Page 28 of The Fighter
But then my dad hissed, “I know what I said. It doesn’t change that he’s not my blood, and we both know it. Every time I see the boy’s face, I’m reminded of that fucker.”
After that I ran back to my own room, and now I’m shaking and I don’t know what to do. Should I tell Khan what I heard or not? Nothing will ever be the same now.
I lowered the diary and I realized that I’d been holding my breath while reading. Sucking in air, I stared at the pages of the old book where some of the letters were smeared from what I assumed had been Dina’s tears.
Who would have known that in between the pages of trivial thoughts from a twelve-year-old girl lay a bombshell of a secret? Khan wasn’t Marcus’ biological son.
Of course, I had noticed how different Magni and Khan were in appearance, but like Dina, I had believed that Magni was blond after his father, and that Khan took after his family on his mother’s side. Growing up in the Motherlands I was used to siblings looking different because we all had different fathers due to the anonymous sperm donors that were used at the fertility clinics. Maybe that’s why I never thought much about the two brothers being opposites. But now that I thought about it, Khan was a few shades darker than his mother and with a white father, that was unusual.
With my pulse hammering away, I couldn’t sit still any longer. My mind was like an antique popcorn machine popping questions at a high speed, and it made me get up to remove two paintings from the wall to make room for an overview of my investigation. With a picture of Dina in the middle, I plastered the wall with my suspects and the most pressing questions.
Husband – Henry Hudson.
Did he kill Dina in a fit of rage?
Guard Scott (last name unknown).
Did a relationship evolve between the guard and Dina? And if so, could jealousy be the motive for her death?
Who is Khan’s biological father?
Did Erica cheat on Marcus or was she already pregnant with Khan when she married Marcus?
Who knows that Khan isn’t Marcus’ biological son?
Did Dina tell Khan about it? And what about Magni, does he know?
Did Dina find out who Khan’s real father is and is he still alive today?
Could this secret somehow be related to Dina’s early death?
CHAPTER 9
Leo’s Type
Leo
All day Raven was acting weird.
She didn’t give me any of her endless shit about working in the basement and she didn’t poke me or tease me like she usually did.
For my part, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her strange reaction to Gennie the other day, and it was distracting me from my work.
First of all, why would she threaten to break Gennie’s arms if she touched me? It wasn’t like Gennie would be a physical threat to me in any way, and I was none of Raven’s concern. She didn’t even like me much or was that just what she wanted me to believe?
My head kept going back to the first time I met Raven, which had been about a year ago when I was in charge of the security for an ensemble of artists from the Motherlands who were touring the Northlands.
We had arrived at the Gray Manor after a hectic day of fighting and were met by Mila and Raven in person. The two of them had been like two goddesses but opposites in looks. Mila resembled an angel as she stood smiling at us with her large blue eyes and cute dimples. She was the essence of femininity with her blue summer dress and flowers in her blond braided hair. I imagined it would have taken her a long time to arrange her hair like that, while Raven’s black curls were pointing in all directions like she couldn’t care less. She was gorgeous, though, and I had to pretend to rub my forehead clear of sweat just so I could close my eyes and get my heartbeat under control. Raven was wearing clothes, but my imagination had no problem removing the shorts and tank top because she was already showing off plenty of her caramel colored skin.
Get yourself under control.
I had spent the last days with beautiful female artists from the Motherlands, but none of them had made my hands shake like this. If she could read my mind, she would think me a creep because all I could think about was that I wanted to lick her toned legs to see if she tasted as delicious as she looked.
Fucking get a grip!I scolded myself and focused on what was happening in front of me. Solo was talking to Mila’s younger brother, Mason, who was ten and bragging about how good a warrior he was.
“My dad says that you’re the best warrior he has ever trained and that when I can beat you, I can call myself the greatest warrior of my generation.”
“Magni said that?” Solo looked surprised. “How good are you now?”
