Everybody's attention was drawn towards Claire who had commanded them to stop. It was a single word, but they knew the immense weight that it carried. She didn't need to waste her breath with more.
Aiden was silently admiring her while he continued to study the people at the table. Their reactions were odd to him. The authority in Claire's voice was enough to bring their bickering to a halt, but it was the way that none of them visually feared her what threw him off.
Usually, when somebody as petite and delicate looking as Claire is in a position of command, not to mention a woman, she would have to have a very specific way of leading to achieve the level of unquestionable superiority the people surrounding her have branded her with. The usual approach would be playing the white lotus to appeal to their human side, intimidating them with her power into submission or the classic usage of heart striking fear that rendered them compliant to her every order. But Aiden couldn't see any of those things in their expressions or treatment towards her. All he saw was respect and loyalty in the way they payed full attention to what his little lady says and does.
It was as if they were all looking up towards their big sister.
"The budgets were revised and I have come to the conclusion that they will stay the same." She explained in a calm and collected manner. "Do not assume the importance your department has over others. You may all be part of the same team, but only a hand full of people know what the end goal of each of the projects your working on is. Keep that in mind the next time any of you feel the need to complain about others." She didn't look at anybody in specific as her intention was to warn them all.
Aiden payed close attention to her words. He still didn't understand most of the things being discussed due to the lack of information, but he nonetheless tried to connect the dots with what he already knew.
"I understand the need for more recruits is indeed great, but we have to work with what we have for now." She continued to say. "Our main recruiter is currently making her way back to address the issue, so until she returns I expect you all to continue with your responsibilities as you have until now. In the mean time, I will continue to hand pick pups to add to your teams. It's only a temporary measure until the recruiter arrives, but it will help relieve a bit of the weight the over working has caused." Before she could continue, a deep voice was heard.
"You mean help expose us?" Everybody's attention was now drawn to the man wearing a mask, who hadn't spoken the entire meeting. "You expect me to believe that the pups you've been bringing in aren't simply stray rats you've taken from the potential threat sitting beside you?" The man was sitting lazily in his chair. And although his body language didn't give much to work with, his tone was enough to make Aiden understand his earlier glares where just leading up to this.
"Meaning?" Claire didn't even bat an eye at his comments. Her entire calm and collected attitude was the same. As if she were expecting this.
"Meaning exactly that. That you're filling the empty slots in our teams with rats instead of pups." The man continued to say while he ignored the warning stares he was receiving. None of the other people present were liking the way he was speaking to her. Especially Aiden.
"Are you saying my method of selecting people is faulty?" She asked in return to his accusation. Still, her whole aura was the same as when the briefing started. It seemed as if what he was saying wasn't affecting her in the least.
"Your ability to pick prime candidates for the team has always been pristine." His eyes, the only thing you could see about him, shifted into tight slits as his tone turned more serious. "But the litter your currently picking from is nothing but a mischief."
Aiden felt the urge to cut the tongue out of the mans mouth for the ballant disrespect he was showing. He was an extremely patient man, but tolerating disrespect was one of the things he had a practically nonexistent short fuse for. He knew that Claire had kept Drew from one of the groups she had previously referred to as rats, but she had also kept Cameron to be trained as one of her own. And having the man calling one of his best men a rat and his people a mischief, which was just another way of saying a group of rats, was enough reason to have him never be able to speak again.
Aiden could feel his patience run thin with the man but kept silent. Claire had mentioned he would know when it was time for him to speak, but something told him it wasn't now.
"Please enlighten me Adrien." Claire said as she finally gave a name to the man Aiden's silent irritation was directed towards. "If the current place I've chosen to pick pups from is a disgusting pack of rats, then what should I call the place I picked you from?"
As soon as she finished asking, everybody could feel the shift in mood. The man's muscles tensed under his fitted, long sleeved black shirt. Everybody felt the way his earlier cockiness suddenly vanished when he spoke again. "This and that have nothing to do with one another."
"Oh but it does." Claire said in a now sweet voice. "You see if you expect me to treat any of my people differently because of their background or where they came from, then I'd have to start by my oldest companions. I mean, isn't working from the ground up our way of doing things? Why would I start pulling out new weeds if there are so many roots around me that started as just that. Weeds."
Aiden could see her words were like knives thrown directly at him. He could try to mask it the same way he did with his face, but it was obvious everything she said pierced him like stab wounds.
"You all know you won't be punished for expressing yourselves." She continued to say as her sweet tone made them all slightly nervous. It was never a good indicator. "But attempting to rattle our guests is beneath us. Especially when you have no proof to back up your indirect and passive aggressive remarks like Adrien so expertly demonstrated for us."
Even if his serious expression hadn't left his face since he walked inside the room, Aiden felt giddy inside. She was defending him. It wasn't in any direct form, but still. It made him happy. She was speaking out for him and his people.
"And for future reference, you may all doubt my capabilities when you find faults in my results. Not in my way of doing things. I would've thought we were long over that." She finished saying. Everybody shot their disapproving looks at Adrien before they continued with their meeting.