Page 49 of Always A Villain
Axe doesn’t want me. My father disowned me. My brother didn’t even fight for me.
I have nothing.
Reaching my car, I yank the door open with trembling hands. I collapse into the driver’s seat, body shaking, throat raw, mind splintering under the weight of it all.
A whore. Branded. Ruined.
My forehead hits the steering wheel, and I scream. A gut-wrenching, soul-ripping sound that no one hears. No one cares to hear.
It’s over.
My world is gone.
My father’s words pound inside my skull.
No one wants you. You’re nothing.
I suck in a shuddering breath, clawing at something—anything—to hold on to. But there’s nothing.
Nothing excepthim.
The one person who sees me for what I am. And holds me anyway.
I reach for my phone.
Me
I need you. Please.
My boots thud against the concrete floors of the Iron, each step echoing through the halls. The place is a fucking war zone—Sovereign operatives scrambling, tension thick enough to choke on.
I shove through the Command Center doors, my gaze locking on Arsen. He looks like shit—hours of tracking leads with no fucking break. Isaac pulled every General for this, and with Arsen’s FSB background, he’s been running point.
“Anything?” Already scanning the screens, I drop into the chair beside him.
“Fuck all,” he mutters, rubbing his face, exhaustion bleeding into his voice. “This is a goddamn mess.”
“How many of the positive IDs have missing kids?”
Arsen shoots me a side glance, brow furrowed.
“I believe all of them, sir,” a tech speaks up from across the room. A nervous-looking kid, hunched over his screen,voice tight.
Arsen jerks upright, fists clenching. “What the fuck are you saying?”
The tech hesitates, then clears his throat. “We haven’t confirmed everything yet, but early data shows every positive ID has a missing person report for a child.”
My blood starts to boil. “And no one thought to mention that sooner?”
“The dates…the ages, sir,” the tech stammers, eyes darting to his screen like it might save him. “The missing kids are spread out over years. Nothing seems connected.”
Arsen’s jaw tics. “So, every man we've identified so far is a father of a missing kid?”
“Yes, sir.”
He shoots me a sharp look, then strides away, fists clenched. I follow.
Rory fucking called it.
