Laiken

It must have been decided I'm not worth drilling for information anymore because, the next morning, I'm not locked inside my room. I think Dominic told them that I've got no idea about my dad's location. I want to ask him about it, but when I spotted him in the house at breakfast, he avoided me. He's worse than the deer in the preserve; he slips off effortlessly, leaving me behind.

You'd think, considering how awful he's been since he got back, that I'd be happy to stay out of his way. But I'm not. I can't let go of the sorrow in his eyes when I accused him of being a monster.

I'm walking in the garden when a maid chases me down. “Master Silas wants to see you,” she says, breathing like she's run a mile. My belly twists, but I make my way back to the mansion. On the way I see an array of guards posted. They're everywhere, and at their sides are Dobermans with black, bullet-shaped heads. The Bradleys aren't messing around.

I knock on the door of the study, and for a second I'm twelve again, about to face a ghoulish man in his domain. The door opens, his tired voice speaking, “Come in.”

Silas is on his way back to his chair when I enter. I shut the door, my ears straining as the heavy silence settles. “You wanted to see me.”

He drops into his chair with a groan. His thick gray suit hides his body; I believe he's lost weight this past year. “Sit. Let's talk.”

Nervously, I place myself on the stump. It's smaller than I remember.

He studies me with his long fingers pressed to one side of his face. “When you tried to run last night, did you think it through?”

I look him fearlessly in the eye. “What was there to think about?”

His lids widen to their full limit for a single second. “Still so much fire in you. Even in the best-case scenario, if you'd gotten off the property, what was the next step? Going to the police? No,” he says, waving the idea away. “They'll never believe we kept you trapped here. They'll want proof, and no one here will give you that.”

I scowl openly. “But I'd have gotten away from you.”

He watches me, his fingers rubbing at his temple. His hand drops to the ever-present handkerchief in his pocket. I think he's about to cough, but he just plays with the fabric. “Did you assume that because Joseph is gone that the rest of your family is, too? That we don't have them in our grasp?”

My tongue flattens on the roof of my mouth. I had hoped that, actually. “How do I know you're not lying?”

“You don't,” he says, biting off each word. “I think you're a nice enough girl that the assumption will keep you from anymore reckless escape attempts.” Silas twists the tip of the handkerchief, like he's pantomiming choking someone's tiny neck. I fight the urge to clasp at my own. “Dominic claims you weren't involved in Joseph's trickery. In fact, he made it sound like you're angry you were left behind.”

I wonder what Dominic said exactly. “Yes,” I begin, picking my words. “Not many people would appreciate being abandoned.”

His chuckle gives me goose bumps. “Fair. It's awful, him dumping us a second time. Thanks to his efforts our company was growing again. Joseph acted like an eager worker bee, before playing us like fools.”

My hands wrap around each other as I shift on the stump. “Can I ask how he got away?”

“Why, so you can try the same method?”

“I wouldn't,” I say firmly. “Especially not if you have my mom, or my siblings, like you said.”

He purses his lips. “You're sly, like your father.”

I come very close to saying thank you. It's a real compliment, if you ask me.

His head swings side to side. “No, I won't tell you. I don't have a reason to.” He reclines in his chair, steepling his fingers. “Annie wanted you lashed to a pole and beaten, you know. She was ready to record it and send it to every employee on our roster, all in the hopes Joseph would see, then come back to save you.”

All the color drains from my cheeks. I'm sick from the casual way he tells me this. “That's... why would she...”

“Because she's furious. But more than that, she's helpless.” He shrugs, shaking his head. “What do we do now? Your father drained most of our liquid cash. To stay afloat, we're going to need to sneak money from our investors while hoping they don't notice.” He laughs sardonically. “Our competitors crumbled because your father made them look weak. The second anyone finds out he did the same thing to us, we'll fade away.” He squints at me. “You don't care what happens to my business, do you?”

There's no right answer. I bite my tongue, waiting for him to move on. Silas peers at me with his eyebrows pressing closer to the middle of his forehead.

“Do you care what happens to you?” he asks.

It's too close to what Dominic asked me while he pretended he was going to chop off my hair. I nod multiple times.

He spins his chair so he can look at the far wall. “My wife has a temper. When she's directionless, she doesn't know how to use it. And what's making her so upset right now, is feeling like our bank empire is going to disappear. It almost did the first time we lost your father. All our work, our suffering, made redundant.”

