Page 91 of Run, Little Rabbit

“Sphinx.”

His brows twitch lower, almost as if he were expecting me to say something else. I haven’t forgotten his name. I’m just not sure if he wants me to say it.

The confusion in his face clears as he looks me up and down, and I can feel Angel and Niki both watching with interest.

“Can I have a word?” Sphinx asks through gritted teeth. He casts a quick glance at the others, a spark of annoyance flashing in his silver eyes. “In private?”

I chuckle at the disappointment that passes over Niki's and Angel’s expressions and cock my head to the side as I get up from the sofa. “This way.”

I catch Echo throwing me a curious glance, but she doesn’t have to worry. I’m not going to kill her friend. I’ve a feeling I know what this is about, and I’ve been waiting a decade for Sphinx to resurface. This particular ghost has haunted me for too long.

Sphinx follows me, his head down, shoulders hunched, and bottom lip firmly tucked between his teeth. Oh, boy. This is going to be… difficult.

I step into the room across from my office and let Sphinx walk past me. I’ve barely closed the door before he’s on me. He slams his hands into my chest, propelling me backwards into the door.My body judders with the impact, and I don’t get a chance to take a breath before he punches me hard in the gut.

Jesus Christ, this kid packs a mean punch.

I thrust the heel of my palm into his sternum, managing to make some space between us so I can block his next attack. I knew he was angry, but this…fuck. It feels like he wants to kill me.

“Sphinx!” I yell as I bring my forearm up to protect my face. I definitely don’t want another broken nose. “I didn’t kill your family.”

He sneaks another punch in on my right side, and my breath leaves my lungs with a wheeze.

Sphinx takes a step back, and he’sfurious. His eyeliner is smudged by tears, his top lip pulled back in a snarl, and I can feel the ten years of built-up hate and anger and pain breaking through the cracks in his armour.

“You didn’t protect them either,” he says, his voice raw and cracking.

“I didn’t get a chance, and I’m sorry,” I confess, and as I say those heavy words, I feel the weight of them lift from my soul.

Sphinx crumbles, and I reach out to catch him before he falls to the ground. I pull him into me, and he fists his hands into my shirt, holding onto me like a life raft in a storm. I get a glimpse of the boy I used to know as he sobs into my shoulder, those years of grief breaking free, and I hold his broken pieces in my arms and wait until he’s ready to have the conversation that I know needs to happen. He wants answers, and I’m going to disappoint him because I know that I don’t have them all.

After a few minutes, Sphinx stills in my arms and takes a few deep breaths before slowly unclenching his hands and stepping out of my embrace.

“Sorry,” he says with a sniffle, his eyes focused on the ground.

“Not necessary, Sphinx.” I watch him for a minute as he worries his bottom lip. He takes another deep breath, wipes his eyes, and then gives me a look that cuts right through my chest. His eyes are full ofeverything. Whatever mask he was wearing before has been completely stripped away, and there’s so much of the boy I used to know that a pang of grief squeezes my heart.

It had hurt when Sphinx had left. I know my father had wanted to keep him longer because Sphinx had some serious skill with computers that my father was using for his own gain, but we’d shared a connection. I was at a point in my life where I was stepping up to take over the family business, and I wasn’t sure it was what I wanted. I’d found something of a kindred spirit in Sphinx, and I’d enjoyed spending time with him. It helped that he wasn’t a Volkov and hadn’t grown up in this world. I’d liked that he had seemed so pure, but I don’t see any of that now. I just see a young man who’s suffered and had to survive on his own.

“What can I help you with, Sphinx?”

His hands clench by his side, and I can see him trying to figure out where to start. “Maxim, do you know who murdered my family?”

I shake my head. “No, I don’t.”

“Do you know who it might have been?”

I hate the hint of hope in his voice because I don’t want to crush it. “No.”

“My dad worked foryourfamily, and he’s murdered, and you don’t know who it could be? Bullshit!”

“Hey,” I snap. “I get that you’re frustrated and angry and in pain, but I don’t have the answers you want. My own father had secrets, and to this day, I still don’t know what he had you working on. So, tell me, Sphinx, what did he have you doing?”

He runs his hands through his shaggy white hair, making it stand up in all different directions. “He made me develop a programme that could infiltrate ledgers and accounts. I don’tknow what he used it on, but that was the main thing he wanted. I also spent time hacking into other systems to expose weaknesses and vulnerabilities, but that was mainly other crime families.”

A thought crosses my mind, and I can’t seem to shake it. “Did you ever come across something you shouldn’t have?”

He flinches at my words but follows it up with a scowl and a scoff. “Does a bear shit in the woods? I saw all sorts of shady shit at your dad’s request, Maxim. I hacked whoever he asked me to, and I stole data, images, ledgers, whatever he asked of me because I didn’t have a fucking choice.”

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