Page 165 of Reckoning

He tilts his head, waiting.

“They, they put something in me.” I whisper. “My father did.”

He frowns. “What do you mean?”

I gulp, moving my hand to cover my belly. “He kept pushing the surgeons to try again. And when the transplants failed he must have figured a new way to make me useful.” I know I’m waffling, going all about the houses to explain this but to say it out loud, to say those words…

“Tell me, Sofia.” He growls softly.

“The Devil’s Heart diamond.” I whisper. “He put it in me. He hid it in me.”

His eyes widen, he drops his gaze, staring at the spot that I’m covering.

“Who told you that?”

“Blue Eyes.”

“You can’t be sure then…”

“I am.” I am certain. I can’t explain how I know but in my heart I do. My father was a callous, manipulative piece of shit. Of course he came up with the idea. He was the one who came up with the plan of kidnapping people and selling organs in the first place. Of course, Roman thinks I didn’t know that fact but I knew a long time ago, I just didn’t understand what it was that I was seeing.

He shakes his head, curling his body up and pulling the covers tighter around me. “We’ll deal with it.” He says. “Together.”

Koen

Ileave her sleeping.

It’s not that I want to but her brother is downstairs, as is the Governor. There’s going to be enough of a fallout from today’s events. If I can take some of that load, if I can do anything to make the next few weeks easier for Sofia, then I will.

I stalk down the stairs, letting my boots crunch against the immaculate carpet. I’ve got guards on the door, guards by the lift, men in the kitchens too. I’m not taking any risks, especially considering what Sofia confessed.

Roman is stood a metre from Hastings. They both look in the midst of some sort of debate but they fall silent as I walk in.

“Well?” Roman asks.

“She’s asleep.” I state.

Hastings huffs. Roman glares at him but I ignore the pair of them.

There’s another man here, a man in a suit, standing like he’s used to slithering about on the peripheries, getting his hands dirty when no one notices.

“Who the fuck are you?” I growl.

I was very specific about who was to be let in here. Random strangers were definitely not on the list.

“This is Magnus Blake.” Hastings says in a tone that puts me even more on edge.

The man smiles politely enough, holding his hand out for me to shake.

“Who the fuck are you?” I repeat.

He glances up the stairs, revealing more in that one action than he probably meant to. “I appreciate this has been somewhat eventful for you all, but this situation must be resolved.”

“This situation?” Roman says, taking a step closer, as if he too wants to gut the man.

Hastings shakes his head. “There is no need to fight about this. Let’s just discuss this like adults.”

“Like his buddies have taken that approach so far,” Roman spits. “They kidnapped her, they raped her, no doubt they were going to carve her up like a pumpkin…”