“You’re Luna Romano’s father?” I ask him as he tries to catch his breath.
This man was my mother’s boss before she was able to start her own firm. He was Oliver’s godfather. We stare at one another for a long time before I feel the rage inside of me sparks. Before I can even think, my fist connects with his mouth. His head whips back and then bounces forward a little too fast for it not to hurt him.
“Fuck,” he groans, shaking his head. When he looks up at me again, he sees what I am. “You’re one of them,” he scoffs. “I didn’t want to believe you were a traitor to your own race, but you’ve been one of them this entire time. I bet Zaraphine is loving that.”
“What are you doing here?” I ask. He looks between Ana and me. He scoffs ad if I were stupid. I grip his face to make him face me. “What are you doing here, James?”
“James?” Ana asks.
“I didn’t know him as Guerrero. I know him as James Martin. He was my mother’s boss before she opened up her own firm. He baptised my brother under a blood moon. Who are you?”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve answered that question, little mouse,” he scoffs.
“Don’t call me that,” I growl. His smile turns sinister, and he looks me over as if he were seeing me for the first time.
“I don’t understand how you were able to survive the attack. You were wounded enough to die, and here you are,” he sneers.
“Why did Francis Jacob attack the game that day? If his goal was to get to Kaylee, why did he attack us?” At the mention of Kaylee’s name, he tenses up. “Yeah, I know about your granddaughter. Your daughter told me all about that.”
“You’re lying,” he growls. “Where is she? What have you done to them?”
“Answer my questions first, and I’ll tell you exactly where they are,” I promise.
His eyes flash red, but only briefly. It shows just how weak he is. I want to hate him for whatever is about to come out of his stupid mouth, but I can’t just ignore the fact that he’s hurt. I let out a heavy sigh and try to keep my breathing even. This is not going to be easy. There’s malice in his eyes despite the position he’s in.
“You’re not going to make it,” I say, reaching into my bag to get him something for the pain. “You have no idea how far this woman is willing to go to get what she wants. She’s endured some pretty messed–up stuff, so this is just another Thursday night for her.”
“Am I supposed to be scared?” he rolls his eyes. I stand up straight to show him the needle. He instantly tenses up. Fear sparks in his eyes as I approach. “You’re really going to do this?”
“This,” I flick the needle and look up at Ana. She grabs his head and gives me a nod. I wipe his filthy arm a few times before injecting the needle. “Is to help with the pain. From experience, I know that it’s not easy to focus when you’re hurting.
“I really need you to focus right now, James. For both of us,” I look back to Ana. “Can I please get some warm water and a cloth to clean out his wounds?”
“You know I’m only going to hurt him again when you’re done, right?” she sighs.
“Ana,” I glare at her. She stares at me for a moment and releases her hold on his head.
“Fine,” she says and waves her arm in the air.
I take out what I need for the water as a woman brings in a bucket of warm water. I test it to make sure it’s not too hot. Ana is the one to hand me the cloth. I dump in what the water needs to help ease the pain in his wounds and bruises. Iring out the cloth and gently begin to clean him up, staring at the knots on his head.
“What is this? Truth serum?”
“I’m not like you,” I remind him. “I’m not trying to force you into anything. I’m here because I need answers, and you’re hurt. It’s not in my nature to leave someone like this, even an asshole like you.”
“You hit me,” he growls.
“You allowed my family to be killed,” I shoot back. “You’re lucky that’s all I did.”
“Your family wasn’t the intended target,” he says after a while. “I do regret that they got caught in the crossfire. Your mother was like a daughter to me. That is, until your idiot father got involved. She was supposed to reject him, and she didn’t.
“Belial didn’t take it well. Especially because she took his son with her. When he tried to retrieve his heir, your grandmother got involved and killed half his rogues. We had to retreat. Your father was backed by the Lycan throne, and as strong as we are, fucking with the Lycan King is prohibited to all species.” I patch up his eye and take a step back to process what he said. “You do know,” he shakes his head. “Ver always had a soft spot for you. With you being Santi’s mate and ali. She
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shouldn’t have told you the truth, no matter how small the details.
“You already know that Gavin wasn’t your father’s son. You know we were responsible for the attack, and you know about Kaylee. What else do you know? How did you get her to admit to any of it? I know my daughter better than anyone. She wouldn’t open her mouth if she didn’t have a good reason for it.”
“She had a great reason,” I shrug. “I know that you’re here because you tried to play Santiago Polucci, and his sister got mad. She’s not the kind of person you want to piss off, James. She asked me to come here to keep you alive. I don’t know exactly what that means, but I’m sure that it’s not a position you want to be in.”
“You shouldn’t be here. You were free,” he sighs. “Your grandmother saved you.”
“How long have you been here?” I laugh.
“I don’t know,” he says, shutting his eyes. When he opens them again, his pupils are dilated, which means the shot worked.
“A few months,” Ana answers for him.
“Months? Longer than the raid on the warehouses?”
“Yeah, before we even met,” she confirms.
“What raid?” he demands.
“I’m not at liberty to say. This is between the Lycan King, the second prince, and me. Although Ana knows because she was supposed to assist us,” I roll my eyes.
“You tried to kill me,” she growls.
“If I had wanted to kill you, you’d be dead,” I look over at her. “I didn’t join the military for the cardio. You, on the other hand, tried to blackmail me. You threatened my King, and that’s kind of a death sentence by law.”
“Shut up, Sophia,” she rolls her eyes. I smile and look down at James or whoever the hell he is.
“How did you get so deep into the City’s economics?” I ask. “As a rogue, you had no right to come into the city and start any kind of business. How were you able to get a new identity and start the law firm?”
“The Alpha King,” he answers as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “You are diving into something that goes back centuries, little mouse. It’s funny that you, the last of the Helvig bloodline, are the one to discover something that wiped out the rest of you. Maybe this time around, we’ll get all of you.”
受
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
