If there is such a thing as graying out, I do it at those words. My body starts sputtering and sparking—idiot body of mine—while my mind goes red with rage. It’s like my instincts and my emotions are trying to tear me in two.
He came for me! my body sings.
What a fucking asshole, my mind growls.
“No, you didn’t,” I say flatly. “If you cared about me, you wouldn’t have left in the first place.”
His expression flickers. “Camber told me what the notebooks said. Ira wanted you to have control of his last innovation. I won’t let Oscar threaten that. I came back to help you.”
Everything roiling through me drains out, leaving me hollow. He doesn’t know. “You helped Dad with that project,” I say carefully. “The two of you were working on it together when…”
I don’t have to finish that. That night must be seared even deeper into his brain than it is in mine.
“How did you survive?” I ask quietly. “How did you make it and he didn’t?”
Tynan goes pale, his mouth flat. “Yes, I was helping with the project. Which is why I came back.”
So he doesn’t want to answer. But I want to know. Suddenly I realize that I need to know. I doubt he’ll give me any info though, not after letting me think he was dead for five years.
“If you’re not going to do anything about Oscar,” I say, “then we don’t need your help.” I also don’t want him to catch on that I’m worried he might claim his ownership stake in Dad’s last project. Best to take the time to consolidate our position. Then let him know once everything’s stitched up tight.
“Is Oscar challenging you for ownership?” He doesn’t even acknowledge my words.
“Not yet.” I’m not going to tell him what we did to put Oscar off the trail. “And Raven and the rest of them need to be here for any discussion.”
His icy gaze pins me. “Why? You must have taken the lead on this. Raven doesn’t—”
“Raven is an equal partner. Just like Dad wanted. She might not have the technical background, but it’s still hers.” I’m not going to listen to any criticism of Raven. Even though she doesn’t have the education in this stuff, she’s just as much Dad’s daughter as I am. Just as entitled to this as I am.
“She won’t understand the implications though. You do. I do.” Suddenly he straightens. “Oh. My cut. That’s what you meant.” His expression darkens. “It wasn’t about the inheritance at all. At least not the one in the will.”
I’ve stumbled into something I didn’t mean to. Damn, I’m not usually this clumsy. “What do you mean?”
He shakes his head, all elegant menace. I’m achingly aware of how alone we are. “You’re smarter than this,” he says. “What your father left you in the notebooks. Not that little bit of money but the real prize.”
I can’t tell him he’s mistaken. He knows intimately how much that idea is worth since he worked on it. And it would be a lie, and I have the strangest sensation he can see right through me. Like his hard eyes turn me into glass.
Raven wants to just give it all to Tynan. But then, she never cared much about what Dad did. I, on the other hand, can see the genius in what he created. And after all this time, I’m still desperate to get inside my father’s work, to win his approval, even if he isn’t here to see.
“We’re not just handing it over to you because you say so.” I set my chin, pretend to be brave. My heart keeps banging against my ribs though.
“Oh, I don’t want all of it. Just my fair share.” His voice is darkly smooth. “And I’m going to determine what that is down to the penny.”
In spite of myself, I’m stung. “I never took anything from you. Or cheated you.” I blink against my will. “I thought you came back for me.” That’s half-wounded, half-snarling.
My watch buzzes against my wrist. Someone’s trying to message me. And suddenly I remember—I need to tell Raven that Tynan’s here. The sight of him short-circuited me so badly I entirely forgot.
But I don’t want him to know I’m contacting anyone. So I cross my arms, not caring if he thinks I’m shrinking away from him. I find the stem of the dial entirely by touch, press it. Then three quick taps on the screen and my prearranged text should be flying to my sister. I planned this just in case he did show up out of the blue. Not that I was wishing for it exactly… Okay, maybe I was wishing for it a bit.
But the reality of it isn’t so pleasant. Not with him accusing me of stealing from him.
Tynan’s expression doesn’t change. “I’ll make sure Oscar doesn’t take any of it because none of it belongs to him. But some of it does belong to me.”
Those last three words send hot shivers down my back. “Because you worked on it. I didn’t do anything to earn it—does that make me unworthy?”
I didn’t mean to expose that much of myself—the way Dad never let me into his projects or his company always hurt me, but I was never vocal about it. It wasn’t that Dad thought I wasn’t capable, it was just… Well, I don’t know what it was. Just that there was an unspoken assumption I was to be kept out of Dad’s business. Raven and me both. Raven, of course, didn’t care.
I very much did.
Tynan’s composure slips. He glances away for the barest moment. “I don’t know what your dad was thinking when it came to your talents.” His gaze sweeps back up and over me. “I will always regret that I never asked him about it.”
Now I’m not faking how tightly I’m holding myself. “Not as much as I do.”
I remember that Tynan was there, at the end—when my father died. He could tell me…
“What happened?” My voice sounds like it’s echoing through a grave. “When he…” And then my voice dies completely.
Tynan goes pale as a bleached bone. “Jesus, Morg. Jesus.”
I put my hand to my throat. “Oh God. It was bad, wasn’t it? Oh God.”
“Morg.” He’s breathing hard. So am I. “I can’t—”
The front door opens. “Morgan!”
It’s Raven. The terror in her voice slices through my ears. And cuts right through whatever is connecting Tynan and me in this moment.
“Here,” I call shakily.
Tynan’s expression closes off so hard I think I can hear it snap. “Of course you called her,” he says quietly. I only imagine that he sounds disappointed that we’re no longer alone.
Raven comes dashing in, her eyes wide, her hair flying. Seeing her so worried for me—I’m reminded all over again how much she loves me.
And hard on her heels comes Bishop.
He locks eyes with Tynan. The atmosphere is charged like a thunderstorm.
They’re both out for blood.