Chapter 98

I stood under the stream of the shower. It was nice they didn’t turn off the water even though no one lived here. Or maybe the guys requested the water to be turned back on. Still, I was glad that I hadn’t needed to walk through the hall covered in blood. Enzo’s guy had broken about thirty minutes ago but I’d fallen too deep.

Zann, Lec, and Boris had all left. Keenan stayed, his head down as he leaned against the wall. After their outburst, I wasn’t interrupted again. Not until Keenan informed me that the guy was already dead. Frankly, the difference in length of time alive between having them laying down and hanging was so different that it surprising. Still, he hung on to consciousness longer than I thought he would.

Scrubbing my skin, I knew there wasn’t any blood or guts left but I still scrubbed. The madness was still encompassing me. I’d gone too far. I needed Marek. I needed him to pull me back. Maybe this was better though. Maybe this would get me through saving him.

I’d gotten the information from him. I didn’t ask a single question but the segugio spilled not just his guts but every single thing he did wrong from when he was seven to right before the guys captured him. It included putting Marek in a warehouse that was crumbing. Apparently, next month it was slated to get destroyed and so Enzo used it as much as he could as a rave location until then. It wasn’t even one of his properties. The land itself was handed over to the bank and the bank hadn’t been able to sell it.

A knock on the door brought me out of my thoughts. Keenan stepped into the bedroom and set a bag on the bed.

“An extra set of clothes and I have a towel here as well.”

“Thanks, Keenan.” I put my face in the stream of water one final time, running my fingers through my hair before turning off the water. “Can you bring me the towel?”

He slowly walked through the open door and looked the other way as he held out the towel. I ignored the way his hands shook as I took it and rubbed my face before rubbing down the rest of my body. Wrapping the body around me, I stepped out and into the bedroom.

Putting on the pants and shirt he grabbed me, I also threw on the sweatshirt. My shoes were gross but it didn’t matter. I put on the socks and shoes, lacing them up. Coming out, I pulled my hair into a quick low pony tail.

The room smelled like blood and piss now. Really, it looked like someone made a sloppy ritual trying to summon a demon. Or it succeeded and the demon came out of the guys chest. Grabbing one of the knives I didn’t use, I twirled it in my hand as I walked over to Keenan.

“Are you going?”

I cocked my head to the side, looking at Keenan but he wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Of course I’m going. You think I’m going to let Marek sit there any longer?”

“You seemed content to do so after he gave you the information.”

My knife stopped spinning and I stepped up to Keenan. “Keenan.”

“Yes.” He was shaking like a leaf.

Smiling, I shook my head. “You are too light for this world.”

“You said that before.”

“I did.”

Taking his hand, I held it in mine for a moment. I interlocked my fingers with his and stared at his hand. It was shaking as I held it and I sighed. Letting it go, I smiled up at him.

“You’re fired.”

“W-what?”

I stepped back, putting my hands behind my back. “You’re fired. Go home. You’ll receive your paycheck as normal and then your severance. If you need a recommendation, make sure you have Boris or Lec write you one. I’m sure you don’t want mine.”

Keenan started to shake his head. “N-no…I didn’t…”

“How can you protect me, Keenan, when you can’t decide if I’m worth saving?”

His mouth fell open before it closed slowly. Eyes filling with tears, I gave him a sad smile. Taking another step back, I nodded to him.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I dragged you into all of this. You really are too light for our darkness.”

“Ria…”

Turning, I opened up the door to see Boris, Lec and Zann leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the hall. Not acknowledging them, I turned away and walked down the hall. Tears fell as I continued down the hall and I didn’t know why letting Keenan go hurt almost as much as Aleksei dying, but it did. Reaching out, I pressed the button to the elevator to take me down.

“Ria!” I turned, looking at Keenan who had ran part of the way to me. “Does Marek know?”

I smiled and nodded. “He does. He knows and he still loves me and that’s why I will never let him go.”

