25. Chapter 25 - Rion
Chapter 25
A s time slowly rolled by, I had this sinking feeling that something wasn't right.
I didn't like my uncle coming into town early when we had just spoken on the phone the night before. I’d thought I had eased all of his ever-present fears, but it seemed like he either didn't believe me or was testing us. Everything about this meeting was ill timed and rushed—never good things when it came to my uncle.
Then there was the situation with Rin. Something was up with her. After her strange reaction the night before and her equally odd peppiness this morning, I knew for certain. Something was eating her up inside, and I needed to know what it was so I could root it out.
I was determined that nothing would go wrong with Rin. With the Riccis at a standstill and her living under our roof, you would think everything would go smoothly. We just needed her to fall madly in love with us, take out whoever was trying to harm her, and then get Foedus to sanction the relationship. That was it. Then why do I have a gut feeling everything is about to come crumbling down around us?
“You also noticed something was up with Rin?”
Ravi’s question had me turning toward the backseat. “Do you know what's going on?”
The leather seats groaned when his fingers dug in, pulling himself up from the backseat as he shook his head. “I have no idea. She went to the bathroom then came back just… lost.” He glanced at Roux, whose white-knuckled grip on the wheel spoke volumes about his concern.
“Yes. Something happened, but she doesn't want to talk about it.” My normally silent brother spoke my fears, and I faced forward, going through everything I could think of.
Was she upset that she hadn’t seen Cinzia lately? I knew she was busy with family stuff, but being a good friend to Layrin should be top priority. Maybe it had something to do with school? Did she think she was falling behind and blamed us for making her stay home? I could always threaten the teachers into making her a straight-A student… Actually, I should probably do that anyway. It would make life simpler.
A heavy sigh sounded before Ravi crashed back into his seat. “This is really the worst time for our uncle to be coming in. I thought you said he was coming in two days.”
The accusation in his voice had me gripping my phone. “He was, but I guess his plans changed.” This morning, he’d texted that a flight opened up unexpectedly, but now that I was thinking about it... Could it really be a coincidence that a flight opened up the night after we had our call?
No. I don’t believe in coincidences.
My brows furrowed. Thinking back to our conversation, I tried to remember what I possibly could have said to spook him. We talked about a few jobs and some of the Foedus families’ drama, which I couldn’t care less about, then he’d mentioned Layrin.
He’d brought up the “she pet” we had been hanging around, which meant he had someone keeping an eye on us. He didn't mention her coming to live with us, so the spy must be focused on campus.
Maybe he didn't believe me when I brushed it off, claiming she was nothing. It felt foreign to say it, but it had to be said since he’d started going on about us having a “weakness.” I thought that would appease him, but I guessed it didn’t work.
“We’ll deal with the biggest threat first.” Roux glanced at me before turning back to the road. While Layrin was the ultimate goal, the biggest threat was our uncle.
“Roux is right.” I was glaring at the road like all of this was its fault. “We need to meet Uncle, appease him, and make sure he’s settled in his hotel as fast as we can, so we can get home and deal with Rin.”
Ravi rumbled from behind me, “Okay. Fine. But how are we going to do that? You know the old man likes to needle us until he finds something he can use against us.”
Glancing back through the rearview mirror, I watched him cross his arms and frown, staring out the window. While I’d had my suspicions about our uncle from the moment he “found” us, Ravi was the dreamer. He’d always had a craving for family that Roux and I didn’t. It had pained him when that illusion was shattered in our youth. Our dear uncle was worst then the rest of them, bucking for power any way he could get it, even if it meant sacrificing his own flesh and blood. I laughed at myself. Flesh and blood. That man had never seen us as that.
“Then we need to come up with something he’ll be more interested in instead.”
Ravi shot forward. “We could always give him the guy in the basement?! We could say someone tried to poison me.”
Roux nodded. “We could tell him we were about to start the extraction but needed his experience since this guy seems like a professional.”
Running my tongue along my teeth, I couldn't help but think it wasn't a bad idea. Our uncle thought he was the best of the best, so he’d love when his ego was stroked. He would growl about our incompetence, but in the end, he’d agree that he was the best Ambros for the job.
I didn’t realize how beneficial it would be when I used the mall’s surveillance footage to find the guy who’d infiltrated the cookie stand. Roux had gone after him, locking him up in our basement on a medical drip to keep him sedated and quiet. He was intended to be our stress relief toy when Rin went to sleep.
Roux’s low, slow tone caused me to snap out of my head. “We’ve got an offering. Now, what do you think he wants from us?”
That was always the question, wasn't it?
I still remembered the car ride from the orphanage when we first met him. As soon as the door shut, he asked us what we were going to bring to the Ambros family name. When none of us answered him, confused as to what he was asking, he crossed his legs and sighed. That single sigh spoke volumes, as did the glares he leveled at each of us. There was something in his eyes when he looked at us, something that made my stomach clench and sweat drip down my back. That man might be our uncle by blood, but he would get rid of us the second he was able to.
