Page 78 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

‘Troy buried this one,’ Riley explains. ‘He was Penhalyx’s suppressor. He scrubbed whatever the old man didn’t want getting out, but he kept records of some of it. When I went about removing Julian from the internet, I found a few things.’

‘That’s me and you,’ Lachlan says after a beat. ‘I remember that day.’

Kade has to force himself to speak. ‘What day?’

‘Your birthday. Your twentieth birthday. See? You had the tattoo.’

True enough, the arm around the bodyguard’s neck shows a small, dark crescent moon. Kade looks down at his own wrist, thickly inked with the Iron Star sigil. He presses it, tears forming in his eyes.

It’s there, somewhere.

Buried.

‘I know what you think I am, Tanner,’ Riley says at length, staring at the photograph he found to show them, ‘and you’re partially right. I am the boss of Iron Star first and foremost. I have benefited from having Kade... from having Julian here with me.’ Riley contains the pain so well that Kade barely feels it that time, like flames against glass, only a brief flare of sickly heat. ‘I could have done better, but I could have done a lot worse too.’

Lachlan says nothing, his gaze fixed on the screen.

Riley stands up, leaving the console.

‘Where are you going?’ Kade asks, forcing himself to look away.

‘I have errands to run. Use my room to clean up if you like, both of you,’ Riley suggests. ‘We’ll talk later.’

It’s a while before Lachlan gets up, a full minute after Riley has left the Watch, and touches the screen with outstretched fingertips.

Kade watches, head spinning.

He sees himself in love.

There’s no denying the look.

Julian Penhalyx was beautiful in a way Kade simply isn’t. Graceful, fluid, sharpened, cultured. His clothes, his hair, his smile. The confidence he carries, caught in a single damning frame.

‘There’s my boy,’ Lachlan whispers, his voice breaking.

Cole and Finn come inside together.

Kade stands quickly, clearing his throat. ‘Hey.’

‘Kade, I’m sorry,’ Finn says. ‘Boss said we need to get back to work.’

‘Of course. It’s fine.’ Kade switches off the screen and takes Lachlan by the hand. ‘C’mon, let’s go get cleaned up.’

✴

Riley Harker’s bathroom is four dark walls and a concrete floor, centred around a roomy copper clawfoot tub Riley had installed years ago. The metal glows warmly, heavy bronze pipes curving up beside it to feed the tap. In one corner, exposed pipework climbs to a broad copper rain shower, open to the room above a drain cut into the concrete. Along one wall, a thick slab sink is mounted on brackets beneath a permanently broken mirror. There’s a wooden stool nearby and old hooks for towels.

Everything is concrete, metal and heat-oriented because this high up, it’s freezing during winter, but there’s a dark side to this room too. The lack of windows, with only a steam vent in the ceiling. The hooks Riley uses for towels sit at a very specific height and distance apart. They’re strong enough that when Kade once pulled himself up on them, they didn’t budge.

Kade has only ever asked what the hooks were used for.

Riley just smiled blandly, never explained.

There’s so much he never explained.

Lachlan walks around the room, touching walls and fixtures with evident interest while Kade draws the bath.

‘Your boss lets a lot of people use his bathroom?’