“I wouldn’t say they’reinvolved,” Alex says. “We kill whoever they want us to kill, and in turn, Chase keeps our information out of the law’s hands. And, if there’s any evidence against us, he extracts and destroys it. It’s sort of a barter system, nothing more.”
My head feels heavy; my body feels hot. There’s a pressure on my chest that makes me wanna heave, but I need to know more, so I press on.
“Did Dorran know about me before last week?” I question.
“The whole of Riverside knows you, Cignette,” Varsha states. “But if you’re asking for specifics, then no, none of us knew anything about you but your name and relationship to the Adler siblings.”
“Is that what you call Uncle Chase and Mom, then?”
“Among other things,” Alex chimes, and I can’t help but smile a little.
“So, my uncle has contracted kills to you?”
“Your mother as well, yes,” he says.
“She’s basically a demon, so I’m not surprised, but myuncle…”
“He’s just as ruthless towards his rivals,” Varsha provides. “We’ve ended quite a few lives for him.”
I shake my head in disbelief.
I know Uncle Chase is driven – towards his job, his responsibilities to the county, and towards Mom and I – but I’ve just now grasped the full extent of his power, and how it works in his advantage when he needs it.
“When did this start?” I ask. “I mean, when did my uncle and mom get involved with you guys?”
Alex huffs a little. “Again: I wouldn’t use the wordinvolvedto–”
“You know what I mean,” I say, cutting him off.
“It started when Dorran and Jayce got out of prison,” Varsha informs me. “Chase helped in making sure there were no records under their names, and ever since then, he’s sort of always kept us out of legal trouble or binds.”
I run my fingers through my hair, messing up my hairdo a bit. “And I’m assuming he knows you’re here tonight?”
“Yup,” says Alex. “Even the security here is aware of our presence. Just not the elites, of course.”
“Does our regular security know about you?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Varsha tells me, then gives me a faint smile. “And yes, Maverick knows about us too.”
I don’t know why, but I’m not as shocked to learn that, and it’s because I know Mave’s #1 priority is to keep me safe. He’dnevertell me about Dorran and the crew, especially because he knows firsthand how dangerous they are.
Same goes for my uncle, I’m presuming. He wouldn’t want me knowing Dorran or getting associated with him in any manner – for the exact same reason as Mave’s.
Little good that did, though.
It now makes sense why Dorran chooses to sneak into the estate to see me, but still, there’s something I don’t understand…
“Why did Dorran keep something like this from me?” I say, then shake my head again. “I mean, I–”
“I keptwhatfrom you?” comes Dorran’s voice, seconds before he reaches us. He’s got a piece of paper towel in his hand, and he’s absentmindedly cleaning tiny drops of blood from his now stained shirt, but stops when he’s in front of us, and raises his brows at me.
“I thought Jayce had advised you against drawing blood tonight,” Alex remarks.
“Tomas was getting a bit…fidgety. He deserved that quick stab in the throat, I promise.”
Alex chuckles. “Right.”
Dorran flips him off, then turns his attention to me again. “What did I not tell you, Cignette?”
