AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ramses asked the question almost like a son to a father, like he truly did want his advice, and our grandfather sighed.
“That information is yours, Ramses. Like I said, it’s your right, and I…” He worked his prosthetic again. “I needed you to have it. I only wished I’d been able to get it to you sooner. It took Lucas some time to get Callum’s confession. Longer than either of us hoped. My guys only found out about the leak in Fredrick’s firm and the information Dane had about who your daughter was now shortly before Callum made moves to bring her to the city. We had to act smartly after that, the situation delicate. Her safety was priority, and we didn’t know Callum’s plans for her. We also couldn’t have him deny anything. He was so good at that.”
He was. He’d had the whole world believing he’d been helping me, had me believing that.
Ramses braced the drive. “Had we not interceded that night at the hotel, it really would have been you, wouldn’t it? Taking out Callum Prinze?”
The older man’s lips turned down, but he didn’t have to say anything. During the entire conversation, the evidence was clear. He’d had Lucas there for a reason. He had been given the job to look after me while he sought for the truth, and once he’d gotten it, he’d been given next steps to take care of Callum. Lucas Gray was supposed to kill Callum Prinze, and those directions had been made by none other than my grandfather, a man who was now giving my twin brother and me all he had. Ares and I had heard crystal clear that our grandfather’s shares were now ours, and that was insane. Especially considering how all this had started.
What had started out as a plot for revenge by Callum Prinze had ended in a man trying to make things right. Callum had been doing nothing but trying to take power, power from me and my family to give to his own. Meanwhile, my grandfather had sacrificed his. He’d done everything he could to make things right and protect his family.
He’d protected me.
Ramses started to say something after his dad didn’t speak, but then the door cracked.
It was on purpose.
Ares, who’d been watching with me, left the door frame. He strode over to our grandfather, and I wasn’t far behind.
Ramses rose from his chair. “Ares…”
I didn’t know why Ramses didn’t continue with what he said. But I think, like me, he was wondering what his son was doing. I was wondering what I was doing, but whatever that consisted of would be standing by my brother. Ares worked his hands, and our grandfather got up from his chair. He was a tall man too, broad-shouldered. He stared at Ares and me in awe as we came over, and by then, Ramses came around his desk.
Our dad stood behind us, a hand on each shoulder. He exchanged a glance between Ares and me. “Ares, Sloane, this is your grandfather,” he said, his hands leaving us. “My father.”
The older man stood there before us, and from the way his suit fell, that prosthetic went clear up to his shoulder. He started to reach that hand out, but stopped as if he’d just noticed it. He clenched the metal hand, hesitating. He didn’t approach any farther.
He didn’t have to.
Ares took a step forward, and I think to everyone’s surprise. He wet his lips. “You really did all those things?” he said before looking at me. His jaw shifted. “You helped my sister?”
I glanced our grandfather’s way, the man’s hands coming together. His chin lifted. “I hindered her more, and I’m sorry for that.” He looked at me, his smile shaky, small but also sad. “I’m sorry.”
My throat thickened, my vision blurry. I didn’t know what to say, but like that first step forward, my twin took another. Ares put his hand out directly in front of our grandfather. He reached for the man’s hand, but only the one my grandfather was trying to hide.
“Thank you,” Ares said, waiting for his grandfather to shake his hand. His cheeks flushed. “Thank you for helping her and helping us.”
The air silenced, and slowly, Grandpa Mallick did take his grandson’s hand. Something touched the man’s expression when he did. He’d had a hard demeanor before, and it was something he’d clearly been trying to uphold.
That faded away as he shook Ares’s hand, and then mine when I reached mine out.
“Thank you,” I told him, my dad squeezing my shoulder. Ramses squeezed Ares’s too, his smile subtle and his eyes warm. He let us shake our grandfather’s hand, and I didn’t know what would happen after this. I didn’t know what the future held for all of us, but in that moment, we all did have peace.
All finally felt well.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Dorian
My mother was basically attacking me with a lint roller. I got her arms. “Mom, there’s literally no more lint for you to find.”
Ignoring me, she nudged my hands away, then proceeded to roll the thing across my shoulders. “I don’t think I need to explain this is your last one of these things,” she huffed before her face scrunched up, a happy-sad smile on her face. “This is your last high school dance before you graduate, so yes, you’re going to let me do this.”
I had a weak heart for my mother, and I wasn’t the only one. Wells was getting a similar treatment in his tux, except his mom Cleo had run out of sheets on her lint roller. The woman resourceful, she had masking tape wrapped around her small fist. She gave Wells a quick swipe across his tie.
“You’re all letting us do this,” Cleo quipped, tapping Wells’s nose with the tape. His eyes lifted, but he grinned too, which let me know he didn’t mind either.
The only one not getting this treatment was Thatcher who was actually using his mother’s roller to get the lint off her dress. He’d already finished rolling himself and apparently needed someone else to make pretty.
