Winding one arm around his waist, I used the other to cut the bonds at his wrists. His weight immediately hit me, and I eased him to the ground as gently as I could.
God, I’d missed him. I traced a fingertip over his stubbled jaw. This man had believed in me when my own father hadn’t. He might have lied to me about his reasons for becoming my partner, but in the end he had believed enough in me to let me work without trying to shield me or keep me safe at home.
Without any prompting from me, Devyn cut down the rest of the sleeping slaves. When he reached a curvy blonde, he glanced over at me. “We bought this one, didn’t we?”
“You can’t keep her,” I replied on a strangled laugh.
“You’re keeping that one,” he said, motioning to Lucius with his chin.
“Yeah, but he’s willing to be kept.”
He looked at the blonde, then back at me. “This one might be willing, too. I just need five minutes alone with her.”
I shook my head. “You can ask her if she wants to spend five minutes with you, but you can’t force her.”
He pouted.
Michael and ten other agents burst into the warehouse moments later, pyre-guns drawn. When they realized everyone was sleeping, they lowered their weapons but remained on alert.
“Over here,” I called. Two agents reached me before Michael. “Take this man to a medic, then to my apartment.” I gave them the address, and they nodded.
Together, they lifted Lucius into their arms. He moaned, the sound one of pain.
“Careful,” I snapped. “He’s injured.”
“Take him to my house,” Michael interjected. “I’ll have our doctors patch him up there.”
“Take him to a medic, then to my apartment, or I’ll introduce both of you to my knife.”
They looked fearfully to Michael, because they knew I’d do it. He gave an abrupt nod. “Do what she says.”
As the men tromped off with Lucius, I faced my father. Our gazes met, locked. We still had business to settle. “Everyone on the scaffold was kidnapped by EenLi to be sold as slaves. There are a few on the ground, as well.”
“And EenLi?” he asked.
I stood, shrugged. “Dead. By my hand.”
His shoulders relaxed, and he ran a hand over his ragged features. “Then it’s over.”
“Yes.”
“I’m proud of you, Eden.” He reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “I don’t tell you that enough.”
“You’re proud, yes, but do you finally believe in me?”
“I’ve always believed in you.”
I brushed away his hold. “You paid men to look out for me, Michael. You never trusted me to do it on my own.”
“I was scared for you. There’s a difference.” He rubbed his temples. “Let’s get you home. You can write me up a full report in the morning. We’ll have breakfast and then you can get started on your next job. I’ve already got one lined up—”
“I told you I don’t work for you anymore.”
“We both know you didn’t mean it.” When I didn’t say anything, he kicked sand with the tip of his shoe. “Fine, if you don’t want to work for me, you don’t have to. Claudia Chow has been worried about you and has been calling me for two days. You can always go back to her and continue being her interpreter.”
I wasn’t going to do that, either. I didn’t know what I was going to do, actually. Biting my lip, I stared down at my boots and tried to prepare myself for the conversation I was about to start. Bringing it up was harder than killing a target but if I didn’t do it now, I wouldn’t.Just say it. “EenLi mentioned something about my parents. You and I never talk about them, but I need to know if you ever found out who killed them.”
He didn’t say anything. And as the moments ticked by, guilt washed over his still handsome features.
I blinked over at him. “Michael?”
“Eden,” he began before cutting himself off. “I’m so sorry. So sorry. I’ve wanted to beg your forgiveness for so long, but I couldn’t bring it up. I just couldn’t.”
In that moment, I realized it was true. EenLi hadn’t lied. Deep down, I think I’d expected Michael to tell me EenLi had done it. But no, Michael had actually dealt the death blows. A sharp pain lanced through my chest, and I almost moaned. He’d never told me; he’d kept it secret all these years. Hadn’t trusted me to love him anyway. To forgive.
With the realization, something inside me snapped, released. Anger and impotence for all the years I hadn’t talked about my parents because I’d assumed Michael didn’t want the reminder that he wasn’t my biological father.
I backhanded him. His head whipped to the side. Slowly he faced me, rubbing his now-bleeding lip.
“I deserved that,” he said calmly.
I stared into his face, the face I loved and had worshiped for so long. “Tell me why.”
“They were a job, sweetie. Only a job. They might have loved you, protected you, and treated you as a precious treasure, but they still sold drugs. Drugs that killed humans. I did what I had to do, what I was paid to do. How many parents have you killed?” he asked quietly, darkly. Pointedly.
Low blow.So low. My knees almost buckled as his words slammed into my mind, echoing over and over. The truth was, I didn’t know the answer to that question. The most likely answer was many.Many . I didn’t know how many parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles I’d killed over the years. Perhaps I hadn’t let myself consider the possibility. I’d always embraced my job—just as Michael did.
“Eden, I—” He reached for my hand.
I slapped his wrist. “Save it. I can’t talk to you right now. I’ll forgive you, yes, and I even understand, but I just can’t talk to you right now.”
I turned away from him then and helped the other agents separate EenLi’s men from the slaves and auctiongoers. The guards would be kept alive for another day or two and questioned, just in case there were any other humans stashed away. Then they would be killed. I didn’t know what would happen to the auction bidders. At this point, I just didn’t care.
Michael worked alongside me, silent and brooding. He loved me. I knew he did. And that made the torment inside me even worse.
Devyn worked with me, too. Michael ignored him, most likely still upset that I’d enlisted the king’s help instead of his. Lord, I felt so raw. I needed Lucius. His strength. His comforting arms.