When Logan's assistant Kerry had emailed Tilly an itinerary for an impromptu 'Family Trip' to Croatia, she was stunned to say the very least. Mostly because the email stated that Logan himself was extending the invitation. Well, Kerry had technically forwarded it to her with all of the information but within the email chain Logan had said 'Invite Matilda'. Normally Kendall or Roman were the ones inviting her to their events, insisting that it wouldn't be weird if she came, all to result in her feeling incredibly awkward and out of place once she arrived.

It was pretty standard for her to feel like the odd one out whenever she was around the Roy's but most people would feel like that around them. They were the 1% of the one percenters in the world. Their lifestyle was so debaucherous and excessive that she often forgot how rich she really was – thanks to Waystar's hefty settlement cheque. Other than buying her apartment in New York, she had barely touched the lump sum sitting in her bank account. She thought perhaps she should find a financial advisor to help her with investing in stock or crypto or whatever the fuck rich people did with their money, surely the Roys would be able to recommend someone reputable.

She found it strange when Tom would disappear from work for several days at a time, sending her an email saying that he was working remotely whilst travelling with the Roy's. She often wondered how much work he really got done, jet setting around the world whenever Shiv did. This time she was doing the same, apologising to her team for the late notice and promising that she would be online as much as she could. It helped that her manager would be on the boat with her, but she asked him how it all worked regardless:

    
Tom Wambsgans
Being on the yacht IS work for us.

Tom Wambsgans
If you open your laptop I'll
personally throw it overboard.

What about deadlines?

Tom Wambsgans
Delegate.

Tom Wambsgans
Being a manager means you can
delegate your work to our minions.

Tom Wambsgans
None of your staff should be able
to figure out what you actually do
besides make decisions and go to
important meetings they're not in.

Tom Wambsgans
Managers don't have time for
mundane day to day tasks.

so instead of work, we
go sail around the med?

Tom Wambsgans
Who are they going to raise
an HR complaint to? Logan
is the one who invited us

The family had already left several days prior to when Tilly received Kerry's email, so she was put on a commercial flight by herself to meet them in Europe. She was allocated a seat in the first class cabin which she was ecstatic about – she had never travelled first class before. Albeit her excitement and prestige service on the flight, she knew the Roy's wouldn't dare step foot on a public plane. A chauffeured car met her at the airport and took her to the marina in which their family yacht was docked. Kerry's instructions were precise, to make her way to pier 7 where their boat 'Solandge' would be waiting for her.

She knew that the Roy's would be sailing the Mediterranean in style, on a super yacht that would outdo every other ship on the marina. But what she wasn't expecting however, was the fact they owned the biggest private boat she had ever seen in her life. As her driver carried her suitcase, the ship's crew were quick to welcome Tilly onboard with a refreshing cocktail, a cold face towel for her non-existent sweat and borderline forced but still hospitable smiles.

"What do you think of Daddy Dearest's floating nightmare?" Roman yelled from the main deck above her.

She hadn't spoken to Roman since he left for Turkey, she assumed that he was too busy negotiating business deals to check his personal phone – so it was surprisingly kind of nice to see him again. He was leaning along the railing in a blue linen shirt, the short sleeves accentuating his toned arms in which he trained at the gym quite frequently for. He took his sunglasses off and tucked them over the collar of his shirt as he looked down at her, watching her step aboard in awe.

"Well it's definitely not little," she laughed, in shock at the size of the ship.

"People say the same about my dick," Roman smirked once she reached the top of the stairs where he was waiting.

Tilly rolled her eyes, "Charming... Where's your girlfriend? I thought that was the whole reason you were dating her, to bring her to family events and not look so lonely and single."

"Haven't seen her since Scotland. She was screwing some Wall Street cuck and decided she wanted to 'settle down' in a fucking, boring normo relationship," he explained nonchalantly. She knew he wouldn't be one to delve into his 'break-up' so she let him escort her through the ship without mentioning it. Once they got upstairs to the top deck, they were met with the family lounging by the pool, drinking and chatting.

"Nice to see you're back from Turkey in one piece," she said before she was met with a room of confused looks. Majority of those onboard were wondering how and why she was invited in the first place. She too, was confused, but by some of the guests invited to their 'family holiday' – Gerri, Karl and Frank. Greg was excited to see her, waving at his outsider counterpart also thrust into the Roy family's world. And Tom, well, he seemed oddly enthused by her attendance.

