War Among Family [Sinful and Zitacamron95]

[Zitacamron95]

It had been a bright sunny day, just like any other day in late Spring. He had tried so hard to get his father to just let Nicholas give the public appearance for the company, but there was nothing that stopped his father once his mind was made up. Alexander showed up, like he was supposed to, though he didn't exactly look like he was supposed to. Instead of wearing the suit that would have been perfect for the occasion, he decided on wearing jeans and a t-shirt, the most casual wear he could find at the moment. He made sure that he looked like the worst person to pick to take over the company, even if he did exceed in almost everything that came up in his way. He had passed through school with flying colors and grades, and he knew everything there was about his father's company. He still wanted nothing to do with it at all. He had his own passions in life, and none of them had anything to do with running a company. He would rather let Nicholas take over, that way there was nothing to argue about, though he was sure they would find something.

Alexander walked up to the stage, ready to make the announcement about his father's serious condition. There wouldn't be an announcement on who took over until everything else was taken care of. His father wanted to make the announcement himself, if it ever became possible, if not, Alexander was sure he'd be the one to do it. He stood in front of the crowd, his deep blue eyes stared out into the crowd not even a smile appeared on his lips. He didn't even pretend to be happy about these arrangements. "I'm so glad all of you could make it..." he began, though his face never looked pleased and it sounded exactly like he was reading off of a piece of paper. As he opened his mouth to say the next line, a large bang echoed through the streets. In the blink of an eye, Alexander was on the ground bleeding.

Alexander stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom, the incident had happened about a week ago. If he hadn't moved the bullet would have probably killed him, or at least that's what all the doctors said. Lex thought it was more like they were trying to make it sound worse than it actually was. It had made his father panic, and that was the worst thing that could have happened to him. The next day there had been construction workers at the house to replace Lex's windows with bullet proof ones, but Alexander sent them to the wrong room, twice, before his father was able to get them to go to the right room and get everything in order. It still hadn't stopped Lex from opening the windows in every other room he was in to show that there was nothing to worry about and to prove his father wrong. He also just enjoyed making his father angry and this whole incident worked quite well in his favor.

"Sir, your father would like to have a word with you," A maid chimed as she knocked lightly on the door.

"Thank you," Alexander mumbled just loud enough for the maid to hear. He had been locked in the house so long that he was just getting more and more irritated by the day. He heard the maid walk away and sighed heavily. If it was another thing that was for his own protection, he was going to make sure he was the one pulling the plug on his father. He got up slowly and didn't even bother to put anything on, he just wore his pajama pants and the only thing that covered his chest just a small bit was the bandage that was over his bullet wound. He still took his time getting to his father's study, and wasn't too happy when he arrived seeing another person already in the room. "What do you want, father?"

"Lex, I'm so glad you could make it, but you could have at least put on something more suitable. We could have waited a little longer," His father answered.

"I wouldn't want to make you wait," Lex sighed, though he really wanted to add 'you could have been dead otherwise.'

"Lex, this is Altair Daggerwood, your new bodyguard."

"The hell he is!" Lex snapped, "I don't need a bodyguard, I'd rather die."

"Alexander!" His father growled, "You were almost shot, I've already lost your mother and the last person I'm going to lose is you too. You don't have a choice."

[Sinful]

Leaning against the wall, one leg kicked back, the other poised leisurely, Altair stared at the open door where he waited for the old man’s kid to show. Taking a drag of the cigarette he had pinched between his fingers, he exhaled and lazily watched the smoke form a dense gray cloud and settle in the air before him. No matter how many times he’d said no he was still being offered drinks, such as coffee and/or tea, and Altair finally wondered if it was a code for him to stop smoking and occupy himself in a different manner, or this was how this family and its maids and butlers acted around guests. He wouldn’t exactly consider himself as a guest, though. Guests were temporary. He was permanent until either he or the kid died; only then would the cycle falter, and restart in rhythm shortly later. Either he gets shipped off to watch a different kid, or somebody else comes in his place to watch this particular kid. Altair didn’t give a damn about it except for the pay, which was very, very reasonable.

