Page 145 of The Devil We Know

Tony grunts in response, hurt evident on his features, though he won’t come out and say it. So, I do. “And why the fuck would he keep this from us?”

Agatha sighs. “I don’t think he was intentionally keeping it from you. He was just waiting for the perfect moment to unveil it.”

“This seems like the worst fucking moment to me,” Declan mutters sullenly.

I nod in agreement but then ask, “But why, exactly, did he build this place? Is that explained?”

“According to the documents, it’s for all the people out there who’ve lost hope. For the countless souls who’ve been saved from one evil bastard or another who need help moving forward.”

“We can’t hold their hands forever,” Tony responds bitterly.

“No, but Dare always thought we could do more,” Declan interjects. “He believed that if we had the ability to provide other services, like medical care, mental health programs, proper education, etcetera, it could help people truly overcome their past.”

“So, this is a cult,” Tony deadpans.

“Oh my fucking Christ, Tony,” Agatha sputters. “It’s not a cult.”

Tony laughs loudly. “Sounds like a cult to me.”

Agatha glares at him and shakes her head. “Well, I see you haven’t changed at all.”

Tony grins at her words, lifting a shoulder nonchalantly. “Why change perfection?”

Agatha’s glare intensifies, but the corners of her lips twitch. A laugh catches me off-guard, and I suddenly feel lighter. As if the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders, and I can finally take a deep breath.

“I guess it makes sense, but why tell you and not us?”

“According to the documents, I’m the least likely to be affected by his loss, hence I’m the most appropriate to be able to manage the completion of the project without distraction.”

I groan, looking up at the ceiling as I process this new information. Then Agatha adds, “I don’t know if I was the right person to hand this over to, but it is true that I’m less likely to be swayed by sentiment. Sure, I love Toni and Dare, but my connection to them is different than yours. And frankly, I’m just a different breed entirely due to a lifetime of conditioning to not give a fuck about anything beyond immediate survival.”

I nod, knowing this is true. Agatha’s upbringing within the organization has shaped her in ways most people wouldn’t survive. It’s not that she doesn’t love or feel pain; she feelsit differently. But when she says she loves you, she will quite literally lay down and die for you.

“How long have you been here?” Declan asks.

“A couple of days. Once I’d gone through all the documents and had a decent understanding of what I was looking at, I came directly here.”

She stops speaking, her lips pressing together as her breath catches in her throat. She swallows a few times, obviously attempting to get control of her emotions, then, after a deep breath, she continues, “A stupid part of me thought maybe it was all a rouse, that I would get here, and they would be waiting for me.”

The room falls silent once more, Agatha likely reliving her disappointment and all of us reliving our own. Finally, I say, “That must’ve been difficult. I wish we could’ve been here to support you.”

She gives me a small smile. “Probably best that no one actually witnessed any of my ridiculously human behavior.”

There’s a long pause, and then Declan asks, "And Ryan? How the fuck did he get involved with us?”

“That’s a bit of a long story.”

“I think we’ve got fucking time,” Tony retorts.

“Oh, I can answer that,” Ryan replies. “Not long after I treated Carolina in California, Antoinette reached out to me. She had an inkling I wasn't too excited working for the people I worked for, so she offered me a job. A job with a real mission and a purpose.”

I looked to Tony, who seemed less puzzled. “Did you know about this?”

He nods and then tosses his head side to side a bit. “Well, yes and no. Antoinette mentioned that she wanted to see if he’d come to work with us. But I never followed up to see if it actually happened—”

“That’s all good and well,” Declan interrupts impatiently. “But how the fuck did this guy end up here before us?”

Agatha’s lips twitch, her eyes moving to Ryan, who is now looking at the floor. I raise my brows as understanding dawns on me, and I briefly consider not pressing the issue. But then the decision is taken out of my hands when Tony cackles knowingly.

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