"Matilda! I'm so glad you could make it in such short notice, welcome... Make yourself at home, eat what you want, drink what you want and don't hesitate to ask the staff for anything you need," Logan said cheerfully, approaching her with both a welcoming yet off putting hug in which she was too scared to reciprocate properly.

Everyone else found Logan's strange hug equally as our of character and off putting; especially Shiv who audibly chuckled in disbelief. Why was Logan Roy being nice and hugging her? He didn't even hug his own children. He barely hugged his wife and mistresses.

"Neumann... Interesting spelling. I saw it on Kerry's computer... So are you a Nazi or a Jew?" Logan asked unashamedly.

"Excuse me?"

"Is your family German or Jewish?"

"Uh, neither? We were born and raised here in the States. But thank you for inviting me Lo- Oh, he's gone," she said watching Logan walk off as quickly as he had appeared.

"Hey gorgeous," Kendall said quietly, kissing her on the cheek to greet her. Greg went to do a similar thing but hesitated a second too late, all to just end up grabbing her shoulders and squeezing them like a hug.

"This thing is fucking massive," she whispered to Greg, knowing that he would be the only other person on the yacht to be as shocked as she was.

"8 rooms for us, 15 rooms for like 30 staff, a massage room, sauna, gym... There's a home cinema too. Swimming pool, one hot tub out here and another one up the other end. Then add a few jet skis, scuba tanks, paddle boards and like, four other tender boats inside this thing... Makes sense why it's so big," Kendall explained as he walked her over to where they were sitting before she had arrived.

"Why would it need four other boats?" Tilly asked as she sat next to Kendall, still pinching herself that any of this was actually happening, and that she hadn't paid a cent.

"So if we dock in say, Salerno, we can all split up and explore the Amalfi coast at our own paces. Which I think is on the cards isn't it Rome?" Kendall added.

"We're staying until we get to France so uh yeah, Italy will be on the way," Roman answered unenthusiastically, putting his sunglasses back on and stretching his legs out along the sun bed.

As the ship left from Croatia early that morning, the yacht was on the way to the Italian coast by late afternoon. Tilly was enthusiastically shown to her room by Kendall himself, knowing that Logan had planned the invited guests based on bedroom allocation. Kendall also assumed that he would be the one she'd choose to share a room with over Roman, Greg or Gerri. Later, in what should have been a quick 5 minute change of clothes into their bathing suits, became a string of lustful kisses, straying hands and a dirty promises of what would follow that night when everyone went to bed.

"What the actual fuck are you wearing," she said turning around to see Kendall wearing a woven straw fedora.

"You don't like it?"

"I really don't..." she said holding back her smile and laughter at how dorky it made him look compared to his usual sleek look.

"Fine, the hat is a no-go. But... Have you ever fucked someone on a $174 million dollar boat?" He asked teasingly, tying up the drawstring of his board shorts.

"Damn, I've only had sex on a 173 million dollar boat... But if you're offering, I guess I have no choice but to check it off the bucket list," she said jokingly, following him out to the main outdoor deck with a towel wrapped around her shoulders.

"If it's anything like Argestes, this trip is going to make us like, the Lewis and Clark of fucking," he joked.

"If Lewis and Clark explored the Mediterranean from their bedroom instead of discovering native wild life," she laughed back.

"What do you mean? We've discovered two animals already," He said quickly moving his hand to squeeze her ass cheek playfully before they were in the watchful presence of his family again.

Almost all of the men around them craned their heads to take in the sight of Tilly wearing a bikini. Greg and Roman didn't make an effort to be as subtle as Tom and Karl. Even Logan snuck a glance behind the safety of his dark coloured sunglasses. Shiv whistled as she walked past, striking Tilly with fear since she had only ever spoken to Shiv a handful of times before; was she whistling as a compliment or as a warning to her husband knowing he was staring? Or was it a warning to Tilly?

Frank and Connor were the only ones who didn't look, the older man being engrossed in his true crime book and the latter being too busy reading the reviews of Willa's recent opening night for her play. Tilly's swimsuit wasn't overtly revealing, nothing she wouldn't wear in front of her own parents, but it was the least amount of clothes anyone had seen her in before.

Except for Kendall.

