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Lukas cursed.
“Of course, we weren’t always in Georgia. Your area has smaller groups, not comparable to my empire.” He held a fist in front of his mouth. “No, definitely not comparable. But absorbing them into mine proved easy enough.”
“What are you talking about?” Riley snapped.
“After we heard about Blaire’s place in the Vasirian world, I moved us from Florida. You see, we can’t have her around ruining everything.”
“She’s saving us, you moron!”
The red-haired man glared at Riley.
“She is a plague.” He looked at Charlotte again. “My sweet girl. You understand that I had to keep my identity from you, don’t you? Before you knew of Vasirian, I had to stay away. I knew about you, though. When your mother died, I was heartbroken. I couldn’t keep you. I couldn’t stand the thought of raising you alone without her. A reminder of what I’d lost.”
“You’re disgusting!” Riley stepped forward, and Seth grabbed her around the waist. “Screw that guy. Let me go!” She stabbed a finger in the red-haired man’s direction. “You expect us to believe you’re her sperm-donor? Like that makes a difference! She doesn’t know you! What gives you any claim to her?”
Blaire shook her head. “What kind of father abandons a baby like that?”
“Oh, come now. You children don’t understand.” He frowned as if sad.
Charlotte knew he wasn’t. The man had no feelings. How could he be her father? It made her stomach sour.
“I went to Ireland on an assignment and met your mother. It was a whirlwind love, and you were conceived in only a few months. I was granted an extension on my visa to stay with her, and once you were born and she passed, I gave you to the orphanage.”
“I don’t care! Why are you here now?” Her eyes burned. She wanted answers for so long, but now that the man in front of her was telling her history with clinical detachment, she didn’t want to know anymore. If he wasn’t her father, he knew enough about her to know her birthplace and about the orphanage where her mothers adopted her from. But anyone could find that information if they dug deep enough.
“Oh, Charlotte, I love you. Don’t you see? Now that you know about these monsters, you can come with me, and we can build a bigger empire. You can even bring your Korrena. He can join us.” The deranged smile that crossed his face made her stomach knot and sour.
“Fuck that,” Aiden said, his hands running over her arms. “You can take your empire and shove it.”
“You expect us to believe you run an entire organization with Vasirian at your beck and call?” Dominic crossed his arms. “You’re human.”
“Well, when you have the kind of money I have to grant someone unfettered access to any vice they desire, people tend to fall in line—Vasirian or human.”
“Great. So he’s rich,” Riley grumbled.
“I still don’t see how that matters,” Charlotte said. “Aren’t all of you rich?”
Dominic shook his head. “Not exactly. Those of us who follow the law and come from families who’ve been around a while have more assets than most, but rogues typically abandon their families to live a life away from the rest of our kind. They lose access to the things the Blackthorn Clan grant our kind and lose the support of their families.” He looked at the red-haired man. “If a human has enough money at his disposal to provide a comfortable life, coupled with access to things they couldn’t get easily—like drugs and weapons, it wouldn’t be a stretch to believe he could manipulate them to do as he wanted.”
“But they could easily overpower him. How the hell?”
Dominic looked at Riley. “If he dies, what happens to his assets? It’s not like they have claim to any of it. His longevity benefits them.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Riley threw her arms up. “Idiots.”
“Money and vices control even the most powerful men.” The red-haired man shrugged. “Think of human government. How many of them are swayed by lucrative donations despite having the power to crush the ones who offer them riches?”
“Anyone else over the monologue?” Riley jutted her hip to the side, crossing her arms. “Blah blah blah, I’m so rich and powerful I manipulate people less fortunate to get what I want. Seriously. Can you be any more obvious? All you need is the thin mustache to twirl in your fingers and you’ll have nailed the smarmy villain role.”
The man glared at her.
Charlotte looked down at her feet.
This man didn’t care about her. He only saw an opportunity to get to Blaire by appealing to a daughter’s heart, thinking she would fall into his arms once he made contact. She wasn’t an idiot. She knew better than to trust a man who abandoned her without a second thought—if he was even the man he claimed to be.
Using his underling’s obsession and heartbreak against him to isolate her so when he made himself known she would come, having no one else to trust. That by knowing the supposed truth, she would trust him and help him get his hands on Blaire.
It sickened her to consider any additional reasons he had for his behavior. Why was he involved with the Vasirian if he was a human? What made him use his fortune to manipulate them? What did he gain from that?
