Chapter 15
People had their own unique ways of dealing with loss. Excella Gionne was one of those who took it out on everyone but herself. In person, it was a fit of yelling and screaming, and if not, it was usually through a phone call with the same amount of yelling and screaming, followed by an abrupt hang up. Typical of a rich and spoiled aristocrat.
"This is unacceptable. Unacceptable! I told you those cultures were to be finished by yesterday!"
Crow rubbed his temples as she unleashed yet another salvo into her phone, leaning forward on the cushy leather couch in her office, back in the privacy of her villa. It had to be at least the third call this morning, and that was only counting the ones she had picked up on her cell phone. Her office phone had rung several times, but she was occupied with verbally lashing her current cell phone caller to pick it up. While he would admit he was feeling a little tense himself in the wake of Wesker's death, she was taking things a little too far. Drawing too much attention to herself.
"Excella, my dear," he said tiredly as she angrily disconnected her call with a stab of her thumb. "Don't you think this would be a good time to calm down?"
She rounded on him, stepping from the rut she had worn pacing in front of the floor-to-ceiling office windows behind her desk, eyes glittering in rage. It was hard to take her seriously in sheer ivory silk, but on the other hand, maybe it was suppose to make her more intimidating. Crow had learned to tune out her childish tantrums within weeks of working with her, but it was always rather entertaining to see her so roused.
"Do you have any idea what the Board of Directors will do when they find out about this?" she hissed, pointing an accusing finger in his direction. "This is not a time to be calming down!"
He gave her a quizzical, amused look. "I was under the pretense that the of directors didn't even know about Albert and I, at least in the direct sense, so why exactly would they care about his untimely death?"
She rolled her eyes in frustration, sighing in exasperation as she put a palm to her forehead. "Without Albert, our current projects are in disarray! My review is in three months, and without his work, I have nothing to present to the company! Cazzo! The Decimator series was far too unstable to make a viable weapon, he assured me—"
"—but do you think yelling at each and every one of your subordinates will really accomplish anything?" he asked tentatively, moving from his spot on the couch to casually pace before her, almost nonchalant. "If anything, it might give you the impression that you are weak, disorganized, and—"
"Veffanculo!" she snapped, suddenly ablaze. She jabbed her finger to his chest again, this time actually making contact against his dress shirt and forcing him to retreat a small step back against the glass and steel frame of her desk. "I am not weak! If these miserable little cretins would just do as I ask and make themselves worth my time! And Albert, the bastardo, goes and gets himself killed, and we have no idea if he led the BSAA straight to our front door!"
"Knowing Albert, that doesn't sound like something he would be foolish enough to overlook," Crow said flatly, holding his ground. "But that's not to say that the BSAA is now in possession of some very unique and very valuable information salvaged from Spencer's estate. His sudden appearance might make them more interested in the major pharmaceutics corporations as well."
"I'm sorry, this is supposed to be helping me calm down?" she nearly shrieked. He had to lean back slightly as she stuck her face towards his. It went in hand with her yelling; she tended to get very personable when angry. Up so close, she smelled of expensive perfume and stress, an oddly pleasing smell.
Crow raised his hands defensively. "I'm sorry. Please, Excella, just hear me out."
She held her glare for a few seconds longer, breathing a little harder than normal, then slowly relaxed, dropping her accusative point and folding her arms across her stomach. Her jade eyes still glittered maliciously, but at least her lip wasn't curled back in a sneer.
"Now," he started patiently, as if speaking to a child after a tantrum, which wasn't very far from the truth. "Close your eyes, take some deep breaths, and just try to clear your mind. There's a good girl."
"Don't try to humor me, James," she warned flatly, but did as he asked. He took the chance to give her a thorough look from head to toe in the rare moment of serenity.
"Very well, then I shall get straight to the point." Crow moved to her side, placing his hands on her shoulders and leaning back a bit on her desk. He noticed that she enjoyed his physical contact and took pride that it was a measure of trust between them. To most, Excella was the marble statue behind the velvet rope; don't touch. "I realize that with the demise of Albert, our plans have suffered a major setback. I can't imagine the stress you must be feeling right now."
"These things…are difficult, James," Excella said, raising a hand to her temple to lightly knead it. There was a rare quiver in her voice, almost like she was on the verge of breaking down. Maybe he mistook her anger and frustration for something else. What then? Mourning? Outright fear? "Without Albert, I'm not sure if we can reproduce our current projects, or even finish the ones in progress. After we liquidated the Decimator series—"
"—and that seems to be the root of your problems, my dear," he interrupted, finally picking up the trend which seemed to dot each of her conversations. "It's always 'Albert this', and 'Albert that'. Tell me, other than your charming personality and beauty, why do you think I decided to approach you with our services?"
She grinned a little at his deliberate ego stroke. "You needed a link to resources; a company to supply your research. And Tricell is the best."
