Page 32 of Where We Began

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. Ihadhoped 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 sayingthank 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 toyou?”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 soupsetright 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.”

****

IDON'T REMEMBER LEAVINGthe 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 hasnothingto 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.Goodthings; 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.

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