“I am no Graven,” he draws out slowly.

I’d almost swear he says it with conviction, as if the thought disgusts him.

“But Felix Graven is your brother—”

“Was.”

“Were you jealous of how easily he got to the top?”

He bares his teeth. “I was offered a place beside him, I declined.”

“Because you were hoping to be a part of my dad’s team.”

It works, Perkins’ jaw sets tight, his hands making fists against his desk.

“You know nothing,” he hisses.

“As soon as she fell for him, and he asked you to protect her, you jumped at the chance, didn’t you?” His eyes widen slightly. “Tell me, were you stupid enough to ask for her, his power?”

His jaw clenches. “I never wanted his power.”

“No, you wanted his ticket. Donley offered Felix the top, of course he could only have it if the heiress was at his side.” I widen my stance. “And she was... until she wasn’t.”

He knows what I’m getting at.

“Ask what you came to ask.”

“Are you Raven’s father?”

His eyes grow taut, unmistakable anger and regret. “No. I’m not.”

I dart forward, yanking him by his tie until his face is near mine. “Don’t fucking lie to me.”

“I’m not her—”

I yank tighter and he groans, his hands coming up to pull at the satin material. “She disappeared just over eighteen years ago, Raven will be eighteen soon. The math is fucking simple. You knew your brother was promised her pure, so you made sure she wasn’t! And then what, threw her out when you found out she was pregnant? Just wanted to ruin her, but the kid was worth nothing to you, right?!”

He jerks, so I shove him away and his ass slams into the seat.

He jumps right back to his feet. “You know nothing, and you’re wrong! I loved her! I wouldn’t have fucking cared if she was pregnant with someone else’s kid, had I known for sure, because I fucking wanted her! Not the title that came with her, the money or the Graven empire, not anything else. Just. Her,” he growls.

“You trusted her.”

I whip around to find Captain standing there.

I hadn’t even heard him pull open the door.

He keeps talking. “You begged her to leave, to be with you and walk away from it all, and she agreed, didn’t she?”

My eyes slice back to Perkins who glares at Captain, and Royce catches my attention just outside the door. He nods his chin, shifting his stare back to the other two.

“But she betrayed you, in the end,” Cap keeps going. “Left your sorry ass behind.”

“Don’t,” Perkins hisses, his eyes begging.

“So you got revenge the only way you felt you could. Slept with someone else, hoping she’d come back and hear all about it, but she never did, did she?” he goads him.

It works.

Perkins’ entire body turns to stone, his face paling.

Captain stands to his full height. “Every puzzle has pieces. I found yours. And as for the document Collins hid at his cabin, you know the one you flipped out over the thought of Donley finding – my daughter’s birth certificate,” Captain hisses and Perkins’ face tightens. “We stole it weeks ago. How do you think he blackmailed Raven to being by his side?”

“Captain, you can’t bring her—”

Cap punches him in the face before anyone sees it coming and he stumbles back, hitting the wall.

“You will never dictate what happens with my daughter again, do you understand me?!”

“I was only trying to protect—”

“Nobody fucking asked you to!”

“I had no choice!” Perkins snaps. “As soon as I realized Mallory was pregnant, I knew I had to get her out of here, hide her until the baby was born. Donley is aware of your relationships, he watches, so when you showed the first sign of possibly caring for a girl, he waited for the slipup. Had he found out about the baby, Mallory would have been pulled under his thumb, and then Zoey taken the second she was born. I couldn’t allow that. I’ve seen what those people create, how they can take an innocent girl and turn her into...”

Ravina.

“You had no fucking right to step in where you weren’t wanted,” Captain spits.

“That girl would have milked you dry.” Perkins glares. “Look what she gave up for money and a secure lifestyle, both of which she knows damn well she could have gotten from you if she just stayed, if she had wanted to stay.”

“None of that concerns you!” Captain shouts. “It was my problem to worry about!”

“The risk was too high to leave it in your hands! Even though you act like you’re not, you’re still only a kid!”

“Why do you fucking care?!”

“You know why!” Perkins snaps.

Captain shoots up straight, all three of us freezing at Perkins’ words. Perkins himself even seems struck that he’s said it.

Captain swallows, looks to me, then Royce, and back to Perkins.

“So it’s true,” Cap says after a few minutes. “And the paternity test results that I get back today will prove it.”

Every move has a purpose.

The lab. That’s why he had to make Perkins bleed yesterday.

“Yes,” Perkins confirms on a whisper. “Don’t bring her home, not yet. Soon she’ll be safe, but not—”

“You think we don’t know it’s her or Raven?” Captain glares.

“You know,” Perkins’ voice is nothing but a whisper, his desperate fucking eyes coming my way. “Then why’s the girl still here?”

“You thought we’d give up one of our own, just like that?” I ask.

Perkins steps back.

“Stay away from Zoey. Stay away from all of us,” Captain demands of him.

Perkins stiffens, his tone almost pleading. “She is my blood.”

Cap leans in, his voice a deep rumble from within his chest. “Family runs deeper than blood.”

“No...” Royce finally speaks. “He’s ...” He looks to Perkins. “You’re Zoey’s dad?”

“No.” Captain glares at the man in front of him. “He’s mine.”

We’re sitting in the truck during what is supposed to be our PE hour. Not one of us has spoken since we left Perkins’ office, but I know all our minds our spinning.

“I was going to tell you yesterday,” Cap offers.

“When did you suspect, man? Or fuck, how?” Royce asks.

“Only the last week. I found an old hospital record in the paperwork from the shit Raven gave us, one we pushed aside as nothing. The man who we were always told was my biological dad got sick his junior year at Brayshaw, missed half the year.”

“Sick?”

“Testicular cancer.” He looks to me. “The paper was his op report. Which meant—”

“He couldn’t have fucking kids.”

Cap nods. “Then everything Raven said about Perkins telling Collins he was protecting his own. It made no sense. The only answer was in the beginning he was trying to hide her not only from us but from them too.” Cap looks out the window. “Hiding Zoey didn’t protect Graven from anything, it only protected her.”