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“Do you understand?” he asks me.
“I understand and I will tell you everything. It’s just, I’m not who you think I am. And what I’m about to tell you won’t answer the questions I know you have.”
Alister crosses his arms over his chest. His facial features shift and his shoulders slump ever so slightly. There’s a chance he won’t believe me, but I’m not the first girl he’s been wrong about and he knows it.
“I’m listening.”
At that, I take a deep breath to calm my nerves. Though, again, my cracked rib makes me regret it. As the pain rips through me, I can’t help but smile.
“Is something funny?” Alister asks. Clearly, his patience is wearing thin.
“No. I just…I’ve been anticipating this moment for a while now and I certainly never thought it would go down like this. It kind of hurts to breathe.”
“Yeah, that won’t be the only thing that hurts if you don’t get on with it.” Alister drops his arms to his sides. The veins in his neck throb. Okay, it’s now or never.
I bring my hand to my side to keep pressure on my ribs as I speak. One more breath and—
“My name is Ariana Valentine and I work for the FBI, a member of the Organized Crime Task Force to be exact. And before you remind me of your grace period, which still has nine months remaining, let me assure you—I’m not here to take you down or hurt your sister. I’m…I’m here for your help.”
At that, Alister laughs and shakes his head. “My help?” He jabs his finger into his chest. “This is rich. You’re on the task force set to investigate me andyou’rehere asking formyhelp.” He begins to pace the small space again. “I’m inclined to believe you are who you say are, considering no one outside of my inner circle even knows about the deal I have with the FBI. But what I don’t understand is why you would come to me and, even more so, why you think I would agree to help you knowing that you will lead the charge against me in just a few months’ time.”
“I’ve come to you because I’m pretty sure your father had my mother killed eighteen years ago. Now that he’s gone, you’re the only one with enough access to help me learn the truth. And since he was your father, you kind of owe me.”
Alister shakes his head and backs away from me, resting against the steel bars of the cell. “You come into my house, use my sister to get close to me, and then you accuse my late father of murder.” He speaks so softly I can barely hear him. And yet, every word slices through me just like the knives of the men I fought.
“I realize the timing is terrible, given what happened to—”
“Stop!” Alister yells, pushing himself off the bars. He kneels in front of me again. With his face only inches from mine, I’m able to see past his anger and even fear at the thought of losing Sophia. I see past all of it to something new, something almost undetectable—defeat. “My father was an honorable businessman.”
“You and I both know he was more than that and so are you.” As the words cross my lips, I surprise myself. It’s probably not smart to antagonize my captor when I not only need his help but am at his mercy. Alister lowers his head then as he attempts to steady his breathing.
“Look, I’m not trying to disrespect you or antagonize you. It’s just…I know who you are, Alister, and what you do as the Blood King. You can’t pretend with me.”
Alister lifts his head, meeting my eyes once more. As he does, all emotion leaves him. He is numb and monotone. “Perhaps you know of my business, but you know nothing of me.” He looks down, taking in my cuts and bruises. “If you weren’t part of the team who tried to abduct Sophia, then I suppose you got these injuries trying to save her.”
“Yes.”
Alister nods. “That and that alone has earned you ten minutes of my time, during which I want you to answer one question.” I need more than ten minutes, but, right now, I’m in no position to argue.
“Okay,” I agree.
Alister looks at me again, though he hesitates to speak. Perhaps he doesn’t want to know what I think. He doesn’t want to believe his father could’ve ordered a hit against an innocent, defenseless woman, endangering not only her but her ten-year-old child. Then again, there’s also the possibility my mother wasn’t innocent. But did she deserve to die? No. No. I refuse to believe that.
Finally, after assessing the consequences of his question, much like I have my actions, he asks, “Why do you think my father was the one who had your mother killed?”
Now it is my turn to look away from him, my throat raw as the words prepare to make their escape. I’ve never told anyone what I’m about to tell him, Alister Amato, the Blood King of New Orleans, my target, and my captor. I’ve never even spoken the words to myself. For eighteen years, I’ve held this secret inside, avoiding every question and even relationship that could lead to this painful memory coming out. I bite my lip as my eyes glaze over with tears I work every single day not to cry.
“For eighteen years, I told myself lie after lie. I’d make up stories about who my mother was and why she was killed. I even looked into her once, tried to make sense of her death, but I didn’t get very far. It’s kind of hard to investigate a ghost, someone without a last name, or a credit card, or even a place of work. After she died, it was like she never existed. Eventually, I accepted that I’d never know the truth. I’d never know her. But…that all changed the night I was called to investigate the massacre aboard the ship namedKratos.”
Alister takes a deep breath, realization dawning on him. He sinks back on his bottom and rests his elbows on his knees. “Well, since we’re being honest, I wouldn’t call what I did to the brotherhood superiors a massacre.”
“I know. You’d call it justice.” At that, he smiles, and there’s a shift in the energy between us. No longer is he towering over me, threatening to end me. He’s down on my level, meeting my gaze eye to eye. He’s listening to me. And somehow in the middle of it all, he’s cracked a joke and made me forget about my pain and where I am. I’m thankful for it, for this brief moment of normalcy. It makes it easier for me to say what comes next, the words I fear will change everything between us once again.
“When the FBI arrived on scene, we already knew what had gone down. Per Emma’s testimony, we knew you and your men were the ones who murdered the brotherhood superiors. We weren’t there to investigate their deaths. Rather, we were there to gather intel that would allow us to take down the rest of their organization.”
“And mine,” Alister says.
I nod. “Yes. But…when I saw how their bodies were mutilated, with an X carved across their chest and torso, it took me back to the night a group of men broke into my mother’s and my apartment, beat her, and then killed her in the same way you killed the brotherhood superiors.”
