Page 50 of Bound By Blood and Lies

There’s a pause on the other end of the line as I imagine Felix shifting in his seat. I don’t know exactly how much of this pressure is weighing him down, but I’ve known Felix longenough to recognise the change in him. His anger is sharper now and less controlled.

“I’m already heading there,” Felix says.

“Don’t go in without me.”

“I’m not twelve, Roman.”

“Humour me.”

“Fine.”

The line clicks dead.

I push the accelerator a little harder and the engine responds immediately. Somewhere beneath the steady rhythm of the car, my pulse has picked up, sharpening my focus as the miles disappear behind me. Ackworth’s estate sits far enough away from the nearest village that the countryside swallows most of the sound long before you ever reach the gates. The land around it stretches for miles, bought decades ago when men like him understood that money could purchase silence just as easily as it could purchase land. By the time I reach the top of the road, the sky has darkened enough that the gravel lay-by ahead is barely visible until my headlights sweep across it.

I’ve been here more times than I can count over the years. But the last time I set foot on that property was the ball, and the memory of Fae and I dancing hits me as pain lances through my chest. Ackworth has always had his hands on Fae’s life. The difference was, one day she was supposed to become mine instead of his. Now I don’t even know where she is. For all I know she could be inside that house right now.

I notice Atlas’s car is already here. Riggs leans against the bonnet with his arms folded, the glow of his cigarette briefly lighting his face before he flicks it into the darkness. Victor is pacing back and forth as Atlas looks up from his phone. I pull up beside them and step out of the car. The cold settles into my lungs as I breathe in, clearing the last of the noise from my head and snapping my focus back into place. Whatever’s waitinginside that house, this is the moment it stops being theory and starts to become something real.

“Welcome,” Riggs says with a short nod, and I nod back.

“Any movement?” I ask, looking toward Atlas as he shakes his head.

“Last movement was about fifteen minutes ago according to his phone,” he says with a small shrug.

“Where’s Felix?” Victor asks, walking over and offering me a fist bump.

I return it automatically. The contact makes my skin crawl the way it always does, but it’s a concession I’ve learned to live with over the years.

“Hopefully about to arrive,” I say, glancing back down the road, “and not already inside if he listened to me.”

“Fat chance,” Riggs snorts. He jerks his chin toward the road that disappears down the hill toward the estate. “Lights are on, so Ackworth’s definitely home.”

I follow his gaze down the hill. Even from this distance the house is easy to spot through the trees. It looks almost peaceful from up here; the kind of place you’d expect to find a family finishing dinner or settling in for the evening rather than the man we’ve been hunting for weeks. The sight of it sets my nerves humming as the gravel shifts under my boots.

The distant growl of an engine cuts through the stillness and headlights sweep around the bend behind us. Felix’s car appears out of the dark and pulls in hard beside the others, his tyres crunching sharply against the gravel as he brakes. The engine barely has time to settle before the driver’s door swings open and he steps out, moving with that tight, coiled energy that’s been sitting under his skin ever since Fae was taken. He doesn’t look at any of us. He doesn’t say hello. His attention goes straight past us to the valley, locking onto his childhood home throughthe trees like he’s trying to burn a hole straight through the stone from here.

“He’s inside,” Felix says. “Let’s move out. Roman, come with me. Victor, Riggs and Atlas take one other car. I don’t care which.”

“I do,” I retort. “Take your car. No one’s driving mine.”

Riggs laughs as we all fall into motion towards our cars. Years of doing this together means no one needs to be given instructions twice. Our doors open and our engines turn over; within seconds, the lay-by empties as Felix pulls out first and Atlas falls in behind him.

The narrow lane twists down through the trees toward the estate and the house grows larger with every turn until the warm lights in the windows brighten through the branches and the tall iron gates finally rise out of the dark ahead of us. Felix slows and rolls the car to a stop in front of them. A small security booth sits beside the entrance. Inside, a guard looks up and peers out toward the car. The moment he recognises Felix, his posture shifts immediately and he pushes his chair back before stepping toward the door of the booth.

“Evening, Mr Ackworth.”

Felix gives the guy a short nod. “Jeremy.”

The guard glances at the car behind him before reaching for the control panel. “Your father said he was expecting visitors tonight.”

Who the fuck is he waiting for?

I glance across at Felix, and he shoots me a brief frown in return. The gate begins to slide open with a low mechanical groan as the iron drags slowly across road and the path into the estate reveals itself. Felix rolls his window back up and eases the car forward, the engine idling low as he guides it through the opening.

From where I’m sitting, I can see the faint pulse of his heart beating hard in his throat whilst his eyes stay fixed on the drive ahead. The road curves through gardens that have clearly been maintained with obsessive care as the house gradually reveals itself. Felix finally pulls the car to a stop at the base of the steps, and our car doors open almost at the same time.

No one speaks.