23. Venetia #2
“Give me an hour and a secure line. I’ll know if it’s legitimate.”
Knight nods approvingly. “A thorough man. I respect that.”
“One hour,” I tell him. “You and Cole can wait in the courtyard. The others stay outside the gates until I’m satisfied this isn’t an elaborate setup to get inside our defences.”
“Reasonable,” he concedes. “Though I should mention, Helena Fairfax is growing increasingly impatient to retrieve Imogen’s body. She’s already made three calls to associates in London. She’ll start providing her own solutions, which will interfere with our business.”
I remember her throat-slashing gesture, the ice in her smile. Helena Fairfax doesn’t make idle threats.
“Then you’d better hope your intel checks out,” I say, stepping back to allow Knight and Cole through the gates. “Because if it doesn’t, you’ll be explaining to Helena why you wasted everyone’s time.”
Knight’s laugh is low and genuinely amused. “Like I said, you know how to make a good threat. You are just like your father.”
As they cross the threshold into my domain, with Knight’s guys wheeling the boxes in, I give Blake a nod. He needs to work fast. He takes the boxes into the security office, where he can hopefully verify the contents with some degree of accuracy.
“I should point out that we find ourselves in a bit of a situation,” I say to Knight as he and Cole move across the quad to a stone bench.
“Well, that goes without saying,” Knight replies as he sits.
“Aside from the obvious. Our power is down, and we are working on limited backup generators. The water supply has been compromised, and we can’t trust that the food hasn’t been poisoned.”
“That’s three problems to which you will find the solutions outside the gates, Miss Corbyn-Hale.
” He gestures behind me to the eleven families still waiting their turn to get their kids back into an academy that has slaughtered a good portion of the student body already. “Negotiate your terms wisely.”
“Noted.”
I step back, creating distance, but not enough to give them the opportunity to backstab us in some way. Viper keeps his eyes on them, gun still in his hand. Knight ignores him, but he is fully aware of his presence.
The minutes tick by, and I’m desperate for a pee and some real food, but I stand there, waiting for Blake to come back with a yay or nay. I need to move, so I pace the length of the courtyard.
Knight watches me with amusement, as if my restlessness is entertainment. Cole sits beside his father, trying to look anywhere but at me. I don’t blame him. This situation is fucked up.
“You know,” Knight says conversationally, “pacing won’t make Blake work any faster.”
“Neither will your commentary,” I snap back, not breaking stride.
Viper shifts position slightly, a subtle reminder that he’s ready to put a bullet between Knight’s eyes if necessary. The older man notices but doesn’t seem concerned. If anything, he looks impressed by the loyalty.
“Your father trained you well,” Knight observes. “Anton always did understand the value of good protection.”
I stop pacing and fix him with a stare that could freeze hell. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t try to bond with me over my father. Don’t pretend we’re old family friends having a chat. You’re here because you need something from me, not because you give a shit about my well-being.”
Knight’s smile doesn’t falter. “Actually, I do give a shit, Venetia. You probably don’t know this, seeing as your father is a man who holds a grudge, but I am your godfather.”
My world drops out from under me for a moment before it shoots back and nearly knocks me off my feet. “What?” I snap.
His smile fades. “Anton and I were best friends for a very long time. Since our teen years. I was the best man at his wedding to your mother.”
“Oh?” I grit out. “What did you do to cause my father to hold a grudge against you and not just kill you?”
“I fell in love with his wife.”
I stagger backwards as if he’s slapped me. The words echo in my head, bouncing around like bullets ricocheting off stone. He fell in love with my mother. My dead mother. The woman whose memory haunts every nightmare I have about my own mortality.
“You what?” The words scrape out of my throat like broken glass.
Knight’s expression softens slightly, and for the first time since he arrived, he looks genuinely uncomfortable. “It wasn’t intentional, Venetia. These things happen?—”
“No.” I hold up my hand, my voice rising to a shout that echoes off the ancient stones. “No, they fucking don’t. Not with your best friend’s wife. Not with my mother.”
Cole shifts uncomfortably on the bench, clearly wishing he were anywhere else. I don’t blame him. I wish I were anywhere else, too.
“Did she know?” I ask, my voice deadly quiet now. “Did my mother know how you felt?”
