Chapter 22
Lex
“Fuck,” Eli hisses and runs out, leaving me frozen and Dad and Ally frantic as they try to get Mom to wake up. But he’s back with a nurse a few seconds later.
The nurse gets to work right away. I pull Dad back to give her space, but the pain I see in his eyes is enough to have tears gathering in my eyes again.
I turn to Eli, knowing he’s going to be the one who needs me the most, but he’s shaking his head, eyes wide and scared.
“Dad’s going into surgery too, he’s not—he’s going to be fine.” He says it with enough conviction that I know he’s mostly trying to reassure himself.
“But then why—what happened?” I demand.
“Lex, I need.” His eyes dart all around the room before he shakes his head. “Not here. Look, I’m sorry, Lex. I’m so fucking sorry, but I need you to come with me. I know your Mom needs you but—”
“Whatever you need, angel.”
There’s no room for doubt in my voice.
I mean it with every fiber of my soul.
Eli sighs then looks at Dad.
“I’m sorry, Ruko, but I need Lex to come with me. It’s an emergency.” Dad’s eyes go hard so Eli holds up his hands. “Not as bad as this one but more urgent. Tell Lyla Dad’s in surgery. Brain surgery ’cause—”
He cuts himself off as his breath hitches, but then he straightens again, like he’s been doing all afternoon. He’s doing it to stay strong.
My brave angel.
“Tell her they’re working on his brain and his liver. He hit his head a lot, and a part of the car pierced his abdomen. The recovery’s going to be a bitch, but they’re going to help the swelling on his brain first and then deal with the rest. He’s going to be okay.”
Dad doesn’t react for a long moment, but then he nods.
“Come back soon,” he tells him, then looks me in the eyes. “I’m going to call your brother. Your mother’s going to be fine as soon as she knows Michael’s okay.”
“Come on,” Eli says quietly and takes my hand.
When he interlaces our fingers together, I realize his are trembling, but we’re walking through crowded hallways—I at least know now’s definitely not the time to ask questions.
When I see the doors to the waiting room we were in before, I breathe a soft sigh of relief.
There we can talk, there we can—
There are two men and one woman inside.
I recognize only one of the men.
Harrison Crawford.
He’s probably the Harry Eli called in the car.
In simple terms he’s a real estate mogul.
The more complicated description is that he’s the husband of my cousins’ PR manager and the father of one of my cousins’ friends.
None of that explains why he’s literally the first person Eli called when shit hit the fan.
Eli
“Okay, Lex.”
I take hold of both his shoulders and turn him so he’s only looking at me. “I’m going to say a lot of stuff and you’re going to let me get through it before interrupting, got it?”
He nods automatically, but I shake my head.
“No, you need to tell me you’re actually listening to me. This whole fucking shitshow is intense as all hell, but you have to actually absorb what I’m about to say.”
His eyes clear, good, then he nods.
“I’m listening, angel.”
“Good. Okay, quick recap. Around four hundred years ago, the King of England had a brother, the Duke of York.
When they decided they wanted this piece of land for themselves the king gifted it to the duke.
Instead of coming here, he sent his seven friends over.
One of them was an Ellsworth, the others were Crawford, Wall, Alton, Barclay, Blackwell, and Cockerton.
Crawford took control of all the land when they got here and together they decided they wanted to become kings of this new city.
They decided they were going to make it into something the world had never known before, and so the Turris was created.
“Years later, another Duke of York came here and demanded a chair at the table of Turris, so there were eight. A lot of shit has happened since, but what matters is that every Chair has an Heir. I am Dad’s—”
I have to stop to suck in a deep breath, but I see in Lex’s eyes that he’s still with me. I can do this.
“I am Dad’s Heir. But since he’s, you know, unavailable, and there’s no way of knowing what will happen, I am currently the Chair of Information of the Turris, and I need an Heir.”
I let that settle between us, let us both have a moment with it.
Then I reach under my shirt and grab the chain with the ring that belongs always to the Chair of Information.
The doctor gave it to me along with Dad’s watch and his wedding ring, and the weight of it is more substantial than simple gold should be.
“This is mine for now, this is my responsibility until Dad’s back on his feet. You said I had you,” I remind him quietly.
I hate that I have to, hate every single second since Harry, Shirley, and Baron came into the waiting room, and I really fucking hate that I have to ask this of him, but I have no choice.
“I need you to be my Heir, Lex. It won’t be for long because Dad’s going to be fine.” I say it again, and I’ll keep repeating it, because I refuse to accept any other reality.
