Trinity Cruise

Chapter 11: Are you kidding me?

Eric POV

As they pulled out of port Eric felt a giant weight lift off his shoulders. The last two days had been completely amazing. It truly felt as if the three of them were a complete couple. They had stayed in the room and gotten to know each other on whole new levels, not only intimately but personally and surprisingly professionally as well. Tris had finally called Max and Peter was no longer a threat for work but he remained on the hsip because unfortunately extradition is not something that they do in St. Thomas. So that being said the 5th level was to be avoided at all costs. Today was the first day that Tris had agreed to actually leave the room so they needed to be as careful as possible in such a confined area.

After they all were dressed, Tobias and Eric both looked towards Tris she was shaking almost uncontrollably. "I don't know if I can do this." She crouched to the ground and wrapped her arms around her knees and began to hyperventillate. Eric and Tobias ran forward and embraced her tightly so she could ride out the anxiety. Tris' breathing finally evened out and she breathed a gigantic sigh of relief. "Thank you, you guys should go and have fun. I don't think that I am quite ready to face the world yet." Tobias opened his mouth to say something but he was interrupted by a hurried knock at the door.

All three of them rolled their eyes and Eric rose to open the door. "What do you want?" He asked flatly as he came face to face with Evelyn. "Is it okay if I come inside it seems I need the collective expertise in this room." Eric quickly looked over his shoulder at the other two occupants and after they both gave a nod of affirmation he moved to the side and ushered her in. After everyone was seated they all were silent for a few seconds. Evelyn cleared her throat and shifted slightly. "I need your help. It seems that my employees are completely daft and about an hour ago Al escaped."

Tris POV

"This can't be happening." She said to herself. She was torn, does she do what she was trained to do and finally push her fears aside or does she stay in the room and hide like every instinct she ever had was telling her to do. Tris looked up from her musing to see two sets of eyes trained on her and one set looking down at the floor. "I know I shouldn't be asking this with what you've been through but, I know you three are my best bet in catching him."

Tris shifted her gaze from Tobias to Eric and then to an awaiting Evelyn. "Ms. Eaton, I will agree to help you but, I will only help if I am the one calling the shots. I will volunteer to be used as bait because let's be honest that is going to be your best bet." Eric began to protest but Tris held up her hand. "Do we have a deal?" Evelyn looked up from the floor and glanced at the other two. "You don't have to worry about them, they do what I do." Tobias made a sound that she couldn't really decipher but Tris decided to leave it alone at least until this woman was out of the room.

"Ms. Eaton, my patience is waning. Do we have a deal or not?" The older woman let out a long exasperated sigh. "I guess I have no choice, if you all would follow me to my office we can draw out a plan. We have two days left until the next time we dock." They all rose from their seats and Eric suddenly spoke up. "We will meet you down there in a few minutes, none of us are properly dressed." With a nod of her head Evelyn closed the door. Eric grabbed their hands and dragged them to the bedroom. "Something about this isn't adding up." He said as they all began shedding clothes. Tris nodded in response when Tobias suddenly burst. "How dare you make a decision for us! You didn't even take a breath and now you're putting yourself in danger, knowingly I might add and telling my mother that you basically make the decisions for us!" Eric stepped back and raised his arms to signal his disagreeance in everything that Tobias had all but spat at her. Tris took a deep breath and stepped forward standing taller and more proud than she knew she should have but there was no way that this was to be overlooked.

"Tobias, you can stay here if you want but I am going. I only said what I knew to be truth. How dare you speak to me in such a way. If coming into this this "relationship" you were looking for another bottom that you could control, you found the wrong person. If that is the case please let me know so that I can pack my shit and leave." His mouth stood agape but she refused to look at it. "Eric, I meant no disrespect." He nodded his head and a look of consternation graced his face. She hoped fervently that her declaration had not made him question his own existence. She yanked on her jeans and exited the room and made her way to the 5th level alarmingly alone.