The thudding of my heart is so violent I worry it'll smash my rib cage.

“My advice?” His smile holds no empathy for me. “Find a way to make her happy before she aims her violence at you.”

****

I DON'T REMEMBER LEAVING the study. I'm too consumed by how my world is shattering. The pieces are breaking off in a way that blinds me like rain.  I can't think of how to put them back together again; the shape of them is wrong.

What's happening to the Bradleys' company has nothing to do with me. But the affects of their failures will be felt; Silas has made that very clear. Over the years, Annie has kept her distance. I thought, at the start, that she was desperate to connect with me. But I must have been wrong, because she quickly began ignoring me. The only conflict we had came from the time she'd slapped me.

My guess? Dad made their business bloom, like they'd hoped, so she had other things to focus on. Good things; the problem of more money and more bank branches. Now, if Silas is to be believed, the good times are over...

unless I can find a way to stall things.

But I don't know where to start, I think, wandering the halls blindly. I don't know enough about their company to create a damn solution. Crossing into a new section of the house, I see two people at the hall's intersection: a guard, and Dominic.

I'm torn between bolting and trying to talk to him. His eyes, as cold as ever, find mine. My temptation to flee grows... but then I hesitate. I don't know the ins and outs of the business. But HE definitely does.

That settles it. I can't let him scare me away. He's my first hint at a solution, a way to keep Annie happy and save my own skin. Breathing in, I march towards him. He watches me approach and says something quietly to the guard. The other man glances at me before vanishing around the corner.

It's just Dominic and me now.

“What do you want?” he asks, before I can speak. There's a window behind him. The light makes his edges glow, his front-half sharper with shadows.

“I want to know more about your family's company.”

“Why?” His eyebrows inch up.

I lick my lower lip—he watches me do it. “It's the only way for me to help you and your parents out.”

His mouth glides into a bemused smile. “You want to help us?” In a smooth motion, the kind meant for dancers, not muscled bodies like his, he blocks me against the wall. “The people who've trapped you here? People that threatened you, controlled you, and kept you from your loved ones?”

Over his shoulder I see the green wallpaper with the red flowers I've counted just for fun. His presence makes the hallway treacherous. How is he capable of turning a sunny stretch of carpet and windows into a dungeon?

His hand rams onto the wall next to my cheek. I jump, but I don't waver. I can't. “You don't need to remind me. I'm not doing this because I like my situation.”

“Then why?”

“Because it's the only way to keep your mom off my back.”

His eyes flinch. “Who told you that?”

“Your dad. He said I need to make her happy, or she'll start taking her moods out on me.”

The bridge of his nose is full of grooves; they smooth away. Dominic's stare goes elsewhere. From my angle, I can see his collarbones cutting through his fitted charcoal shirt. When he inhales, his broad chest swells, nearly grazing mine. His scent swims into my nose. Once, he smelled like parchment... like books. That's been replaced by grass, and something musky; the way stags smell when they're rucking for a mate in the middle of a forest.

He's looking at me again; was I zoning out? “You're hoping you'll come up with a plan so successful, we don't need your dad back.”

I shrug. “If we can do anything that brings in more money, it's enough, I think.”

Dominic smirks. “'We?'”

“I'd do it alone if I could. It's easier with your help.”

“Tempting,” he says, backing away. “How do I know this isn't just a way for you to help your father stay hidden?”

“You don't, but would it matter? You want your parents happy too, or why else bother chasing me last night? You'd have let me go if you didn't care what they think.”

His eyes narrow. “I told you. Stop assuming you know me, or what I want.” He turns partially, the sunlight illuminating him so that it splits him in two. He's impossibly gorgeous. Just looking at him turns my knees to jelly, and I curse myself for it. “We're not on the same side.”

My chin inches upwards. “But we can be, Dominic!”

That beautiful devil watches me for a fraction too long. “No. We can't.”

I stare at his back until he vanishes around the corner. Without his company, the light seems brighter... cleaner. But everything also becomes stale. When he's near me, it's like a fog is lifted. So why the hell do I want to punch him in the nose?

Dammit, I think, flustered by how he turned me down. I start to pivot on the ball of one foot, working to figure out my next steps, except I don't have any.

Dominic is still my best option. I just have to convince him that helping me is helping him, too. He doesn't think we can be on the same side. I'm sure he's wrong. He was my confidant once, my savior. He can be that again.

I'm determined to prove it.