Sucking in another lungful of smoke he slid his eyes over to Mr. Bishop, who patiently awaited his son’s arrival. From what he’d so far picked up about the gentlemen, it seemed Mr. Bishop was very prioritized and had certain things on his mind from one time to another. Once an idea or opinion struck, it stayed, and he refused to let it go. Sort of like the way the servants don’t understand the word no and keep coming back for more. I guess I’m that popular. Altair smiled to himself at his humor, only to have it vanish when he saw a woman step toward him. He slowly turned to face her, and though she couldn’t see his eyes which were shielded behind his unusually long bangs, it was clear from the petulant shape of his mouth that his answer to coffee or tea had not yet changed. It’s not going to, either. He shook his head slightly and returned the cigarette to his lips.

Just then the kid they’d—him especially—had been waiting for appeared in the doorway wearing nothing but a pair of pajama bottoms. Altair’s eyebrows rose, and his mouth curled in a smirk. Swallowing he refrained from commenting at the sight before him. This is who I’m meant to protect? The thought came again as soon as the kid, Alexander, very clearly stated that he did not appreciate his father’s attempt at protecting him. Turning away Altair took a quick drag, stifling the growl in his throat. Already he knew this was going to be a very interesting job he’d been assigned with. Good thing the money is worth it.

Clearing his throat, Altair decided to step in. Lifting a hand he ran it through his hair, pushing back the blond strands that hung in his face, revealing startling bright blue eyes. Scraping the cigarette in the proffered ashtray the butler near him so graciously held out, Altair walked forward toward the boy with a swagger in his step that seemed inappropriate for one of his job description. “Alexander,” he said in way of greeting. “It’s nice to meet you.” The curl to his mouth and the lip in his voice suggested otherwise. “I’ve been assigned to keep an eye on you from now on, so you better get used to it, kid.” He smiled, trying to appear pleasant, but his eyes and his smirk denied all that.

[Zitacamron95]

Alexander glared at the guy above his glasses, the moment his father was declared dead, this man was going to be fired. He didn't care how much his life was in danger, he didn't need a bodyguard. He glanced over at his father, who seemed just about to attempt screaming at his son, but that always ended with a mid sentence coughing fit. It had happened so often that even the doctors were trying to tell Lex that he needed to just start being more obedient for the sake of his father's stress levels. If his father didn't want to be stressed, he wouldn't have picked such a job or at least listened to what Alexander had been trying to tell him from the beginning. The only way that Micheal Bishop would have gotten any sort of message that told him no, was if the whole idea backfired. Though, it seemed while Alexander tried acting out as much as possible, it really didn't do anything at all.

Lex looked back at Altair, "Have fun being a glorified babysitter." Out of the corner of his eye he could see that vein in his father's forehead pop out as if he was just ready to strangle him. It did put a triumphant smirk on Alexander's face, just briefly. He had tried to talk to his father for quite a while that Nicholas wanted the company, and it should have rightfully been his older brother who had to take over. It would have taken care of all this unnecessary stress in his father's life, but obviously that didn't matter to him. The only way to show that Lex didn't want the company was to act like he wasn't fit to have it, but no matter how hard he tried, it seemed like his father just couldn't wait for him to take over. So, this silent battle between the two continued on everyday, Alexander messed something up on purpose, his father would yell at him, then both of them would be butting heads by the end of the day about something that to any other person wouldn't have mattered as much.

The smirk disappeared as one of the servants came in, "Excuse me, Mr. Bishop." Both Alexander and Micheal looked as if they were acknowledging their name being called, but the moment the servant's eyes laid on Micheal, Alexander turned away. "Your meeting with the board is today, do you feel up to it?" The servant continued. Lex was already praying that his father was, but he was certain he was going to be forced to another boring meeting that he had no interest in at all. He looked at the door wondering if he left, if there would be a way out of the meeting. He turned and went towards the door, as if he was trying to be respectful to the two having the conversation.

