Page 95 of Lock Up the Darkness

I tensed. Shit.

“Excuse me?”

“When we fought, at the tail-end, especially with your move with the hidden knife, it became apparent that you’ve had additional training that was most definitely not Lance’s style. Underhanded, brutal, merciless. Mafia-based, perhaps. A former top enforcer of the Infidels, if I had to narrow it down.”

“There are no former members. The only way out is death.”

“There are exceptions to every rule. Very few in this case. I can only recall a couple. Scourge comes to mind.”

Our eyes locked.

“You saw the name in my files as we were writing this program?”

“The identity he goes by now, yes. Coulson Hanes. It used to be Aaron Wakefield.”

“How do you know about that?”

“Because I’m the one who set that up for him so he could get out and be free of the Infidels.”

“You… what?”

“He trained me too. Beyond what my father allowed me to learn and know. I needed something more.” He winced. “To stop him.”

“From inflicting anymore scars?” I asked carefully.

“Yes. Aaron’s training gave me the edge I’d been missing. And once I was out of high school, I studied with several more instructors, learning several more fighting styles.”

“You never wanted to be at his mercy again.”

“At least not physically. But if it hadn’t been for Aaron, I never would’ve made it. I would’ve become too malleable.”

“Carson would’ve broken you?”

“Perhaps.”

I reached out and laid my hand on his now clenched fist. “I don’t believe that. You’re not breakable. Not under any circumstances.”

He stared for a moment at our connecting fingers, then took in the comfort coming from me. I could see that he didn’t know what to do with it, how to respond, how to reconcile it.

My chest squeezed.

“Asher—”

He pulled his hand away. “Either way, I owe him a debt, so this stays between us. He can’t be outed.”

“Agreed.”

“Good. Did you leave him out of the data compilation?”

“No. He has a link to the Head Infidels. He needs to be included, or a piece of the puzzle will be missing. But that’ll be the extent of it, we won’t approach him or contact him in any way when we get started.”

“He’s one of the reasons you had the confidence to approach us here, yes? He gave you some insight into how things work, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, a little. He wouldn’t reveal too much. Now I know it was out of loyalty to you. I’d thought it was just fear toward your father. It certainly wasn’t out of any sense of fealty to him. He hates him. Reviles him, actually.”

“Fear and revulsion are the main responses to Carson Monroe’s name being invoked.”

“It’s definitely warranted.”

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