Tilly sat down on the edge of the pool with her legs dangling in the water, toe nails freshly pampered and painted from the beauty therapist on board who she and Greg had visited earlier. Greg was uncomfortable at the 'no shoes onboard' rule because he thought his toe nails weren't 'aesthetically pleasing' - which turned out to be a benign fungus. Now that they were treated however, he too was dangling his legs in the water.

She found herself quite detached from the family and their inner circle. Most of the time she was left to piece together the little bits of information she had whenever they would talk about an impending business deal or tell a story about someone she'd never heard of. After their trip to DC, she barely heard anything about the aftermath or outcome. She didn't want to ask anyone though, she thought it would come across as nosey.

She was obviously friends with Greg outside of work, they went to California Pizza Kitchen every fortnight. And she spoke to Roman almost every day, whether it was him dropping by her office to insult her or giving her an unorthodox phone call at night. Tom was her boss but she liked to think they had a somewhat friendly tone to their otherwise competitive relationship. How many people took holidays with their boss? Then Kendall... Well, he just hit her up for sex when he was in a manic state. No matter what state he was in mentally, the sex was always good and like they had discussed their first time, it was purely platonic.

It didn't matter what the scenario was, if they were both willing and available, a car would magically appear wherever she was ready to drive her to his apartment. There were obviously times she didn't want to sleep with him, and she'd say so, but admittedly there were very few of them. Stressed out from working with his Dad all week? Sex. Feeling on top of the world after a successful meeting? Sex. Jealous of Rava dating again? Sex. Too wired from all the cocaine he'd done meaning he couldn't sleep? Sex. The rare occasion he had downtime and felt bored? You guessed it, sex. They didn't really hang out outside of them fucking, nor did they really talk either.

It was just sex.

"Hey Fuck Face, can you please try to not bang your girlfriend in the pool this week? I want to dive into water, not jizz," Roman scoffed, floating in an inflatable ring with a spritz in hand

"Not his girlfriend," Tilly called out.

"Fine, can you not fuck 'the girl you're casually fucking' in the pool, is that better?" Roman repeated, glaring at her before sipping on his straw.

"Wait... You two are like... Seriously?" Greg asked looking back and forth between them.

"Yeah, it's not a big deal bro. We're all adults here, adults fuck around," Kendall said with a shrug, dropping into the pool and splashing his brother in the process. "That's why Roman still acts like a fucking child," he added once he rose back to the surface.

    
* * *

After dinner the group slowly got smaller and more intoxicated. Logan was the first to go to his suite at the end of the night, wishing everyone a good nights sleep. Karl and Frank were next, advising the group they follow shortly after to get sufficient rest. Gerri, finished her wine before heading to bed herself, dodging Roman's sexual advances and telling him she was locking her door.

It was only after the 'oldies' went to bed that the kids truly came out to play. Yes, the bartenders had stopped making their drinks but it didn't stop anyone from continuing to drink – they simply resorted to pouring their own from behind the bar. The music was turned up on the outdoor speakers and they were letting down their hair for once. It was rare but refreshing, not having their every move watched by Logan.

It was also rare but refreshing to see the four Roy siblings getting along with each other and having fun at last. Tilly suspected that these moments didn't happen very often, in fact she hadn't seen Shiv, Kendall and Roman laugh as hard as they had laughed with each other tonight, let alone smile at the same time. They even welcomed Connor into their jokes, albeit him being the butt of half of them.

It was definitely because of the alcohol.

"So how'd you get roped into coming here?" Willa asked Tilly, flopping down next to her on one of the outdoor lounges.

From the very few interactions Matilda had had with Willa, she had come to the conclusion that she was very much a lightweight when it came to alcohol. It only took two drinks for her to start hiccuping and giggling like a school girl. And given that everyone had been drinking since the morning, it was evident Willa was well and truly drunk.

"Logan's assistant emailed me and flew me out... I guess Kendall or Roman asked him to invite me," she shrugged.

"Welcome to the circus, it's all smoke and mirrors. Once you take a peek behind the curtains it loses all the magic," she laughed, holding her rosè glass out to clink against Tilly's glass.

"I'm sorry if this comes across as rude, I only ask because we're the youngest ones here... But how old are you?" Tilly asked the inebriated blonde leaning against her.

"Oh, cos I'm dating Con? I'm 32, you?" She slurred.

"28. And I wasn't asking based on your relationship, I just knew you and I would be similar ages," she said politely.

"Do you think 32 is a normal age for a kid?" She asked out of nowhere, looking over at Connor who was drunkenly swaying next to the speaker after putting on The Chain by Fleetwood Mac.

