This Wicked Sin

Chapter 11: Dane

“I’m sorry about my brother. His instructions were to bring you here to me but he had his own ideas.”

‘Here’ was in one of the offices on the higher floors of the club. There were thankfully no nearly dead bodies or blood-tinged air. This was more what I was expecting when Rowan Corvin of all people had called saying he had something for us. I was surprised he had. But the Syndicate was a powerful force and the meeting last Friday had dictated that each Clan provide some form of assistance to the matter at hand.

“Was that person back there the one you mentioned at the meeting?” I asked.

“Yes. It took very long to break him. Even then, he hasn’t given us much to work with,” Rowan replied.

“Who was he working for?”

“He was pretty mum on that. In fact, that’s one question he absolutely would not answer. He was willing to die for it. And when the answer was finally pried from him, it was useless.”

“Useless how?”

“He doesn’t know who he’s working for. He couldn’t remember.”

“How is that possible?”

“The moment he broke and tried to tell us, he couldn’t. We suspect some kind of geas was placed on him. The work of a Blessing. One that can wipe someone’s memory or alter it should the person be compromised.”

Of course. The people we were dealing with were going a long way to make sure nothing of them could be perceived.

“So he was useless?” I asked.

“Not entirely. We did manage to get one thing from him. A location. We suspect it’s one of their places of operation.”

“What is it? Have you sent anyone there?”

“No. That’s why I called you here. We can’t spare the manpower for either the investigation or your task force. So I’m offering this information as a token of our apology. Well, either that or you can have Hunter.”

The three of us glared at him. He didn’t flinch. f*****g Corvins.

“We’ll take the intel,” I said.

He nodded. He picked up a thick envelope from his desk and handed it to me.

“Here’s the information on the place. It’s an abandoned factory in the old industrial district. He said this was a stop to take our stolen cargo before a different crew took it to another one. He didn’t know what happened to our shipment after that.”

“Hmm. Clearly, they’re trying to make sure none of their people know too much in case something like this happens. Even then, they added a failsafe to make sure nothing would be tracked back to them.”

“I had similar conclusions,” Rowan said.

I opened the envelope and looked through the documents there. There were a bunch of pictures of the place from all directions, floor plans and council permits. It was quite obvious Rowan and his people had done a lot of recon in the time they’d found out about this place.

“Does it say who owns this?” I asked.

“It’s owned by a man named Avery Westland. A man that does not exist in any capacity.”

I nodded. People who were this invested in keeping their identity a secret clearly wouldn’t make the mistake of putting a name that would lead back to them on the deeds. I handed the envelope to Reda. This was more his forte after all.

“Thank you,” I said grudgingly. “About your brother-”

“Hunter won’t be a problem for you. In fact, since you refused his services, he’s not your problem at all.”

I gave a careless shrug. “I wasn’t talking about that particular brother.”

“No,” he said, barely letting me finish my sentence.

“So protective,” I murmured.

“My brothers are not up for discussion. Your particular interest in my little brother hasn’t gone unnoticed by me,” he said, his eyes looking at me like he knew all my secrets.

I briefly toyed with the possibility that he did know my secret but I immediately dismissed that idea. If he knew, he would have exploded my head into a million pieces by now.

I wondered what he would do if he knew what his brother and I had gotten up to a few days ago. Not that we’d gotten up to anything remotely meaty. I still cursed that Tower employee for disturbing what I’m sure would have been an interesting development.

I smirked at him, “Oh I’m aware that you’re aware. It’s just curious how you never let him far from his short leash. Not something I expected from a family like yours.”

Rowan’s aura burst out of him in waves. A lesser man would have fallen to his knees. I was not a lesser man. We watched each other with cool eyes.

“My brothers are not up for discussion,” he repeated, “I’ve been nothing but courteous towards you. Don’t test my patience. Now, if we’re done here, I’m sure you can see yourselves out,” Rowan said with finality.

“We’re done. For now. My offer for a place on the team is still open. Should you change your mind or find that you have someone to spare, well, my door is open,” I said. I didn’t bother waiting for an answer. I turned and left the room.

Back on the main floor, I felt a set of aggressive eyes on us as soon as we descended. A figure sat in a dark shadowed corner, watching us with predatory eyes. They glowed a dangerous red, filled with venom and hate. Hunter Corvin. His eyes didn’t waver from us until we crossed the floor and the door closed behind us with a quiet thud. I felt a prickle of unease but ignored it.

Hunter Corvin was an unpredictable bastard but he wasn’t anything I would have ever worried about.

“f*****g creep,” Rayan said.

“I think you’ve called him that enough times today that it’s not quite as effective anymore,” Reda said.

“You’re right. Doesn’t make it any less true,” Rayan agreed.

A black town car waited for us by the entrance. Jensen, my driver c*m bodyguard, leaned by the hood with a smoke. Noticing us, he got into the driver's seat and started the car as soon as we were inside.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Rayan said as soon as the door closed.

“What are you talking about?”

“What am I talking about? You basically just announced to that group of psychos that you’re interested in their little brother. Why do you want him so bad anyway? You don’t need this as a shitty excuse to try and hook up with him.”

“I don’t want him in this team to f**k him.” Not that I'd mind that. I’d welcome it gladly. “He has a particular set of skills and knowledge that I need.”

“...is it about that?” Reda asked quietly.

Jensen drove us away from the club. I didn't say anything. My silence was answer enough.