Page 92 (1/2)

“Yes, sir,” the bartender said as he et you all set up with one”

I nodded and er

I took the drink he slid me “Restrooms back there too?” I asked

The h,” the guy said crudely “Management frowns on that”

I wanted to punch hied to force out a chuckle “Good to know Thanks” I nodded at hirabbed the drink By the time I reached Luca, all the other chairs around him and Aleks were taken Most of theboy with him The boy was in his early teens and very petite with fe black hair In reality, I couldn’t be co on the h his pants

The kid had dead eyes

Just like Aleks’s had always been

I schooled my features into a mask of indifference as I went around the chairs and set Luca’s drink down on the table next to him When I went to stand behind his chair, one of the ood to see you”

“Mr Stark,” I said with a nod It wasn’t the fucker’s real name… he was just an avid fan of superheroes I’d never worked for him, but he’d tried to lure me away from Marcus at one point The ht and sold kids like they were a new pair of shoes, and he preferred girls

“A shame what happened to Marcus,” Mr Stark said After Marcus’s death, people hadn’t bothered with his alias anymore “I was so happy to learn you weren’t at the hoedy struck,” the man said to me “You were always such a valuable asset to our community,” he added

If I hadn’t wanted to slit the guy’s throat, I would have found the situation hu to add to his security team “And of course, the news that Aleks had survived as as like on the lottery or so,” he said with a chuckle “Mr Oak here” – he used the hand he was holding his drink with to point at the man who had the child on his lap – “was actually disappointed he’d already e preference for Aleks”

The lare but it was clear the man was correct because the fucker then leered at Aleks

“Yes, I believe you reached out to e,” Luca said in a bored voice as he reached for his drink but didn’t take a sip “Your… ‘acquisition’ is quite lovely, but Aleks and I are still getting to know each other, aren’t we, my sweet?” Luca dropped his hand to Aleks’s head and Aleks obediently looked up and nodded

My gut wrenched painfully because I could see Aleks was one hundred percent there… no escaping into his head, no blackout