“But what does that mean?” he asks, and the fact that there’s desperation in his voice now fucking does me in.
Baron correctly guesses that this is the moment to step in.
“It means you’re going to be keeping this secret forever.” He holds up a briefcase before opening it and taking out a stack of paper so tall it can’t not be intimidating. “I’m Baron Alton, I’m the Chair of Law. And as of right now you’re the Heir of the Chair of Information. Let’s have a seat.”
I pull him toward the far corner of the room where there’s a little coffee table, and sit next to him.
“You’re going to have to sign a lot of stuff,” I explain quietly. “Basically, all of it says how you’re going to regret it very much if you ever breathe a word about the Turris to anyone.”
“But what the hell is the Turris?” Lex demands, and though it does sound agitated, at least he whispers.
I know Iris is out in the hallway, making sure no one comes in, as well as Zack and Beatrice, Shirley and Baron’s respective Heirs.
Harry steps up this time.
“Hey, Lex. Sorry to see you again under these circumstances. In a nutshell, we try to keep the city thriving. We’re all in charge of one area, and like Eli said, I truly hope you won’t be part of this for long, but we can’t afford to have a Chair without an Heir.
There’ll be a meeting on Monday, where we can answer all the questions you might have. ”
“Okay,” Lex whispers, barely audible, before he nods a few times then looks at me and repeats. “Okay. I trust you angel. I know you wouldn’t let me sign anything bad.”
“I really wouldn’t,” I rush to agree. “I promise as long as you never tell anyone about this ever, you won’t have to remember anything about it. Honestly, I barely talk about it with my dad unless we’re in a meeting or on our way to one.”
Lex keeps looking at me for a long moment before nodding again.
“And your dad really is okay? In surgery?”
I exhale roughly, straighten in my seat.
“Yes. The doctor was telling me about the procedures they’re going to do when they got here.
” I gesture to the other Chairs. “I had to sign off on everything because Dad has always said that the one person he trusts the most is me. That’s why he made me his Heir too.
The surgery’s going to be long, so I really want us to go back to your mom after we’re done with this.
“But yeah, it’s really important that I have an Heir in the meantime. But who knows? Maybe Dad’s all good by Monday and you won’t even have to go to a meeting?”
That’s wishful thinking and everyone knows it, but no one scoffs at my delusion.
“Fine then, fuck it.” Lex holds out a hand, palm up, to Baron. “You probably have a pen?”
“I do,” Baron says with some amusement.
I’m just starting to let out a breath when my phone goes off with an alarm that chills me to my bones.
I know what it is before I look at the screen.
My taunting words from earlier in the week flash through my mind like a mocking nightmare.
You’ll never get through me, and I’ll always be here.
But I’m not there.
“Fuck,” I hiss loudly.
“What is it?” Harry asks.
“ECS is getting hacked again,” I snap while I try to see if I can get anything from my phone. “It’s probably Gotcha, they were all over my systems and now—”
“Breathe, Eli.” Harry goes for reassurance. “You already beat them once, I’m sure you can again.”
I almost scoff at him. He seriously knows nothing about what I do, but even with some restraint left, I can’t help but bite back a smart remark.
“If they get through my firewall this time, they’re going to be able to connect your servers.” I look around at all of them. “All of your servers. If he shuts us out then we can’t do shit, we’ll all be vulnerable for attacks at your actual offices.”
As guilt starts to sink in, I remember I don’t even have Austin here. How the fuck am I going to get to the office to clean the mess I made?
Fucking ego.
It’s always the fucking ego.
“I shouldn’t have taunted him. I shouldn’t have fucking said anything.
The car that hit our parents was hacked.
No one was driving it. I bet it was him.
” I feel all the blood leave my head. Dizzy, I collapse on the chair.
“It’s been like two fucking hours, and while I’ve been here this asshole has been trying to get into my fucking company.
They almost killed Dad because they knew then I wouldn’t be in there defending my system. ”
“Eli,” Lex whispers, but Shirley steps in this time.
“What do you need to stop this person?”
Her eyes are unflinching, her posture so rigid I bet a hurricane couldn’t nudge her.
That’s . . . reassuring.
“I need to get to my office but I don’t have a car, and even if I did, it might be too—”
“Let me get a chopper here. Harry, why don’t you make sure they can land on the roof of the hospital?”
With that everyone gets to work.
I look at Lex, share a precious few seconds where we’re alone and none of this is happening.