Tobias POV

His jaw was on the floor. No one in a long time had dared to speak to him the way that Tris just did. He was used to getting his way and always being in charge. Eric made that easy for him because he was not the type to argue. Tobias had vowed to himself that no one would ever rule him again, not after everything that he had gone through with Marcus. As if on cue he felt something hit his face. Tobias blinked furiously as his eyesight readjusted. "What the fuck!?" He yelled at Eric, who was standing on the other side of the bed with his arms crossed. "Did you seriously just miss everything that I just said to you?" Tobias looked down not knowing what to say. Eric's face was as red as Santa's suit. "Fuck this, I'm done, when you pull your head out of your ass you can find me with Tris."

As Eric stomped through the room Tobias felt his last shred of control slip through his fingers. The feeling was not foreign but it wasn't pleasant either. He felt like that little boy hiding from his father deep in his dark closet. He didn't know the depth of the feelings that were coursing through him, he didn't know if the could live up to the ultimatum that she had set. After finding out who she was he admits that he had questioned whether she was going to be what he wanted and now that he knew the truth he hated to admit it but he was addicted. When he let her take control in the bedroom he was genuinely surprised that he had actually enjoyed himself, however the real question that he needed to answer was whether he could handle her defiance. Was Tris worth losing all the control that he thought he needed? As he looked about the room he smiled as he saw pieces of the two people he love the most in this world. No, he would never be able to give up these two. They were his world and if that meant giving up control then by God he was in.

Tobias finished dressing and forced his shoes on his feet and all but ran to the elevator. He stepped onto the 5th floor and hoofed it to Evelyn's office pushing down the bile as he went. When he opened the door three sets of eyes turned to him. Two were glistening with relief but he could not for the life of him discern the look in Evelyn's eyes. "Thank you for joining us Tobias, I trust that all is well?" He glared at the woman but one harsh glance from Tris and his face changed immediately. "I'm fine." He walked into the room and found an empty place at the table. Looking down he tried to come up to speed on the plan but he couldn't really see where they were going with it. He looked up and made eye contact with Tris. "So, what's the plan boss?"

Evelyn POV

Evelyn looked around her office at the trio of people she hadn't expected to be there. Letting Al out of his cage hadn't been part of the plan but she knew that was the only way that she was going to be able to spend time with Tobias and try to save her career with Tris. Evelyn had yet to figure out the nature of the relationship between the three but she was pretty smart and had come to the conclusion that appeasing Tris was the key to getting in her sons good graces.

"You need to be in a place where we can see you, I will not let that monster touch you again." Eric stated loudly as they worked out a plan to catch Al. "Eric, I will do whatever is necessary. I now there is a threat now and he will not be able to take me again." Evelyn had to admit that the girl was young but she was very smart. She could tell that she had earned her position in the company. The ringing of a phone had brought her from her observation. "Max, we are docking at St. Barts in 2 days and I need you to be there to escort Al back to Chicago. I will not have the threat of this happening again on this trip and I need to you to let Molly go, she is the one that told him where I was going. Things are getting ridiculous here Max. Also, we need to look into our ship security protocols because there is absolutely no reason that any of this should have happened. We may even need to hire an entirely new staff because things seem to be out of control here and it needs to change."

Evelyn felt her chest get tight she couldn't lose this job, it was the only thing that kept Marcus from finding her. She was at sea 10 months out of the year and so that and staying in hotels when they were docked kept her safe. She didn't know why he had told Tobias that she was dead she regretted every day not taking him with her. Tobias had every right to be angry with her and as much as it killed her she couldn't fault him for it. She knew that living with Marcus was incredibly difficult and she could tell by Tobias' actions and demeanor that Marcus had not spared him even and iota of pain.

"Evelyn, do you agree with this plan of action?" The girl asked quite rudely. "You are in charge, I am just along for the ride." Tris arched an eyebrow at her and she instantly back tracked. "What I meant to say is I trust your judgement. You are after all my boss and I know the postition wasn't just handed to you." All threeof them were nodding in agreement and her heart finally slowed down to it's normal state. After a few minutes she saw Tobias whisper something in Eric's ear but the taller man shook his head violently and said, "not now!" Evelyn saw this one display and gathered that whatever the three of them had was falling apart at the seams. Evelyn tried with all of her might to contain the glee that flooded her. While they were finishing up their plans she was formulating one of her own to cause distrust and discontent amongst them and finally she would have her son back.