Chapter 6
Ellington rubbed my shoulder, and I shot him a glare.
“Don’t touch me. We’re not friends.”
“Colleagues,” he pouted.
I blew out a frustrated breath. My insides simmered with acid.
Occasionally, when memories flashed, the sharp liquid scalded my throat.
How do you find your footing when you realize your entire life is a lie?
The trajectory I’d taken after my mom’s death had felt like a lifeline, a way to get justice for her and take back power for myself.
But it had been a leash. A tool used to coerce me.
Why?
That was the question Ellington couldn’t answer. His friend on the inside gave him codes and occasionally classified data they could glean. But they’d gone quiet, and Ellington couldn’t get anything even if he wanted to.
Why me?
I pinched the skin between my thumb and finger. Anything to distract me from the churning in my stomach. In ten minutes, this room would be filled with people who hated me. People I lied to and betrayed. So why did I feel heartbroken and hurt?
Had Beck known from the beginning? He’d always told me he’d recommended me as a potential agent to The Unseen.
“But you admit I’m right?” Ellington tossed his arms behind his head.
I ground my teeth together, loath to give the infuriating man any leeway.
After Ellington dropped the truth on me, I’d been too jittery to sleep.
I’d gone through Angelo’s data and found many transactions that led to Mantel Holdings.
A dozen others equaled a staggering amount of money, all funneled overseas.
All signs pointed to Ellington being correct.
I compared the data he’d extracted from The Unseen before melting into the shadows. If I survived this talk today, I hoped I could convince Adelaide to let us look through her data and make sure the same trend wasn’t repeating itself.
“I preferred when you were evil.” I rubbed my hand down my face.
The bags under my eyes were dark pits, and my fingers had a slight tremor.
Ellington grimaced. “Ugh, so one note. Don’t you know the villains always get the girl?”
My thoughts drifted to Beck. Was he the villain in my story? I couldn’t shake the shadow that gripped my shoulders. I clamped my bottom lip between my teeth.
“Hey,” Ellington jabbed my arm. “Where’d you go?”
“Nowhere. I’m just…” I trailed off as the door opened and Jonah strode in.
His gaze fell on me for a moment, enough to steal my breath, before it slid to Ellington and finally the room. He checked every corner, flicked the curtains and windows. His shoulder blades jammed together as he took a fortifying breath and turned around.
“Relax, if I wanted to ambush you, I wouldn’t have forked out to hire the entire back area of this restaurant.” Ellington chuckled.
The only indication Jonah gave that he heard was his clenched jaw.
“It’s nice,” Adelaide answered for him, shrugging off her white coat and pressing it into Logan’s hands. “Lara and I’ve eaten here before. The sashimi is a must. Or do you prefer Lyra?”
Adelaide flattened her lips, and my stomach dropped as she folded her arms over her chest. Ray lurked behind her, with bags under his eyes. He didn’t dismiss me as easily as Jonah did. There was desperation in the way he clenched his fists.
Beck came in last, dressed entirely in black, like he knew he’d been dubbed the villain. But that was the reality. He’d never pretended to be anything else, not like me. It was how deep the evil in him went.
“Adelaide,” I croaked as I stood.
Ellington walked toward her until Jonah planted a hand on his chest.
“Back up,” Jonah growled, still ignoring me.
“I just wanted to introduce myself.” Ellington let out a little laugh, but nobody joined him.
The tension was thick enough to choke my lungs. My stomach was a mess of nerves, and it clenched even tighter as Adelaide lifted her chin. My pulse throbbed in my ears, stealing all my senses.
“You can wait. I have unfinished business with Lyra.”
Had I thought my stomach was knotted before? I doubled over from a sharp stab of pain and let out a silent gasp. I couldn’t keep my cool. Not in front of Adelaide.
“Boss,” Jonah protested through gritted teeth.
In that one word, I heard his eroded trust. There was only so much I could handle, and my skin wasn’t my own. It strung tight, warped, ached and throbbed as all the secrets and the lies pulled off, revealing the rot underneath.
Adelaide tapped her high heel. “Leave. Now.”
My gaze wandered like magnets to the men I loved. Who I’d betrayed. Jonah’s face flickered with confusion, doubt. Beck slipped around him and filled my vision. My breath came quick. I’d avoided looking at him, feeling his gaze burn into my cheek like the lit end of a cigarette.
“We need to talk.”