"Uh... Why? Are you thinking of starting a family?" Tilly asked carefully, not wanting to upset her by saying anything wrong.

"No, I just had a friend who gave birth and it made me wonder what I would be like as a Mom," she shrugged. Connor was now in his element, throwing his arms up and swaying to the music. "God, he's so embarrassing when he dances."

"I have to say, his dancing might be horrible but it doesn't stop this song being a fucking banger," she said nodding her head to the beat and laughing as Willa tried to ignore his dorky dance moves.

"Boo! Turn off the old man music and get off the stage!" Roman yelled out at his older brother, bullying him for his incoordination and acute lack of rhythm. Roman was leaning over the bar, reaching for the bottle of whiskey he had been drinking.

As the bridge of the song begun, Matilda instinctively stood up ready to dance during the familiar bass riff. She stuck her hand out to encourage Willa to join her, knowing that it would mean a lot to Connor if they both joined him in his lonesome.

"C'mon, you have to dance to this part," Tilly said pulling Willa off the couch and jumping over to where Connor was.

"Hey hey! Here we go!" Connor grinned, ecstatic that they had joined him to dance to such a classic. "Y'see Ro-Ro? Fleetwood Mac is timeless no matter how old you are!" Connor shouted out over the guitar instrumental. His youngest brother simply responded by flipping him off whilst pouring a hefty amount of whiskey into his glass.

Connor held both of Willa's hands as he danced with her, shimmying his shoulders to bring a bout of laughter out of her. Tilly called out to Greg who was stumbling out of the bathroom, coaxing him to join them on their makeshift dance floor. Greg was also a lightweight when it came to drinking, made even more obvious due to his tall, lanky figure. He looked like one of those inflatable noodle men she'd see out the front of car dealerships when he danced, it made Tilly laugh even harder than she had at Connor's dancing.

Shiv and Tom were laying on one of the sun beds together, giggling at the group dancing their little drunken hearts out together. It was obvious Tom wanted to join them but was restraining himself to not make Shiv embarrassed. Yet deep down, Shiv wanted to dance with them too. The speaker volume faded as the next song started: Chiquitita by ABBA. The four on the dance floor roared and cheered when they recognised it, instantly singing along to the lyrics with exaggerated actions and melodramatic emotion.

"This is the lamest thing I've ever witnessed," Roman snarled as he walked back over to Shiv, Ken and Tom.

"Rome... Come on... Let them have their fun," Kendall pleaded, sipping his drink with a soft smile as he watched Tilly sing the lyrics towards Greg like she was reciting an old Shakespearean play. He loved how shameless she was, so carefree and confident. If only he had the same confidence to do the same.

Tom tapped his hand on Shiv's thigh to the beat of the song, humming along blissfully as he enjoyed watching everyone. She took that as a sign that he wanted to dance with them too, swiftly standing up and pulling him towards the group. They cheered when the two new recruits started dancing, with Shiv peer pressuring Kendall to join them shortly after.

"Come on sourpuss!" Connor called out to Roman, the last of the drunken partiers to remain seated.

"Fuck off," he shot back.

As the song slowed down to a more mellow tone at the end, the group moved towards Roman as if it were planned, lip syncing the words to somewhat serenade him into dancing with them for that last magical piano solo. Kendall and Greg leapt down onto the couch either side of him, flailing their arms out as they pretended to sing to him. Giggles escaped Tilly's mouth as she smiled at how much Kendall was getting involved, more so when he stroked Roman's face lovingly.

"Fucking, fine! If I get up will you stop fucking touching me?" Roman huffed, standing to his feet and throwing his arms up in defeat.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the open area they made a dance floor, squealing with glee as Connor scooped Willa off the ground and spun her around. "I hate you for starting this," Roman said to Tilly over the music, struggling to hold back his smile as he actually started to enjoy being involved.

As Roman's scowl disappeared and turned to an expression of enjoyment, the group danced together as if it were the last song at a high school prom where everyone joined in before the night ended. It felt nostalgic for the siblings, like they were filling in the gaps from all the childhood memories they'd missed out on together.

However, once Frank stumbled out to the deck in his pajamas to tell them to turn the music down, they realised that they were acting like teenagers getting drunk for the first time; caught being too loud whilst sneaking their parents liquor. They called it a night after he left, all of them stumbling down to their bedrooms, giggling and whispering at each other to be quiet.

