~Aaron~
“Where is he?” I asked Louis as I stepped into the basement. Without a word, he led me deeper inside to where he had tied Matthew upside down. I hummed, walking toward the table where an array of tools lay in neat line. When I said I was into security and technology, I never specified which side. I worked in both-the good and the bad. And unfortunately for Matthew, he had walked straight into the bad. The side that dealt with murder, torture, and all kinds of necessary punishment.
Not all my men knew about this dark side. Some couldn’t handle it, and that was fine. I only needed a few who could.
“Water?” I asked, and Louis immediately brought a bucket. I took it and splashed it over Matthew’s bloodied face. He had been unconscious, but now he jerked awake, coughing violently against the restraints. Guess Louis had done a thorough job before tying him up. Good.
Matthew groaned, his breath ragged. One of his eyes was swollen shut.
“Son of a bitch,” he spat. “What do you-” He coughed again, voice breaking under the weight of his injuries.
I ran my fingers over the tools, debating which one to start with. My gaze flickered back to him.
“Axe, knife, gun, chopper, screw, nails?” I listed casually. “Which do you prefer we start with?”
His one good eye widened in horror.
“Don’t you dare! My guys will track you down!” he shouted.
I smirked. My choice, then. I grabbed the knife and took a seat in front of him.
“Let’s begin,” I said, cleaning the blade with a towel Louis handed me. “Why did you send her all those texts?”
Matthew coughed, but his lips curled in defiance.
“I’m not telling you a goddamn thing,” he bit out.
I pursed my lips. Wrong answer. I brought the knife to the side of his throat, pressing just enough to let the blade kiss his skin. A thin line of blood formed.
He groaned, body tensing in pain. I pulled back slightly. No point in killing him before I got what I needed.
“I was asked to! God… fuck!” he hissed through gritted teeth.
I leaned back, tapping my fingers against my knee. Interesting.
“Who?” I pressed.
Matthew’s jaw tightened as he glared at me with his good eye. It was almost funny, the way he looked.
“I answered your question,” he said.
I let silence settle between us, then leaned forward, my tone turning colder.
“Listen here, Lockwood. I don’t have time to waste, and I am not in a good mood this morning. The faster you answer me, the easier this will be for both of us.”
He swallowed hard, and I knew he got the message.
“If I answer, will you let me go?” he asked, his voice uneven.
I tilted my head slightly.
“That depends. If your answer is satisfactory, then yes.”
He stared at me, considering his options. Then he sighed and nodded.
“I have a boss. Daggerlord. We’re part of the Vicious Syndicate. Joan’s father was once with us-until he pulled out. Met some woman who didn’t approve of his involvement, so he left.”
I frowned.
“You weren’t even born yet, or if you were, you were just a baby. How do you know all this?”
Matthew let out a dry laugh.
“I was given a rundown. I was the man for the job.”
I nodded. Fair enough.
“Luna got pregnant and gave birth to Joan. Ace-Joan’s father-met with his friend, Damien Thompson,” Matthew paused, watching me closely, as if gauging my reaction. “Your father, to be precise.”
Something tightened in my chest.
“Ace asked for his share in the company they built together. Needed the money to take care of his family. Your father, though?” Matthew chuckled darkly. “Greedy bastard. He refused. Ace got furious and tampered with your parents’ car. That accident that killed them? That was him.”
A cold weight settled in my gut. My grip on the knife tightened.
“He thought he could claim the company after your father died. But evidence led back to him. He got arrested, panicked, and blamed everything on the syndicate. Spilled secrets he wasn’t supposed to. The moment he walked out of prison, they swore to kill him.” Matthew coughed, his breath shallow. “And that’s where his daughter comes in.”
My jaw clenched.
“What about Joan?” I asked, my voice tight.
Matthew let out a bitter laugh.
“They knew she grew up in the Boswell Child Care Center. Meanwhile, I got recruited the moment I left the orphanage. My job was to track her, watch her. If they couldn’t get to the father, they’d go after the daughter.”
A muscle in my jaw twitched.
“And that’s when I started sending the texts,” Matthew admitted. “The day you picked her up from McCormick’s Fries was the day Ace Knight got out of prison. That was when the mission activated.”
I remembered that day vividly. She had gotten the first message the very next morning. I had deleted the ugliest ones and had Denzel track the IP address. That had been months ago.
Matthew exhaled sharply. “And then I fell for her. Hard. I wanted her. I could’ve protected her from them.”
I stared at him blankly.
“You shot her,” I reminded him. “Almost killed her. If we hadn’t intervened, she’d be dead.”
His expression twisted in anger.
“That was because she chose you, you fucking bastard!”
He hadn’t even finished speaking before I dragged my knife across his thigh. Blood rushed out, and his scream filled the room.
I wiped the blade clean with the towel, my face unreadable.
“Tell me,” I said flatly, “have they gotten Ace Knight? Or are they still after Joan?”
Matthew groaned, his breathing uneven. He nodded weakly.
“The day I got her in the warehouse, they got him. He had been in hiding ever since he got out, trying to escape the country. South Africa. He was planning to take Joan with him.”
I gritted my teeth.
“And Luna?”
Matthew closed his eyes for a brief moment.
“She ran,” he said simply. “Left Joan in New Orleans and went back to Spain. She couldn’t return to her family with the child of a criminal, so she abandoned her.”
I took a slow breath before stepping back. Peeling off my gloves, I turned to Louis.
“Keep an eye on him. I’ll let you know what to do.”
I walked out of the warehouse, ignoring Matthew’s desperate calls behind me.
I needed space. I needed to breathe.
All these years, I had lived for revenge. I had blamed everyone else, but in the end, my father caused his own death. He dragged my mother into it.
Luckily, I had never taken over his company. The shareholders had pulled out, and before I realized what was happening, it had collapsed. That loss had pushed me to build my own.
And Joan’s father? He had tried to secure his daughter’s future, and in doing so, he destroyed mine. He took my family away from me.
But Joan? She had suffered too.
She had spent her whole life abandoned-by her father, by her mother. And then I did the same to her. I had been too blinded by my own pain to see it.
And Rhoda… she had abandoned her, too.
Rhoda had called me, asked why I had slept with her best friend the day after we split. That was the last time I heard from her.
I ran a hand through my hair, exhaling sharply.
Ace Knight was out of the way. There was only one thing left to do.
I had to get my girl back.