Page 88 of When Kings Fall

I scrubbed my hand over my face. “I want to. I just don’t know if it’s possible.”

He perched on the edge of my desk, facing me and folding his arms. “Why not?”

“Because I touched something dark, Dad. Six years ago. And I’ve only delved deeper since. If I don’t have these outlets, I don’t know if I can keep it under control.”

“You can.”

I arched an eyebrow. “How can you be so sure?”

He’d said it with so much conviction, like it wasn’t even a question.

“Because I know you. The real you beneath all the rage, pain, and shame. I know your strength, Levi.”

I started shaking my head. “Dad, no.”

“Yes,” he said, vehemently. “After all you’ve been through, all that’s been weighing you down, you’ve carried it, and you haven’t faltered. And here you are now doing this, leading the way, the man they look to in order to achieve the impossible.”

I smiled. “Well, when you put it like that.”

“You also have Brianna now to soothe that darkness, Levi.” He laid his hand on my shoulder. “It’s different now. So much has changed for you, and it’s time to accept that, and not continue waiting on tenterhooks for the other shoe to drop. This is your new reality now. She’s not going anywhere and neither are the boys.”

“With this strike against Lynch coming up… it’s… it’s a clear risk, Dad.”

“We will mitigate the risk in every possible way. We have great minds at the helm here who will strategize the strike. This isn’t like five years ago. You need to recognize the difference and keeping reminding yourself of that.”

“All right, yeah, I hear you.”

“Good.” He ruffled my hair in that way he could never resist doing, as he rose to his feet. “Now, while your program is constructing all that data, it seems like a pertinent time to discuss Knightsridge Engineering.”

I relaxed into my chair and kicked my feet up on my desktop, settling in. “I’m still in college.”

“I convinced you to attend Stonewell University to give you structure and a focus in a bid to curb your reckless tendencies and thirst for danger and darkness, your vigilante activities. You’re overqualified to be there. All that you’ll lack if you leave now are the credentials, which aren’t even an issue, given that I can waive that as owner.”

“I want to finish out my studies.”

“Because of Brianna?”

“Partly. Getting her degree is important to her. Even during all this upheaval, she’s been finding time to study and do her readings and projects. She didn’t think she’d have the opportunity to do any of that because of her background as club princess, so it means a lot to her. And life is good at the mansion.”

“You can move to another house in Tolhurst for you all to share. Here for a while if you wish.” His lip curled up. “Or longer than a while.”

“Nice try. But my plan is to finish up at Stonewell and then claim my birthright as your heir apparent. Until then, though, I’ve thought about interning there, having you mentor me so I can be fully prepared by the time I’m done with college.”

“Really? You mean that?” he asked, his eyes bright.

It was what he’d wanted for a long time, but other things had always gotten in the way—namely my instability. Then me taking off for a year and becoming estranged from him and everyone because of my obsession to bury Malcolm Lynch.

I grinned back at him. “I do, Dad. If you’ll have me, of course.”

“I can’t think of anything that I want more than you there right beside me running Knightsridge.”

“Perfect.”

Footsteps sounded and we both spun around as Brianna strode into the room, urgency radiating off her.

I shot out of my chair. “What’s happened?”

“I just got confirmation from Vixen that Tommy was working with Lynch. Actually is working with him currently. He was spotted with one of the known members you identified of Osiris, outside a gambling den, the two of them looking mighty cozy.”

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