Page 24 of Black Sheep

It takes everything in me not to melt into the sound of his voice when he just said whatever he said to me. I don’t know what language it was, or what it meant, but it was the first time that his voice has sounded soothing and soft.

Despite wanting to throw the plate at his face, the food is too good and I end up finishing the grilled cheese.

“The salad,” he prompts, nodding to the pile of chopped veggies.

“I don’t eat anything that’s green.”

“Ridiculous, eat it.”

“No. I don’t like lettuce or cucumber or…” I poke at something that’s mixed in with the lettuce. “Whatever that is.”

“A balanced diet is required to keep you healthy.”

“Well like you said, I’m in pretty good health and I’ve never eaten any of this crap before, so I must not need it.”

His nose wrinkles, but he doesn’t argue when I wipe my fingers on the napkin, then fold it on top of the plate.

“How long does this have to be in for?” I ask, jiggling my arm and making the tube connected to it move.

“Dr. Wood will remove it when the bag is empty.”

“Why am I really here, Dimitri?” I ask.

“I’ve told you?—”

“I want the real reason. Not the bullshit excuse about keeping me safe. I want the honest truth. You owe me that much.”

“Fine,” he sighs, pulling his cell from his pocket and typing something. Within minutes, the other two stroll through the bedroom door, looking at me quizzically before turningtheir questioning gazes to Dimitri.

“Ale—” He stops himself before calling me Alena. “Alabama has asked that we tell her the truth about why she is here. I thought it best that we were all here when I explained.”

“It looks like you’ve been busy.” Vik winks.

“I passed out,” I say, wondering why he didn’t know.

“I told you she looked dehydrated,” Dimitri says pointedly.

Lev looks from Dimitri, to me, then back again. “We’ll talk about her… health later.”

Dimitri nods and I try to figure out what that means, but Lev turns and addresses me. “You’re here because of who your father is,” he says bluntly.

“Does he know you’ve kidnapped me? Does he care? He’s never given a fuck about me before. If you were hoping to ransom me or whatever, I think you really did pick the wrong person. Send me home and find another one of his kids, someone he actually cares about.”

“Alabama, your father is dead,” Lev says softly.

“Oh. So, I can leave? It’s pretty hard to get a dead man to give you something.” I laugh.

“He’s dead?” Dimitri asks Lev, a gleam of excitement flashing in his eyes.

“Yes. I got word a couple of hours ago,” Lev confirms.

I don’t know what relationship these three men had with the man they believe is my father, but it’s clear none of them are grieving his death as matching smiles stretch across all three men’s faces.

“How long till they start looking?” Vik asks.

“According to my intel, their jet left an hour ago, the flight schedule that was submitted said they were traveling to America,” Lev says, still grinning.

“Hey, if he’s dead, it means you don’t need me anymore. Right?” I ask.