Page 83 of Seducer

“I thought we established we don’t have souls,” I countered, able to grin.

Wilder strode into the office, adjusting his tie as he did. The guy always wanted to look his best, which I’d always found amusing. He stopped short when he noticed our faces.

“What did I miss?” he asked.

“Just Zach attempting to deny he has his eye on a woman. Finally.” Xander was entirely different since Jessica had bombarded his life. I could almost feel jealous of the man if he didn’t irritate the hell out of me.

“Oh, really? Is it that pretty little thing from admin?” Wilder enjoyed digging into everyone’s business.

I gave him a hard look while Xander whistled. “She has a fascinating other side,” I admitted.

“Oh, please. Let’s hear it. I never thought I’d see you acting as if you cared about anyone.” Wilder thumped down in one of Xander’s plush leather chairs, immediately crossing his legs and throwing his arms over the back.

“That’s not why I wanted to talk to the two of you.” I resisted gritting my teeth. In the beginning, the three of us had found very little in common, spending most of the first four months pretending we were normal when we were anything but. Our love of gaming had been something we could share, which had turned into various thoughts and designs, seeds planted for the current company.

At least over the years we’d learned to share space in the same room.

“What is it?” Xander frowned.

“The shit David, the reporter spouted off. It’s true.”

Wilder laughed as if I was joking. Xander appeared uncomfortable.

“You knew about our father. Didn’t you?” I threw at him.

“I suspected whatever had occurred when we were babies was an atrocity, which kept everyone so tightlipped. But I found very little other than learning our father was a criminal.”

“Yeah, I’ll say,” I added. “A serial killer sent to the Red Onion facility where he supposedly died. Although there is no record of what happened to his body.”

“Well, fuck me.” Wilder had never denied his penchant for extreme violence, but he’d also stated more than once he had no need to continue the practice. Xander had admitted much the same thing.

I’d always thought we were just damn good at lying to ourselves.

“He murdered our mother after she turned him in to the police.” Just repeating the words was more difficult than I’d thought possible. I had no memory of either one of my parents. At one year old, there shouldn’t be a single memory. Although I’d seen bits and pieces of images for as long as I could remember. My first shrinks had thought I should remember my repressed memories, or I’d eventually go nuts.

Jacob had told me exactly the opposite.

Wilder lost his tempered smile, moving to the edge of his seat. “Goddamn the bastard.”

“Yeah,” I all but whispered. I was surprised how emotional I felt about the information. I was almost forty years old. The incident happened thirty-nine years before, yet it felt as if I had a lead weight in my gut.

“That warning you received was all about our father,” Xander stated as if he knew for certain.

“Likely, which meant the reporter was tipped off just like the one in St. Louis.” Putting two and two together made perfectly good sense. While I had strong suspicions Sara was being targeted for her past as well, I didn’t see the two situations as being combined. At least for now. However, if Jerry had told anyone I’d come to her rescue, there was always a possibility the two horrific stories could be used in conjunction.

Just something else to keep me awake at night.

“We need to be ready for a media blowup.” Xander glanced from one to the other of us.

“We’ll handle it. Who knows. Maybe that will fuel another level of dark needs.” I tried to laugh, but it was getting more and more difficult. I could feel our father’s blood running through my veins. It was entirely possible monsters were bred.

“I’ll check on the reporter in St. Louis and see what I can find out,” Wilder stated.

“I guess I should check on our buddy David and see if I can sweet talk him into illuminating how he managed to get his information.” Xander threw a look in my direction, smirking when he did. “As long as he doesn’t threaten to sue us.”

“I doubt that will happen,” I mused. “At least if he believes we’re made from very bad blood.”

There was a strange silence between us, as if we were all wading in the possibilities. The what-if’s that had plagued us as children. The need to conquer and destroy, to make families of our own,no matter how twisted they might be, had never completely left any of us.

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