Page 398 of Knox Academy Omnibus
I find myself nodding at her words. She waves over the wait staff and orders a jug of water. She asks if I want anything different, and I shake my head. Once the waiter is gone she turns back to me.
“What do you want to know first?” she asks.
“What are your intentions with me? I’ve been thinking about it over and over and I know your basic history with your twin brother, so I guess I want to know if you’re using me to try and get revenge.”
“I won’t lie and say the thought hadn’t crossed my mind, but hear me out. Before my brother died, he kept a journal. I read about his issues with one of his friends after he died. He thought that he was conspiring against him and they forced him into treatment for paranoia, but I had to know who was doing this and all the journal gave me was more questions. They were trying to remove family lines.”
“Harold,” I mutter and she nods.
“It took me years to figure it out. I tried to join but women were not allowed, so I did what any scorned woman would do:created an empire that could compare to theirs. I had to do some questionable things to get there, but I don’t regret it. So when I said I won’t use you, I mean it, but I can’t promise that I’m not actively looking for an excuse to take him out.”
“So youdowant to join The Order?”
“Pah, I’m far too old, but what about opening your doors in Australia?”
“I thought you wouldn’t allow The Order to set foot in your country because you were bitter about not being let in.”
“No, my dear girl. The Order were terrified of my power and stayed away to avoid my wrath. I love what The Order is capable of – even more so with you at the helm and the changes you’re making – and I want those opportunities to be available to my people too.”
“That isn’t a decision I would make on my own. Something like that would need to be run past my board. As for the Harold issue, it’s being taken care of.”
“Don’t be naïve, that man is a snake and has so many people in his pocket,” she snaps, though I think it’s aimed more at him than me. “I want to kill him, and make him suffer while I’m doing it.”
“Don’t we all. What about your relationship with my dad and his brothers?”
“Marco’s father was English, I had a fling with a man from within The Order but gave him my unmarried surname. With my brother dying it was the only way to ensure the Rossi line lived on anyway. I didn’t want my child associated with Order life, but he started asking questions when he was a teenager. I blew them off until I found out that Samuel – his father – had landed in Australia. He managed to get Marco’s invitation to join The Order to him before my men took him out.”
I gasp just as the server returns with our water. I wait until he leaves before continuing.
“You killed his father?”
“Don’t act surprised. He had orders to give Marco his invitation and to take me out. It isn’t the first time that someone from The Order has tried to kill me. Though your father didn’t see it that way. He packed his bags and got on a plane for the UK. He always hated what I did, yet his anger fuelled him enough to join just to spite me.”
“That’s what I don’t understand. How did he come to leave and live to tell the tale, and if he hated it so much, why aren’t the two of you on better terms now?”
“You’d have to ask him all of those things, though I imagine there’s a fair old streak of Rossi pride in your veins, so you shouldn’t be too surprised to know your father is the same.”
“And my uncles?”
“Even though they technically have Rossi blood, The Order didn’t care if they joined or not. Both decided to work for me instead. They live in Westview Heights. Your uncle Jarva is a very feared man.” She smiles when she says that, like it makes her proud. “And Ellis, he has a family. Milo, Bristol and a stepson named Carter. We’re on rocky ground, but that’s a story for another time.”
“And I take it my dad has an issue with their lifestyle too.”
“A little. That and, once he left, he didn’t keep in contact with them. The Order kept him busy. That brotherly bond just wasn’t there, and life just got in the way once he had you kids.”
“What’s your involvement with Debbie?” I blurt out because if I don’t say it now I will keep it all bottled up until I explode.
“She came to Australia many years ago, and when she walked off the plane my men brought her to me. No one associated with a founding family comes to Australia without me knowing about it. Most of them are shot on sight, but she had a child with her, and my men are not animals. She explained why she fled, that Harold is an evil man, but it’s her story to tell youif she wants. With the danger she was in, she was hoping that your father would take Bex in and raise her, but Laura was a bitch. We got to know each other well. My maid, Saide, had always wanted children but couldn’t have her own. I have a lot of connections and helped her with an adoption. I didn’t realise at the time Debbie had visited your father, wanting closure before she vanished.”
“And that’s when she got pregnant with me?”
“She did, and she later told your father, stupid woman. I could have had you adopted with Bex but he wouldn’t allow that. I don’t know how he got that spiteful woman to agree to take you in, but when you were born she handed you over to him. I wanted to tell you about Bex when you were old enough, but it wasn’t my place. Marco didn’t know about Bex, Debbie didn’t tell him and Saide didn’t know about Debbie or you.”
“Sounds like a huge cluster fuck.”
“That it is indeed. But I’m glad you both know now. Bex is an amazing girl and you’re strong willed like I am. You will need each other.”
“So why did Debbie resurface now?”
