Chapter 12
Hannah
I didn’t plan to ask Lucian that question, but sitting there, looking at him, all I could see in my mind was him doing to Rylee what was done to me. And I didn’t understand the vileness of the actions, or why it had to be made a public event.
He sat stunned for a moment and Devlin went to speak when Lucian held his hand up, stopping him from speaking. He looked across the table from me, and in his bright blue eyes, I saw remorse. Feeling bad, I went to rescind the question when he began speaking.
“Let me start by saying, the initiation is meant as a demoralizing display for the new members, and also a way to ensure your loyalty.” I looked at him with confusion as he continued.
“I’ll be as non-specific as possible, but if you’re willing to do .
. . that in front of the families, it shows you’re willing to do whatever it takes to secure your position.
I don’t know when it started, but it’s a horrible action that needs to be stopped, once and for all. ”
“Agreed,” I replied and saw him exhale before he began to speak again.
“When I was fourteen, Sergey decided to make me the heir apparent to the throne, and with that decision, he didn’t need Devlin anymore.
So, he sold him to some sick voyeur.” I saw Devlin and James look down as Lucian continued to speak.
“When I was seventeen and Stella was fourteen, he decided to improve his position in the Syndicate by giving her to one of the most unbelievably violent and demented men in the families, only I didn’t know that because he had me locked in juvenile detention while he destroyed my sister.
” His tone was calm, and Rhys squeezed my hand as Lucian looked up to the sky, pausing in his statement.
“I spent that whole year working with the Feds to help bring down the Syndicate from the inside, but when I came home, I found my sister was gone, and I was expected to forget about her and Devlin as I climbed the ladder. With Rhys’s help, I decided I needed to do what I had to in order to save not only Stella and Devlin but the countless women who were forced into prostitution, the endless number of people dying from the drugs we sold, and the innocent people caught in the crossfire of warring families. ”
“I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s okay, but I’d really like to finish this, if that’s alright.
” I nodded, so he pushed on. “The night of my initiation, I was given a few minutes alone with Rylee. She, like you and Claire, had no idea what to expect, but I’d heard stories, so I was able to warn her not to fight.
I swear, I was as gentle as I could be while still playing my role, and over the next six months, she and I fell in love.
The first hint that she was in danger, I sent her away and did everything I could to keep her protected.
” He sighed deeply and his tone softened.
“I never wanted to do any of the things I had to do to stop them, but it was the only way to get enough information to put them all away.”
“But Sergey got in trouble and decided to testify in order to save his own ass?” I asked, and Devlin nodded, picking up the story.
“Sergey was a violet psychopath who used mind games and physical punishment to control everyone around him. At the first sign he was going to finally pay for his transgressions, he flipped on everyone to save his own skin. I’ll admit I wanted to kill the bastard for breaking up our family.”
“But Stella beat you to it.” I stated, and they both shrugged.
“You remind me a lot of Stella,” Devlin remarked, and everyone at the table nodded in agreement.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Lucian said and looked at me. “I love the fact that you didn’t shy away from the tough topics, and you’re not afraid to stand up for yourself. While Sergey was a demented man to his soul, his determination and drive seemed to have played a part in all our lives.”
“Nurture versus nature,” James remarked.
Rhys’s computer made a noise and he turned to look at the screen. “I’ve got all the information on the business of the Syndicate.”
He turned the computer to face me as he moved through the documents in the file.
A list appeared and one of the names on it scratched at a memory.
I stopped Rhys from changing the screen and leaned back with a confused look on my face as I struggled to remember what was bothering me about the entry.
“What do you remember?” James asked, and I looked across at him.
He and Rhys had similar features, but the deep look in both their eyes was the same. It was like they could see past the bullshit and straight into your soul.
“There’s a name on here, Martina Richardson.
I remember the name Martina at a house we lived in around my fifth birthday.
She made me a birthday cake since my mother was too preoccupied with another man to be bothered,” I explained.
Looking back at the screen, I noticed a date after her name, so I asked, “What’s this date? ”
Rhys looked at where I was pointing and said, “That’s the date she was reported dead to the Syndicate’s accountants. They tracked all that information, so they knew when it was time to bring in fresh girls. To them, they were a commodity and nothing more.”
“That’s fucking horrible,” I remarked and looked across at Lucian. “Please forgive my intrusive question earlier. I . . . I don’t know how you made it out of that hell with your sanity intact.”
“Some days, I ask myself the same question,” he chuckled, and Devlin shook his head with a smile.
“What else do you remember about this Martina?” James asked as his fingers were poised over his keyboard.
“I think she had a baby, but I’m not sure.” I paused, attempting to think about details I’d long ago tried to forget. “I remember her stomach being big, then there was crying all the time, and then she was gone.”
“Did they document births in the records?” Devlin inquired.
“I heard a rumor once, but since I didn’t spend time in the houses, I don’t know if it was true or not,” Lucian began.
