"Has Elijah checked in with you today?" I questioned Jasper as he sat across from me in my office Tuesday morning, four days after Atticus' graduation.

Elijah begrudgingly left mid-afternoon on Saturday to the warehouse to begin his search for the people who found our address and tried to have it sent to our home address, which is not information that just anyone has access to.

Jasper glanced up from his phone, a frown pulling at his lips. "No, I thought he reported to you?" He brushed a hand over his pants, not giving this conversation his full focus.

I twisted in my desk chair and faced the large window in front of me. The garden below offered some sense of relaxation, seeing my mother's flowers in full bloom. "He does, but he usually sends me a report each afternoon and I haven't gotten one yet," I said, turning back to face him, biting my lower lip.

Light shone in my eye when Jasper adjusted his watch to see the time. "It's only three, Ana, he's probably following a lead," he replied with a wave of his hand.

"He told me that he might have found a breakthrough and he was going to check it out," I mumbled, gnawing on my lip, as the desk chair swayed.

Jasper raised a hand toward me. "There, if he's busy we'll hear from him tonight." My brother stood up, fiddling with his watch, using the other hand to slip his phone into his pants pocket.

The paranoia from the weekend set itself deep in my mind. I worked all weekend, trying to find anything about Franco's apartment. No one knew what I did, or why I worked on a weekend but no one questioned me, they never did.

The only person even remotely annoyed by my work was Finn. Apparently, he wanted to spend some time together away from the manor for once but I refused every offer, locking myself in my office instead so he would stop asking.

I returned to bed each night late enough for him to already be asleep and woke up for training before him so I wouldn't have to answer any unnecessary questions.

A sigh snapped me from my thoughts. "Look," Jasper began, his eyes trailing over my nervous ticks clear for him to pick up on, "I understand that you're worried about everyone out to get us but we can't stop working or the empire created will crumble, okay?" He asked pointedly, his eyes locking in on my fingernails scratching my hand.

I dropped my hands, sliding them under my thighs, cursing myself for making my anxiety so obvious. We were trained not to give away a single thing, not even an eye twitch.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll touch base with him and see what he's doing," Jasper offered, gathering his files off the edge of my desk. I nodded gratefully. He walked to the door and stopped, holding a hand on the doorway. "By the way, Atticus asked if he could start having more responsibilities."

Oh. My jaw shifted, my lips forming a pout as I let my thoughts run through my mind. "Send him to me, I'll talk to him." With a final nod, Jasper left my office, letting the door click shut behind him.

I barely had five seconds to myself before someone knocked on my door. My eyes closed for a second and called for them to come in. Uncle George gently pushed the door open and walked through, leaning on a cane.

My body pushed back my chair as I stood and rounded my desk. "Uncle George," I gestured to his leg once closer to him, "What happened to you?"

Uncle George waved a hand, dismissing my concerns, and spoke in his rough voice, "Turns out I'm a little too old to dive in a pool," he joked, rolling his eyes at his own injury.

My eyebrows furrowed as I pressed a kiss to his cheek. "This happened at the graduation party?" The rest of that day ended in a blur for most people including myself. Finn and I spent the rest of the day lounging by the pool and swimming on and off before Chef Joe brought out a large caramel cake, at Atticus' request. which vanished in under a minute. But I don't remember Uncle George diving into the pool at any stage, maybe it happened when Finn and I disappeared into the house for a little while.

Uncle George chuckled lightly before stopping at my coffee table but not sitting in the couches next to it. "Oh don't worry, I think you were a little busy with the doctor," he winked with a teasing smile.

I couldn't stop the sheepish smile that slipped onto my face at the fact that my uncle knew too much. But I wouldn't apologize for any indecent behavior I showed with Finn, I liked him too much to care.

"How is Jasper? I just passed him on the way in and he seemed very focused with his phone, walked right past me without a word." He gestured out a hand towards the closed door where Jasper disappeared through.

"He's just helping me with finding that list the family is on," I said with a grim smile, knowing he probably thought of how that list was the reason he lost my Uncle Ron. "He and Owen seem to have found a substantial lead, they think it could be someone that tried to do business with us in the past with our father who refused to deal with them," I explained, fidgeting with the hem of my shirt that hung weirdly.

Uncle George nodded his head thoughtfully. "Good," he declared, his face filled with determination, "We need to get this scum off the streets and end this, it's not fair to you all." His eyes drooped slightly, the weight of his words settling on his face.

I gently ran a hand over his arm, a sudden fierceness in my gaze. "We'll find them."

