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“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Clearing my throat, I slowly slide into the seat at the desk, my eyes beginning to well with tears. “Alpha, do you know Maverick’s real name? Hisfullname?”
He scrunches his brow and nods. “Yeah, of course, it’s Jesse Cadell. Why?”
Oh shit!It’s like a sucker punch slams straight into my gut, knocking all the breath from me while I begin to hyperventilate. Alpha drops, kneeling beside me, his hand on my back. “Breathe, talk to me. What’s going on?”
My eyes overflow with tears when I clench them tight, memories flooding back to me with my baby brother, playing in our house. I used to push him around in his stroller and help Mom feed him his bottle.
I loved my baby brother so much before I was taken.
It’s that bond I felt when I met Maverick.
The overwhelming feeling I felt.
It’s because heismy baby brother, and Cloveristhe sister I never met.
Tears stream down my face uncontrollably, my hands rushing to my face, unable to rein in my emotions.It’s all too much.Alpha leans over me, picking up the folder to read it, I assume, as I continue to cry into my hands, thinking of all the time I have missed out with my family all because my asshole father sold me for money.
“Fucking hell,” Alpha murmurs as he places the folder back on the desk. “Maverick and Clover are your siblings?” he asks.
Somehow, I find the strength to look up at him and weakly nod. “All this time, I knew I felt close to Mav for some reason, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. He’s my little brother,Alpha. And Clover... I didn’t even know I had a sister!”
He lifts me from the chair into his arms, holding me tight. “I got you, baby. I got you.”
I cling to him, letting myself be completely vulnerable in this moment. “I’ve lost so much to this place, Alpha, and I still don’t knowwhoactually runs it.”
He pulls back from me, looking into my eyes. “Surely, there must be another file that gives us something?” he asks, sliding my folder closed before he heads back to the filing cabinet, but his head snaps back to the front of my folder.
He stops, spins back, and lifts the folder to his face, his lip curling in obvious disdain.“Motherfucker!”
I furrow my brow, turning to look at the Heron logo on the front of the folder, the logo for The Nest. Shaking my head, I shrug. “What are you seeing?”
He slams the folder on the desk and starts pacing, his fingers threading through his hair. “I should havefuckingknown!”
“Alpha, talk to me.”
He spins back to face me. “The people we’re at war with, the people who obviously took Poppy to train her as a goddamned assassin, are one and the same.”
“You’re at war with The Nest?” I ask, confused.
He points to the heron logo. “No. We’re at war with Rico Rojas and his motherfucking cartel. That heron is their cartel logo. They’re the assholes who run The Nest. Rico Rojas, my arch-enemy, is the prick who employed you. And I don’t quite know how Swift fits into all this yet, but if he is working for Rico and the cartel, and he hadanythingto do with Poppy being taken, I swear to God, I am going to gut him alive!”
“I don’t know about Swift. I still think there’s more to that story, but Rico running The Nest makes sense. The only bird we’re not allowed to designate an operative is the heron.”
Suddenly, my cell rings, making us both jump from the shock.I glance down to see it’s Maverick. A slow smile crosses my face, knowing for sure that this man is my baby brother, but the time for telling him will have to wait. He’s calling me for a reason. I show Alpha the screen, swipe the call, and put it on speaker. “Mav?” I ask.
The speaker is muffled, almost like the cell is in his pocket and the sounds of people talking echo down the line, though it’s hard to make out.
I narrow my eyes on Alpha. “Do you think he butt-dialed me?”
Alpha shakes his head. “Just wait, I’m sure there’s a reason.”
We listen intently when Swift’s voice is heard clearly down the line. It’s like Mav knew we needed better sound.“I told you this would all work out. You should have trusted me,” Swift states.
I turn to Alpha with unease surging through me. “I know, son. I should have never doubted you. You always get the job done. Unlike Landry.”
I remember from my profile on Alpha that his name is Stone Landry. Whoever the guy on the phone is talking to Swift, he’s mentioned Alpha’s surname. Alpha’s eyebrows furrow, trying to recall the voice. He shakes his head like he’s having flashbacks. His eyes clench closed as his breathing quickens.