Knight’s pause stretches out like a blade being slowly drawn across my throat. When he finally speaks, his voice is carefully measured, each word chosen with the precision of a man who knows he’s walking through a minefield.
“She knew.”
“And?” I force the word out through numb lips.
“And she told me, very gently, that her heart belonged entirely to your father. That it always would.” Knight’s voice carries a weight of old pain, decades of regret wrapped in careful control. “She asked me to step back from their lives, to give them space. For your sake as much as theirs.”
My hands are shaking. I clench them into fists, feeling my nails bite into my palms. “So you did.”
“I had no choice. Anton doesn’t forgive easily. He saw my feelings as a betrayal, regardless of how your mother handled it. He cut me out completely. Banned me from your home, from her funeral…”
I stare at him, this stranger who claims to be my godfather, this man who supposedly loved my mother enough to destroy a lifelong friendship. “Don’t,” I say, holding up my hand. “You have no right.”
“I know. And I didn’t intend to bring it up. But your accusation that I don’t give a shit about you is wrong.”
“Yeah, well, save it for someone who cares.”
Luckily, Blake chooses that moment to reappear, crossing over the bullet-hole-riddled lawn to the courtyard.
“Well?” I demand, going to him instantly.
Blake approaches with a grim expression that immediately sets my nerves on edge. He’s carrying one of the folders, his usually pristine appearance slightly dishevelled from whatever he’s discovered in those boxes.
“It’s legitimate,” he says without preamble. “The documentation is extensive, cross-referenced, and disturbingly detailed. Knight’s people have been watching the Graduates for months, possibly years.”
Relief and apprehension wash over me. “How detailed?”
“Personnel files with photographs, shipping schedules, financial transactions, and safe house locations.” Blake opens the folder, revealing surveillance photos that make my stomach turn.
“They’ve documented the entire Newcastle operation from top to bottom.
If we move on this intelligence, we could cripple their network permanently. ”
Knight rises from the bench, his expression carefully neutral. “Satisfied?”
I ignore him, focusing on Blake. “Any indication this is a trap? Something too good to be true?”
“If it is, it’s beyond anything I’ve seen. The level of detail would require resources and time that far exceed what any con would justify.” Blake closes the folder. “This is real, Venetia. This is our way in.”
The weight of the decision settles on my shoulders like a lead blanket. I need these families, their resources, and their firepower. But I also need to maintain control, to ensure I’m not trading one form of manipulation for another.
“Thank you,” I state more formally than I meant to.
“You’re welcome,” he replies with that slow smile.
I turn back to Knight. “Fine. Cole is in. I’m not exactly sure what we’re meant to do with him, yet, but we will find purpose for all of those we let back in.”
Knight nods. “Shall I let the next family in on my way out?” His smug expression is annoying as fuck, but I’ll let him off. He’s brought us exactly what we need.
“You do that,” I grit out. “Someone who knows how to get our power back online faster than Lucy can strike.”
He narrows his eyes. “Lucy?”
“A black mamba with a bad attitude,” I growl.
He looks at Viper. “I know just the man.”
Knight gives me one last look that carries too much history, too much weight, before he turns and walks back towards the gates. Cole remains on the bench, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else in the world.
“Viper,” I call out, and he moves to my side instantly. “Help Blake get those boxes somewhere secure. We can’t let them remain out in the open.”
“You sure you want to be alone with him?” Viper jerks his head towards Cole.
I glance at the younger Knight, who’s studying his hands like they hold the secrets of the universe. “He’s not his father, and right now, he’s probably more afraid of me than I am of him.”
Viper’s jaw tightens, but he nods. “Five minutes. Then I’m back.”
I watch them disappear into the security building with the boxes, leaving me alone in the courtyard with Cole Knight. The silence stretches between us, heavy with the weight of everything his father just revealed.
“Did you know?” I ask finally. “About my mother? Or was that a shock for you as well?”
Cole looks up, his eyes carrying the same sharp intelligence as his father’s but without the calculating coldness. “Not until today. Dad doesn’t talk about the past much. I thought we were coming here because it was time to settle old debts. That’s what he said.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m wondering if I’m paying for his mistakes.” He stands, running a hand through his dark hair.
“Sins of the father and all that,” I mutter. “Some days, I wonder the same thing.”
We share a shaky smile, but it’s the beginning of something. He may have been forced into returning, but I won’t let him down. I won’t let any of them down.