Page 9 of Reign By Wrath

Alistair winced like my shout slapped him. “This is what I’m trying to explain. The Rogues are a secret criminal organization with ties that spread across the country and overseas. Knowing the members of the organization is valuable currency, but running the entire operation...” Alistair trailed off, whistling. “It was just a game to us at first—me and Everton Starling.”

My spine stiffened. “Everton Starling. Everleigh’s biological father.”

“Yes,” he said, turning back to the window. “Growing up, we were best friends. The only one wilder and more reckless than me was him. We wreaked holy terror on Regalia and no one could stop us. I could wipe my boot on someone’s back and they’d bend down and ask if I’d like to do the other one. No one told us no. That kind of power goes to your head fast.”

“I’ve seen it,” I said, tone flat.

“Everton and I liked being on top, but we never would be. We were both the youngest sons. Our older siblings were going to inherit the companies while we were left with whatever scraps they tossed our way. We wanted more. We wanted the Rogues.”

I frowned. “Isn’t that a bit of a leap? You can’t take over the company, so you join a criminal organization? If you couldn’t reach the cookie jar back then, did you burn the house down?”

He chuckled. “I was quite the brat, but I stayed away from the matches. Listen, I know how it sounds, but it wasn’t a tantrum that made me seek out the Rogues. I was always... different... from my family. Everyone around me played the game. They smiled, schmoozed, and oozed doublespeak, backstabbing, and point-scoring.

“All of it seemed pointless to me. It’s like... say, there’s a playground that’s taken over every night by inconsiderate shits who smoke and drink and leave their trash and broken bottles for little kids to stumble over. Dario’s way of solving the problem was writing a letter to the city council, organizing a volunteer cleanup, and posting a sign that said,please don’t litter.

“My way was beating the shit out of them and promising to do worse if they came back. I know this because that’s exactly what the two of us did all those years ago when Seven’s daughter cut her leg open on a broken beer bottle in the sandbox.” He met my wide eyes. “It didn’t occur to either of us to try the other’s method. Dario was always peace. I was the chaos.”

“But... why does that mean you had to become a Rogue? You’re a Burkhardt. You could’ve done anything.”

“I couldn’t, Luna. The more I rebelled, the more my father tightened the chains around me. He refused to pay tuition for an out-of-state school. I got an internship in London, and he bought the business and shut it down just to stop me going. The more I tried to get away from him, the closer he held me.”

Understanding tried to trickle in. “I’m guessing it’s not easy to break free of a man like William Burkhardt.”

“It’s impossible. He’s tied to everyone in Regalia, but no one was bound tighter than his children. At least Dario would take over the company until he was ready to follow his political aspirations up the ladder. The only thing I had to look forward to was endless days of filling my boredom with booze and women because my father made it clear he wasn’t letting his troublemaking son out into the world to embarrass him and blacken the Burkhardt name,” he said. “I was looking for a way out, and the Rogues were it.

“They were the bane of his existence. All the time and money my father put into trying to find and stamp out the Rogues, and he’d gotten nowhere. As a young, brash kid, I saw them as my way to break free. What they did didn’t bother me as much as it should. Like I told you, there was always a darkness in me. I was falling in with the right crowd, not a bad one.”

What he said should bother me, but that would make me a hypocrite too. I said so many times that I belonged with the Rogues. Sounded like Alistair found where he belonged too.

“What about Everton?”

Alistair came back to the armchair and motioned for me to sit. I did—needing to hear the story too bad to hear my warning bells. “It’s not as simple as announcing on a street corner that you want to be a Rogue. You didn’t find them. They found you,” he said. “There are plenty of low-rent delinquents running a dozen rackets.

“The Rogues don’t need that. They want talent. They want something only you can do. They want connections only you can make. Didn’t matter that we were both rich or our places on the Royal line. Plenty of people have money, but not everyone can bring those people to their knees.”

“What did you guys do? How did you get in?” Yes, it did occur to me that I wasn’t having the most normal conversation with the father I just met, but it had been an abnormal week. This fit in perfectly.

“Everton’s family owned a string of private law firms all over the country. Everton used his name and access to get into their clients’ private information and sell it to the highest bidder.”

My mouth fell open. “That’s way past unethical! It’s disgusting.”

“It was a serious line to cross,” Alistair agreed, “but it worked. Rogue members lined up at his door to buy the information. He was in.”

“And you?” I asked, bracing myself.

“Me,” he drew out, gaze tipping to the ceiling. “I took another route.”

“You can tell me. It’s not like I have the right to judge anyone after all I’ve done.”

He smiled. “Everything you’ve done was for your sister. Your intentions were always good.”

“Do you know everything? What I’ve done to Wesley, Levi, Ashton, Owen, and indirectly, Giovanni?”

His smile didn’t waver. “Leon knows a lot of things about a lot of things, as he likes to say. He brought me up to speed. My question is how? How did you know to go after those five? I exhausted all my resources to find the bastards, but the bullying came from almost everyone and everywhere. Why those five?”

“Winter named them in her note.”

He stilled. “But your mother showed me her note.”

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