58

58
Emilia’s POV
It was nearing midnight and I was pacing around Alaric’s office, trying to wipe away all the bad thoughts. It wasn’t working.
Alaric had shot those three men right in front of me. I didn’t know why that shocked me, but it did. More than I’d like to admit. But what shocked me more was that I didn’t feel any form of empathy for these men. If anything, they deserved it. And I’d have done it myself if I had a gun on me.
Alaric had been unusually silent since we got back from the safehouse, and I knew that meant he was grappling with something he wasn’t ready to say out loud.
I took a deep breath, steeling myself before speaking. “We need to go over what we found.”
He didn’t turn to look at me, his gaze fixed on something far beyond the window glass. “I already did,” he muttered. “And it doesn’t make any sense.”
He was lying. It made too much sense, and that’s what scared him. I crossed the room, placing the worn leather ledger on the desk between us. It looked like any ordinary accounting book, the kind used by half of the businesses in the city to keep track of mundane expenses. But we both knew better. The names inside this ledger were anything but mundane.
“I think you should look at it again,” I said, softer now. I needed him to understand this, to confront it before it tore us apart.
Alaric finally turned, his eyes narrowing as he glanced down at the ledger like it was a snake about to strike. With a reluctant sigh, he stepped forward, opening it to the bookmarked page. His eyes skimmed the entries, moving quickly until he reached the name that had made my stomach drop when I first saw it.
“Impossible,” he breathed, his hand tightening into a fist on the desk.
“It’s not impossible,” I replied quietly. “You know it isn’t.”
He snapped the ledger shut, the sound echoing in the room. “This could be fake. A setup.”
I shook my head. “You saw the same thing I did, Alaric. The payments match up perfectly with the timing of the attacks. Someone in your organization has been funneling money directly to the Syndicate. This isn’t a coincidence.”
“It has to be,” he insisted, but I could see the crack in his facade. He was unraveling, the shock turning into anger, and I knew what was coming next. The same dance we’d done too many times before-Alaric shutting down, pushing me away because he couldn’t handle the vulnerability of betrayal.
I stepped closer, lowering my voice like I was trying to soothe a wounded animal. “We need to figure out who it is. This isn’t just about us anymore. If someone on the inside is working against you-”
“I don’t need you to tell me what it means,” he snapped, and there it was. The anger, sharp and defensive. He paced away, running a hand through his hair, tugging at it in frustration. “You think I don’t know what this looks like? That I don’t understand the implications?”
“Then stop pretending it isn’t real!” I shouted, my own temper flaring. “For once, stop acting like this is something you can control by sheer force of will. We need to face it together.”
He spun to face me, his expression twisted with something raw. “And what if I can’t trust anyone? What if it’s someone I’ve known for years, someone I thought was loyal?”
I took a step back, feeling like he’d just punched me in the gut. “You mean what if you can’t trust me,” I whispered. The accusation wasn’t spoken out loud, but it was there.
His face softened for a brief second, a flash of regret in his eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it came. He looked away, his jaw clenching.
“I didn’t say that,” he muttered.
“You didn’t have to,” I replied, my voice hollow. “You don’t want to believe someone close to you betrayed you, so instead you’re going to push everyone away. You’re going to isolate yourself until there’s no one left standing by your side.”
“Maybe that’s for the best,” he said, his tone flat and resigned.
“Maybe it’s not,” I shot back. I felt the sting of tears at the back of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not now. “Maybe what you need isn’t to shut people out but to let them in. To let me in.”
He went still, like I’d struck a nerve he wasn’t prepared for. The silence stretched out, heavy and suffocating. I wanted to reach out, to grab his hand and force him to look at me, to really see me. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. Because the fear in his eyes wasn’t just about betrayal-it was about something deeper, something he’d buried a long time ago. Something I didn’t know about.
“You don’t understand,” he said, so quietly I almost didn’t hear him.
“Then make me understand,” I pleaded. “Because I’m standing here, Alaric. I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere. But I can’t do this if you keep shutting me out.”
He turned to me, and for the first time in what felt like forever, he looked vulnerable. Truly vulnerable. It was a look I’d only seen once before, on a night when he’d let his guard down just enough for me to see the man beneath the armor.
“It’s not just about trust,” he said, his voice rough. “It’s about everything I’ve built. If this ledger is right, then I’ve been blind. I’ve let a traitor into our midst. I’ve endangered everyone I care about because I couldn’t see what was right in front of me.”
“You can’t carry that burden alone,” I said, taking a step closer. “You don’t have to.”
He laughed, a bitter sound. “Don’t I? I’ve always had to. It’s the only way I’ve survived.”
“And look where that’s gotten you,” I countered, my voice breaking. “Look where we are now-fighting because you’re too afraid to admit that you need help.”
“I don’t need help,” he said, but the words lacked conviction. They sounded hollow, even to him.
I reached out, grabbing his hand before he could pull away. His fingers were cold, like he’d been standing in the snow without gloves. “Yes, you do,” I whispered. “And it’s okay. It doesn’t make you weak.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, like he was trying to block out everything I was saying. I could feel him trembling, just a little, and it broke something inside me. I squeezed his hand tighter, refusing to let go.
“Alaric,” I said, my voice softer now, gentler. “Please. Let me in. Let’s figure this out together. We need to find who’s behind this before it’s too late.”
He opened his eyes, and there was something in them I hadn’t never seen-hope. It was fragile, barely there, but it was enough. He nodded, almost imperceptibly, and I felt the tension ease from his hand.
“Together,” he repeated, like he was testing the word, seeing how it felt in his mouth.
“Together,” I agreed, giving him a small smile. “Now, let’s start from the beginning. We go through the ledger again, line by line, and we find out who did this. And when we do, we make them pay.”
He nodded, a flicker of the old Alaric returning, the one who didn’t back down from a fight. He picked up the ledger, flipping it open to the first page.