Page 138 of The Masks She Wore

?“A’s or B’s?” he repeated, a bite to his tone.

?There was no reason for any of us to go into his office while he wasn’t around, but I supposed if it had to be anybody, it made sense that Azrael would break that unspoken rule. “A’s.”

?He hummed as he searched, and it made me want to stick a knife in his spine. Humming was something most of the world seemed to do, but when Azrael did it, it sounded so goddamn condescending. It was fucking irritating.

?“Ah, here we are,” he finally said as I dished myself out some dinner. “Charlotte Alascer. No father listed. She went through the program in 2016. Passed with flying colors and was stationed…” another little tune slipped through the phone speaker. “Nowhere. It seems to me that Malachi gave her a kind of leeway he has only ever given us. How extraordinary.”

?“So why not mention her?” I asked, mostly to myself. Was she considered an Initiate? Or an unofficial daughter?

?“Perhaps her mother only wanted her trained by Malachi, not working for him. That would have cost her a lot of money and oops, what’s this?” I heard the flutter of paper. “A receipt. I guess you truly can put a price on anything, even people.”

?She was an agent, trained by people all around the world, and when it wasn’t enough, Marla must have decided that there was only one place left to go, but after all these months, why not mention that? Why not even hint at the fact that he knew Rae. That he had met her. Why lie?

?“Bye, Azrael.” I hung up and found Zo’s eyes. “Why would Malachi intentionally lie to us about Rae?”

?She shrugged. “Maybe he wasn’t lying. He doesn’t meet all Initiates, I know it’s different because he knew Marla personally, but what was happening in 2016? He was still going out on his own assignments then. He was busy all the time. Perhaps it slipped his mind.”

?But they had an affair. How long had it been going on? Was it just while Rae was in the program or was it more than that? Malachi never mentioned how long he had known Marla, only that they met on occasion, and he hadn’t heard about her death.

?I don’t remember him looking too broken up about that, but he was a master at hiding his emotions, it’s what made him so good at his job.

?“Jack.”

?The voice was fierce and unwavering, filled with fire and a chill that dripped lust down my own spine, but I knew I had to wait. Just until I was sure her wounds wouldn’t reopen once I fucked her.

?I turned, finding her just in the entrance of the hall, her hand gripped just above her hip on her left side.

?She moved it away, showing me the blood staining her white satin nightgown. “Why the fuck did you put me in white?” she asked accusingly.

?“For exactly this reason,” I answered, walking over. I lifted the nightgown, revealing the bandage that wrapped around the cuts along her thigh and hip on that side.

?She cared not for the fact that Zo could see the thin lacy thong I had put on her or the near see-through nighty, all she cared about were her injuries.

?“You bled through the bandages,” I mumbled as she slid her hand over my shoulder, gripping into my shirt. “Come on, let’s get you changed.”

?“Out here,” she requested, keeping her grip on my shirt despite how that forced her muscles to stretch. “Where I can see the trees.” Her eyes lifted to the wall of windows as I nodded to Zo to get the medical supplies. “I forgot how much I loved them.”

?I found her eyes, those beautiful siren eyes. “I find peace in them,” I told her when Zo left the room. I hated the rainy weather in Washington, but the trees? I had always loved the trees.

?“It’s the silence,” she decided, meeting mine.

?I led her to the couch, her limp not as severe as I would have expected, although she was stronger physically than she had been two months ago.

?“Let’s take it off, I want to check on everything.”

?She nodded, wincing and hissing as she lifted her arms. I quickly pulled off her nightgown and tossed it to the side. I helped her to the couch, laying her on her back. Fuck, her body looked amazing. She had always looked amazing, but the training had done her well.

?“Focus,” she told me, lifting her arms above her head and holding her wrists so I could fix the main issue first. “I can’t fuck if I bleed out.”

?I offered her a small smile, caught a little off-guard by the slight nervousness I could hear in her tone. “We can’t have that now, can we?” I wasn’t sure how far gone she was after I tortured her for so long, and I had every doubt in the world that she would actually tell me right away. I’d be patient with her, I would. Perhaps it would mean a few single sessions with my hand and a pair of her panties, but if that’s the price to make sure she healed, fine. My cock would understand. Eventually.

?I got to work on taking her bandages off and cleaning her wounds. It wasn’t until I taped the new bandages on that she spoke again.

?“I know you have questions. Both of you,” she said, her eyes fixed on mine. “Ask and I’ll answer the best I can.”

?“Who are you now?” Zo asked before I could say anything. “Are you the woman Jack met or are you Charlotte Alascer, daughter of Marla?”

?Her eyes didn’t waver. “I am Rae Bennett, that’s who I am. Daughter of Marla and Charles Alascer. I trained with the best of the best until word got around to mom about a new program. A program that turns people into ruthless, unforgiving monsters. That’s what she wanted. She wanted me to be the best weapon I could be. Someone who couldn’t be taken advantage of, used, killed easily. Someone who wouldn’t break.

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