CHAPTER 341: THE CALM

As Adam sat in the CEO’s office, he reflected on how this came to be. Not even a month ago, he was treated as scum of the family and hated by all of his siblings. Now he was sitting behind a desk on the top floor, watching as the world stitched itself back together.

"If I didn’t know any better, I would think this a dream...." He didn’t finish the rest of that sentence as Greg returned from the bathroom.

’or the beginning of a nightmare.

Greg dried his hands on a paper towel as he stepped back into the office, his eyes briefly scanning the lavish room before settling on Adam. "You look like you’re about to start brooding." he said, walking over to the chair across from the desk.

Adam leaned back slightly, resting his hands on the arms of the chair. "Maybe I am."

Greg sat down and tilted his head, frowning. "You did this to help people. Now you are in a position that you can. That’s a good thing, no?"

"That’s the thing," Adam said, his voice low. "Something about this feels off. Sort of like it was forced into being. My so called family has wanted me gone for years and now I am in charge?

Greg leaned back in his chair, his expression unreadable. "You’re thinking they’re setting you up."

dam didn’t respond right away. He turned his head toward the window, glancing at the sun that hung above a city that not even an hour ago was being painted in the blood of the people.

The silence lingered between them, heavy and tense. Adam’s fingers drummed once against the armrest before falling still.

"Their screams haven’t even faded," he muttered, eyes fixed on the horizon. "And yet here we are with those idiots preparing a press conference in order to boost our ’reputation’."

"Isn’t a good thing that things are calming down?" Greg asked.

"That’s the thing Greg...It’s always calm before a storm and I am pretty sure what just happened was merely a drizzle of the massive shitstorm coming our way."

Greg gave a dry chuckle but there was no humor in his eyes. "Well, that’s reassuring."

Adam turned his gaze away from the window and looked at him directly. "I’m not trying to be grim. I’m trying to be ready. If we let our guard down now, we lose everything."

Greg leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. "So what do we do?"

Adam didn’t answer right away. His eyes drifted toward the stack of files on the desk, each one stamped with the seal of his family’s corporation. Each one filled with secrets, contingencies, lies.

It was far too annoying for him to read them himself. At least for now. A scheme to pawn off all the horrible work he didn’t want to do had already been formulated.

"I’ll get Anthony to run the books but every major decision will have to go through me. As for what we do going forward...I’m not the boss so I will leave it to the man himself~!"

Greg blinked. "Wait. You’re handing it off to Leo?"

Adam closed his eyes and let the chair recline ever so slightly, that smirk still tugging at his lips. "Not handing it off. Delegating. There’s a difference."

Greg raised an eyebrow. "And Leo agreed to this?"

Adam cracked one eye open. "Not yet. But he will. He’s too responsible to say no."

Greg leaned back with a short laugh. "That’s evil."

"That’s leadership," Adam replied, stretching his arms behind his head. "He gets the boring parts. I’ll handle the spotlight and look pretty."

"You’re not pretty," Greg said flatly.

"There are hundreds of people who have called me the Pretty boy, Playboy Scum, Harem seeking trash, Hottie and the Indiscriminate sexual predator. Those are all that either agree that i am hot or jealous that I am prettier than them.... Wow. That fucking hurt me to say."

Greg stared at him, deadpan. "That last one sounded way too specific."

"Yeah that one came from a guy who fell to his knees when he found out Leo was a guy..."

Greg blinked. "Uhhh..."

Adam raised a brow, voice flat. "He screamed, ’It should’ve been me... why does he get the femboy too?!’ Or something along those lines."

Greg recoiled like he’d just been slapped with a cold fish. "What the hell is wrong with people?"

Adam didn’t even try to defend it. He just gave a tired nod. "I ask myself that every day, Greg. Every single day."

Greg shook his head and said "Hopefully that was the worst of it and we don’t have to deal with that now. It couldn’t get any woorse right?"

Adam slammed his hand down on the counter and shouted with exasperation "Dude! What the fuck! Don’t jinx us like that!"

Greg realized his words too late as just when he was about to say something again, Adam’s phone began to ring. It was from Penny.

Greg froze.

Adam slowly lifted the phone to eye level and stared at the caller ID like it was a ticking bomb.

"...If she’s calling me about something bad, I am going to blame you."

Greg leaned in slightly, his expression wary. "You gonna answer it?"

Adam sighed and pressed the speaker button.

"Adam," Penny’s voice came through the line, unusually tense. "You need to get down here. Now."

Greg and Adam exchanged a glance.

"What happened?" Adam asked.

"It’s Leo. We all need to have a talk with him."

Adam and Greg shared a glance before Adam’s brow furrowed.

"Did something happen to him during those 2 hours?"

"Yeah. He snapped and killed people....like a lot."

Greg’s face went pale.

Adam blinked, unsure if he heard that right. "What?"

He shook his head, stunned. "This has to be a mistake. Leo doesn’t just snap and murder people. If anyone was going to do that, I thought it was going to be Luna"

Adam ran a hand through his hair, already moving toward the elevator, ignoring Greg’s off handed remark that came without thinking.

"We are on our way. Have you gotten ahold of Luna or Lily yet?"

"No. I haven’t. Neither of their phones are on. I think I heard Lily say they were going to check her house. Maybe she’s there?"

"Alright. We will drop by. If we see them, we will pick them up. Keep an eye on him though. Don’t let him do anything stupid."

As Adam and Greg impatiently waited for the elevator door, Adam couldn’t hold himself back and shouted

"I fucking told you!"

It was always calm before the storm.