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“Dimitri covered his involvement in his death pretty well.” Rome continues. “He paid off the coroner and had the original documents expunged from the records, but we found someone that had seen the original autopsy.”
“He didn’t die of a heart attack, Stevie.” I add. “He died of asphyxiation.”
Stevie sighs as she slowly shakes her head. “What a fucking monster.”
Rome takes a seat in one of the vacant arm chairs and grabs a sandwich of his own. “It's also why he went after your sister. He wanted to separate you from The Reapers and unfortunately, it worked. Since you left them, his vendetta against The Organization has only gotten worse. He’s forcing all the west coast syndicates to direct their business towards human trafficking, but with the timeline he’s given them and the scale he’s insisting upon, they’re bound to make mistakes. Mistakes that will hurt a lot of innocent people.”
“And The Organization is okay with this?” She asks.
“Their hands are tied.” Dallas says with a shrug. “The council won’t be able to officially blacklist him until they have proof and none of the people who work under him will come forward. Everything we have so far is hearsay.”
“How?” She asks, shaking her head. “Alex was there. We may not get him on everything, but she can attest to everything she saw the night his men took her.”
The guys all look to me to give her an answer.
I had the same question when they first told me what was happening. If I’m honest, I still haven’t fully come to terms with their answer. But out of the four of us, it’s better if she hears it from me. “Alexcould tie him to the arson and to the kidnapping, but as far as the world knows,Alexdoesn’t exist anymore. She died the night of the fire.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Stevie says, glaring at me. “You’re right here. You can just go to the police and they’ll take it from there.”
“And tell them what, exactly?” I ask, cocking a brow. “That Dimitri Evanoff, an undercover DEA agent, tried to kill me? You honestly think they’ll do something about that? He’s deep undercover, Stevie. He probably has a green light to do whatever it takes to solve his case. We can’t go to the police and even if we could, there’s no way for me to prove anything. Alex doesn’t exist anymore.”
“So, what are you telling me?” She asks. “Are you Violet from now on?”
I don’t know how to respond to that. I’ve spent so much time being Violet that I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to be Alex and honestly, I don’t know if I ever want to go back.
“Alex has seen too much.” Dallas interjects, seeing the conflict in my eyes. “Do you know how many powerful men and women she saw in her time at Haven? If V becomes Alex again, she’ll have to spend the rest of her life running. Is that what you want?”
Her eyes skim over me as she chews on her cheek.“Of course not.”
“Then we need to get to Dimitri.” Dallas says, squeezing my knee. “We have to stop him from hurting anyone else and he’s the only one, besides us, that can connect V to Alex. Until he’s gone, V will never be safe.”
“Okay.” Stevie says, nodding her head as a new fire ignites behind her eyes. “I’m in. How are we going to do this?”
“We need The Reapers.” Rome says simply. “The Organization has already unofficially sanctioned Evanoff’s execution, but The Reapers are the only ones that can get close enough to pull the trigger.”
Stevie’s brow furrows. “Wait, if they’re the solution to all of this, why didn't you guys just tell them from the beginning? They hate Dimitri, they’d be happy to have an excuse to wipe him out.”
I knew this question was coming.
“Honestly.” I start, forcing the words out so they don’t have to. “It was you. We knew where they stood with Dimitri’s policies, but after surveying his interactions with you, it wasn’t so clear how things would go anymore.” Stevie was friendly with him. Too friendly, and it was maddening to know I couldn't do anything to warn her. “We wanted to tell The Reapers what was going on, but we couldn’t risk the chance of you tipping Dimitri off.”
Stevie slowly nods before turning her head towards the fire again. She visibly swallows as she tries to blink back the tears welling in her eyes. “That makes sense.” She says, her voice slightly thick with emotion. “So, what happens next?”
I walk over to her and pull her in for a tight hug.This isn’t her fault. None of this is. Neither one of us could’ve predicted how this played out.“Once you’re ready, we’ll take you to The Reapers so you can tell them what’s really going on.”
She stiffens in my hold.“Why me?” She asks, searching my eyes. “I’m probably the last person they want to see right now.”
“Because after you left, they shut themselves off from the world. We need someone that can get through to them, and out of the five of us, you’re the only one that has a fighting chance.”