The elevator dinged and I walked into it, turning to see the four guys watching me. “I’ll bring him home. I promise.”

My eyes dropped as the door shut and I brought my hands to my face, crying into them. It was necessary. I needed the information. I needed to find Marek and we weren’t going to if I didn’t pull out Kharon. They never would have left if I tried to kick them out. The elevator door dinged opened and I walked out into the underground parking lot.

There was a silver cargo van waiting there right in front of the elevators and the sliding door opened up. I smiled, seeing Wizard in the drivers seat. Except the drivers seat had been removed to accommodate a wheelchair. The dash had also been modified to accommodate for the lack of mobility.

“Long time no see, little sister.”

I shook my head. “You didn’t need to come yourself.”

“And miss you actually saving someone you love in the same day you kill our father? Never.”

Rolling my eyes, I started to shut the door as the stairwell door slammed open.

“Ria! Wait!”

I paused as Keenan racing over to me. “Keenan, I said go home.”

“I know! I just…I can’t. You were right. I couldn’t decide. I didn’t know. But…but you’ve been Kharon this whole time. Since before we met. But…you are still Ria. You are still Atamansha. You’re still our pakhan’s zhena. You are still a friend. You’re also still the person I’m supposed to protect.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “And Marek would kill me if you got anymore hurt. Especially if it was to save him. Let me come. Please. Don’t fire me just yet. Let me do something really stupid that you fire me for.”

I stared at Keenan. This only proved that he was too good for us. He should have been like the other guys. They were going to tell Juri. I had no doubt but it was fine as long as I had Marek at my side. Nothing else mattered. Not them. Not Vor. Not it coming out that I was Kharon. None of it.

“Ketchup on your ice cream.”

Keenan furrowed his brow. “What?”

“If you put ketchup on your ice cream, it’s an immediate termination. I’ll throw you out the nearest window.”

Behind me, Wizard giggled. “Alessa was so disgusting.”

I held out my hand to Keenan. “As long as you don’t do that, I think you’ll be okay.”

Keenan smiled and took my hand. It didn’t shake as I pulled him into the van. Shutting the door behind him, I got into the front passenger seat. We drove out of the underground parking lot and I winced as we knocked against the bar with the maximum height recommendation.

“I don’t know why you don’t get something smaller.”

“Because this is easy to modify and fit everything we need.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah but we live in New York. You can barely fit this thing in any parking garages or even on the street. It sticks out like a sore thumb.”

“We have this argument every time you see it.”

“We do, because you can’t get rid of it!” I huffed and shook my head.

Keenan leaned forward, looking between the two of us. “This is…Wizard?”

“The one and only. Hacker extraordinaire and the one who helps our dear Ria to survive on a daily basis.”

Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes again. “You do not.”

“Do to.”

“Do not.”

“Do to.”

“Do not!”

Keenan chuckled. “You guys are siblings.” As soon as he said it, his eyes widened. “Wait, you’re a Bernardi too?”

“Was. I was a Bernardi. Not anymore though.”

Keenan narrowed his eyes. “But…wasn’t Domani supposed to be in his mid-forties?”

“I like this one. I’m glad you un-fired him.”

Sighing, I turned to Keenan. “Yes. Domani is forty-five.”

“He also looks a lot older than forty-five.”

I shrugged. “Being a father of four will do that to you. He also just lost his wife.”

My brother opened his mouth but I glared at him and he shut it.

“But pakhan said that the only surviving Bernardi males were Domani and Enzo, and Tempo?” I was glad Keenan just continued forward. “You aren’t Tempo. You look too much like Atamansha.”

Keenan must have seen photos of Tempo because he did look very different from us. Tempo took after his mother Aurora rather than our father.

“That’s why I said used to be.”

Punching him in the shoulder, he feigned hurt. “Hey! I already can’t feel my legs. You want to make me lose my arms too?”

“He’s trying to be mysterious. Keenan, meet my older brother, Lorenzo Bernardi. My actual full blood sibling and ghost of the Bernardi family.”