Just like teenagers.

"Wait, I need to talk to my minions," Tom said stumbling backwards and pulling Tilly and Greg away from the group.

"Tom, you dirty dog... Are you pro- propositioning us for a threesome?" She joked, hiccuping halfway through her sentence.

"Um... Not if Greg is involved, no. But listen, the deal's off, the company is going private... There's going to be a head on spike by tomorrow," Tom said under his breath.

"What? How am I the last to know everything? Fuck... So that's why everyone got so drunk tonight..." Matilda trailed, leaning against the wall for stability.

"I- I can't go to jail," Greg murmured under his breath, running his hand through his hair.

"Greg, no offence but you're way too much of a small fish to take the blame for all of this cruise shit. It won't be you," she assured as she stood across from him.

"I wouldn't jump to conclusions kiddo, we could end up in the history book as 'The Waystar Three' if Logan chooses us to take the fall..." Tom joked, although the fear in his voice made it hard to find it funny.

"Well fuck! That's a great note to end the night on Tom, thanks for that," she laughed, her words dripping with sarcasm. "Good night jail birds."

    
* * *

As the family and fellow Waystar executives gathered the next morning for breakfast, Tilly held her plate as she waited for Gerri to pass the tongs to the large platter of fresh fruit. Willa was pushing around a few pieces of fruit around her plate, feeling nauseous from the boat and unable to stomach the food. Matilda hummed melodically to herself, looking out at the suns soft glow along the Mediterranean waters around them. She was heavily hungover but nothing could ruin the beauty of the Amalfi Coast.

"Is that fucking Ken-W-A's shitty rap?" Roman scrutinised.

"Huh? Oh yeah, it's been in my head," she chuckled.

"Jeez, how many times did you watch the video I sent you if it's stuck in your head?" Roman said pushing in front of her to pick up several pieces of watermelon with his fingers. "Unless you use it as porn material in the wank bank and watch it every night in bed," he taunted.

"Bro, she helped me with some of the rhymes, you're just jealous that it actually has mad flow," Kendall scoffed from the table.

"No... Matilda you didn't... You actually contributed to that fucking shit show?" Roman whined, "What kind of sadist helps create the worst fucking song known to man knowing they won't ever have to witness it in person? I still get nightmares from it, my therapist is working overtime trying to use my PTSD."

"You have a therapist? I find that very hard to believe," Connor spoke from the breakfast table he was already sitting at.

"L to the OG, dude be the OG, A-N he playing...." She sung gently towards him before he acted out an over exaggerated cringe on his way to the large outdoor table. "Playing like a pro," she continued as she followed him to sit down.

"I hate you so much, don't fucking sit next to me," he groaned.

Tilly laughed as she sat down next to Greg instead, "A1 ratings, 80k wine, never gonna stop baby fuck father time bro. Don't get it twisted, I've been through hell, but since I stan Dad, I'm alive and well," she recited, throwing her hand out like an old school 90's rapper.

"Am I dead? Like, have I finally made it to hell? Because this right here, this is torture to listen to... Even more than last night because at least I was drunk, now I'm just hungover and hating the world even more than usual," Roman said bitterly.

"I was surprised that Ken used the word 'stan' so it makes sense he had help," Shiv added, joining into the conversation that she seemingly wasn't interested in until now.

She was sitting at the other end of the table across from her husband Tom, half way through her breakfast with Frank and Karl as they were the early risers on the boat. Roman screwed his face up at her when she joined their trivial conversation, not wanting to talk about Kendall's 'cringe fest' of a rap any longer.

"I helped too guys... I uh, I helped with the line that went like, uh 'father of many, paid all his dues' remember?" Greg added proudly.

"You're all sickos, encouraging him to do this..." Roman complained, throwing a blueberry across the table at Greg – hitting him in the forehead.

"When I say L, you say OG... L to the!" Kendall called out, purely to annoy his brother further.

"OG!" Greg, Tilly, Connor, Willa and Tom said in unison, grinning at how much it was annoying Roman.

"L to the!" Kendall called out louder.

"OG!" They shouted again, this time Shiv reluctantly joining in with her enthusiastic husband. Even Frank was saying it quietly whilst chewing on a strawberry, just to spite Roman.

"Fuck you Frank," Roman snapped. "I might be a masochist but this is not the type of shit I get off to."

