Early in the morning just after the business day had started Petyr strutted into Vale Limited with Gwendolyn hot on his heels, and straight into the large boardroom where Royce and his fellow executives were in the middle of a meeting regarding the running of the company now Lysa had committed suicide. Baelish pushed the glass door open with a smug smile and polity held it for his blond assistant.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Royce demanded from his seat at the large table. "No, I don't care. Get out, this is a private meeting."

Petyr didn't budge, not one inch. Instead he flashed a glance at Gwendolyn and the younger woman took it as her cue to hand out a little file to everyone present. Everyone eyed her as she went around the table but she'd grown used to glares, working for Mister Baelish got her on the end of them a lot from irritated visitors. Once it was set before them they ripped the files open and their eyes went wide. Royce though, grew tense.

Without that smirk of his fading Petyr strode over to Royce at the head of the table and pushed him on his chair out the way off to the side so he could stand at the table's head instead.

"You can't do this, Mister Baelish." Growled Anya Waynwood, ever the angry looking old woman. "Vale Limited is not your company."

Petyr's brow furrowed a little with a puzzled expression. "You did just read that, right? Because I know Gwendolyn didn't put my dry cleaning bill in there by mistake." He pointed to the file before her with a single sheet of paper in it. "Lysa, Gods rest her soul, asked me to do this for her. I wouldn't leave my wife for her but I can do this for her. I will run Vale until Robin is old enough to inherit and become CEO as his father wished." That grin appeared again as Gwendolyn rounded the table to stand a little behind him over his left shoulder. "Think of me as … Lord Paramount."

"You conned her into this, didn't you?" Royce shot to his feet and locked eyes with the younger man.

Petyr placed a hand over his heart and made a display of looking shocked and outraged.

"I'm wounded you'd ever suggest such a thing."

Yohn didn't miss a beat. "Well, I hope you bleed out. You killed Lysa and you deserve everything you get."

The man with ash at his temples hushed for a moment as if grounding himself but it was all an act. Just about everything with Littlefinger was an act or a con.

"While I admit I am partially responsible, Lysa chose to jump. She did this to herself. We all knew how unstable Lysa is – was – and that she was obsessed with me. Yes, maybe I could have handled her recent advances differently." He paused for dramatic effect. "I – like you all – am devastated at the loss of Lysa, despite her faults we grew up together and she was my sister in a away."

"And what will become of young Robin?" Asked one of the male executives whose name he'd not bothered to learn.

That 'trust me' smile appeared on Petyr's face again. "Oh, don't worry about Robin. He's under my care."

Royce's eyebrows shot up with concern and something nearing panic; not that Petyr cared.

"How are you Robin's guardian?!"

Petyr wasn't fazed in the slightest, hardly ever was. When he answered the elder man's question it was aloof and as he brushed imaginary lint from his shirt cuff.

"Because I've been his Godfather since his birth." Green orbs flicked back up to the board. "The rest of the family was murdered and Edmure doesn't want him. He'll be fine, I assure you."

No one save for Gwendolyn appeared even remotely convinced of that fact. To his blond assistant Petyr was a good father and husband but to all of Vale Limited's board he was the man who pushed Lysa off a building and got away with it.

"Forgive me if I'm not very reassured by anything you say, Baelish." Royce growled as the gravity of the situation finally stuck him.

Littlefinger ignored Royce's concerned and poorly veiled insinuations, he was used to them from Yohn Royce; practically a daily occurrence.

"Lion and Stag will now be overseeing the running of Vale Limited. Everything will be run through myself and by extension my assistant, Gwendolyn, first." He gestured softly over his shoulder to the blond. "So think of yourselves as incorporated."

Petyr chuckled to himself as Royce sighed. "Don't you mean forcibly occupied?"

Baelish was smart enough to avoid rising to that. Lysa's death might have been ruled a suicide but there were those convinced he'd pushed her off that roof; his stock values had taken a slight hit because of it but nothing Petyr couldn't handle.

"You can hate me all you want, Royce, but this was Lysa's wish and I will carry it out for her." He clapped his hands together. "Now that Lion and Stag are working together with you we'll turn this company around into a real thriving business. Oh, while I remember, any other questions should be directed to my wonderful personal assistant rather than myself or my wife." A brief pause. "Carry on."

With that Baelish walked out of the boardroom knowing he'd gotten what he had worked so hard for as Gwendolyn followed along behind. And that's the story of how I became king of the financial world. Happy with his power Petyr went down to the underground parking lot with his assistant. Sat on the hood of his beloved Aston Martin with Lady at her feet he found Sansa right where he'd left her.

"All sorted?" She asked with a smile.

"But of course, Sweetling." Petyr took Sansa into his arms and kissed her lovingly while the blond assistant hung back so as not to interrupt. "I'm taking you to brunch, I've decided. The children are at kindergarten and I've got a fairly free morning." He paused then and turned to the blonde. "Gwendolyn, I'll take you back to the office and then I'll need you to hold my calls. Tell anyone who asks I'll be out until lunch."

The assistant nodded. "Yes, Mister Baelish."

~X~

Weeks went by with Robin in the house and Sansa hated every single moment of it. At first she'd though she'd be able to cope, just carry on but every time she looked at him she saw what could have been. Lysa could have taken Sansa and her siblings in when Cat had asked, if she had then they could have been raised without horror, having everything they needed just like Robin.

