Never Judge

"When you say that no one is allowed to know, I'm assuming this includes my parents?" Jonathan asked Cedric as he tried to process the rules he had set.

"Yes, it does." Cedric said with a nod. "I understand that this will be difficult, but we can allow them to call her over the phone and for her to pretend to still be in Spain."

"And what if Lucius comes after the parents, won't he trace where the call is coming from?" Ray asked as he carefully analyzed the situation.

"I'm sure he will, but he won't go near her parents just yet." Cedric said with a slight grin as he realized that the King of the Underworld had missed something he hadn't.

"What do you mean?" Ray asked as he eyed his best friend suspiciously. 

He knew all too well what Cedric's smile meant, his friend knew something and he was going to make him work for the information.

"Will you be onboard with my plan?" Cedric asked Ray as he continued to bait his friend.

"As long as it's not something stupid, like I don't know, hiding your identity from Adrianna after you were allowed to tell her." Ray pointed out as he revived a long dead issue.

"Hey, that was settled and closed." Cedric argued.

"Doesn't make it any smarter." Ray said with a chuckle as Adrianna and Ayanna both smiled. They agreed with him, but they didn't want to hurt Cedric even more. "I swear love makes even the smartest businessman stupid."

"Okay, okay, we get it. Not all of my plans are a stroke of genius." Cedric said as he rolled his eyes at his friends. 

"So what did I miss out on?" Ray asked, he was still curious to find out what Cedric knew that he didn't.

"What would the press say if he was seen meeting with Julia's parents?" Cedric asked.

"There are a thousand reasons he can give, like their business for example." Ray pointed out. "Add to it the fact that he can always meet with them secretly."

"You are right with that, but there are some things you failed to account for." Cedric said with a knowing smile.

"And those are?" Ray asked with a raised eyebrow, unable to believe that he still hadn't won the discussion.

"First of all, he is already in contact with Jonathan, it was Jonathan that approached him. Trying to get to the parents will include an additional effort of back channeling that will increase the chances of him being found out." Cedric pointed out.

"He has enough resources to remain hidden." Ray said.

"You are forgetting that he will know that Julia is one of Adrianna's best friends." Cedric said quite confidently. "He will know that should he reach out to them, they in turn will call Adrianna and thus alerting me."

"And if you find out, in his mind you will use that knowledge to take Camilla from him." Ayanna said as she completed the sequence of events that Cedric had already played out in his head.

"How sure are you that he will think of this?" Ray asked, still refusing to give up.

"Because I have underestimated him far too much." Cedric explained.

"Fair enough." Ray said as he agreed with the conclusion that Cedric had come up with. He too ran the scenarios in his head at this point and Cedric was right, Lucius would probably be wary of Julia's family since she was so close to Adrianna.

"So why don't you want Lucius Ting to know my sister is back and how do you propose to keep her arrival hidden?" Jonathan asked Cedric.

"Let's start with the how since that is simpler." Cedric said with a grin. "I will ask the Esteves Family to return her to us through Ray's Kashmere Island. It has its own airport and Lucius does not have his eyes on that place."

"So that's why you needed me here." Ray said, to which Cedric responded with a nod.

"How do you plan on getting her out? The moment she lands in the capital Lucius Ting will hear about it." Ayanna told her bother. 

"She won't. She will stay on Kashmere while we settle things with Lucius." Cedric said in a firm tone.

"She has been gone for too long, Cedric, she deserves to see her family." Adrianna said as she argued with her husband. 

"What is a few more days in comparison to losing everything?" Cedric asked. "If she doesn't understand she will have to. It's not just her life that is at risk, but so many more as well, including innocent little Dominic."

The room went silent as Cedric placed his foot down. He would not way or move on this decision, Adrianna and the others knew it. 

Cedric had made up his mind and there was no changing it. They also knew he was right, Julia would need to understand the situation and what was at risk if her return was discovered. Too many lives would be in danger if she acted selfishly.

What happened next surprised everyone, including Cedric.

"If you let me talk to my sister, even if it's just over the phone or maybe if I could go to her on Kashmere I'm sure I can explain it to her properly." Jonathan said as he volunteered to do the task of convincing Julia. 

"I would be happier if you could convince her over the phone." Cedric said with a nod. "But thank you for understanding."

"I might be younger than you, but I'm not stupid." Jonathan said with a laugh. "I know how selfish my sister can be, but I also understand the implications of all of this."

"If you can't convince her over the phone a flight out to Kashmere can be arranged, I'm sure Cedric would be more than happy to provide you with a plane and an excuse." Ray said as he looked at Cedric.

"I will handle those." Cedric said with a nod.

"So what do you plan on doing to Lucius Ting? And what did you offer to the Esteves family that made them agree to release Julia and help you?" Ray asked. 

Ray knew how hard it was to deal with families in the underworld, they feared no government and followed their own laws. Families as powerful as the Esteveses rarely gave into others, so their willingness to co-operate with Cedric gave Ray quite the surprise.

"We have someone they want, and as long as we don't kill Lucius Ting they will be happy.." Cedric said with a grin as he reassessed their plan in his head.

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