When Logan came to the breakfast table, their jokes and relatively good moods came to a halt. He told everyone that they were going to have a relaxing day along the coast before reconvening to discuss the next steps forward regarding the cruise scandal at Waystar. Roman scoffed and asked how it would even be possible for anyone to relax when they were about to pick a sacrificial lamb for slaughter. So, Logan suggested they start the dreaded discussion right then and there.

"We're all loyal servants but I- You know, I only say without malice aforethought presumably general counsel is the center of the web. Sorry Gerri, I like you," Kendall spoke first.

"There is no-one more loyal than Gerri," Logan responded.

Roman then suggested Frank, who bumbled his way through some sort of defence before throwing Karl under the bus. In an almost cyclic nature, Karl defended himself and threw the blame back onto Gerri.

"Haven't we, and you know totally kidding here, killed enough women already? I hate to say it, because he's such a swell guy, but isn't the obvious choice here Tom?" Roman suggested, holding his fork in hand and waving it as he spoke.

"W-What?" Tom stuttered.

"Tom, I fucking love you dude, but you shit the bed over the whole Mo Lester thing," Kendall admitted.

"Yeah I think uh, I think Tom works. I'm not saying it should be, but it's kind of the elephant in the room man... Head of cruises," Roman continued.

"There are so many other elephants in the room here," Tom spoke, his voice shaking with fear.

As a victim of the very scandal they were all discussing, Tilly in theory would be best placed to know which sacrificial head would suffice on a spike. She knew that the only person she would personally place any blame on would be Logan, so when he suggested himself, she silently hoped he was being serious. Everyone at the table dismissed his suggestion quickly, telling him that he shouldn't throw himself in the fire. The one person she truly believed should not take the fall for the scandal however, was Tom.

"On paper Tom works, yeah throw the head of cruises under the bus. But people won't be happy with his head on the spike... He only just stepped into the role, even though this shit was going on for years before he joined the company. Just look at his resume, he's worked his way up from the bottom. Any idiot could scan through his LinkedIn and know that he wouldn't be a good enough sacrifice," she added, instantly feeling out of place for speaking on the matter once she saw Logan's harsh demeanour.

"What about a little dessert package? Give 'em Tom with a bit of sweet Tilly cream and some Greg sprinkles," Roman suggested.

"W-What? Greg sprinkles?" Greg asked nervously.

"It doesn't work, she's irrelevant and Greg's a fucking nobody," Logan grumbled.

"I uh- thank you sir," Greg muttered.

Roman held his hand discreetly over his mouth to hold back a laugh, turning to face Tilly across the table whilst mouthing the word 'irrelevant' to her. Squinting back at him, she mouthed the words 'fuck you' in return.

The conversation ended in a stalemate, with people turning on each other in order to save themselves from Logan's authoritarian regime. He simply finished his breakfast, asked to speak to each of his children individually and returned to the group with his choice. Kendall, was the last of his kids to speak to him.

"I've decided," Logan said bluntly as he returned, standing next to a cold and broken Kendall. It was obvious that Kendall was the sacrifice but nobody wanted to speak up. The men both sat back down at the table before Logan assured the group that this was the best decision for the firm, and that a helicopter was already on its way to take Kendall to the closest airport in order to get back to the States. Everyone remained silent, the sounds of cutlery moving along plates and the shuffling of bodies was the only sound in the air.

"You okay?" Roman asked his brother quietly, leaning across the table.

Kendall simply nodded, smiling ever so slightly in return. It felt the same as when they were kids, when Kendall remained stoic and strong for the sake of his little brother. If ever they were playing together and Kendall hurt himself, he'd always pretend that he wasn't in pain, covering the blood to not spook his younger brother. He was protecting him from the cold, harsh truth of what it was like to be hurt – he didn't want it to deter Roman from having fun. Logan broke the silence again to announce that Roman would take over as full COO and again, Kendall assured him that everything was okay. The group continued to sit in silence, in shock that Logan seemed so at peace with his decision to presumably send his son to jail.

   
* * *

It felt like an old family get together to crowd around the television whenever the Super Bowl was on. Tilly wasn't a particularly big sports fan but she enjoyed seeing her Dad so involved and excited to be with family – he always made sure to be home for it. Except tonight wasn't fuelled by excitement, it was fuelled by fear. They all sat around the television screen in the main living area; all except for Kendall and Greg who had flown back to America. It was late at night watching them in Italy, but it was morning for the press release. She could only imagine how jet lagged Kendall would be feeling.

