Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 41 - Chapitre 50

POV: RebeccaI stood in my office with the file open in my hand, going through the report. The last thing I fucking needed was that nitwit yelling at me and Samantha screwing up everything. Right now, everything was already unstable because of Samantha’s stunt, and the last thing I needed was another issue surfacing at the same time. Two problems sitting too close together had a way of becoming one very large disaster if they weren’t handled properly.I closed the file and set it down on the desk, pressing my fingers lightly against the surface as I thought it through.Arthur noticing meant questions were coming. Not immediately, but soon enough. He wasn’t the type to ignore something once it caught his attention, and if he started digging deeper before I fixed this, there would be no clean way out.That wasn’t an option.My phone buzzed softly against the desk, pulling me out of my thoughts. I picked it up and checked the message, scanning it quickly before setting it back down.Loc

CHAPTER : OutingI didn’t plan on spending my afternoon babysitting.Not that I’d ever say that out loud. Nina would probably stab me with a fork, and Evelyn… well, Evelyn wouldn’t say anything. She’d just look at me in that calm, quiet way of hers that somehow makes you feel like you’ve already disappointed her.Still, when Nina texted me “We’re taking Toby out. You’re coming.” I knew it wasn’t optional.So here I am.Sun’s out, the kind that makes everything look far better than it actually is. We’re at this open-air café that tries too hard to be casual. Expensive chairs pretending not to be expensive, overpriced juice in glasses that are too small. Nina picked it. Of course she did.Toby is sitting across from me, swinging his legs like he’s got absolutely nothing to worry about in life, which, to be fair, he doesn’t.Lucky kid.He’s got a juice box in one hand and a cookie in the other, completely focused on the serious business of deciding which one deserves his attention first.

POV: EvelynI don’t like waiting.There’s something about it that gets under my skin in a way I don’t show on the surface. Outwardly, I look calm, composed, like I always do but inside? I was a wrecking ballMalachi texted me not long after the café incident.“He saw the kid. Clocked it immediately. Nina handled it, but he’s not dropping this.”Of course he’s not.Arthur has never been the type to walk away from something that interested him and from Nina told me, he was interested like crazy. It’s part of what made him successful. It’s also exactly what’s going to ruin him.I’m sitting in the living room with Toby, watching him spread his toys all over the floor like he owns the place. Which, technically, he does. This is his home. He’s currently trying to build something that looks like a car but keeps collapsing every time he adds another piece. He frowns, staring at it like it personally offended him.“It keeps breaking,” he mutters.I glance down at him, resting my elbow against

POV: MalachiI lean back in my chair, resting my arm on the table as I watch Toby push his fries around like they offended him personally. Nina sits across from him with her chin in her palm, watching him with that lazy, patient look she gets when she’s trying not to lose it.“Eat,” she says, nudging the plate toward him slightly. “You were the one begging for this ten minutes ago.”“I’m not hungry anymore,” Toby mutters, not even looking up.I let out a quiet breath that almost turns into a laugh and shake my head. “That’s not how that works.”He glances at me, frowning like I just said something stupid. “It is.”“So next time you ask for something, we should ignore you because you might change your mind?” I ask, raising a brow.He hesitates, clearly not liking where that’s going.Nina snorts softly, clearly entertained. “Careful. He’s about to argue his way out of this.”“I’m not arguing,” Toby says quickly, sitting up a little straighter now. “I just don’t feel like eating it anymo

POV: NinaBy nightfall, the house is quiet again. Malachi didn’t just double security like I told him to, he practically turned the entire place into a locked box and we had Evelyn stay at home because we couldn't risk bringing Toby out, and even with that, the feeling from earlier hasn’t gone away.I sit on the couch with Toby half-curled against me, his head resting on my lap while some random cartoon plays on the screen in front of us. He’s not really watching it anymore, though. His eyes are heavier now, blinking slower, his body relaxed in that way kids get when they feel safe enough to let go.My fingers move through his hair absentmindedly, slow and steady, but my attention isn’t on the TV.It’s everywhere else.“You’re going to burn a hole through the wall if you keep staring like that.”Malachi’s voice comes from behind me, low and casual, but I can hear the edge under it. I don’t turn immediately. I keep my hand in Toby’s hair, watching his breathing even out as he drifts fu