Falcon (Kindred, #5)

ELEVEN-2

Knight Corp, that was Zave’s company. “So he straightened out?” Devon asked.

Bess sighed. “I wish it was that easy. Instead of being juvenile and throwing the equivalent of frat parties, his tastes became more glamorous. He threw exclusive, ostentatious events, like he was trying to shock his family and the press. There were costume events, he treated this place like a palace court, they got quite extreme and he became known for his fetish parties.”

“Fetish?” Devon asked, and once again she felt heat burn beneath her face.

“The truth is, I don’t know specifics of what happened here. All I know is the women he took to tropical islands on private planes were sleek and classy, and wrapped in designer gear. He was still as arrogant, he didn’t reach out to the family. He held himself above everyone else, dismissed us, believed himself to be better and in a lot of ways, he was.”

“Because he was making so much money from his inventions?”

Bess nodded. “It was effortless for him, it still is. Somehow when he sees a problem or has an idea, he can immediately put something together. He takes more time these days in his crafting because he’s learned to appreciate the process. Back then, he could just close his eyes, imagine something, and soon after it would be in production. Success chased him, not the other way around. All he had to do was wish it and it came true. He didn’t have to work hard or think about marketing, his father dealt with the practical aspects of the business.”

So while the rest of the world had to work hard, Zave lived a life of privilege and ease. “What does he make?”

“Recreational technology mostly. In his younger years, the products were leisure items that he would invent and give out at parties. As he got older, he got more discerning and began to make products for private yachts and secluded villas, luxury technology, you know? Things that would make the lives of the rich easier than they already are. In his twenties, he put on a suit and walked the walk. The media hounded him, but he lapped up the attention back then.”

The media? Could that be why he’d been nervous about revealing himself to her and why the name Xavier Knight had sparked recognition in her mind? He’d been worried she could recognize him.

Except Devon didn’t pay much attention to the business pages. And the time Bess was talking about was ten years ago, maybe more, long before Devon would’ve had a smartphone with twenty-four-hour news pinging up at regular intervals.

In her early twenties, she didn’t have a fridge, let alone a TV or phone. The only reason she had a phone before her a*******n was because her brother paid the bill for her. She would never be able to afford such a luxury on her own.

“He wore the suit and had the fancy office,” Bess said. “Women flocked around him. He was invited to every exclusive event and chose to only go to a handful ensuring his presence was notable every time he attended something. Being rich and handsome, he was everything a stereotypical eligible bachelor could be.”

Devon struggled to imagine how he could go from that to what he was now. A man who didn’t leave his island, who didn’t want even her here and who chose to spend most of his life on his own.

What began to make sense was why the cartels accepted him. Zave had money, and it wouldn’t take them long to figure that out. He’d made news with his parties and was known for enjoying women, and indulging in fetishes. The cartel wouldn’t ask questions about where all these women were going after he bought them.

They probably assumed he had a harem or that he was slicing them into little pieces and scattering them across his private island. Zave had the perfect cover for what he did, especially now that he was a recluse. Except Bess had said Bronwyn’s death brought him out of his seclusion.

“If he was such a playboy,” Devon said. “So full of himself and uncaring, what made him choose to become a hermit?”

Bess became more subdued. “Unfortunately, I can’t answer that. I can tell you the event that sparked it,” Bess said. With one hand under Devon’s, the other stroked the top. But Devon didn’t know if Bess was offering her comfort or taking it instead.

“What happened?”

“His parents died. They died and it was a shock to us all, none more so than to Zave, who believed himself invincible. He believed nothing bad could ever happen to him or around him. Then suddenly in a flash, they were gone. I don’t know what went through his head. We weren’t close. Not at all. Except he was alone and no matter how much of a cocky i***t he was, he is family. It didn’t take us long to see that he wasn’t going to face his first real trial with courage.”

“That’s awful,” Devon said, thinking of how horrific his first experience of grief was.

“For months, Brodie was the only person he would speak to, maybe because Brodie lost his parents when he was young, so they could identify with each other. Zave was in his twenties, but he took it just as hard. The poor boy didn’t have a childhood, but he’d been blessed with wealth and intelligence. His charmed life had seemed untouchable, and then just like that, he was alone without siblings, without parents. Maybe it just hit him how superficial everything in his life was. He stopped going to the office, and it was his father’s trusted colleagues who kept the corporation going.”

“It still exists?”

