Chapter 12 - Blood and Loyalty
Dr. Elise Grant arrived at the estate thirty minutes later.
She refused coffee.
That worried Nico more than anything.
“Elise never refuses coffee,” he whispered.
Lucian gave him a look.
Camille sat beside Lucian in the library, not touching him.
The kiss had changed something, but neither of them had agreed to let it change the work.
Not tonight.
Elise sat across from them.
She looked exhausted.
“I should have told you years ago that Daniel was my sister’s son.”
Lucian’s voice remained calm.
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because it was irrelevant.”
“Until it was not.”
“Yes.”
Camille watched Lucian carefully.
No accusation.
No threat.
Just facts.
Elise continued.
“My sister and I have not been close for a long time. Daniel and I speak maybe twice a year.”
“When did he last contact you?” Marco asked.
“Three weeks ago.”
Camille leaned forward.
“Before I came to the estate.”
“Yes.”
“What did he ask?”
“About the gala.”
Lucian’s expression sharpened.
Elise lifted one hand.
“I did not give him donor names, security plans, or anything confidential.”
“What did you give him?” Nico asked.
She looked ashamed.
“The rehearsal schedule.”
Silence.
Camille’s chest tightened.
Elise continued quickly.
“He said his firm wanted to avoid scheduling a neighborhood development announcement against our press cycle. It sounded legitimate.”
Lucian stared at her.
“Did he ask about Camille?”
“Yes.”
Camille’s pulse changed.
“What?”
“He said he heard you were consulting. He asked whether you would be staying at the estate.”
Lucian’s hands went still.
Camille noticed.
Elise looked directly at her.
“I told him I did not know.”
“Did you?”
“No. At that point I truly did not.”
“Anything else?”
Elise hesitated.
Camille’s stomach sank.
“What?”
“He asked if Lucian was participating in the coaching.”
Nico swore.
Elise looked at Lucian.
“I said yes.”
The room went quiet.
There it was.
The first confirmation Daniel needed to build his strategy.
Not malicious.
Not intentional.
A family conversation.
A careless sentence.
Camille looked at Lucian.
Old Lucian would have treated intention as irrelevant.
Damage existed.
Someone must be responsible.
New Lucian said nothing for several seconds.
Then, “Why are you telling us now?”
“Because Daniel called tonight.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me the photograph would run tomorrow and that I should resign before the gala.”
Nico frowned.
“Why would he warn you?”
Elise laughed bitterly.
“Because he thinks family means I will protect him.”
Lucian’s eyes changed.
The sentence struck somewhere old.
“What did you say?” he asked.
“I told him he had become exactly the kind of man he used to claim you were.”
Camille inhaled.
Elise continued.
“He laughed. Then he said the gala is the final act.”
Marco leaned forward.
“Exact words?”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
“He said, ‘After Friday, Lucian will either be in handcuffs or hiding.’”
Lucian did not move.
Camille’s stomach dropped.
“Hiding from what?”
“I asked. He hung up.”
Marco began typing.
Nico stood.
“That sounds like a setup.”
“It is,” Camille said.
Lucian looked at her.
“Or a bluff.”
“No. Daniel likes narrative too much.”
She stood and paced.
“He has spent the entire week creating a character. He wants Lucian to be dangerous. He wants the public to interpret everything through that frame.”
Nico understood.
“So he needs an ending that proves it.”
“Yes.”
Marco looked at Lucian.
“If he intends to manufacture evidence of a crime during the gala, we need police coordination beyond venue security.”
Lucian nodded.
“Do it.”
Elise’s eyes filled.
“I’m sorry.”
Lucian looked at her.
She continued.
“I should have told you the moment Daniel asked about Camille.”
“Yes.”
The bluntness made Nico wince.
Camille watched.
Lucian added, “But you came now.”
Elise blinked.
“Yes.”
“That matters.”
Her face crumpled slightly.
Camille saw the effort it cost Lucian to say the next thing.
“You are not being removed from the board tonight.”
Elise stared.
Nico did too.
Lucian continued.
“Your access to security details will be limited until this is resolved.”
“That is fair.”
“And after the gala, the board will review disclosure rules.”
“Yes.”
“But I am not calling one mistake betrayal without evidence of betrayal.”
Camille’s eyes burned.
Elise looked at her.
Then back at Lucian.
“You really are working with her.”
Lucian’s eyebrow lifted.
Camille laughed.
“Against his will.”
“No longer entirely,” Lucian said.
The room became quiet.
Nico slowly smiled.
“Interesting phrasing.”
Lucian looked at him.
Nico raised both hands.
Elise stood.
“Thank you.”
Lucian nodded.
She left with Marco.
Nico waited until the door closed.
Then he turned dramatically toward Camille.
“‘No longer entirely.’”
“Do not.”
“What happened after I left?”
“Nico.”
Lucian’s warning tone returned.
Camille pointed at him.
Lucian sighed.
“Please do not.”