Then he said, in a dull, tired tone, “It doesn't matter. I will break you in order to build you up. You are my dogs now. Don’t forget it.”
“Obedience. He just wants obedience and control.” I exhaled as my blood rushed in my veins, my fingers twitching to wrap around his neck and squeeze. The corners of my lips tipped up, unable to hide how I felt. How disobedient of me.
“Fuck, I hate this place. Why does it always have to glitter? It’s fucking annoying.” Ravi tipped his chin up as we made our way through the marble-floored foyer with all the gold accents. He wasn't wrong.
We passed the golden vases, frames, chandelier, handles, and table legs, cringing the whole way. Of course, our uncle would choose the gaudiest, most lavish suite available, even though it was absolutely ridiculous. The white and gold color scheme gave off this laughable sense of brightness and purity. Nothing about this place represented our uncle, whose soul was the darkest of them all.
“Shut up. Let's just get dressed,” Roux grumbled as he took a left from the entrance hallway.
Ravi slumped. “Yes, fine. Let's put on the monkey suits. Fuck, I can’t wait for the naming ceremony to be over.”
“It's a month away, so we better get used to it.”
He glared at me like my words were the last he wanted to hear, but we needed to keep our guard up now. Fun time was over.
I thought about Rin and frowned. This was going to make everything harder with her. The only saving grace was that he didn't know where the house was. That was the deal we came up with. If we proved ourselves to the head families in the first two years in the university, and put the Riccis' in their place, then we earned some freedom. Right now, we were still at his beck and call, as he was the interim head of the family, but at least we were out from under his thumb.
A shadow fell over Ravi and me. Roux appeared, dressed to the nines in a classic two-piece suit and blood red tie. This was the look our uncle considered appropriate for an Ambros family member, but to the three of us, it was old and stuffy.
Roux had two garments bags in hand, shoving one toward us. “Dress.”
Ravi rolled his eyes, snagging the bag so hard I thought the garment might come out wrinkled. “Ridiculousness,” he grumbled before going around the corner to change. Roux ignored him, handing me the last bag. Gingerly, I took the garment, draping it over my arm as I went in the opposite direction to the second bedroom that was downstairs.
I dressed quickly and met my brothers back in the foyer. Roux was already next to the hallway table, standing at attention. I moved to my place before him, making myself the first stop for any punishment should my uncle decide to dole it out, and Ravi came out a minute later, standing on his other side. This always reminded me of our training days when I purposely went first for a different reason.
The door clicked open, and I took a breath. “I don’t understand how someone could do something like that and think they could get away with it. Is there no good help these days?”
Our uncle's sharp, curt voice sounded before I looked up. He had the trademark Ambros blond hair that shined so brightly you thought it was sent from the heavens. Partner that with his sharp aristocratic features and his long, lean body, and you would think he was a model—always dressed to the nines in a fancy suit that only the elite knew the name brand of, showing off his pearly whites like he was constantly on camera. It was his eyes that gave away his true self.
That steely blue gaze could cut you down the second you stood in front of him. Even those taller than him had said they felt like he was looking down on them. His gaze revealed his disgust and disappointment in the world, where nothing and no one was ever satisfactory to him. He thought he was the perfect specimen, the peak of what humanity had to offer this world. He made my insides crawl, desperate to get away from him, but I bit the inside of my lip and stood tall.
We only have to put up with him for a month longer, then we’ll squash him like the bug he is .
He walked past, not acknowledging his good invisible soldiers. “Seriously, Cam, is it me, or is it unprofessional to take a personal call while driving? Very unsafe and unprofessional if you ask me. Boys?”
None of us said a word since he was already ten steps away from us. Plus, he didn't want a real opinion. He just wanted validation for whatever he’d said, and that wasn't my job. Thank fuck.
A stick-thin, curly mousy brown-haired man with thick black frames ran after him, clutching his padfolio like it held the secrets of the world. “You are completely correct, sir. Very unprofessional.”
Our uncle whirled around, his eyes lighting up with a deranged kind of excitement when he grabbed Cam’s shoulders. “Right?! He acted like the phone call from the hospital about his wife was more important than my safety.” He licked his lips before his eyes zeroed in on his wrists, his upper lip pulled up in a snarl. “Fuck. How annoying. Even shooting him from afar, I couldn't save this suit.”
His gaze narrowed on us like this whole thing was our fault. “I should’ve had you three clean up the mess, but Cam already called for a professional, so you're off the hook. Tell Cam thank you.”
Cam’s slimy smile turned our direction. Sick fuck was taking pleasure in having us, the Ambros heirs, bow down to him. I could sense my brothers’ rage without looking at them. Ravi was gearing up to explode, and the vibrations coming off Roux meant he was seconds away from violence. I needed to stop this. We didn't have time to get into it with our uncle. We needed to get back to Rin.
