Page 85 of Bound By Blood and Lies

The building comes into view sooner than I’d like. This is it. I kill the engine and sit there for half a second longer than necessary before I turn to Fae and grab her face, leaning down for a kiss.

“Stay with me,” I whisper against her lips. “Promise me, Tink. Stay with me.”

She nods straight away, “I promise.”

I exhale, but it does nothing to steady the way my chest is already tightening. We step out of the car and meet the others as they gather near the entrance. Victor moves first and I follow his line of sight, doing a double take as someone steps out behind him. Her shoulders are set, and her chin is lifted in a steady way that demands attention without trying.

“Hazel!” Fae breathes, pulling free from me before I can stop her.

My jaw tightens.

What part ofstay with medoes she not understand?

“Hey,” Hazel says, wrapping her arms around Fae as they embrace one another.

“What are you doing here?” Fae asks, still holding onto her.

“Telling my story,” she smiles with pride, “for all the other girls who couldn’t.”

I inhale sharply.

It’s hard to truly comprehend just how many lives my own dad has destroyed with the help of Fisher. I look at Hazel just as her gaze settles on Robyn and her face falls. I can see the sympathy and longing etched into every line of her face. Robyn isanother sister she didn’t know she had, and one who is probably more broken than her and Emily combined.

Hazel tried when Robyn was first brought back, but Robyn wouldn’t meet her halfway. Even now she barely glances at her. I know it’s getting to Fae. She’s said it more than once that Robyn wasn’t like this in the warehouse, that she still had pieces of herself then. Her laughter. Her kindness. Something that made her… her.

Now there’s nothing there. She’s not sad, or angry, she’s not even scared. She’s just fucking empty. A cough draws me out of my musings as I see Atlas stomping towards the building.

“Let’s go,” he barks and I raise an eyebrow.

Who’d have thought he had it in him.

We all follow and I grab Fae’s hand, giving her a warning look. The building stands all stone and symmetry as if it was built from power. Tall columns frame the entrance whilst the steps leading up are worn enough to remind you how many people have walked them. There’s nothing inviting about it. Just structure, control, and the unspoken understanding that once you walk through those doors, you play by their rules whether you like it or not.

Atlas doesn’t wait. He pushes through the doors like he owns the place and the rest of us follow. The inside is exactly what you’d expect. High ceilings, dark wood, everything is polished within an inch of its life. It smells faintly of something expensive and sterile at the same time. It is the kind of room designed to remind you who holds the power before a word is even spoken.

They’re already seated when we walk in.

Todd Parson sits at the far end, his posture is straight and his hard eyes are already on Atlas. Next to him, Leland Strickland leans back slightly with his fingers steepled, watching everything with quiet calculation. He is the spitting image of Victor. So much so that it makes me do a double take every time. DominicBuckley, Riggs’ dad, looks bored, like this is an inconvenience to his day. Harlan Snider and William Harding sit more rigid but no less observant. Barnaby Lawson shifts slightly in his seat as we enter, Maxwell Bates barely looks up, and Phillip Simmons watches us with a thin, unimpressed line to his mouth.

Two seats are empty.

My dad’s and Ackworth’s.

This was always going to happen without my dad here, but I had expected Ackworth to show his face. If not for Fae, then at least for Felix. We tracked him to a safe house in Australia. We could move on him if we wanted to, but neither of them has pushed for it. For now, watching him is enough. Aside from what he did to Fae, he seems more removed from this than we first thought, and our focus has shifted.

We’re directed to sit opposite them, a long desk separating us like a line already drawn in the sand. I take the middle seat, and Fae sits beside me. Felix positions himself on her other side with Robyn next to him, and Atlas takes the end. Victor, Riggs and Hazel settle on my other side. The only sound in the room is the shifting of clothes as everyone falls into place.

The tension in the room is thick and I catch Robyn in my peripheral as she folds into herself. No one speaks straight away. It’s deliberate. A power play they drilled into us long before we ever sat at this table. They’re waiting for a crack, a shift, anything they can use. But they won’t get one. There are eight of us here, and six of us were raised by Founders, shaped by the same rules they’re trying to use against us. If they think that gives them the upper hand, they’re wrong.

Parson leans forward, his gaze flicking briefly to his son, Atlas, before settling on me.

“Mr Longstaff,” he says, “you’ve called this meeting. Explain yourself.”

I lean back in my chair and cross my ankle over my knee, holding his gaze.

“I’m here to request permission to assume control of my family’s firm.”

Harding barks out a laugh, and I turn my glare on him. I’ve never been able to stand him. A few of the others shift as I hold his stare, letting it sit there long enough to make it clear I’m not backing off.