easy there, I know you can hold one of yours but it's too early for this." Jose pointed to her served drink.

"Says the man who's downed like three glasses."

"Haven't seen much of you around."

"I know for one that you're not a man for small talks Jose so go straight to the point. What is it?" She chided, seemingly uninterested in making small talks. On a very good day, she'd never accept such unscrupulous invitations at a sordid place like this one. She preferred a more standard, VVIP environment like the club de Viliena. Not places where an average man could walk in and ogle blazingly at her or offer to buy her cheap drinks served at a gaudy restaurant like this one, like she was some cheap lady. She cringed at the guts of men. Jose wasn't in her radar, she knew that and so did he but being ardently involved with Theodore had offered little chances of avoiding his minions as well. So here she was.

He bit his lip and bobbed his head in understanding. "I messed up, not sure how but I did," a look of forlorn crossed his eyes. "With Edna,"

"Oh c'mon Jose, you're not about to tell me your family problems. I'm not your drinking buddy!" Regina could feel her patience wearing thin. It dared not be the reason she was coaxed into being here.

"I know—I know that but Edna left me. She disappeared few days ago with her belongings and left little Lilly with me." He rasped in one go, dropping his head on the counter.

Regina threw her face to the side, snapping her eyes shut at the same time. It was more of a subtle eye roll. "Better for you then, good riddance. That woman is worse than a scarecrow!"

"What? That's not true, she's beautiful and tolerant unlike some people."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you and—and Theo." He offered, a careful look in his eyes. He didn't want to upset her any further seeing that she was already fed up with his presence. But there should be more to her irritability, ever since he'd known the lady, there was only one thing that brought out this side of her.
Brows furrowed, suddenly interested in what went down between them. "Did you guys have a fight?"

She hesitated and reached for her glass, "The usual," she played it off with a shrug.

Jose cast a solemn look at her truly understanding how she felt, he did too. "He found out about a job I messed up, but I don't understand how that's got anything to do with that woman?" Jose whispered more to himself.

"What woman?"

"You know, the one who took a bullet for him."

She reared back. "That one? Why's that?"

He sipped from his glass, letting out soft belch. "I think he's hiding something from me, a big fat secret." No doubt within him, Jose knew Theo kept things away from him. He'd successfully avoided answering his questions rather pinned Jose with accusatory ones. "Maybe he has a wife and kid," his face scrunched in thoughts. "Probably that girl!" He banged against the counter, rattling the glasses. "That's the only reason why he'd keep things away from me. He's never been this discreet. Down to the shadiest things I've been involved so either he's romantically—"

"He's not! Okay?" Regina glared.

"You don't know that Regina!"

"I know! She's nothing like that to him. Theo has no interest in her."

"Oh I see what you mean there... you're scared he might be, you're scared for your heart Gina,"

"Don't call me that!"

"But it's true, Theo has never been interested in you even when your daddy offered you to him on a platter he didn't flinch at all, meaning, you didn't make the cut but maybe— just maybe someone else did and it's her!" Jose's words laced with blatant mockery.

"You're wrong Jose, I may not have made the cut but she too didn't! That's incest to start with!"

"What?!... what incest?" Now he was lost. "You've had too much to drink, now you're rambling nonsense." He accused pushing his shoulders to relax in his chair.

"She's his sister, stepsister to be precise so there's nothing absolutely going on between both of them alright?!"

"What?.... Wait—are we still talking about the same people? Who's Theo's sister?"

"Whatever her name is, he relied on me on that one. She's his late father's illegitimate sister and she came to find him after a long time."

Jose fetched his phone from his side and clicked on it. "This—woman? You mean this one right here on my phone?"

"Yes that's her."

A burst of laughter echoed across the room as Jose held his belly in a mocking gesture. He tugged at his jacket when he was done, straightening every part his fingers could. "See, when I told you you didn't make the cut this was what I meant," he pointed to his phone. "Theodore lied to you, she's not his stepsister or some relative from the past. She's the fiancée to that agent whose body was found in a river few weeks ago. The incident for which your office was issued a stop order by the USSS headquarters to not broadcast the news. You remember?"

"What?... what the actual fuck?!!" Regina shrieked, a look of utter terror gripping her face.