The group watched Karolina introduce Kendall before leaving the stage, cameras flashing in his direction as he cleared his throat. It felt odd to be watching such a macabre event together, it was the total opposite of Super Bowl.

"Good afternoon. I have an announcement to make about wrongdoing at Waystar Royco in advance of the upcoming shareholder meeting. I have been asked to explain my own role in the managing of illegality at the firm and associated cover ups. And it has been suggested I would be a suitable figure to absorb the anger and concern," Kendall began.

"But..." He continued.

"Did he just say fucking but?" Shiv asked before being shushed by her father.

"The truth is that my father is a malignant presence... a bully, and a liar... and he was fully personally aware of these events for many years and made efforts to hide and cover up. He had a twisted sense of loyalty to bad actors like Lester McClintock... And a disregard for the safety of migrant workers, nonunion and union workers and for vulnerable performers and guests. My father keeps a watchful eye over every inch of his whole empire, and the notion that he would have allowed millions of dollars in settlements and compensation to be paid without his explicit approval... is utterly fanciful."

The room stayed perfectly silent. Time felt like it was frozen but racing all at once. Had the world just ended or was it only just beginning? Everything was numb.

"I have with me, today, copies of records... that show his personal sign off. I'll be providing the documents and can answer any questions you may have in the coming days. Thank you very much."

   
* * *

"There you are, I was looking for you," Tilly said as she walked outside in her pajamas. It was well past midnight although she couldn't sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about Kendall and the millions of mixed emotions she was feeling towards him. Earlier in the day she feared he would go to jail, but now she feared that he had just started World War 3 by outing Logan Roy. What would happen to Waystar? Or her career? What would happen to their family?

"Well congrats, you found me," Roman said quietly, sitting on one of the outdoor lounges as he hugged one of the outdoor cushions and fiddled with the zipper.

"How uh, how are you feeling?"

He didn't look at her, he just looked out at the moonlight reflecting off the water around them, "Oh you know, Kendall just pulled out a strap on and fucked us in front of the world so..."

"How come you didn't fly back with your Dad and the other guys?" She asked, curious as to why half of the boat was now empty. Without Greg, Tom or Kendall to talk to, she was very much caught out of the loop.

"He wanted me to be in New York, y'know, do some fucking, COO shit," he shrugged.

"Is it bad timing to say congratulations? I know the company is kind of in turmoil but uh, at least you're chiefing all the operations of the turmoil?" She tried to joke, sitting down next to him.

"You think everyone's stressed out now, wait until we get back home. Everyone's fucking heads will explode... And if it's not the work that does it, it'll be a bullet going through their brain," Roman joked bleakly.

"I'll make sure to buy you a fidget spinner to stop you killing yourself then. You know it's kind of weird only having half of us on such a huge boat hey... Like, it's just me, you, Shiv, Connor, Willa and Gerri," she mumbled, attempting to change the subject.

"You know what the best stress relief is?" Roman asked, bringing the conversation topic back.

"Having an orgasm?"

"An org- wait, how did you know I was going to say that?" He scoffed, finally turning towards her.

"Rome, you're one of the most spontaneous people I know, but when it comes to sexual innuendos you're pretty predictable," she laughed.

"I'll have a quick jerk session tonight before bed so I wake up refreshed and ready to run this shit show back in New York," he shrugged. His humour was his main defence mechanism, so she was somewhat relieved to hear him cracking jokes about the unstable situation.

"Sounds like fun."

"Matilda, I know you're getting all hot and bothered right now thinking about my dick now that I'm single, but I'm still not going to fuck you," Roman taunted.

"We get it, you have childhood trauma and parental issues. Find a new personality trait," she mocked.

"Oh fuck you! You're the one with daddy issues following Kendall around like the father you never had," he teased back. "Tell me, when he ejaculates is it a dust cloud instead of cum? Do his bones crack when you ride him? Do you check his blood pressure and remind him to keep his sugars up afterwards?"

"You guys are almost the same age, it's not like he's Connor... Plus I have a Dad, so what are you even talking about?"

"Yeah but was he actually present in your life? Or did he give his political career more attention than you?" Roman pouted, jutting his bottom lip out sarcastically.

"Fuck you Roman, you are such a cunt... But it's precisely why we get along so well and I hate it," she said rolling her eyes and smiling.

