Page 85 of Reverence
I could have been wrong though.
I slowly pulled the folder free, careful not to disturb the stack above it. Something about this didn’t feel right.
My intuition was practically clawing against my skin, slowly ripping me from the inside out.
I opened the folder and my heart nearly stopped.
A bright red confidential stamp stared back at me.
I glanced over my shoulder, half-expecting Ares to materialise behind me like some entity from a horror movie.
Nothing.
I flipped the folder open as adrenaline surged through my veins.
My eyes widened as they landed on the name printed across the first page.
Rodrigo Montes.
My father.
I didn’t remember much about him anymore. Not his face. Not the sound of his voice. Not the little details that should have remained etched into a daughter’s memory— but I’d never forgotten his name.
When my parents were married, I carried his surname. Amala Montes.
When they separated, my mother made damn sure that connection disappeared with the divorce.
She never told me much about his life. Only what he had been like when they were married.
A good man and a great father. She said it with such conviction that I’d never thought to question her—but a good man wouldn’t be responsible for this.
Would he?
My eyes skimmed over the page.
Primary suspect in the rise of organised crime.
Illegal firearms distribution.
Human trafficking.
My stomach twisted.
My fucking father.
My fingers tightened around the folder and then I saw the next line.
Call sign: Dominion.
Everything clicked. Every unanswered question. Every strange coincidence. Every piece of the puzzle I’d been too blind to see.
The man worked for the military. That’s why my mother had always been so fucking paranoid about my occupation.
That’s why she’d fought so hard against me following this career path.
That’s why she’d severed every connection between him and us so completely that there was nothing left to salvage.
I stumbled backward and the folder slipped from my grasp, landing on the floor.