"Lex," Micheal called, as the blond boy reached the door frame, "Make sure you get ready for the meeting today, you're coming with me."

"Yeah," Lex muttered, "I'll be ready after breakfast."

"Wear a suit," His father added.

"Sure," Alexander yawned as he finally passed out the door and headed down the stairs for breakfast. The estate the family of three lived on was huge and if it was planned out carefully enough all three of them would easily be able to avoid each other for weeks. Too bad for Lex his family just seemed to enjoy bothering him on a regular basis. If he wasn't getting called by his father, his brother was close behind ready to torment him with something. Then there was the fact that Alexander was no longer allowed out of the house without an escort, which he guessed now was going to be this Altair guy. He was starting to wish his father would just kick the bucket already, he'd like to have control over his own life back. He sat down at the table and grabbed the food that was set out for the Bishop family to eat.

[Sinful]

Pressing his ear to the wall, Nicholas stood in the hall outside of his father’s study and listened to the exchange between him, the new bodyguard, and his ungrateful little brother. His jaw clenched when he heard his father tell Alex that he was going with him to the meeting with the board of executives, and he fought the urge to go in there and demand his father rethink what he was doing. It should be him in that room, standing where Alex stood, receiving his father’s memo to prepare for the meeting. But instead he was eavesdropping, body tense in case he needed to retreat to a different room as soon as their little conversation ended. Nick shook his head at his brother’s attitude, wondering how his father put up with it and was so inclined to keep Alexander in line for the heir of the company. Why did he favor Alex more instead of him? What’s so special about Alex? he wondered bitterly. What does he have that I don’t? He narrowed his eyes. Nick had honey-brown eyes, and though you would think for them to be warm and bright, instead they were hard and cold. Flat and void of positive emotion.

Turning away from the wall he disappeared down the hall and made his way to the kitchen, much too big for the three of them. Grabbing a cup of hot coffee he moved himself into one of the main rooms and stuck a hand in the left pocket of his slacks, staring out the window. The landscape of the estate was large and green and full of vegetation. He was looking out toward the back of the house and could perfectly see the pool from his standpoint. The blue water waved and shimmered invitingly, but Nick had more important things to do than swim. He wasn’t a kid anymore.

Faintly hearing a sound he flicked his eyes away and squinted in the direction of the kitchen. He could just make out the form of his bother, and a vein pulsed in his jaw. Inhaling deeply, he took a sip of coffee and casually sauntered into the kitchen, where he removed his hand from his pocket and clasped his brother on the shoulder. Roughly.

“How goes it, little bro?” he asked smoothly. “I heard you had a meeting today with Dad. Must be nice, being his go-to for everything important within the business.” Nick walked around the table and sat down so he was meeting his brother’s eyes across from him. Seeing his brother, alive and behaving like a snotty little bastard, having little to no reaction that he had been shot and almost killed—biting his tongue he picked up a Danish and took a bite, chewing slowly, and washed it down with his caffeine. “I also heard that Dad hired a bodyguard for ya. How’s that working out?” His eyes sliced up from the Danish and coffee to his brother’s face.

[Zitacamron95]

Alexander was hoping for a nice peaceful breakfast alone, obviously that wasn't going to happen, he could hear the footsteps behind him and he knew with his luck it was going to be the one person he really did not want to deal with this morning. He only sneered when he heard his brothers voice and attempted to bat at his older brother's hand when it landed on his shoulder. He paid more attention to his food than his sibling at the time being, he was more interested in getting out as fast as possible. If he was lucky he'd be able to slip away and not have to go to any sort of meeting today. His brother went on talking without an answer to his questions, it was typical and something that Lex had gotten used to. He only glared back at his brother when he felt his glare upon him, he wasn't afraid of his older sibling and he had no reason to be. He wasn't dangerous in any sense of the word, the only thing that went on between the two was fights that have lasted since Alex could speak his first words.