His hand covered mine with a reassuring squeeze. "I know you will." He released me and hobbled backward a few steps. "But enough of that, I found this in Ron's things." He produced a sealed envelope and held it out to me. My name was scrawled on the front in Uncle Ron's distinctive handwriting.

I stared down at the envelope, wondering what he would have needed to write down and not tell me to my face. My fingers trembled as I flipped it overseeing my family's wax seal on the back, the L and F entwined with a small knife in the background. My mother wanted flowers on the back for when she sends envelopes to friends but my father refused.

Uncle George started speaking but I couldn't hear a word until my head lifted. "—but he wrote that note right afterward, I guess something about that argument set him off and he needed to tell you something in case something happened?" He questioned himself as he spoke, rubbing a hand over his stubbled jaw.

My pulse jumped. "What fight?" I interrogated, cursing myself for not listening when he first started speaking.

My uncle thought nothing of it and repeated himself, "The fight your father and uncle got into three days before he died, wouldn't tell me what happened but he stomped through and went to his office and wrote this letter and sealed it. I only found it last night when I went through his things," he spoke softly, a distant look on his face. It felt like my heart chipped from the pain as I felt the loss of him all over again.

I nodded, not meeting my uncles' gaze. "Okay, thank you, Uncle George, I'll look at this when I can." My fingertips ran over the dried ink that spelled out my full name. My eyes burned.

He nodded, his lips pursed in sadness before he squeezed my arm once more before silently leaving my office. "Hi, Uncle George!" Atticus greeted as he walked into my office, turning to face him in the doorway.

I quickly walked around my desk and slipped the envelope in my drawer, leaving it for later.

Atticus stepped in and closed the door behind him. His dark blue eyes shined as he smiled. "Jasper told me to come here," he said, taking a seat on one of the couches.

I sat opposite him and nodded my head, focusing on him in front of me. "He said you asked to start doing more things for the family," I laid out, crossing one leg over the other.

He smiled nervously. "Well, it's just that you all started working full time for dad once you graduated high school and worked while you did your degrees from that suspicious online college thing, so I think it's time I start—"

"You are not working for me," I interrupted, unable to look at his proud smile any longer.

He fumbled, blinking once. In that second his entire demeanor deflated, his eyes dulling. "What do you mean?" He asked quietly.

My clasped fingers clenched. "You will not be working for the Love Family, Atticus." He opened his mouth to argue but I tilted my head and he sank back into his seat. "You are going to college, where you'll sleep in a dorm room and hang out at parties and study in their expansive libraries and live a normal life," I stressed the last part, trying to get him to fully understand what I was trying to tell him.

His face fell. "What?" he whispered. "Why not?"

I took a steadying breath. Seeing my little brother genuinely upset about this only proved why I needed to enforce this on him. He would not live a life like this. My face schooled into a blank expression and my lips thinned. "Atticus, you're not fit to work in my company."

He frowned. "Is this because of mom? I know that Amari and I have been coddled but Jasper and Elijah taught me some things," he spoke quickly, his hands gesturing wildly around him.

"Atticus," I said in a more commanding tone, "You cannot handle the work in this business." My tone had a hint of finality.

He stood up, his expression hurt when he finally calmed himself down enough to look at me. "Why are you doing this? I want to help," he pleaded, slowly turning desperate.

I gritted my teeth and stood, towering over him. "This is why," I explained, pointing at him. "You can barely control yourself around me, you won't be able to stay neutral when it matters most." I made my way over to the door and pulled it open, staring at the wall ahead. "Pick a college, anywhere in the world and live a normal life Atticus, when you've done that then we can talk about you joining the business."

Atticus frowned but nodded. "Fine," he said, his voice void of any emotions, "I'll be in my room." His back remained stiff as he stomped to the door and left the room without another word or backward glance in my direction.

I knew he would be hurt and upset with me but it was the only way that I could ensure his safety. No lie left my lips, he wasn't fit to work in this business, his sensitivity to me turning him down showed me enough proof.

He reminded me a lot of a young Jasper, someone that wanted to fit in so bad into a life that they were not created for. Jasper had that sensitivity beaten out of him, literally. Atticus had my mother.

With a sigh, I closed the door and basked in the few moments of silence I had around me. I flopped into my chair ungracefully and yanked open the drawer where I shoved the letter from Uncle Ron.

Uncle George mentioned that my father and Uncle Ron fought minutes before he wrote this letter for me and sealed it. Did he know he was going to die? Did he think my father did it?

Waving away those thoughts, I gently lifted the seal, careful not to break it, and pulled out the small folded piece of paper. I calmed my nerves and unfolded the paper. My eyebrows pinched at the few words written there, confusion and dread settling in.

