Chapter 28 #2
“I tried gaining access to his personal devices, but it was a lot more difficult than breaking into Hendrix’s things.
Your father is more paranoid than mine; despite knowing me my whole life, he guarded against me enough to make it nearly impossible.
So I did what I had to in order to gain his trust. I confronted him. ”
“You went to my dad and told him you knew he tried killing his own son?” West exhaled slowly. “Bold move.”
“It was risky,” he agreed, “but it paid off. Apparently, Yejun isn’t the only one who noticed my affections for you all these years.”
His clueless, self-absorbed father had somehow picked up on someone else's feelings?
That was the least believable part of this whole story.
Sadly.
“Demitrious likes feeling like he has power over everyone else,” Beck continued.
“All I had to do was let him believe he had something over me. You. I got down on my knees and begged him to spare you. I swore I could either get you to see reason or convince you to have an affair with me. The other day? At the restaurant? One of Demitrious’s people was there, taking photos. I made sure they got some good shots.”
When Beck had leaned in close to him…touched his face and his shoulder…It was all an act? A show for the cameras?
Was West really buying this?
…His confession had felt like it’d come out of nowhere.
“The pictures are meant to be Demitrious’s backup plan. He’ll give them to Nix, try to convince him you were cheating on him with me this whole time, if I can’t get you to leave with me willingly.”
“Why didn’t you just say something?” West asked. “Find a way to tip me off.”
“The man working for your father wasn’t just taking pictures, he was listening in on us.
I needed to make it sound believable. Needed him to buy that I was desperate to have you.
After you stormed out, I went to Demitrious’s house.
I knew he was going to be receiving a call from Orson later about the meeting—I’d overheard him and Gerty talking about it.
When he took the call, I had just enough time alone in his office to plant malware onto his systems.”
Beck removed his multi-slate and clicked a button on the side that activated the holographic screen. Images of text appeared, and he flicked through them quickly so West could get an idea of how much there was.
“It’s all incriminating evidence. He got the poison from mercenaries from the planet Ignite.”
Ignite was one of the few planets that hadn’t signed the agreement with the Intergalactic Conference, which meant there was very little on their world and the things they produced in secret in any official records.
That explained why it’d come up as an unknown substance when West had done a deep search for it.
“Dew knew what he was doing,” his voice darkened. “Demitrious cut him a deal. He swapped out the sedative meant for you with the poison. It was easy enough, since they were giving you a higher dosage than Yejun. Juri and Branwen had no idea.”
“Yeah,” West licked his lips, “Nix sort of hacked into your computer. We know they were innocent. Or, as innocent as can be in this situation, anyway.”
“When did he do that?” Beck’s brow furrowed. “Ah. The library.”
“Why’d you tell Nix you were taking it all back?” West asked. “Weren’t you afraid my dad would find out?” Cutting him loose right after stealing all that evidence? There was no way that was a safe call, and Beck was generally smarter than that.
So what was West still missing?
“Actually, no. My act at the restaurant was convincing enough. He hasn’t doubted me since, so there was no worry of there being a spy at the library.
” Beck pulled a switchblade out of his pocket suddenly.
“I took a page out of Dew’s playbook and decided to use Demitrious to get what I want.
” He smiled the second West’s eyes narrowed. “On the surface, anyway.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” he walked around him, “your father currently believes I’m keeping you occupied while he does the rest of his dirty work.
The deal is, once this is all over and he gets what he wants, he’ll betroth you to me and help me sneak you off the planet.
We’d go somewhere Lake would never even think to look for you, all on Demitrious’s dime. ”
West felt the knife saw through the ropes holding his wrists, but didn’t move when they finally gave out, waiting for Beck to circle him once more so he could inspect his expression.
“I’m sorry I missed our timing. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Juri and Branwen before it was too late. But I meant what I said about not wanting to lose you, even if that means I’m relegated to the friendzone for the rest of my life.”
“And if I tell you that’s no longer my call to make?”
He nodded in understanding. “I’ll make it up to Nix.”
“Why are you doing this? Even if it’s true you got involved to find evidence against him, my dad’s made you a fairly good offer. Why not really take it and try your luck?”
“Because I don’t want you to hate me,” Beck explained without skipping a beat. “That’s also why I’m willing to stay away if Nix orders you to never see me again. I know you love him. I know what that feels like. Real love. Not fake or selfish devotion.”
Was he thinking about Dew? West didn’t bother asking.
“How am I supposed to believe you?” Even unbound, there was a chance this was another trick. A way to manipulate West somehow. All this time and he’d had no clue about the other man’s feelings for him. Clearly West was terrible at reading him.
“It’s up to you, but if you don’t, you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life.”
He stood up slowly. “Is that a new threat?”
“It’s a promise,” Beck said. “I know where Demitrious is right now, and what he’s planning. I also have an idea on how we can finally stop him for good. But you have to trust me. Can you?”
“Honestly? No.” West set his hands on his hips. “But it doesn’t seem like I really have much of a choice, now do I?”
If it came down to him or the others, he’d take the risk and sacrifice himself any day.