Page 4 of Beautiful Ascension

“Aaron, this is getting out of hand. The goddamn Novus Ordo Seclorum paid a personal visit to the Fraternitas,” an unknown male voice states.

The Novus Ordo who now?

Trying to hear more, I inch closer, hoping they’ll divulge anything that explains more.

“We weren’t expecting Elise to fuck this up so badly. We thought we had a handle on her before things went to shit,” my father grits, his exasperation with this situation evident by the bite in his tone.

At the mention of Elise, my stomach roils at the memory of her vile confessions before I sliced her throat. I wonder if that’s why the guys strung me along. Revenge would be high on my list if it were me.

“You’ve all played it fast and loose. That’s why Owen was?—”

Owen was what?

The words of the mystery man are drowned out by Jamie flying down the stairs away from the giggling twins chasing her. Their timing couldn’t have been worse.

“Be careful,” I instruct as they pass me by, still shrieking and announcing to the world people are close by.

“We will,” one of the twins shouts back, never stopping their pursuit of our sister.

Once they’ve disappeared down the hallway, I hear footsteps approach and turn in time to see my dad and a man who is his mirror image but older. He’s about half an inch shorter than Dad, but they have the same athletic build, tall and lean. However, where my dad still has some strawberry blond mixed in with his now salted gray hair, this man has a full head of white hair and a matching beard. His silver eyes widen in shock before warmth sets in, but he stays rooted a few steps behind my dad.

“How are you feeling, Ry?” Dad asks.

“As best as one can be after they found out they were being used in a stupid game they didn’t want any part of but were foolish enough to allow themselves to be vulnerable, like an idiot, and get hurt,” I mutter.

Dad pulls me into a hug. “I’m sorry, Ry. This will all be over soon, I promise,” he offers as he releases me.

“It is over for me. Whatever’s going on is no longer my concern. I met my part of the contract,” I retort.

My father grimaces.

“What?” I question.

Isn’t this over?

They made their choice, and it wasn’t me. No, I was only strung along for long enough to lower my guard so they could rip my heart out and stomp all over it.

Dad clears his throat, pulling me from the looming downward spiral. My attention refocuses in time to see that the man who was standing in the background is now right next to my dad.

“Ariah,” the man’s tenor voice whispers as if he’s in disbelief that I’m standing before him.

I give an awkward wave. “That’s me.”

“It is you.” He smiles. The crinkle at the corners of his eyes and laugh lines around his mouth make me slightly more at ease. However, an easy smile isn’t enough to prove anything.

I clench my teeth to ward off the images flitting through my mind. Hundreds of easy smiles each of my. . . the guys gave me, and they all meant nothing.

Growling, I correct myself. They aren’t mine. They never were. I was just a pawn in their fucking game. Someone to use for payback. Every interaction was a bullshit ploy for revenge.

“This is Tobias Bradford, your grandfather,” Dad explains, and it’s my turn to look surprised.

I really freaking have a grandfather.

It’s not that I doubted my grandmother, but when you’ve lived your whole life being told by your parents that you have no other family, and then you go from a missing parent and a traitorous mother, who’s now dead, to the return of not only your father but his once non-existent family, you’re allowed to be somewhat shocked.

Pausing, I look between them, trying to wrap my brain around this moment and everything that’s led me here. . . the years of deception and hiding. The twisted games they’ve been playing for power have made me a casualty of war. Anger simmers beneath my skin.

They’ve all been fucking lying. He’s going to have to earn the title of grandfather.

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