"I don't know, brother, maybe you should try being daddy's favorite sometime and find out for yourself. Oh, wait, I forgot he only has interest in me." Alex muttered, he obviously wanted to get his brother riled up, like he always tried to do. Though his voice always had that sarcastic sound to it when he spoke about these sorts of things, in his mind he wasn't his father's favorite, he was just the best one to pick on. There was no point in trying to be nice to someone that obviously wanted him gone and out of the way just as much as lot of other people out there. He was sure the whole board wanted him gone, they would easily fight for the position of CEO if given the chance and they would literally kill for that spot. His father on the other hand, had other plans and those plans were set in stone, leaving most board members desperate, and his brother out of the family picture.

When his brother asked about the bodyguard, Alex only mumbled, "Glorified babysitter." He said it in the most corrective tone, as if even his brother should have known better. "Now if you are done with the irritating questions, I'm going back up to my room to eat in peace." Alex piled his plate with pancakes and bacon, grabbed a whole container of syrup and a whole container of apple juice and went right up to his room. He knew sometimes he acted like a child, but he couldn't help what he liked, if he liked his pancakes covered in plenty of syrup and drinking apple juice out of the container he wasn't going to stop such silly nonsense. He locked himself once again in his room and finished off his breakfast finally alone for once. He then cleaned up after himself, taking his good time. He finally started to get ready about an hour before hand and made sure to even taken an extra long shower trying to force his father to leave without him.

When the plan didn't work, Alex appeared down stairs in another set of casual clothing, but at least this time he actually wore a shirt and jeans. Once his father saw what he was wearing the two had a huge argument before Lex was forced back upstairs to change into a suit, the board meeting really wasn't that important, so his father was going to wait until everything was perfect. While Alex was upstairs, Micheal turned to the bodyguard, "This is him on a normal day, are you sure you're up for this task?"

Lex made his way back downstairs after a long few minutes, this time in a suit, "Alright, now let's get this over with."

[Sinful]

Nick’s jaw clenched and he watched Alex exit the kitchen through narrowed eyes. When he was sure he wouldn’t encounter him again on his way upstairs he stood, disregarding the half-eaten food and not bothering to put the chair back in place. Wasn’t that what a maid was for? Making his way up the large, wide stairs he thought back to what his brother said, feeling a twine of rage gradually tighten in his chest. “I don’t know, brother, maybe you should try being Daddy’s favorite sometime and find out for yourself. Oh, wait, I forgot he only has interest in me.” Who the hell did Alex think he was? Just because he was Father’s prodigy and next in line for the company didn’t mean he had the right to act like a snobby bastard around him. He was the older brother. He deserved respect, not the kind of treatment his brother gave him instead. Teeth grinding and nearly shaking with humiliation and anger he walked down the hall and entered his room, closing the bedroom door behind him rather forcefully.
Despite it not being noon yet, Nicholas poured himself a glass of rich amber ale and took a sip, glaring out the window that took up the entire space of one wall of his bedroom. That bullet should have hit the mark. Alex wasn’t supposed to be given a second chance that day. It wasn’t the plan. Was everyone and everything going against him now just for the hell of it? Shaking his head he downed the rest of the liquor and sat down in one of the leather armchairs, still gazing out the window. He sincerely felt sorry for the bodyguard that was in charge of his little brother; in fact, if the guy quit or was found guilty of murdering the SOB, Nick wouldn’t blame him. If anything he’d give the bodyguard—what was his name? Altair Daggerwood?—a pat on the back.
Maybe I could . . . No, he was getting ahead of himself. Perhaps the two would get along just fine; after all, he hadn’t personally met Altair, only heard about him. He wasn’t your average, everyday bodyguard either . . . and he wondered if perhaps that was one of the reasons as to why his Father hired him when they had a perfectly good selection of bodyguards already lined up and waiting for orders. Pursing his lips in thought he stood and poured another glass, drinking slowly. Maybe, if he was careful, he could keep an eye on them and see how they interacted. Surely he’d be able to get something useful out of that, right?
* * *
Altair had decided to occupy his time by aimlessly admiring the décor of Mr. Bishop’s floor, flip through a couple of thick books with small words and phrases that made his head hurt, and finish half a pack of cigarettes until a butler snidely made a remark about his health and the environment around them. He’d only stomped out his current cig and put the pack away to appease the man, but inside he was fighting back a hearty chuckle and rolling his eyes behind his heavy fall of bangs.
Eventually the Alexander boy returned, fed and showered and dressed, though not to the satisfaction of his father. He watched and listened expressionlessly while the two fought back and forth until the argument ended with Alexander leaving the room to change. Hearing Mr. Bishop’s voice, Altair turned his head and smiled, uttering a small sound of amusement in the back of his throat. “Believe me, sir, I’ve dealt with some people insane enough to have come from an asylum. This won’t be anything. I think I’ll rather enjoy having a challenge, no matter how slight, to be honest.”
When Alexander returned again, this time in a suit, the blond moved forward and stood beside the boy protectively. “Kid,” he greeted, soft enough only for the two of them to hear. “Nice suit.” Altair’s lips quirked at one corner in a jeering half-grin, but he said nothing more, only waited for them to leave the room and be on their way to the board meeting.