“Knight Corp? Yes, and it’s about to get bigger,” Bess said. “It’s in the midst of merging with a company that Brodie just inherited and has no interest in, so he’s signing all control over to his cousin. Zave still makes the corporate decisions at KC, he just does it on speakerphone from here and doesn’t go to the office. He hasn’t been in the Knight Corp building for a long time. He limits his interaction with his colleagues to just a few. He never leaves this island unless it’s for Kindred business.”

Anyone with knowledge of Knight Corp or the business world might recognize Zave while he was at these auctions. The risk he took with his reputation and his livelihood were great. In light of this, limiting his contact with the women they saved seemed smart. Except she had a feeling his reserve was more about his aversion to conversation than his concerns about being exposed.

Some of the blurred edges were becoming crisper. “The death of his parents,” Devon murmured. “He shut himself up in this house and that’s how he became what he is now?”

“Thad and I moved in here to give him support. I had to make sure he was eating and looking after himself, which of course, he wasn’t. Every day was a battle. And Thad had to deal with plenty on his own while I was busy trying to support Zave,” Bess said, so solemn that it was obvious she was still affected by that time. “But we pulled through as a family. Brodie did his best to get Zave to open up, and eventually he started coming down to eat with us every once in a while. Brodie and my brother, Art, stayed here as often as they could. Zave joined us more when Brodie was here. But he spent most of his time alone in his private part of the house, tinkering. Because those devices are not just his trade now, they keep him sane.”

“He likes logic,” Devon said.

“Yes,” Bess agreed with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

So, after losing his parents, he’d become a recluse. “You said Bronwyn’s death changed him?”

Bess took a long, deep breath as if cleansing herself before moving on with the story. “Bronwyn was staying here with Thad. Thad had been on the mainland, working at the hospital, and hadn’t seen her for a few days. I wasn’t here, either. I’d been away from the house for about a week.”

“They were alone in this house? Zave and Bronwyn?”

“Yes,” Bess said. “At some point, for some reason, nobody knows why, she left here.”

“On her own?”

“The boat was gone from the dock, so yes, and she made it back to the mainland. Zave didn’t know she was gone. No one did. We still don’t know exactly when she was taken or even when she left here.”

Concern furrowed her brow. “But the technology that monitors sound and movement—”

“It wasn’t long after we lost Bronwyn that Zave put those up everywhere, but it was too late. Art and Brodie did what they could to find her, and they did, I don’t know how. But it was too late. They found her body in the desert, not far from one of the cartels’ headquarters. She was there with half a dozen other women, and we still don’t know why they were killed.”

The story was so horrific that Devon’s tears came again. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, trying to brush away the tears.

“I don’t mean to upset you,” Bess said, using the back of her hand to wipe Devon’s damp cheek. “I’m telling you this because you’ve said you’ll join us. I haven’t seen Zave take an interest in a woman in years, but he’s punished himself for too long, Devon. If there’s a chance we can pull him through this and make him see that he deserves to be happy... I know it’s a chance that Thad, Brodie, and I, have to take.”

So Devon was here not just because of what she knew, but because of how Zave had reacted to her after the auction. “He told me I was special,” Devon admitted. “But I don’t know if that means anything.”

Bess tightened her grip on Devon’s hand. “I’m not asking you to fall in love with him. I know you can’t make yourself feel something that’s not there. All I’m asking is that if you do feel any kind of attraction or any glimmer of a connection, that you don’t let yourself be discouraged by his indifference. It can be scathing; it’s hurt us all. It still makes Zara uncomfortable at times. Just be patient with him, can you do that?”

The man was more complex than she could ever have imagined, and he’d been to hell and back. Now, he was subjecting himself to these horrible environments as some kind of penance, dealing with disgusting men and saving women to assuage his guilt.

Devon wasn’t discouraged by the story; she could understand why he was reluctant to get close to Zara. If he blamed himself for what happened to Bronwyn, Thad’s girl, he may see Zara in the same sort of light and may worry that he may one day be responsible for her downfall.

“I’ll be patient,” she said. This woman was so accepting. “He’s been through some terrible things, but he’s extremely lucky to have you and the others.”

“He knows. He has grown a lot, he’s more serious and responsible these days. He couldn’t ever go back to the way he was. We’re family. We do whatever it takes to get through these things together. And you’re going to be a wonderful addition to our little group.”

Bess pulled her into another hug, and Devon tried not to read too much into the idea that she was being welcomed into this family. Even if Bess didn’t say it, Devon felt the expectation they’d put upon her to rescue a man far stronger than she was.

Dinner tonight would be revealing and once it was through, Thad would take Zara and Brodie back to the mainland, leaving her alone with Bess and Zave. Devon might come back to her room when they departed, or maybe she’d get a chance to get to know her host better.