#Tom Harcroft

[thevoyageurmoteplass-writing]

Julian glared at his uncle and wondered if perhaps taking him out wasn’t actually the worst of ideas. His father might not actually thank him for it, but at least then it would only be his parents’ minds that he needed to sway, and not the other person who seemed adamant that it was a reckless idea.

‘I’m serious,’ Tom said, matching the glare with an icy look of his own. To most people, that look might have been enough to make them step back. But Julian had learnt how to deal with worse than a glare from a young age. From people worse than Thomas Harcroft.

‘So am I,’ Julian said simply, not bothering to look at his father as he heard the seat shift. They all knew that his father was on Tom’s side; that he wanted to keep his precious little girl out of the family business for as long as humanly possible. But for once, Julian feared his father was simply being sentimental. All logical thinking had flown out the window the minute the idea was voiced.

‘Why?’ Tom asked, head tilted a little to the side. It was the look Julian had seen countless times before; a look he’d seen offered to customers of the bookshop as if there wasn’t a danger that lay beneath the surface. A lie that not one of them had ever even thought possible.

‘Because she needs to know the truth,’ Julian said, trying to keep his voice level even as his hands balled into tight fists on his knees. ‘How is she supposed to protect herself –?’

‘We protect her,’ his father said simply. ‘Or do you think we’re incapable of that?’

Julian wanted to bite back, wanted to remind his father that there were still threats that they couldn’t prepare for. And yet he knew that was exactly what his father had been waiting for. An actual argument at the table would be enough to throw his motion out the window. While things were still civil, he couldn’t do it in good conscience during the family meeting. An old agreement that Julian was certain his father and uncle were beginning to regret.

His mother sighed, earning the attention of the three of them in an instant. ‘This isn’t getting us anywhere,’ she said, pinning each of them with a glare in turn. ‘We’ll return to it. Right now, we need to discuss what happens to Olivier.’

With great restraint, Julian swallowed down his argument. He forced himself to lock away the desire to share everything with Teagan because he thought forewarned was forearmed. There was still proper business to discuss, and part of him was grateful to be back on easier topics of discussion.