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“Why was Father working with you? How’d that come about?”
Chapter27
Kaia
Milo ran his hands through his hair and gestured towards the chairs at the desk where the butler was perched, watching our interaction. Ink transferred from his hands, leaving black streaks in the graying blonde.
“Pedri, get your ass off my desk,” Milo ordered, rounding said desk and sitting heavily. He mumbled something about kids being unable to stand on their own two feet these days. “Go find out the progress they’ve made on the Odentia situation. Sariah, you go too. Deliver that correspondence and let me know his reply immediately. Feel free to let slip some of my personal thoughts on the matter if he needs some persuading. Close the door on the way out.”
The valet, who must be Pedri, pushed off the desk with a skip, saluting Milo. He shot us a toothy smile as he passed. It was a telling smile; he knew exactly what we were in for and didn’t envy us. Nothing concerning about that.
Sariah was slower to leave. Once Pedri exited, she looked at Milo, shocked to be dismissed. Milo simply raised his eyebrow at her. She glared at me and stomped out of the room, slamming the door.
Sighing, Milo leaned back, steepling his fingers, and looked over E.Z. and me.
E.Z. had gone on alert when they walked past, his hands raised to produce a shield. Their leaving didn’t lessen his hostility. His chest was still puffed out, and his eyes were hard.
“Please sit. You have nothing to fear here. You are under my protection and will not be harmed in any way. Let’s talk and I’ll answer what I can,” Milo said. He may have been looking at me, but his words were for the benefit of the feral man beside me.
I couldn’t figure out what was going on with E.Z.. I distinctly felt the irritation and hostility pouring off him in waves. I knew he would be more serious than usual at this meetup, but I was not expecting this threatening and growly version of him. His aura was dark, and his mood seemed to be heavily affecting me. Both contracting impulses— one to trust and one to fight— felt like mine. I tried to shake off the sensation, but it lingered, putting me on edge.
I walked forward and cautiously sat in one of the two chairs facing the desk. E.Z. refused to sit. He stood behind my chair with his arms crossed, glaring at Milo, making everything uncomfortable with his open hostility. I was getting concerned.
“Your father reached out after your mom left, looking for her,” Milo said once I sat, watching me closely for a reaction. “He found me through one of her old contacts.”
“Looking for her? What do you mean? Mom has been dead for seven years. How long has Father been working with you?”
Milo hesitated, his eyes running over my face with a frown. “Kaia, your mother is still alive,” he revealed, eyebrows drawn. “I assumed you knew.”
“There’s no way. She was sick at the same time I was. Father told me….” Father told me so many lies.
Milo hesitated, taking in my reaction— probably seeing the shock, confusion, disbelief, and anger cycle across my face before I could conceal it.
“Now I’m especially glad we decided to wait,” Milo continued carefully. “We assumed you knew by now, but I thought it was best to talk to you first and prepare you to see her after this long.”
“She left while her daughter was dying. For what? A cause?” I asked.
My fingernails dug indents into the underside of my chair in my anger. My mother left while I was in a coma, and my father let me believe she was dead when I woke up. I sat there in stunned silence for several heartbeats, breath caught, letting all this sink in.
Milos hesitated. “I promised Arianna I would not say. I’d just set up the meeting. This is her story to tell. Trust me, she did not want to leave. She was left with no choice. Give her a chance to explain everything. I can sincerely promise that you will not regret hearing her out.”
How does one prepare for a meeting like that? I wasn’t entirely sure I even wanted to see my mother at this point. What could she possibly say to make this okay?
“Did Father know she faked her death? Did he have something to do with this?”
The time between minutes seemed to stretch as I waited for Milo’s reply.
“I’m sorry. I do not know,” Milo eventually replied, his face showing unmistakable remorse. “Eryk searched for her once you were fully recovered. That led him to me, and I eventually got them in contact with each other.” Milo took a breath as he assessed me. I slowly nodded my understanding— what else was I to do? “Eryk suggested you all run together, but Arianna insisted he return to the capital. He needed to do his part from the inside, and you needed a stable childhood.”
The pressure in my head began to grow, and I just nodded over and over. I understood. I was abandoned and lied to in the name of a stable childhood and a cause that seemed more cult than organization from all my previous knowledge. Then, Father decided to fight for the same cause that had most likely robbed me of my mother without telling me a thing. Yeah, I understood.
Why would they lie to me about this? With Father’s recent track record of not telling me things, I assumed he knew and had kept it from me. What reason would there be? Had he just been protecting me? Did he think it would be easier for me to hear she passed on rather than knowing she’d left while I was dying?
I swear I heard E.Z. growl behind me, but I couldn’t pay him any mind. The world funneled and went black around the edges as my heart rate tripled.
There were so many lies. They were just endless. And if I dwelled on that right then, I would have gone insane.
“Who is her contact?” I asked, curious if I’d heard their name or met this person. “The person you said Father used to hunt you down.”
