Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
But for breakfast, he’d track me down wherever I was and eat with me. The day before, I locked myself in the bathroom with my spinach and egg white omelet, and the guy parked outside the door and ate on the floor, chattering at me the whole time.
“Tell me about your mother,” I mumbled.
“Excuse me?”
I lifted my shoulders, picking and nibbling on my breakfast. “You’ve talked about how terrible your father is. What about your mom? What’s she like?”
Alistair smiled. “You can just say that you want to know about this side of your family.”
“Paternity test,” I reminded, earning another laugh. “But I am curious about what goes on inside the Burkhardt mansion, that they’ve turned out one criminal mastermind and one succubus.”
Amusement was all over his face. “It was mentioned to me that you and my niece do not get along. Something about you selling her text messages for a couple hundred a pop?”
“How do you know all of these things? You’re floating in a rich man’s version of a prepper bunker in the middle of the ocean.”
He tapped his laptop. “See this thing? It’s a magic box that receives communications from anywhere in the world.”
“I hate you.”
“I love you,” he rebounded, enjoying himself entirely too much. “On a serious note, the highest collection of Rogues live in Regalia. I make it my business to know what they’re up to at all times. If my employees pick up other interesting information—such as my daughter striking the first significant blow against a Burkhardt in fifty years—they pass it on.”
“The highest collection of Rogues. Really? Who are they?”
He looked down his nose at me. “Why even ask? You know what I’m going to say.”
“Why wouldn’t you tell me? I’m a Rogue too.”
“The hell you are.”
I goggled at him. “What are you talking about? Of course I am. Me, Rafael, Cato, Wilder, Lucien—”
“They aren’t Rogues either,” he sliced in. “They’re the children of Rogues who were groomed to one day join. In the future. When they’re older. If I wouldn’t go after a teenager, why would I let them in my organization?”
“Fine. I’m not a Rogue, but I don’t see why you won’t tell me. You mentioned that anyone can be one—including a Royal.” I thought of Victor. “It’d be good for me to know who my secret allies are before I face Everleigh.”
“Sweetie, your eyes are open. Stop dreaming.”
It was everything in me not to throw my chocolate chip muffin at his head.
“You asked about my mother,” he continued, returning half his attention back to the laptop. “That I can answer. She’s the coldest, most unforgiving taskmaster that ever wielded a Mastercard. She stopped speaking to me the day I turned down the arranged marriage. Literally walked out of every room I entered. Once, I sliced my hand with a kitchen knife and she didn’t even look up from her paper.
“That said, I love the old broad. Wouldn’t be where I am without her.”
I wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing, considering the whole criminal situation. “It sucks that she punished you for wanting to be with Mom though. Seems like no one in your life supported or trusted you to make your own decisions. It’s tough when our parents refuse to stop seeing us as children.” I flashed him a mirthless smile. “I know what that’s like.”
“Nice try. I’m more than happy to be a hypocrite if it keeps you safe. I’ve lost one child to a ten-year-old revenge plot. I won’t lose another.” He gestured to his laptop. “Trust me, Luna. She’s not getting away with what she’s done.
“My people are the best at what they do. I’m sure Starling was smart enough to cover her tracks. Ronin will uncover them. Every piece of evidence found, he’ll make sure it leads back to her. Faking or planting it if necessary. I’ve got friends in the RPD to bring the investigation the rest of the way.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slow. As frustrated as I was, I understood where he was coming from. Everleigh in jail for the crimes she committed was justice to ninety-nine percent of the planet.
“Look, I know you think I’m blinded by revenge. That I can’t see past what she did to Winter, but it’s not that I don’t see past it. It’s that I didn’t see anything.” Pushing my plate away, I leaned over the table, as if my words needed a shorter distance to reach him. “The whole time I was looking for the Phantom, I didn’t see Everleigh right in front of me.
“She’s too good, Alistair. The only reason I know she’s behind this is because she told me,” I admitted. “The whole time, she’s worked through puppets too scared to rat on her, and when they tried, she was ready for that too.” Sighing, I rubbed tired eyes. “You know what you do when you have ten years to plot revenge? You prepare for every outcome.