Olivier coughed, wincing at each breath. “Dad—Marcel—he hid the fact Ravenhill died. Ravenhill was his weapon. His ghost story. The name kept the empire whole. If people believed Ravenhill was still out there… no one would challenge the Bellerose territory.”
“I knew he was dead, Olivier, and I wasn’t in touch with our father. That means other people could have known too.”
His hands trembled in his lap.
“A new man stepped in. He asked Dad for the mask. He wanted the reputation. The power. He was ex-military. A commando. Strong reconnaissance background. Dad gave him the job. And while he was around, the new Ravenhill bowed to his will, but when he went to jail things shifted. His role wasn’t enough for him. He wanted the empire. I thought…I could control him.”
Asher swore under his breath. Eric leaned forward, fury simmering beneath the surface.
“But you didn’t control him. He turned on you.”
Olivier nodded, jerky and small. “He wants everything Dad built. Everything. He said if I wasn’t strong enough to keep the empire… he’d take it. And what’s standing in his way is Harmony. He had standing orders from Dad to keep Harmony alive. But Dad’s not in control anymore. Ravenhill is. With Marcel’s appeal moving faster than expected, he has limited time to get the job done. He’s going to kill us both.”
My stomach twisted. Olivier’s gaze lifted to mine, shattered and haunted. The words punched the air from my lungs. Eric’s hand found my waist. Asher’s fists tightened. Olivier’s voice cracked. “He said you were the weakness. The reason Dad fell.”
I felt sick.
“I wanted to scare you away. Not kill you. I wanted control, not…” His breath stuttered. “Not this.”
Asher stepped closer; eyes sharp. “Why was he watching us through that transmitter?”
Olivier’s throat bobbed. “Because he told me to get inside. To get close. To plant the transmitter so he’d know where everyone was, your movements, heat signatures he could see where every one of you stood.” Tears streaked Olivier’s bruised face. “He said I was dead anyway. This is just buying me time.”
Olivier lifted a trembling hand toward me, desperate, hollowed out. “I thought I could still control it,” he whispered. “If I stayed useful, if I kept feeding him access, I wouldn’t become a problem. I thought I could hold the leash.” His breath shook. “When I couldn’t, when he stopped needing me, he marked me.” he whispered.
He hadn’t tried to save me. He’d tried to stay important.
“You deserve to know the truth before he takes you,” Olivier cried.
Eric snarled, “Over my dead body.”
Outside, a branch cracked under a heavy boot. Olivier’s eyes widened. “He’s the man who wants to take over the Bellerose empire, and he’ll never accept your presence,” he said with such finality it turned my blood cold.
“Then I’ll deal with him, but I’m not going anywhere,” I stated.
“Our father is out on bail. You’ll probably be seeing him soon. I disappointed him again. He left the business in my hands and I lost it to a madman.”
Pierre’s shout tore through the doorframe.
Olivier flinched so violently he almost curled in on himself, retreating like a cornered animal.
Eric stepped in front of me instantly, blocking my view, shielding me completely. “Harmony,” he said softly, steady but braced, “stay behind me.”
And then the door burst open.
CHAPTER 60
Harmony
The back door flew open in a rush of cold air and boots, but the moment the voices registered?—
Pierre, Becket, EMTs. I felt Eric’s arm tighten around me. Not fear. Relief. A grounding, anchoring relief that shook me so hard I nearly dropped to my knees.
“Harmony,” Eric murmured, tucking me behind him as the EMTs swept into the kitchen. “They’re ours.”
Olivier flinched anyway, shrinking instinctively from the noise, from the uniforms, from the consequences finally catching up to him.
Pierre’s gaze swept the room with a father’s precision; first me, then Eric, then Asher, before landing on Olivier. Something heavy and disappointed settled in his eyes. Not rage. Not even shock. Just the quiet heartbreak of a man who had seen too much human brokenness in one lifetime.
