Chapter 5 - A Father's Cold Silence
By noon, the house was a cage. Marcus had posted three additional guards around the perimeter, claiming "heightened security concerns due to street violence." We were under house arrest, and only Eleanor and I knew it.
My fourteen-year-old brother, Julian, came into my bedroom. Unlike Toby, Julian had Arthur’s calculating eyes. He closed the door behind him and locked it.
"Marcus’s men searched my backpack when I tried to leave for school," Julian said, his voice flat with suppressed rage. "They claimed it was for my safety. What the hell is going on, Leo?"
I looked at Eleanor, who was adjusting the curtains to inspect the guards stationed by the garden fountain. She gave me a single, slight nod. It was time to stop treating my brothers like children.
"Marcus set me up last night," I said quietly. "He tried to have me broken in half to start a fake war with the Rossis. He's making a move while Dad's in Chicago."
Julian went pale, but his jaw set hard. "We have to call Dad."
Eleanor pulled a small, silver flip phone from the hem of her apron. "Arthur gave me this on my first day. One button. Direct connection to his secure line."
I took the phone with shaking fingers and dialed.
The phone rang four times before a deep, raspy baritone answered. "Hargrove? Is there an issue at the estate?"
"Dad. It's me."
A brief pause. "Leo? Why are you calling from this line? You know the protocol."
"Marcus betrayed us," I blurted out, unable to keep the desperation from cracking through. "He paid a street crew to ambush me last night. The cops found a burner phone with his voice ordering them to break my knees and blame the Rossis. He's got guards outside right now keeping us locked in!"
The silence on the other end stretched so long I thought the call had dropped.
When Arthur spoke, his voice wasn't filled with fury at Marcus. It was laced with icy contempt.
"You got jumped in an alley, Leo?" Arthur asked coldly.
"Dad, did you hear what I just said? Marcus—"
"Marcus has bled for this family for fifteen years," Arthur cut in sharply. "He built the security infrastructure that keeps you alive. You expect me to believe a twenty-second audio clip pulled by corrupt precinct cops? You were careless, you got caught in rival territory, and now you want to blame my best man to cover your weakness."
"Dad, please—"
"I have a forty-million-dollar distribution deal closing in forty-eight hours," Arthur said, the sound of papers rustling in the background. "Do not call this line again unless the house is burning. Let Marcus handle security. Grow up, Leo."
*Click.*
The line went dead.
I stared at the black screen of the burner phone. A heavy, suffocating darkness settled over my chest. My own father had chosen his lieutenant over his flesh and blood.
Julian looked down at the floor, his fists trembling.
Then Eleanor’s hand came down firmly on my shoulder. "Good," she said.
May you like
I looked up at her in shock. "Good? He just abandoned us!"
"Now you know where you stand," Eleanor said, her eyes blazing with fierce, maternal fury. "You stop waiting for a savior who isn't coming. We take Marcus down ourselves."