Nico placed a hand over his heart.
“This is almost unbearable.”
Camille laughed.
The levity lasted only seconds.
Nico looked at his brother.
“You know Daniel’s threat could be aimed at me too.”
Lucian’s smile vanished.
“Yes.”
“Do not sideline me tomorrow.”
“I was not planning to.”
Nico stared.
“Really?”
“No.”
“What was your plan?”
Lucian hesitated.
Camille raised an eyebrow.
He exhaled.
“I was considering placing you in the secure green room until the speech.”
Nico threw his hands up.
“Lucian.”
“I said considering.”
“That is sidelining with furniture.”
Camille sat back.
“Handle it.”
Lucian looked at her.
“What?”
“This is your lesson.”
Nico crossed his arms.
Lucian stared at his brother.
For a moment, Camille saw how hard this was for him.
Nico was not merely a younger brother.
He was the six-year-old Lucian had once watched ask when their mother was coming home.
The thirteen-year-old he raised after she died.
Every adult conversation collided with old fear.
Lucian spoke carefully.
“What do you want your role to be tomorrow?”
Nico’s anger paused.
“I want to deliver my speech.”
“Yes.”
“I want access to the donor room.”
“Yes.”
“I want to know if there is a threat involving me.”
Lucian hesitated.
Then, “Yes.”
“And I do not want three guards standing six inches behind me.”
“No.”
Nico stared.
Camille hid a smile.
“Two,” Lucian said.
Nico groaned.
“Compromise,” Camille said.
“Two at a distance,” Nico negotiated.
Lucian thought.
“Fine.”
Nico blinked.
“Fine?”
“Yes.”
Nico looked at Camille.
She shrugged.
“Do not become addicted to success.”
The brothers smiled at each other.
Small.
Real.
Then Nico’s expression softened.
“Thank you.”
Lucian looked uncomfortable.
“You do not need to thank me for treating you like an adult.”
“No. But apparently I do need to celebrate it.”
Lucian looked down.
“I am sorry.”
Nico stopped.
“For what?”
“For making you fight me for it.”
The room went completely still.
Camille looked away.
This was not hers.
Nico swallowed.
“You did a lot for me.”
“I know.”
“That is not a defense.”
“I know.”
Nico laughed softly.
“You really have been reading her articles.”
Lucian almost smiled.
Nico stepped forward and hugged him.
Lucian froze.
Then wrapped one arm around his brother.
Camille felt tears burn unexpectedly.
She pretended to check her phone.
Nico released him.
“Do not make this weird.”
“You initiated it.”
“Yes. Regrettable.”
He walked toward the door.
Then turned.
“Camille?”
“Yes?”
“Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.”
Lucian’s eyes sharpened.
Nico disappeared before he could respond.
Camille laughed.
Lucian looked at her.
“What exactly are you doing?”
“Charging by the hour.”
“You have exceeded your original scope.”
“I will invoice accordingly.”
He came closer.
The room changed again.
Camille smiled.
“Professional boundaries.”
“Tomorrow may be a disaster.”
“That is not an argument.”
“It is context.”
“Danger is not romance.”
“I know.”
She studied him.
He did know.
That mattered.
Lucian stopped in front of her.
“I do not want whatever this is to become something you feel obligated to continue because you are working for me.”
Camille’s smile faded.
That was not a line she expected from him.
“You thought about that.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“I can end the contract tonight.”
“No.”
His eyebrows lifted.
Camille smiled.
“You do not get to fire me for ethical convenience either.”
“I was offering.”
“And I am declining.”
Lucian laughed softly.
“We finish the gala,” she said. “Then we decide what this is when neither of us is under contract.”
“Reasonable.”
“Painfully.”
He nodded.
No kiss.
No touch.
Just agreement.
It felt more intimate than either.
At midnight, Marco sent the next update.
Police had obtained access to the detained photographer’s phone.
Daniel’s messages included maps of the venue.
Photographs of emergency exits.
And one instruction that changed everything.
PLACE THE PACKAGE UNDER MORETTI’S TABLE BEFORE THE SPEECH.
The package had not yet been found.
The gala began in less than nineteen hours.
Before the meeting broke, Camille turned to Elise.
“One more thing.”
Elise paused at the door.
“If Daniel contacts you again, even if he calls it family business, tell us immediately.”
“I will.”
Lucian studied Elise for a moment.
Then he said, “And if you are afraid you made another mistake, tell us sooner, not later.”
Elise looked surprised.
“You are not threatening to remove me?”
“Not without evidence.”
Nico leaned toward Camille.
“I am going to need a written record of this week.”
Camille whispered back, “I charge extra for miracles.”
Elise gave a tired laugh.
The sound mattered. Shame had made her hide information once. Lucian understood, perhaps for the first time, that fear of punishment could create more secrecy instead of less.
“Tomorrow,” he said, “we work from facts.”
Camille nodded.
May you like
Shared rules, not unilateral control.
That was a better kind of security.