He reached for my wrist, and I pulled it away. Ellington angled himself between us.
“I don’t think you’re high on her list for reconciliation.”
Beck bared his teeth and clenched his hands into fists. Adelaide gripped his shoulder and wrenched him back with a sharp warning.
“Remember what I told you?”
Adelaide had a way of breaking people down.
I’d seen it happen a million times. Surprise flared in my stomach as Beck swallowed hard and spun away, heading to the door before he changed his mind.
Jonah left with a frustrated low growl. His arm clamped around Ray.
Jonah had a right to be angry, and when he left, he took all the oxygen with him.
“Do you want us to stay or go?” Logan brushed his fingers over Adelaide’s shoulder, and it made my heart ache.
I couldn’t say why. Perhaps it was the adoration that dripped from Adelaide’s guys. The way they angled toward her. Briar, Jesse, and Logan didn’t trust me, but they were willing to leave Adelaide in a room with me. Only a fool would underestimate Adelaide Orazio.
“I want to speak to her alone.”
They didn’t argue, reaching out to each brush a kiss on her lips. Adelaide watched them go with a lightness I’d never seen from her. She’d gained a tan and languor from her holiday. It looked good on her.
“I’ll stay.” Ellington plopped his ass down.
“If you’d like to be neutered, be my guest.” Adelaide’s red lips widened.
Ellington’s mouth opened and closed while he searched for a suitable come back, but for once the charming man was speechless. Warmth spread through my chest at how unfazed she was in his presence.
“I set up this meeting, and I’ve waited—” Ellington huffed, but Adelaide cut him off with a slice of her hand.
“You can wait a little longer. Take your small-dick energy elsewhere.”
Ellington sucked in a sharp inhale and muttered under his breath about respect and perfectly adequate sizes. But he did as she asked, giving her a wide berth as he did. As the door opened and closed, the scent of food drifted inside.
“Adelaide…” I squeezed her name from strangled lungs.
As soon as we were alone, her expression hardened, like metal. Cold and robotic. I couldn’t decipher what her real thoughts were. There wasn’t a trace of the best friend I knew and loved.
“What name do you prefer?”
I winced. A million times I’d wanted to confess the truth, but how could I? What could I possibly say that would make this right? Adelaide slung her designer bag down on the round table and sank into a chair. It had an uneven leg, and she rocked back and forth.
“This is the part where you tell me everything, in case you were confused.” Her elegant eyebrows arched.
Thick dust covered my tongue, swollen with all my fears and regrets.
“I was born Lyra,” I faltered.
Once I crossed this line, there would be no going back.
Which was absurd because we were already so far past that.
I’d tasted fear many times. Blood on my tongue.
Ice squeezed through the small space between my ribs.
My lungs shriveled no matter how hard I heaved for breath.
My chest throbbed with tendrils of guilt and pain.
A band of tension tightened over my forehead.
It was time to face the things I’d done. If I wanted to find the truth, I had to be honest as well.
“But you know the real me.”
Adelaide flicked me a sharp look as she poured two glasses of water.
“I know Lara likes green tea, mornings, and browsing bookstores but buying nothing. She’s a runner who shuffles through a different exercise class each month. Did we really bump into each other by chance, or was this calculated from the start?”
She balanced her glass on her knee.
“We have to go way back, when there were knights and kings.” I swallowed. “It all started with a cruel king. Edward the Devout. He ruled his country with brutality, and anyone who spoke out lost their head. He wanted to eliminate anyone who followed the old ways.”
Adelaide made a noise.
“What does this have to do with anything?”
I held up a hand. “I need you to know how far back this goes. Edward the Devout had a jester called Unseen, and he was the only one the king allowed to speak freely. He was also a follower of the old ways, and with his jokes and quiet management he convinced the king to be more lenient. Unseen stopped an entire massacre, and nobody ever knew about it.”
“Cute story. Does it have a point?” Adelaide pursed her lips over the rim of her glass.
“In the f-fifties, the police were cracking down on crime, and it was getting difficult to stay under the radar. Eleven people came together to create The Unseen. They took their inspiration from the jester who successfully manipulated a king. They wanted to do the same thing. Create change, ensure order and control, but all from behind the scenes. This organization has ties to nearly every single crime organization in the country and overseas. One of the few it doesn’t is yours.
Your grandma made a deal to keep them out, and that was why Ellington hid here. I work for them… or I used to.”