May the best man win

Acker’s POV:

My grip on the paintbrush loosened. I was about ready to dive deep into the newest inspiration that struck me when Javier had called in.

My painting interrupted, my mood worsened.

“What happened?” I demanded upon seeing Alicia's photo. She would have looked fine to anyone but I was trained in the art of reading body language. And I saw the way her body was tense, coiled away from the Mikael’s standing with her, and her face which showed that she was mentally far away, staring off into space. She was upset about something.

Had that Serrano done something to her?

“She returned like this, Acker,” Javier called me by my first name whenever we spoke in private, as he wasn’t just my second in command, but also a friend. “Apparently the men took her out shopping on Mikael’s orders and well… i can’t say what the fuck happened to her then. She has gone to sleep and barely said a word to anyone since she got back.”

Something must have happened that I wasn’t aware of and I didn’t l