“And who is this man?”
“His daughter is dating my cousin. He was a huge investor in Li Co.—”
“The guy who cut ties with the company after your parents’ divorce was announced?” I didn’t read any of the articles, but I know my father wasveryhappy about that.
“Yeah,” Grey confirms. “He witnessed my dad yell at me on his birthday the year we met. Knowing that man, he has the security footage of it just in case it might come in handy one day.”
“Why would he—”
“Because Atlas Storm doesn’t do things half-assed. He has plans foreverything. Triple backup plans for a backup plan. I don’t think he does sketchy shit, but if he has to, I wouldn’t put it past him. When I was fourteen and we were in Seattle and I first met him, I told him about my dad because Phoenix told him about it. Atlas said if I ever needed his help someday, I can be sure he’ll be the one to help me out ofanything. He’s been in a million meetings with my father, and I bet most of those were taped as well. There has got to besomethinguseful.”
Why don’t I know people like that Atlas Storm guy? My life would be so much easier.
Before he presses the call button, Grey looks at me with worry in his eyes. He lays his hand on the back of my neck and pulls me a bit closer to him, then leans his forehead against mine. “Are you going to be okay?”
“As long as you are, yes.”
“Luan…” His voice is soft, and he drags my name out.
I know he’s talking about the whole alcohol thing, but that’s one of the less important concerns of mine. Perhaps I should be more worried, fear that the past weeks catapulted me right back to where I started several years ago, if not even farther back. Somehow, I’m not worried about that at all.
Okay, maybe a little bit.
“I guess I’ll just be miserable for a bit, but I’ll be okay.”
“I’ll be there for you no matter what.”
I know he will.
Grey lifts the phone to his ear, waiting until Atlas Storm picks up.
Chapter 6
“did you think we’d be fine?”—Bad Blood by Taylor Swift
January 2027
“I was waiting foryour call,” Atlas says when he picks up. I didn’t even know he had my phone number to be honest. “Your parents got divorced months ago.”
“I’m not calling because of that.” But I bet he already knew that.
“It’s because of your dad.”
“It is,” I confirm. Can I just tell him? I barely know the man. Sure, I know his kids but the man himself not so much. “Do you remember how you said if I ever needed your help—”
“I do.”
Great. “I was in an accident a few weeks ago, and as it seems, my father purposefully caused that accident to kill me,” I blurt out.
“I know.”
HE KNOWS?!“What do you mean ‘you know’?” How the fuck would he know? Like, that man is good, so I’ve heard from his daughters, but he’s not God.
“There was an outgoing phone call on December twenty-sixth, 2026, at 4:29 p.m. One of the Li Co. company phones was used. They’re all powered by an extra system from a security company I, well, now my daughter invests in, and those phones track everything that’s being done with it, even record phone calls. Your father knew, but it seems he had forgotten about it.” He speaks in a low, professional tone like all this isnothingto him. Like this happens on the regular. “My people listen to those recordings and report back to me, or again, now that my daughter owns my company, they report back to her. Grey, I’ve heard the calls, knew what he was planning, and I take it you’re calling because you want me to do something about your father.”
I’m like ninety-nine percent sure this whole thing is mainly used for sketchy shit that happens behind the scenes of companies, but whoever invented this technology, right now, I’m really thankful to them.
“If you knew, why didn’t you… I don’t know, do something before I almost died?!”
