Page 72 of Dark Soul

“Wait till we go back in there,” Rogue said, smiling. “She’s probably going to throw half the wine cellar at us.”

22

* * *

Alexia

Dark strode back inside, alone this time.

Alexia tightened her hand around the broken bottle, holding it like a weapon between them. Red drops fell onto the tiled floor, making her feel queasy. She wished she’d chosen a bottle of white wine, so it wouldn’t look like someone was bleeding to death next to her.

“I’m not going to tell you anything,” she said. She was trying to be brave, but her teeth chattered from cold and fear. Somewhere between the house and here she’d lost her shoes. Icy cold came up into her body through the soles of her feet.

“Nobody’s going to hurt you, Alexia. I swear to you.”

“You swear to me?” she asked, and she heard the notes of hysteria in her voice but didn’t care. “Do you hear yourself? Do you even realize how little your word means?”

His blue eyes were full of pain.

“Put that bottle down, Alexia, before you hurt yourself.”

“I’m not going to hurt myself,” she said. “But if you come closer, I might hurt you.”

“I swear to you, I’m not going to hurt you.”

“You’ll get your friends to do it instead?”

They both looked down at her reddened wrists.

“I’m sorry, Alexia. But you need to tell me what you know. You’ve been speaking to someone about Kvyat,” he said, “and I need to know to who.”

She shook her head. “I’m not going to tell you anything. You lied to me, just as much as I lied to you. None of you have ever worked in television. I know that now. All that shit about Hugh Jackman …”

“You’re right,” he admitted. He spread his hands in front of him. “We have never met Hugh Jackman. We came here to take Kvyat down.”

“Take him down?” she asked on a sharp inhale. She felt like she’d slipped down some rabbit hole.

Is he talking about killing someone?

“Your boss is not a good man,” Dark said.

“Thanks. I kind of figured that out for myself.”

“Who are you spying for, Alexia?”

“I’m not spying,” she said, her voice shaking.

“Is Alexia even your real name?”

“Yes. I’m Alexia Miller. I’m a teacher. Everything I told you is true ...” A small whimper escaped her. “But I did promise to keep an eye out in case I saw Kvyat do anything illegal. Anything he could be prosecuted for.”

“Why? What do you get out of it? Money?”

She laughed wryly. “No.” She took a deep breath. “Five years ago, Kvyat killed my twenty-one-year-old brother—ran him over in his yellow Lamborghini, then managed to cover it up.”

Dark’s face went pale.

“God. I’m sorry, baby.”