“One of the families had a priest on the payroll, and I overheard that he was helping adopt the babies born in the houses. He’d find families who wanted a baby, and they would sell them, oftentimes getting rid of the mothers to keep them quiet. ”
My eyes grew wide and I pushed my chair back from the table, needing to stand.
Rhys stood next to me, but I shook my head and walked to the far corner of the yard.
For a few minutes, no one approached me, and when I felt someone behind me, I instantly knew it wasn’t Rhys.
Glancing over my shoulder, I saw James approaching slowly.
I could see Rhys sitting with Devlin and Lucian, and all three appeared worried.
I turned back around and exhaled deeply, needing to push the images out of my head. James cleared his throat behind me, and I looked at him again before stepping to the side. He walked next to me and looked at the bush full of azaleas that I was using as a way to center myself.
“It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?” he asked casually.
Glancing at him, I replied, “How can people be so cruel? And to know I’m . . . part of all of it, it’s just overwhelming.”
“I was where you are fifteen or so years ago, when the Syndicate was still a threat. I listened as Devlin told me stories of his father’s cruelness and how evil he was.
” He turned to face me as he explained. “But you’re not Sergey, and you never will be.
You’re the best part of your Granny and nothing will change that.
You can’t focus on what happened in the past, but you can learn from it, and what I’ve learned is that often, good people are born to bad situations, and no matter what happens, you have to keep looking for the silver lining. ”
“Is that what you do?” I asked, and he shrugged.
“Either that or I shoot someone, but something tells me we differ on that point.” He winked at me, and I shook my head. “Do you feel like going back, or do you need a few more minutes?”
Sighing, I looked at the table and back to James. “I guess we should go back. I don’t want to keep you from Regan for too much longer.”
We started to walk back, and he asked, “Have you met her yet?”
I shook my head, “Not yet. Everything between us is still so . . .”
“New? Uncharted? Unknown?” He stopped about halfway back and said, “While he irritates the fuck out of me, Rhys doesn’t give himself enough credit for all the good he does.
If it wasn’t for him, Rylee, Stella, and Grace, our friend’s wife, wouldn’t be as strong as they are.
And it’s all because of him. So, when he fucks up, and he will, give him some leniency.
He’s new to sharing and sometimes doesn’t know how to turn the asshole part of himself off. ”
I chuckled as we kept walking. “I’ll remember that.”
We got back to the table, and I sat down, only for Rhys to lean over and ask softly, “Are you okay?”
I nodded and looked across the table at my brothers. “I’m sorry for that. It’s just hard to hear some of the things he did and was a part of and not think about his blood running through my veins.”
“None of us are Sergey, and you have no need to apologize,” Lucian declared, and I looked from him to Devlin.
“Is it true what I’ve heard about your company?” I asked Devlin, and James perked up to listen.
“What have you heard?” he inquired with a smile.
“Rumors are, you have reverse access to every camera your technology is in, allowing you to run facial recognition scanning.”
“True,” he affirmed.
“And is it true you can see inside areas monitored by your cameras?”
He looked at Rhys before bringing his blue eyes back to me. “That’s also true, but I’d deny it if asked by anyone else.”
“If I gave you a picture of my mother, and we ran it through an aging filter, would you be able to have your system look for her?”
He leaned forward and his smile turned up as he said, “I can and was planning on doing that, once we find a good enough picture of her.”
I stood from my chair. “Give me a minute, please.”
Walking into the house, I went to close the door only to have it held open. I glanced to see Rhys walking in behind me, so I turned forward and walked into my office. Opening the closet door, I looked at him as I pointed to the top shelf. “Can you grab that yellow box for me?”
“Of course,” he replied and stepped in front of me.
I expected him to retrieve it but was pleasantly surprised when he pulled me into his warm chest and hugged me deeply first. Sinking into the embrace, I felt at home in his arms and questioned how I made it this far in life without knowing this kind of a connection.
Pulling back, he leaned over and kissed me softly before stepping back.
He grabbed the box and handed it to me. “Somewhere in here, I’m pretty sure there’s a picture of her.”
I placed the box on my desk and quickly started sorting through the photographs. Close to the bottom, I found what I was looking for. It was taken at Christmas the year before my mother ran away. It was the only good image I had of her, and without caring to really look at it, I handed it to Rhys.
“I’m sure one of your systems can do a better job than mine.”
He looked at it and then at me. “I’ll be careful with it.”
Walking out of the office and into the dining room, I looked up at Rhys as I slid my hand into his. “I really don’t care what you do with it. She was never a mother to me, and it wouldn’t change my life to not have that picture.”
We returned to the back porch to see the three men looking over something on James’s computer. I sat down as Rhys handed Devlin the picture and took a seat next to me. He looked at the picture and scrunched his face before he handed it over to Lucian.
“I’ll run this through some software and then get our system going,” James remarked and reached over to take the photo from a confused Lucian.
I didn’t know them well, but I saw something in their eyes that was familiar. Their wheels were spinning, and I had a feeling that before this was over, there was going to be a reckoning no one saw coming.
And I feared there was something huge we were overlooking, but for the life of me, I couldn’t place my finger on it.