Bound To Fall

You Have Just As Much Power

Sterling

"Damon, are you sure about this?" I could see the worry on my mother's face. Kaydence didn't like the fact my father wanted to let me in on some of the things our family has done.

"Love, he's grown now and he's eventually going to have to know." My father remained calmed as he responded to her. "Especially with him being the one to take over Tipton Enterprises one day."

"Well I want to know too." Scarlett chimed in.

"No." My father's tone was short with her. "Your time will come but it's not right now. Go upstairs to your room."

"But da-" Scarlett began to protest but he cut her off.

"I said get to your room. Now." He remained stern with his words so she wouldn't put up a fight with him.

If there was one person who always got Scarlett to listen it was our father. While she may have him wrapped around her finger she knew not to push him. She tried once and got herself grounded until he decided she could have her freedom again.

Scarlett headed up the stairs but stopped and looked at me. "I'm glad you managed to get Satan's claws out of you. It was about time you stopped being a pussy."

"Scarlett." Our mother's tone held a hint of warning as she spoke her name.

"I'm going." Scarlett rolled her eyes and headed up the stairs.

My parents both turned to give me their attention. "Are you sure this is something you want to hear?" Kaydence asked. "Once you know everything there's no going back."

"Yes." I nodded.

To be honest I had always been curious on how my father managed to pull off some of the things he did. If I was going to have to do similar things as he does then I needed all the details he was willing to share.

"Okay." She sighed and squeezed me into a hug. I hugged her in return until she let go and looked into my eyes. "Just remember everything we've ever done has been for this family's well being."

"I know mom." I responded.

"Love, go get some rest." My father spoke in a calm tone again. "I don't want you to stress, it's not good for you or for Samuel."

Samuel was the name they had picked out for the baby. They had picked it in honor of my mother's late father.

"Okay." She reluctantly nodded and then headed up the stairs.

My father turned to give me his attention again. "Now let's go to the study so we can have some privacy."

I followed him to the hallway where we walked down to the end. He opened up the door and we both stepped inside. He closed it tightly behind us as I took a seat at the desk. He went over to the cabinet and grabbed two glasses. He put a small amount of scotch in them and brought them to the desk. One for me and one for him.

My father wasn't much of a drinker. Just a glass of something here and there but no more than a glass. From my understanding he had at one point had an alcohol problem so he stays clear of it most of the time.

"Your mother's right." His eyes met mine. "The things I'm about to tell you aren't exactly our best moments. But they happened and I don't regret how it all turned out."

"I understand." I could feel in my gut that this was something big. "Let's just get on with it."

"For starters I want you to know you never need to worry about someone threatening to go to the media with some bullshit story." He started getting into things. "As Tipton's the media outlets practically bow down to us because we have the power to shut them down if they try to publish anything that's defamatory towards us. Therefore if Elise tries anything like that I can turn it around on her and the rest of the Tunt's within seconds."

"Okay, but what if she tries to physically harm anyone?" This is what I was more worried about. Isabelle would be a target for her once Elise figured out I was seeing her.

"You know how your cousin only has one hand?" He asked.

"Yeah. What about it?" I furrowed my brows as I really didn't see where Justin was important to this conversation.

"I did that." He confessed nonchalantly. "He tried to take off with your mother when I first fired him while she was pregnant with Scarlett. Ended up in an accident and put her in a coma for a few days."

"Wow." It was the only thing that I could say. His words caught me off guard. I knew he was ruthless in his work but I didn't quite expect this. This had to be one of the many things I had been sheltered from as a child and by the look on his face there was more.

He took a breath in and let it out. He then proceeded to explain all the details of every twisted thing he's done to people who crossed him. He held nothing back at all. He started from telling me how he turned his sister insane because she hid me from him, to how he managed to get answers from people when he looked for the person who shot him, and then he finished it all off with the story of how Kaydence's father's family had crossed them.

"Holy shit." I grabbed the glass of scotch and downed what was left from it. "Why exactly did you tell me all of this shit?"

I didn't know how I was supposed to process all of the information he just gave. I mean I was grateful he was clearly dedicated to keeping our family together. But holy hell I didn't expect it to be so damn dark.

"My point is that we have the means to handle our enemies." He answered. "You have just as much power as I do to handle things how you see fit. You have to be responsible with it."

"I still-" I began to speak but stopped as I was at a loss for words.

"Let me put it like this." He sat up in his chair. "If Elise and the rest of the Tunt's so much as harmed a hair on Isabelle's head, what would you do?"

That question seemed to make everything click. Everything he did was for my mother and our family. I had made it clear I was worried about Elise's threats in the office. The information he just gave me was proof enough that Elise is the one who should truly be terrified.

"Well?" My father pushed for me to answer his question.

"I guess, if Elise or her family were to hurt Isabelle I would want them to suffer the consequences." I answered honestly. "Now how bad those consequences might be depends on what they do to her. If it's really bad I guess I'd probably be willing to spill their blood if I felt it was necessary.

A devilish smirk crossed my father's lips. "Maybe we're more alike than I thought."

**Author's Note**

I just wanted to let you guys know this will be the last update for the week. I'm taking tomorrow and Friday off as Thursday is my daughter's birthday and I want to devote all my time to her without worrying about updates. I also need to take Friday because well, birthday party planning lol. Updates will be back Monday! Thanks for understanding (: