CHAPTER: 6. NEED FOR HIM.

DORIAN'S POV

"The Harlow acquisition closes Friday," Caelan said, not looking up from his desk. "I need you in the Geneva office by Thursday morning at the latest."

"I'll be there Wednesday night." I flipped to the next page of the report in my hand. "The Aldren contract is the bigger issue right now. Their legal team keeps stalling on clause seven and at this point I think it's intentional."

"It is intentional. Their lead counsel does it with every major acquisition. Run it past Maren, she's dealt with him before." He finally looked up. "How's the search?"

I paused, looking up at him. "Stalled."

Caelan studied me for a moment. "Where is Lucien? I haven't seen him all day."

"I believe he's in his room or something. I told Caius to keep an eye on him because he's been restless.” I set the report down with a sigh.

Caelan made a sound that wasn't quite a response and looked back at his desk. "He'll turn up," Caelan said.

"Ezra?”

"Yes."

"You sound certain."

"I am certain." He uncapped his pen. "The question is when, not if. And whether you'll be ready when it happens."

I opened my mouth to ask what exactly he meant by that when the door opened and Caius walked in without knocking and Caelan looked up, his expression blank.

My lips pulled down into a scowl. "What?”

He had his phone in his hand and the expression of someone who had made a decision they were prepared to defend. "So. Before I say this I want to be clear that I weighed the options and decided the fastest route to information was the most practical one regardless of—"

"Caius. Talk."

"I told Lucien about the city."

The room went quiet.

"You told… Lucien." I said slowly.

"He was going to find out anyway and he was about forty minutes from doing something significantly less coordinated on his own so I–"

"You told Lucien. Where we suspect Ezra is. And then what, you just let him… Are you fucking stupid?!"

"He's already gone, Dorian, he left this morning, which is actually why I'm here because…" Caius paused and looked at me carefully. "He found him."

I stopped, just as Caelan put his pen down.

"He called me an hour ago," Caius said. "It's him. Confirmed. He watched a match last night. Ezra's on a professional roster, been playing for nearly a month, apparently he's…" another careful pause, "...okay.”

Nobody spoke for a moment and my head spun.

"He's coming back tonight," Caius added.

Caelan leaned back in his chair slowly. He looked at me. I looked at him. The look on his face was clear.

"Get everyone together," I said. "Here with Father when Lucien's back. We need to move fast."

Things had gotten a lot more interesting.

***

Lucien arrived at half past nine still in his travel coat, dropped into the chair at the end of the table, and looked around at all of us with a sigh.

Riven was already seated, Caius had his notebook open out of habit and then looked at it and closed it again. Caelan was at the head of the table, carefully listening to how we wanted to tackle the situation.

"We're gonna talk about your recklessness later. But for now, talk," I said.

He laid it out straightforwardly — the city, the rink, the ghost name on the roster. The match. What he saw. Ezra. When he finished the table was quiet for a moment.

"He's been there a month and already settled in," Caius said, more to himself than anyone.

"At least," Lucien said. "Looks like he settled fast. He's not new to that team." He leaned forward. "So what's the plan? We go, we bring him back, we–"

"No," I said.

Lucien looked at me. "Dorian–"

"No. We're not going there and we're not bringing him back like that."

"Why not?" His voice had that edge it got when he already disagreed with an answer but was giving it a few seconds to justify itself. "We know exactly where he is. One trip, one conversation–"

"And then what," I said. "He came back because we showed up and made him? And then what, Lucien? He plans the next exit for six months instead of eight and does it better?" I looked around the table. "You can't force someone to stay. It doesn't work and we'd know that if we thought about it for more than five minutes."

"So we just leave him there?" Lucien said flatly.

"I didn't say that."

"Then what are you saying?"

"I'm saying we don't go charging into his life because we found him. That's not a fucking plan."

Lucien sat back, clearly still unhappy but the argument had landed somewhere.

Riven hadn't spoken. He was looking at the table with that expression of his that gave nothing away but meant he was thinking harder than anyone in the room.

Caius tapped his pen against his knee. "The league fixtures are public. If his team makes it far enough in the season bracket there's a chance our paths cross naturally. Through the sport." He said it casually but he'd clearly been sitting on it for a while. "We own a team."

"Since when?” Lucien rolled his eyes.

"Since Caelan restructured the northern portfolio two years ago. It was in the quarterly report." He looked at Lucien. "Which you didn't read."

"I never read the quarterly report."

Caius shot him a glare. “As we can see.”

"So what are you saying," Lucien said. "We wait for a fixture?"

"I'm saying it's an option that doesn't involve us showing up at his workplace like–"

"Like what?” Lucien challenged.

"Like exactly what we are."

The table went quiet again.

Caelan had not said a word through any of this. Then finally, he rose to his feet, dark coat billowing around him. “Twenty years ago, I found Ezra. When his mother asked me to take him, I didn't think I would agree to it. Didn't think he would become a part of my family. But right now, he's one of us. A very important member. And we can not afford to lose him. I do not want to take matters into my own hands. You're now adults, strong enough to find a solution without using violence. Don't be stupid.”

The whole table remained quiet after his statement.

Father had spoken.

I looked around the table. "The spring bracket," I said. "What are the fixtures?"

Caius looked up. "I'd have to pull the full schedule but if both teams perform at current level there's a natural collision point around–"

"Find it," I said. "Find the fixture and find out how to make sure it happens." I stood up. "I don't think we should chase him around or drag him back here.” I looked at Lucien specifically. "We let the game bring him to us."

Lucien looked at me for a long moment. I picked up the Harlow report from the table.

"So, why would he stay?” Riven finally spoke up.

I glanced back at him. "I'll figure that out.”

"That's not a plan."

A smile tugged at my lips. “Give me a week.”