Page 68 of Nineteen Eighty

“Oh, Jesus. Robyn isn’t Cat’s. Are you crazy?”

Cordelia just looked at him.

“She wasn’t pregnant when she left New Orleans. I would know.” Charles’ mouth turned to cotton. He tried to swallow and choked.

“Oh? Well, my mistake then.” Cordelia finished her wine and poured another glass. “The others, well… Soren… the Fontaine man… those have your stamp all over them, don’t they?”

“Where are you going with this? For years, you’ve been making these allegations, and I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why, unless you want to hold them over my head.”

Cordelia balked. “Isn’t it obvious? I admire you. You might say I’m a fan of your work.”

“Don’t mock me.”

“I’m better at that when that’s my intention, Charles.” She sighed. “We have an interesting marriage, the two of us. Not what either of us had in mind, I suppose, but it’s served its purpose. You’ve never loved me, but you need me. I can say the same for you. But in our own way, we do love one another, don’t we? Love comes in many forms.”

“So, what, you want us to kill people together?”

Cordelia laughed. “That’s really your forte, not mine, dear. No, I want us to talk openly. I want you to feel free to be yourself with me, as you’ve never been able to with anyone, not even your Cat. I want you to know this part of you is safe with me. You’ll never accuse me of tenderness, but if I ever betray your confidence, you have my permission to kill me, as you have all the others.”

Charles smirked. “I wouldn’t need your permission.”

“No,” she agreed. “But I’m giving it all the same. We are who we are, Charles. Monsters, both of us. But doesn’t it sound even a little bit enticing to be monsters together?”

When Charles didn’t answer, she placed one bony hand over his. “Because of you, our family is untouchable. I’m the only person in this world who will not only not judge what you’ve done,” she said, dropping her voice to a whisper, “but will also beg you to never stop.”

CHAPTER 19

The Heir

Charles looked back and forth between his brother and his best friend, calculating their anticipated reactions. They were similar creatures, Augustus and Colin, but they were not the same. Augustus did better in the abstract than he liked others to think, where Colin would follow a tunnel to the end of the world if the path made sense.

But these were the two best men he knew, hands down. And if there was anyone capable of helping him with what he now needed, it was them.

He laid out his proposal, trying his best to sound as reasonable as possible. He was very rarely accused of such a thing, and he needed them to see him this way now, or they’d spend the rest of dinner trying to talk him off the ledge.

His ask was simple.

While he built his businesses and expanded their empire, he wanted these men to raise his son.

“Well, Nicolas already stays with us during the week,” Augustus said, sipping his soup. Colin tensed beside him. Colin understood that wasn’t what Charles meant, even if Augustus was slow to the same realization. “It’s really no trouble. Ana’s happier when he’s around.”

“Well, I wasn’t happy about it, at first,” Charles said slowly. “Until I understood how good it was for him.”

“You didn’t need to call us to dinner for this, Charles. Barbara and Ana both love having him around. I love having him around. There’s no problem with us continuing the arrangement.”

“Charles,” Colin started, coming around to the question Charles expected. “What role are you looking to play in your son’s life?”

“Nicolas will one day be the heir,” Charles said carefully. Even now, all these years later, there were times when he still got the twitch. The call for a calming whiff of that sweet white powder. “But he has to be ready for it when the time comes, in a way I wasn’t. I want his upbringing guided by good men, who will show him how to become a good man.”

Colin and Augustus exchanged a look, but neither of them corrected him. Neither reassured Charles that he was a good man.

But he didn’t come here for that. He came here to secure his son’s future.

“What are you asking, exactly?” Augustus pressed.

“That you both treat him as your own son.” Charles almost choked on his own words. “He doesn’t need money, he needs guidance. He needs to know right from wrong. He needs to be accountable in a way…” He drained his glass. “He needs more, okay? He needs more.”

“Oz and Nicolas are inseparable,” Colin answered. “I see no reason for that to change. And I know he’s very close with Ana.”

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