[Zitacamron95]

Alexander glared at his bodyguard, he didn't say a word this time around. He would rather just go and get this thing over with rather than start shouting at a bodyguard for being irritating. The three were out the door and stopped in front of a limo, where the driver opened the car door and allow the three to join in the back. The limo was on the move a few moments later, Alexander had somehow managed to get a window seat and leaned against the door as he stared outside. He didn't say a word, as his father had started to ramble on about everything that was going to happen during the meeting and what Lex was supposed to do and how he was supposed to act. The boy only sighed and never gave a word of response back, but Mr. Bishop continued to speak as if the boy actually listened or even cared about what was going on with the business. The boy just ignored everything at the time and figured it would be best not to worry about whatever else his father had planned for the day, he had time to think about what he was going to do to ruin the meeting for everyone. He almost hoped there'd just be another attempt at taking his life so he wouldn't have to sit through a boring meeting for hours, and talk about buying out another company or how everyone at the top could make more money.

About halfway to the place, everything had gone silent except for some really quite piano music playing in the background. Alexander had stopped looking through the window and sat up straight, his fingers on his lap were absentmindedly stroking the keys of an imaginary piano, playing with the soft music. Alex used to play many instruments, he loved music and had studied it as if that was his life, when his mother was alive she had encouraged the behavior. She was gone though, and Lex was left to enjoy his music alone and that was it. He didn't get much time to do any of that anymore, his father had him running around as if this business was supposed to be his life now, as if the death of his father was going to bring an end to music being a possible career. There was no chance of him ever getting around this, he was in a cage now and there was no chance he had of getting out anymore. "Alexander! Stop that tapping! It's irritating," Micheal demanded. The boy stopped immediately, but it didn't stay quite for very long as the boy started to tap on the window instead, making it louder. He only gave his father a challenging smirk, and an argument sprouted once again. It only ended when the two got out of the limo and were at the doors of the room they were going into to have their meeting.

The meeting was long and drawn out, and Alexander only made it worse as he made snide comments and remarks that were pointed towards his father. It finally ended with everyone frustrated and wanting to get out of there as soon as possible and just agreeing to everything that everyone else said. By the time they got out it was time for lunch, and Alexander already had another plan in mind. When his father was busy talking to some other associates and wasn't paying anymore attention to him and he was sure that his glorified babysitter wasn't paying much attention anymore either, he headed away from the crowd and went to find his own way to a good restaurant to eat at. He would be back home before curfew, and he was sure that there wasn't anything else important to be done with his father. He walked down the opposite hall, messing his hair up from his nicely combed down state and pulled off his coat and tie. As soon as he found himself outside he left the coat and tie in an alley way for some homeless person to find and have. Alex then went to find himself a small quiet place to eat, so he could get some time away from this irritating business.