Finally, finally, Petyr got rid of her cousin and to celebrate he'd taken Sansa, Tristan and Poppy down to the small beach at the bottom of the cliffs near their home. It had taken Petyr longer than he'd wanted but he'd finally managed to get Robin into a boarding school. The insufferable boy had stayed with them two and a half weeks but Petyr had done it, gotten Robin into a good school where they didn't have to see him again; at least not of the Baelishs could help it.

Petyr had donated twice as much to the school than he'd originally planned or wanted and fortunately it had made them take Robin even though the school year had already begun months earlier. Frankly Petyr hadn't cared how much he paid in the end, he just wanted Robin Arryn gone. Gone! The boy had yanked on Lady's tail, broken Tristan's and Poppy's toys because they didn't want to just give them to him and just plain acted like a two year old constantly. Where Lysa's bad parenting ended and Robin's twatary started Petyr had no idea. However, the second he'd seen Robin shove Poppy out the French doors where she'd landed on the patio face first Petyr had realized it was either pay through the nose to get him into boarding school early or kill a child. No one hurt his children, especially not his three year old daughter.

His second reason for the little cookout was Sansa. His sweet redhead needed to have a happy few family hours and get away from people for a while. That was why she'd been steadily backing away from the public since Lysa's death.

He'd made that little bacon quiche that Tristan seemed obsessed with and watched him happily devour it while he rested against one of the large rocks with Sansa settled so her back was to his chest. Lady bounded about in the water; splashing as she paddled. Poppy though, she'd spent almost thirty minutes on a sandcastle that she seemed intent on perfecting.

"Poppy, Princess," began Petyr softly, "do you want to come eat?"

"Castle!" The little girl beamed back with insistence which made her father and mother laugh.

"Well, I guess Lady gets yours." He whistled, short and high-pitched which drew the dog's attention to her master instantly. "Lady."

The animal rushed from the water and over to the family that loved her kicking up sand as she ran, but Poppy threw herself towards her father; sandcastle suddenly forgotten.

"No. No. No." Poppy called as she clawed for her plate honestly believing that Petyr would let meal go to the dog. "Give!"

Petyr held the plate high up above his head where Poppy had no chance of grabbing it, he wore an expectant look on his face which just got a smirk from Sansa. Poppy deflated knowing exactly what that look meant; smart girl, then again she was a Baelish after all.

"Sorry, Daddy. Please give."

Happily he handed the plate over to his daughter who grinned and sat down beside her elder brother.

"Poppy." The girl didn't even look up but both parents knew she listened to every word her father said. "You can con people out of things, cheat them or find a loophole but you never demand those things, it shows your hand and gives people power over you."

"Life skills." Sansa teased and Petyr slapped her thigh in mock annoyance. Gods, they were all so much happier now Robin had left.

"They're Baelishs, plotting is in their blood."

Sansa snuggled into her husband's chest and pressed a kiss to the skin peaking out from between his cream linen shirt. Sensing she wasn't getting anything from Poppy's plate Lady stormed off to get back in the shallows where she could paddle and chase the waves.

Petyr didn't care about anything in that moment, too happy there pretending he'd not killed a series of people for personal gain, revenge or simple annoyance. The afternoon was peaceful and much needed by all four human members of the family. Petyr could go back to his plots, loopholes and silent hostile takeovers on Monday.

~X~

Sebastian Larroquette lay in bed late at night with his lover cuddled up to his bare chest as he snored softly. Seb couldn't help but stroke a hand through Jefferson's thick black locks; a comforting little act. The Detective Sergeant hadn't slept well in the last few days, he'd lay there staring up at the ceiling lost in memories or worries. That night though he'd found his mind on his days at university. That was where he'd first met Jefferson and they'd been together ever since. A smile settled on his lips, Sebastian's roommate had walked in on them more than a dozen times before he'd managed to get Jefferson into bed instead of the couch. Said room mate hadn't ever cared though, just walked past them usually with an essay in hand or occasionally a woman. Then again, they'd known one another since childhood so tended to ignore a lot.

Back when Sebastian and Jefferson had started dating they'd been shunned but those who'd accepted them hadn't thought they'd last very long as a couple, yet there they were decades later still happy and in love. Fuck you, statistics. Sebastian wouldn't trade the doctor for the world; not ever.

The fact he loved Jefferson more than life made Heyerdahl and his hatred all the worse. The DI hated anyone and anything that wasn't him or whiskey, a total narcissist. All of Sebastian's hard work for the KLPD and yet he'd never been promoted; Heyerdahl had seen to that at every opportunity. Did it all simply because Larroquette was gay. Sexual orientation didn't have any effect on how he did his job, damnit! Still, Heyerdahl was a foul man and had made many enemies so Sebastian didn't think Oren would be around much longer; he'd get himself killed, Seb only had to put up with him and his homophobia until he got his comeuppance.

Suddenly a quick series of rhythmic beeps yanked him out of his inner thoughts and to the dark bedroom around him. He blinked rapidly realizing he'd been so zoned out that he'd just stared for who knew how long. They stung as he rolled onto his side and grabbed his phone so he could read his text; Jefferson shifted but didn't wake, just wriggled and settled back down. The text was long, had few contractions and not a single emoji. However, by the end Sebastian was grinning ear to ear.