"No," he corrected, smiling in return at her reaction. Excella was never the one to turn down any form of praise, regardless if it was only flattery. "You are the best. The Board of Directors refuses to see past your surname. In a very short time, you've shown them otherwise: that a Gionne is worth far more than a full-blooded Travis."
"With a little help from you and Albert, I might add." She opened her eyes and turned to face him, shrugging off his hands. She sounded a little frustrated, but at least she was speaking normally. The quiver in her voice didn't return, and she wasn't glaring holes through him with her glare. It looked like he was finally getting somewhere. "You did give me access to the U.M.F.-013. Umbrella's research on a silver platter."
"Yes, I'll admit we did," he agreed. It had been a calculated risk, too. Wesker had been initially hesitant at the idea, but fortunately for them, Excella proved to be fairly reasonable. At least in some aspects, and mostly pertaining to her career. "And I could ramble on about how you were far more intelligent than using it, but that's beside the point."
He took her hands in his, feeling their warmth and smoothness. The type of work exerted on them wasn't strenuous, yet what they produced was nothing short of marvelous.
"So I believe the moral to my little speech is this," he continued. "You hold yourself on too tight a leash to Albert. He's gone, and I'm sure we will sorely feel the absence of his brilliance, if not his rather…cold demeanor. Instead my dear, it's time for you to take the reigns of Tricell's projects. You can show the Board exactly why you're the best candidate for the CEO position, and you can do it without Albert's help."
"And when I attain that position?" she asked loftily, giving him a wary eye. She seemed to be cautious of the flattery now, as if she was looking for a hidden meaning that she might regret their bargain later. "You still haven't told me what your motivation for backing me is, James…and I'm sure it's not just because of my 'charming personality', as you so eloquently put it."
She leaned in close suddenly, smiling, her face very close to his. One of her hands left his to playfully trace the side of his jaw, and a flutter ran through his stomach. She looked absolutely devilish at that angle, her green eyes filling up most of his vision with their allure. Right then and their, he thought he would tell her anything she wanted to know.
"So, James," she continued, her voice barely above a whisper, "Would you care to share with what you plan to do with me afterwards?"
Oh, the things I could do with you.
He smiled as a legitimate light sweat broke out on his forehead. She was certainly curious, even if she hid it most of the time, but he wasn't about to let her manipulate him so easily. "In due time, Excella, in due time. For now, we must be content with watching the world squirm beneath our fingers." With that, he gently squeezed her fingers in his to emphasize the point. He was the outside force that would close her grasp around the seat of Tricell's power.
She cocked her head in thought, a small grin across her lips as she considered what he said. He knew the offer was appealing to her. Revenge was something that drove her to the core. Not violent retribution, but the fact that she had been mistreated by her own company for being of 'tainted blood'. She wanted revenge by crushing those on her way to the top so she could look down upon them all.
"I suppose you're right," she said. Back to the same, confident purr he was so used to hearing. "It is time that I begin to take control of my company. It's only a matter a time, after all." She regarded him with another sly, suggestive look. "You certainly know how to motivate a woman with words…"
He grinned back. "I consider it one of my more under-appreciated talents. And I must say you can be equally persuasive as well."
She removed her hand from his. Crow was sorry to have to let go, but she straightened a frill on her dress and held her chin high. "I think I will take the rest of the afternoon off to get my affairs in order. Someone around here has to do most of the work." With that, she walked to the door, but paused and glanced back at him after opening it. "…you'll join me for dinner on the veranda this evening, won't you? I think there are some more things that we should discuss."
Crow beamed at her. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."
She left, leaving him to straighten his tie. A truly remarkable woman. Excella was the authentic package; brains, beauty, refinement, and motivation all rolled into one. But if that was the case, why did he still pine about Ada Wong?
If it was one thing he could say Excella lacked, it was what Ada had. Now if only he knew what it was…
He reached into the inner pocket of his suit coat and pulled out his PDA, then punched a number. The line connected to his operative working with the Tricell forces. "You still have the GSA under surveillance?"
"Yes sir. Wong has not resurfaced since her initial contact."
Hm, troubling, he thought. It wasn't like Ada to just tuck tail and run after an encounter like that, especially from right under their noses. Where had she disappeared to? Ultimately irrelevant. "And the BSAA?"
"They are continuing their joint operation with the GSA. Most of their resources are currently devoted to recovering Agent Valentine's and Director Wesker's bodies."
"What about the information recovered from the Spencer estate?"
"We initially thought both agencies would be handling it, but it looks like the entirety of the recovered files was given to the GSA for review. From there, they may begin to distribute it to the other agencies and other countries."
"I'm authorizing you to extract it now, but I want it to be discreet. Make sure the backups are wiped. We need to be the only ones who know what was recovered from Spencer."
"...what about the ones already exposed to it?"
"Terminate with extreme prejudice."
"Yes sir."