"Because we both had parents who treated us like shit?"

"Uh huh, you just got dealt a shittier hand because you have siblings to compete with," she giggled, leaning into him and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Get off me or I'll spit in your hair," he groaned, making obnoxiously disgusting sounds as he tried to gather saliva from the back of his throat.

"Save the spit for your hand. You'll need it later on when you're rubbing one out and fantasising of dead animals or whatever fucking weird kinks you have," she laughed.

"Y'know what Silly Tilly, that gives me an idea..."

"Roman, no... That is too fucked up, even for you," she said sitting upright and staring at him wide eyed and in shock.

"Oh fuck off, not animals. I meant the whole jerking off thing... Why don't you join me? I do me, you do you? I dunno," he suggested.

Even with such minimal lighting she could see how deeply he was staring in her eyes, half with lust and half with fear. He wanted her to say yes, desperately wanting to closely but surely bridge the gap between them with his slow steps towards intimacy. But he was deathly scared of her saying no. Plus he had a point, the endorphins released during an orgasm was a brilliant form of stress relief.

She nodded and wriggled down on the outdoor lounge, lying flat on her back and looking up at him. "You joining me or what?" She laughed, trying to act as casually and nonchalantly as possible. She wanted him to feel comfortable, to not doubt himself, back out and retreat into his shell again. He followed her move, laying down next to her and taking a deep breath. "You... Don't find this, fucking weird?" He asked as he slid his hand underneath the waistband of his pajama pants.

She shook her head, "I actually think it's kind of hot. You're basically teasing me."

His nervous energy was quick to evolve into something a lot more hungry and passionate as he gripped his cock in his hand before he began pumping it. At first he just stared up at the stars in the sky, imagining his usual scenario to stimulate him. He often found himself fantasising about fucking her, especially after he had heard what she sounded like in bed when they were in England.

Except now he was hearing her right next to him, hearing her breathy gasps and gentle moans as she touched herself. He knew he wouldn't last as long as he usually did with her being right next to him, so he avoided trying to look at her as long as possible. His plan was going relatively smoothly until he heard her moan his name, making him turn his head to look at her.

Her lips were gently parted and her brows were furrowed as her hand moved effortlessly beneath her pajama shorts similarly to him. She was luckily lying on the right side for him to grab her face with his free hand and turn it so she was facing him back.

"Look at me," he asserted, his voice deep and demanding. "Fuck-" Roman groaned as he felt his climax building and his hips buckling forward.

His hand was firm against her soft supple skin, his dominant side showing as he sped up his movements. His jaw was clenched as he watched her sink her teeth into her bottom lip, the moonlight highlighting her face as she whimpered.

She was whimpering his name.

"Want to finish in my mouth?" she asked, slipping out of his grip as he nodded repeatedly. She slipped off of the couch they were laying on before kneeling in front of him on the ship deck.

"A-are you sure?" He asked sitting up and positioning himself in front of her. He was thankful that it was relatively dark outside and he was nearing his orgasm, otherwise he would've been more reluctant to pull out his cock. But he had to. He needed this.

She nodded, opening her mouth and sticking her tongue out across her bottom lip. She knew that it would be a while until the day he was comfortable enough around her to actually let her go down on him, if it ever happened – so this was as close as she could get. Before he knew it Roman had his free hand holding her hair back in a fist, tightening his grip as he came onto her tongue. He couldn't take his eyes away, moaning at the sheer sight of her looking up at him whilst she had his cum dripping onto her chin.

It was messy yet beautiful. Disgusting yet arousing. It was everything Roman had ever wanted but was too scared to ask for. One the rare occasion he had asked previous women, they said no or judged him. But Y/N didn't. She didn't judge him at all. She swallowed what remained on her tongue and chuckled to herself, wiping her mouth with her forearm.

"You're such a fucking slut for doing that y'know," he remarked, pulling his pajama pants up and standing to his feet like nothing had happened. She shrugged in somewhat of an agreement, smiling back up at him comfortably because she knew that he had taken a big step tonight. She didn't have any witty remarks or snarky comments to say back, she simply just smiled.

"Alright well, goodnight you fucking, weirdo," he called out as he meandered back inside, obviously not accustomed to the typical after care people shared after sexual encounters. She didn't mind though, she knew one day she'd be able to snuggle up against him without the threat of being spat on or punched.

Cracking open Roman Roy just needed time.