CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN #4
Ever since he executed Sorrenko, Lachlan has now accepted that he’ll need to kill Alistair Penhalyx at some point. It’s only a question of when and how.
Alistair studies him openly. ‘They tortured you?’
Lachlan nods. ‘Yes, sir.’
‘You held up very well. I have scheduled surgery for the replacement of your molar. No arguments, no polite refusals this time. I am going to tell you the truth of what happened and you will understand that fixing what is broken in you is the least I can do.’ Alistair takes a breath. ‘I ordered the attack.’
Lachlan’s jaw slowly drops, helplessly astonished.
Of all the things he expected to learn, it’s not this.
‘What?’ he utters, forgetting decorum.
Alistair ignores the slip. ‘I ordered the attack with the sole objective of retrieving Mikhail and holding him elsewhere for questioning. I knew he was planning to interrupt the transfer.’ He shakes his head.
‘Beg your pardon, transfusion. I have been watching him from afar, hoping desperately to be proven wrong, but I knew he was not my Mikki anymore. The team I hired were supposed to extract him safely and silently. Elias Wake was supposed to direct them but given that he was mutilated, I am still trying to learn what went wrong. None of the team were recovered alive. Madeline Delacroix told me you spoke often with the team leader.’
He faces Lachlan expectantly.
Lachlan has to shake himself.
‘Fenwick,’ he explains, brain rebooting. ‘Craig Fenwick was Mason Fenwick’s brother. He made sure he was on the team before he railroaded it.’
‘For revenge?’
‘For answers about his brother too.’
‘I see. Did he get them?’
Lachlan still can’t remember what, if anything, he gave up when he was waterboarded. ‘No, sir.’
‘You have not yet filed a full mission report. I appreciate you waiting to speak with me.’
Yes, let it seem that way.
‘No problem, sir.’
‘To lose Mikhail and Ariadne is an unspeakable loss,’ Alistair says slowly.
‘There are times in life when we were at odds, all three, but we always find our way back to one another. I have not walked much of this earth without them… and yet,’ he says, gathering himself, ‘life goes on for the little ones.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘What I’ve told you will never leave this room.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘The marriage between my son and Savannah will go ahead as planned. It is likely I will adopt Vasily officially. He likes you. Trusts you. They all do.’ Alistair tips his head and then sighs. ‘I need to speak with you about my son.’
Lachlan has been waiting. They kissed in front of him in the bunker.
‘Yes, sir.’
‘I have been not merely supportive but actively encouraging of your managing his curiosities and needs since the onset of your tenure with us. I want my son to live fully, I need him to have experiences with people of his choosing, as he would define it. If he is content, then so am I, and despite whatever private conclusions you may have drawn, his happiness matters to me.’ He holds Lachlan’s gaze while he speaks, then lets silence draw a line.
Lachlan waits, knows exactly what he’s about to say.
‘That being said, I wish to make one matter perfectly clear. You have no place in his life as a partner, Lachlan. What transpires between you in private is not my concern. When my son reaches twenty-one, however, he will marry Savannah Alderwyck. That arrangement is settled. There will always be a place for you in this family, because he will always require protection even in adulthood, as will Jessamine. But you are not his boyfriend, his lover, nor his partner in any official sense, and nothing will interfere with his upcoming marriage. Am I understood?’
Lachlan is armed.
He’s debating it.
He really is.
But ultimately, it’s not the right time.
‘Understood, sir.’
‘Make it clear to my son too, because I suspect he has fallen for you and that is not acceptable.’ The old man sighs heavily, beleaguered in the moment by unseen difficulties that Lachlan wishes would stop his heart entirely.
‘We cannot choose who we love along the way, but the path is ours to command. Hard choices make mettle in men. My son has enormous potential. It is my responsibility to nurture that. We walk the same road, Lachlan. Just on opposite sides.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘One more thing. Danya Yashin.’
Lachlan’s instincts coil protectively. ‘Sir?’
‘How did he find Sable Key?’
‘That was my doing, sir.’
‘Explain.’
‘I could feel something was off on the first day, so I activated a contingency trigger with Danya. If there was no contact after twenty-four hours, he was to locate the island and send help. Carrigan was instrumental also, she used her Navy contacts. I described the island, gave him a rough location.’
‘I see. It is fortunate he arrived when he did, but the involvement of the Navy troubles me. Carrigan has overstepped.’
‘No, sir. I asked Danya—’
‘You may go now, Lachlan. Rest when you can. The rains will pass soon, and you’ll be outside in the sunshine again with my children in no time. Thank you for everything.’ Alistair taps his desk, brings it to life, gets back to work. ‘You will receive a hefty bonus cheque.’