DO NOT TRUST HIM, ANA. —UNCLE RONNIE

My mind whirled. Don't trust him? My father? I never did, why would my uncle write this kind of note with no other context to it three days before his murder?

I flipped the paper over, scanning it several times for something I might have missed, a small indication of what he meant. I've never trusted my father and he knew that, so why would he feel the need to say something like this in a note? I understood that I had been in California but this letter only caused me more confusion.

Did...My chest tightened. Did my father have my uncle killed?

"Hey."

My heart lurched and I dropped my hands, hiding the letter. "Jesus, Finn," I hissed, placing a hand over my rapidly beating heart, while quickly discarding the letter in the drawer.

Finn's eyebrows scrunched. "Since when do you spook so easily?" He asked in a teasing manner as he stepped in, his black scrubs covered in spots of blood.

"Since I didn't expect you to be so fucking quiet," I snapped, and he rolled his eyes making his way over to me. "What are you doing here?"

He rounded my desk and placed both hands on the arms, dragging the chair closer to him until I was trapped by him. He leaned down and brushed a kiss against my lips, mumbling, "What, I'm not allowed to come see you now?"

My nails dug in the cushioned arms of my desk chair as I gazed up at him, giving him a delicate once over. "Of course you are, but judging by the blood on your scrubs, you've been a little busy," I noted, smudging a drop that somehow got on his face, uncaring of whose it was, I already had enough blood on my hands for me to be unbothered.

Finn cocked his head to the side. "One of your men got a little too close to barbed wire when dealing with something that they're not allowed to tell me," he said pointedly, a smirk playing on his face.

I grinned up at him. "Is someone getting curious about my job now?" I asked in fake disbelief, sticking my tongue in the side of my cheek.

"This is all your fault," he blamed, straightening up and leaning his hip against my desk, folding his arms across his chest.

I spun once in my chair and crossed one leg over the other, my elbow resting on the arm of the chair while my fingers brushed my chin, trying to appear thoughtful. "My fault?" I raised an eyebrow, a teasing smile on my face. "Do explain."

He leaned his head back, looking up at the ceiling for a few moments and I admired the sight in front of me. This man was all mine.

"It's your fault for making me so curious with your secrecy," he informed me, staring down at me, his blue eyes shining.

I sighed dramatically. "I am a horrible person," I agreed, leaning back into my chair, gripped with fake guilt. "However am I supposed to repay you?" I asked with wide eyes and a pout, fluttering my eyelashes a few times.

His face broke into a smile but he shrugged nonchalantly. "I have a few ideas," he murmured, his eyes swept over my body, his gaze darkening. My stomach twisted at the ideas now running through my mind at what could potentially happen in the next few moments. "But I wanted to do something else first," he interrupted my rapidly deflating thoughts.

My expression turned suspicious. "What?"

He dropped his arms from across his chest and reached out, taking my hand in his and running his thumb gently across the back of it. "I want to take you for dinner," he announced, watching my reaction.

I angled my head. "Like a...date?" I trailed off, my face scrunching in confusion. I've been on a fair share of dates and none of them were memorable enough for me to care. The idea of having to sit in a stuffy restaurant for hours and talk to someone who, half the time didn't even care about what I was saying, didn't appeal to me. I needed to be entertained.

Finn chuckled, squeezing my hand. "If you want to call it a date then it's a date but I wanted to take you out for dinner," he tugged on my hand making me stand up and fall into his body still leaning against the desk. My free hand rested on his chest and I lifted my head to look him in the eye. He skimmed a kiss against my temple as his free hand wrapped around my waist. "Not at The Athena Hotel," he moved his lips down to my cheek, "not in the manor where anyone can walk in at any time," he specified and I pinched my lips together when he kissed my neck, "somewhere it can be just us," he stressed the last part, pressing a kiss on the corner of my mouth causing me to make an embarrassingly breathy sound.

"Yes," I breathed without a thought, I hadn't even given myself a second to think it through before I agreed. He had me wrapped, the asshole.

Finn dropped a chaste kiss on my lips, pulling away before I could return the enthusiasm. "Tonight," he promised, "be ready by seven."

I gave him a look that conveyed nothing but my attitude. "And if I'm late?" I dared to ask, feeling a sudden rush of warmth travel through me.

His lips were parted and the corner of his lip twitched. He released me, squeezing my waist affectionately, and walked to the door, looking over his shoulder once. "Then I guess you don't get to hear the ideas I have planned on how you can repay me," he said casually, winking at me before leaving quickly before I could throw something at him.

"Asshole," I whispered to myself, a stupid smile on my face.

|| ✨ ||

Gosh, I love them.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, love to all!

Until next time,

Sammipott xx