Page 7 of The Syndicater (Dark Verse 6)

Chapter 3

Alpha, Los Fortis

"Hector is dead," Victor,his second-in-command, stated without an iota of remorse in his voice.

Alpha examined him from his chair in his office, looking for any cracks. His trust had been broken too deeply for him not to be wary anymore. Hector, a man he'd once thought of as a best friend and right hand, had betrayed him in the worst ways a man could be betrayed. And all for power. He knew better than most that power made monsters of men, but he'd never expected his friend to be one. Not only had he blinded and tortured him, making him lose his memory and his sense of self, but he had taken advantage of his vulnerable state and injected himself by his side for so many years. Alpha truly was partially blind because how the fuck had he never seen his true colors? Hector had not only assaulted and murdered women, the same women Alpha had dedicated his life to protect, the same kind as his mother had been, but he had also become a pawn for The Syndicate. The one fucking organization Alpha had heard of inpassing but never wanted anything to do with, which he now had to deal with because of his little rainbow.

His little rainbow, who had lost her colors when her sister had died in her arms.

Zenith, though Zephyr's sister, had been a runaway from The Syndicate, hiding and getting adopted by the De La Vega's when she'd been younger. Having met her a few times even before finding Zephyr, thanks to her dedicated work in one of his non-profit organizations, Alpha knew she'd been an extraordinary, bright, and beautiful woman. The world was a worse place without her, and the injustice of it all chafed over him every day.

Fucking Hector.

"How?" he asked Victor, Hector's brother and possibly the only one feeling more betrayed by him than Alpha was. Both brothers had been with him for so long, and Alpha didn't want to believe Victor could be a traitor either, especially not after the way he'd seen the other man go on a hunt to find his brother. Moreover, Alpha couldn't afford to lose him too, not after culling Hector's supporters and allies within his people, down now just to a handful. He needed Victor to be true so they could rebuild and restructure the Los Fortis empire into an impenetrable fortress. He didn't have the luxury of a generational legacy like his half-brother Dante did with the Tenebrae Outfit. He had built everything that he had from the ground up, right from the soil to the sky, rising from a pauper in poverty to a potentate in power.

"Burned. Arson," Victor supplied, standing with his hands behind his back, his demeanor somber. The muted daylight coming through the glass windows showed his rigid form. Nothing, aside from the clenching of his jaw, belayed his displeasure.

"When?" Alpha leaned back on the chair, folding his arms across his chest.

"Hard to say," Victor replied. "I'm waiting for the coroner's report. But they estimate it to be sometime in the last twenty-four hours."

"Are we sure it's him?" Alpha knew how crafty Hector could be. Now, with the connections that he had acquired in The Syndicate, faking a death would be child's play for him. Hell, Dante had faked death twice, and Hector was a lot more cunning.

Victor hesitated. "The body was completely burned. So was the warehouse he was found in. But the dental records are a match. I verified it myself."

Alpha considered him, pondering over it for a moment. "You okay with that?"

Just a clench of the jaw.

Alpha sighed. "Sit," he indicated the chair opposite him. "Talk to me."

Victor relaxed his arms, letting them come to his sides, before taking a seat. The table between them felt big, bigger than before, and Alpha truly hoped they could breach the distance one day again. The other man had always been quieter next to his brother, but now, Alpha needed to hear him and trust his mettle, not wonder about what the hell was happening in his head.

Victor was on the same page apparently, because he began to talk. "I'm pissed, to be honest. I wanted to find him myself. I wanted to question him and then kill him myself. I'm pissed someone else got to him faster. The only good thing is he was tortured for some time." He paused, letting Alpha take it all in. "Someone had kept him captive in the warehouse in Gladestone for a while, can't say exactly how long. He was tortured and was alive when the fire started. That tells me someone else wanted him more than we did. Could it be someone from The Syndicate?"

"Maybe," Alpha mused, keeping his hunch to himself for the moment. If his gut was right, he knew it had to be the Shadow Man. He had told Alpha clearly that he'd been following and hunting Hector for a while, and though the mysterious man didn't have any particular modus operandi, he had executed arson successfully before. In fact, from the little Alpha had been able to find about him, his only known point in the past was a massive fire he had started in some kind of an orphanage. There wasn't any information about the details, the information non-existent anywhere, but he had a source coming to meet him soon. Though he was indebted to the man for saving his wife, he was going to find his agenda if it was the last thing he did.

Victor stood up again, resting his arms on the desk, his dark eyes intent. "I know what my brother did will always be a scar between us. It is my burden to bear. But I promise you, Alpha," the conviction in his voice was deep, "I will die before I betray your trust. I have his debt to clear now, his name to taint my own. I will spend my life clearing it with you."

Before he could respond, a little hiccup made him look to the door blocked behind Victor's frame.

His beautiful wife stood there, dressed in dark jeans and a beige top that werenother, her hair the same sad blue that she never got the chance to recolor, her eyes misted, locked on Victor. Zephyr had always been a crier, tearing up at the drop of a hat, but somehow, in the last few weeks, it had gotten worse because she didn't cry much anymore. It was like something inside her had frozen the tears, making them more infrequent, and as much as he'd hated her crying, he hated her not crying even more. At least when she tore up, he knew that all was alright in the world. Nothing seemed to be okay in their world right now.

Seeing her eyes misted after so long made something in his chest lighter, his heart thumping and that was the only reason he didn't interrupt her.

"Oh, Victor," she whispered, walking into his office and going straight to the other man. As much as Alpha hated the bond she had with him, he couldn't deny a part of him was glad she was coming out of her shell. Victor had always been the closest to Zephyr out of all his men, directly responsible for her security, and the fact that she had been harmed and hurt under his watch, weighed heavily on him. He had been knocked out cold because he had let his guard down around his own brother.

Alpha watched Zephyr stop beside Victor, putting a hand on his arm and squeezing it. "You're not responsible for what happened, Victor. Don't take someone else's blame on your shoulders. You have enough to carry."

Alpha saw Victor's throat bob as he swallowed, possibly emotional at her forgiveness. Alpha could relate. She had forgiven him too, so easily, like lingering on mistakes wasn't something possible for her. This tiny, curvy ball of life had so much forgiveness and love in her heart that he was amazed that she didn't burst from it. Even in her grief, she knew grace. Alpha didn't think he could fall more in love with her, but she proved him wrong every day, pulling him deeper into the depths without even knowing she did.

She gave his friend another squeeze on his arm, and Alpha watched the large, lethal man soften to a degree he had not seen before.

Fuck, she was magical.

Andhis.

"Come here, rainbow," he spoke, his voice coming out huskier than intended.

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