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I would be safer with him gone.
Our baby would be too.
“I’m going to need your help, though.”
I quirk an eyebrow. “How?”
“I need you to lure him out of the shadows.”
TWENTY-THREE
ALEXANDER
Graham was right.
I was so wrapped up in how I thought Alize would act, assigning ulterior motives to her actions, that I didn’t stop to consider that she would be just as hurt as I was to find out the truth. The sincere look in her hazel eyes takes me aback
She doesn’t even bristle at my suggestion.
“Like, set him up?”
I nod slowly, watching her reaction. “Something like that. Get him to show up somewhere.”
The wheels are turning in her head.
“I’ll do it,” she says with a crinkle of her nose. “That was what the phone call you got was about?”
“Something like that,” I say. “I sort of had an idea from when we were at the airport. But then I found out for sure.”
Alize cocks her head to the side, seemingly replaying everything in her mind. “Who was it?”
I lean back against the footboard of the bed, webbing my fingers in my lap. Looking away from her, I focus my attention on the puddle of warm light in the corner of the room. Beyond the sheer curtains, the shadows of the night dance to a stilted rhythm.
She’s waiting for my answer, but there’s no easy way to say this.
“A friend,” I say, simply. Alize can’t know about Lev. The Kingmaker Society’s members are sworn to secrecy. I may not be a member yet, but I won’t get inducted if I can’t even keep this under wraps. “My brother’s contacts were able to find footage of the man who killed Mum. I had his face and not his name. When I enlisted the help of my friend, he mentioned that it was possible the man was your father.”
“How can you be sure that it is my father, then?” In the corner of my vision, I see her lean in closer to me. Her voice is riddled with suspicion.
Now that I don’t have the anger blinding me, I can see how bad it must look to her. I’ve been investigating her for weeks without bringing her into the loop. But I had little choice when the whole thing was tied to my Kingmaker election win.
If it weren’t for Lev, I wouldn’t have figured this out at all.
I turn abruptly, meeting Alize’s heavy-lidded gaze. She looks wary, almost distrustful. There’s no easy way for me to explain, and she’s going to be angry—unless I lie. It’s tempting to, but she deserves the truth.
At least, the parts I can tell her.
“There were always suspicions that Michel had a daughter, but nobody knew for sure. You had the same last name as him, but I needed more proof. My friend had some of your father’s DNA, so I cut a lock of your hair to find out if it was a match.”
Alize doesn’t react at first.
Then she slaps me across the face so hard my ear rings. It’s on the same side as my injury so the pain blooms all over my skin. I swear it’s like I lose sight for a moment with how sudden and intense the sensations are.
“What the fuck?” I rub my jaw.
She stands, hovering over me with her arms akimbo. “It was either I slap you or shoot you for being such a two-faced bitch.”
“Watch your tone,” I shoot back. My head’s spinning a little. “You have no—”