Saying Rin’s name over and over in my head, I bowed at the waist. “Thank you for taking such good care of our uncle. It will not be forgotten.” My brothers followed my lead, bowing and mumbling their thanks.
Steps sounded against the marble floor until two sets of shiny black shoes stopped in front of me. Fingers wrapped around my chin, yanking me up like I was a child, and I bit down on my tongue, letting the taste of my blood sedate my will to taste his.
My uncle’s nails dug into my skin, gripping me hard as he spat in my ear, “Always the fucking smart one. You must think highly of yourselves with the freedom you’ve earned.” He let go of my chin for a second, then, with lightning-quick reflexes, smacked both hands on either side of my head and squeezed, getting right into my face, his eyes filled with a desire to cause pain. “But to me, you will always be the three little boys I broke into submission. The half-blooded mongrels I had to beat over and over again just to get this subpar version of an Ambros.”
I made my eyes lose focus, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of paying attention to his little monologue. He must’ve noticed because his fingers slid between my strands before yanking my head back, looking down on me from a position of power. “You may have some freedom now, but soon I will tighten that leash I put around your necks, and when I do, we will need to go through some extensive re-training. I’ll bring back that pain I loved seeing in your eyes. It reminds me of your filthy outsider mother.”
My body violently shook, and blood surged through my veins, pushing against the boundaries of my skin to rush at this man. To bring him down and pummel him into the ground until his brain matter made a Jackson Pollock.
“We’re here to support you , Uncle. You’re the head of the Ambros family.”
He turned away from me, looking down at Ravi. He was on his knees, palms to the floor, his head bent in reverence. Roux quickly bent to the floor in the same position, the two of them showing their bellies to the man we’d hated for most of our lives.
Seeing my strong-willed brothers like that sobered me of my anger, helping me focus back on the goal at hand. We’re playing the long game. We need to make him think we’re weak.
“I might be smart,” I said, trying to make my voice helpless and small, “but I know our place.” Letting my eyes soften, I choked out my next words. “It's to prove that even with our mixed heritage, the Ambros blood is still superior to all others.”
His hands slipped from my head, and he smirked down at me with that all-knowing smugness on his face. A sliver of defeat sliced into my soul. We’d worked hard to get rid of those kids that feared the man before us. The kids that didn’t know when the next strike was going to come, when the next soul-wrenching kill was going to be required, when the hellish training would ever stop. I logically understood the need to bend to his will, to pretend that we were those weak boys again, but a small piece of myself shook its head at us in sadness.
Suddenly, my Foedus phone went off. Still playing the part, I looked up at my uncle. He smiled brightly, nodding his permission. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and answered it. “Ambros.”
“A test has been approved,” a computer voice sounded. “Do you accept?”
Knowing this was loud enough for my uncle to hear, I looked to him, still playing the role of servant.
“Why the hell not? Go show them what an Ambros is made of.” He cackled as he left, heading down the hallway into the main room. His brown-nosing minion followed him closely, noting down everything he said.
Steeling my insides, my brothers and I stood up straight. “I accept.”
The voice clicked over from the automated computer voice to someone using a voice changer. “Find what was taken from you, A.” The last part came out in a taunt just before a click sounded.
My mind raced, and a sinking feeling filled my gut. There’s no way, just no way, they could’ve gotten to her . Putting the phone back into my pocket, I pulled out my other phone, my fingers flying.
“What's going on, Ri?”
My brothers circled around me, but I didn't have the time or ability to answer them just yet.
Pulling up the live surveillance feed, nothing was out of the ordinary. The gate wasn't broken. Nothing was out of place until I got to the door and saw it was wide open. I held back from screaming in frustration as I clenched my phone. There was no way someone had forced their way into the house, so she would have had to let them in, but I highly doubted that since she’d promised not to.
My feet moved toward the door, needing to start the search even though I was still trying to find the breadcrumbs.
“What the fuck, Ri?!”
Ignoring Roux’s anger, I clicked out of the live feed, putting all my attention on the recorded files, going as far back as to when we left the house. With my brothers trailing me in a huff, I watched as nothing happened. Waiting in front of the elevator, I kept watching, hoping that nothing happened at all.
My brothers huddled behind me, watching the recording together. Just as a ding sounded, our woman in all of her perfection ran out of the house like it was on fire, and my whole world turned upside down. Tears streamed down her face. She looked back for a second then shook her head and ran out of the gates.
“What the fuck?!”
“Why did she leave?!”
I didn't answer my brothers. Pain slammed into my chest with the weight of an anvil, making it hard to breathe.
They have her.
The anger that I’d held back moments ago came back full force, taking over my shaking body. My teeth clenched, and animal-like focus took over my mind. I have to find her. Have to get her back. She’s ours .
To be continued in… Fixation of the Mind