Page 167 of Devious Knight
To know now that a man a trusted and looked up to as a father figure was responsible for that shakes me to my core.
I’m staring at the document in my hands. Confirmation that Parker was working with Nikoli the man I’ve started a war with.
Parker betrayed my parents. My father. His best friend. He’s my fucking godfather. But now he is my enemy and he needs to pay in blood.
My head burns and my thoughts rattle around in my mind like a jar of unused coins.
I think back to Isabelle and the incident at the gallery. Something doesn’t quite make sense. If the hacker who tricked Isabelle was working with the Nikoli why would he need her when he had Parker?
Why didn’t Parker track my father himself? Also since this is about paintings my father would have trusted him with the information on their whereabouts.
Regardless, Parker is guilty. Nothing else matters and now I want his head.
“Kade,” Alek says my name in a careful tone, as if he’s trying it out for the first time.
I look at him, my eyes heavy with rage.
“What are you going to do?”
“Kill him.” I growl and march toward the door.
Alek rushes up to me and grabs my arm. “Kade?—”
“Fucking let me go, Alek.”
“You can’t just walk up to the lord chancellor and kill him. Also even you have to agree that there are parts of this that have gaping holes. You’re biggest one being Nikoli. They’re still working together. If you want the two of them you can’t kill Parker yet. Nikoli will know and you will never see him again.”
That stops me. I want Nikoli dead. That is still my number one priority, so I can’t risk letting him get away or spending the rest of my life trying to find him.
“We’re in a good spot,” Alek reminds me. “I think any day now you’ll draw Nikoli out and have him exactly where you want him. Then you can take them both. As long as Parker doesn’t suspect anything things stay the same and you have them where you want them.”
Alek is right. But I’m just so enraged I want their blood now.
I also want my godfather’s fucking head because he murdered Isabelle’s mother.
Isabelle…
I’m so sorry. She and I have been dragged into one big fucking mess of the same secrets and lies I knew would eventually screw with me. My time has come and it’s not over yet.
I nod at Alek. “Okay. Don’t mention any of this to anyone.”
“What about the guys?”
“I’ll talk to them.”
“Kade, you’re need back up when this blows up. It’s the shit you don’t know that will kill you.”
“Let’s cross that bridge when we get there.”
“Alright.”
The hardness in his expression loosens and I think back to how I was going to exclude him. I was wrong. “Thanks for your help. You didn’t have to help me.”
“Yes I did. We’ll be the next line of leadership for the Knights one day. I take that seriously. We need to have each other’s backs from now.”
“I agree.”
“I’ll keep my eyes on things and let you know if I see anything strange.”