Revealed

by Zoe Allison

  Hayden held his gaze. “It’s also a burden—one I could have helped shoulder for you.” He gestured toward Amber. “We both could.”

  Vale blinked. “I know. But one of the main reasons for secrecy is to protect those closest to the person behind the persona. The people who they love most in the world.” He squeezed both their hands.

  Hayden blinked hard and slid his arm around Vale’s shoulders. “There you go again, bro. Protecting us all from the storm.”

  Amber leaned in and kissed Vale’s forehead. “It’s time to let us support you now, Vale. Like how you’ve always been there for us.”

  Warmth trickled into Vale’s veins, the gentle flow of it washing away the heavy weight that he had carried for so long. He pulled his family close, shutting his eyes and appreciating the lightness of unburdening. However, the deep pain in his chest remained untouched.

  “Want to talk about it?” Amber asked him.

  He opened his eyes. “I thought that we were talking about it.”

  “Not that,” Amber said. “Her.”

  A needle pierced his chest, and he sank lower into his pillows.

  “Since we’re unburdening, bud,” Hayden said, “it might be a good time.”

  Vale sighed, still not able to voice anything coherent regarding his feelings.

  “I’m assuming something happened between you two?” Amber said.

  He took a deep breath. “Yes, it did.”

  “So what’s the problem?” Hayden asked quietly.

  “The usual problem.” Vale said. “I am an extremely poor judge of character—with Glassmarsh, with Lorenzo and now with Victoria.” He shifted his gaze from Hayden to Amber. “Though perhaps it seems my naivety only involves members of the same family.”

  Amber frowned. “What?”

  “There is a third Glassmarsh sibling,” Vale said. “Or should I say Moore sibling.”

  Amber and Hayden remained silent.

  “Okay,” Hayden said. “That’s a head fuck. Seems it’s the day for that today.”

  “But I don’t understand,” Amber said. “Vic was, is, on our side?”

  Vale paused. “Yes. But she lied about who she was.”

  “So did you,” Amber said.

  Vale made to say that that was completely different, but then hesitated. Was it so different? He shook his head. Of course, it was. “My real identity is not malevolent.”

  “Neither is hers,” Amber said. “We all know her. She isn’t malevolent. I’ve seen her golden heart shade and she stood in the Impervious fire with no ill effect. She saved your life, Vale. She killed her own brother for you.”

  A tiny seed of hope sowed itself in Vale’s heart. That was true, Vic had saved him. Did it mean that she might still have genuine feelings for him? “Why didn’t she tell me?” Vale said.

  “Probably the same reason we all keep things from those we love,” Amber said. “To protect them.”

  Those we love? “She does not love me,” Vale said.

  “How do you know?” Amber asked. “Did you talk to her about it?”

  He shook his head. “Events overtook us.”

  Hayden squeezed his hand. “Did you speak to her about her past? Find out anything about her reasons?”

  “No,” he said. “I gave her a chance to tell me who she was after I found out, but she still didn’t say anything.” The thought of it made his eyes prick with emotion.

  Hayden frowned. “How did you find out?”

  “I ran a search on the agency, looking for anyone with connections to the name Harvey Moore. It turned up Glassmarsh initially—a list of his previous aliases included his original name, Charles Moore.” He took a deep breath. “Before we were attacked, I went back up to check on the search, and Vic’s profile had been flagged. Her name was originally Victoria Moore, before she changed it to Black and joined The Organization.”

  “It’s a pretty common surname, though,” Amber said. “Did she actually confirm that she was his sister?”

  “I ran a search on the names Charles and Harvey Moore and cross referenced it with Victoria Moore. I found record of three siblings by those names born in the Sydney area between 1900 and 1920. It was too much of a coincidence and the obvious explanation. Otherwise, why wouldn’t she have mentioned that her original surname was the same as theirs? In any case, it was confirmed along the way,” Vale said, remembering Lorenzo’s voice changing and how he had referred to Vic as ‘sis’.

  “It doesn’t make you a bad judge of character,” Hayden said. “You always had me down to a T, even when I didn’t believe in myself. And I’m sure your gut instinct was right about Vic. She’s proven herself to be a good person.”

  “I know she’s not a bad person,” Vale said. “But that doesn’t mean she genuinely cared for me—and yet she made me believe that she did.”

  “Vale,” Amber said. “I know it’s hard if someone keeps an important fact about themselves from you. But you need to look at it from her position, and the only way to do that is to talk to her and get her to explain that position to you.”

  Vale rubbed his forehead. “It is too late for that. She’s gone.”

  Amber exchanged a glance with Hayden. “Okay,” she said. We can talk about it more later.”

  “Thank you,” Vale said. “But I do not think I wish to speak about it again.”

  Hayden squeezed his shoulder. “Listen… You get some rest. Then, once you’re ready, we can all take a break together.”

  Vale’s panic rose at the thought of that. “I can’t leave Priyanka.”

  Amber sighed. “Priyanka is fine. She can run the league with her eyes closed.”

  “It is not that that worries me,” Vale said. “I do not want to abandon her when the going gets tough.”

  Amber stood up. “The going will be easier now. Anyway, Priyanka will tell you the same as we have.”

  Hayden glanced toward the door. “I think she might already be here to do just that.”

  Vale lifted his gaze to where Priyanka was standing just outside the doorway.

  “May I come in?” she asked.

  “Absolutely,” Amber said. She leaned in and gave Vale a kiss on the cheek before moving off toward the door. “We’ll be by later.”

  Hayden ruffled Vale’s hair as he left the bedside to exit with Amber, closing the door behind them.

  Priyanka came in and took a seat. “Well, this has been eventful.”

  Vale laughed, then touched his cheek.

  “That looks painful,” she told him.

  “It is not my worst pain,” he said.

  She looked at him. He could tell she knew exactly what he meant, and it wasn’t his other wound. “Have you heard from her?” she asked.

  He shook his head.

  “Something finally happened between you, didn’t it?” she said.

  He sighed. “Don’t say I told you so.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.” Priyanka leaned back. “However, I will say I told you so if you end up miserable because you didn’t go after her.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “That is not going to happen.”

  Priyanka smiled. “Being miserable…or going after her?”

  “Neither.” Although the first one was already true—he did feel miserable without her. But that would pass, once he had gotten over her. Won’t it?

  Priyanka didn’t seem convinced.

  He sighed. “You know who she is? What she kept from us?”

  She shrugged. “Yes, I know. Catarina told me everything.”

  Why did she seem unconcerned? “And you do not have a problem with that?”

  She met his gaze. “Vale, if you discounted every member of The Organization who has malevolents for relatives, we pretty much would have nobody left. Who they’re related to isn’t a measure of them. If anything, it makes them more admirable, that they’ve risen against their own family because of moral differences.”

  Priyanka was right, and he knew all of what she said to be
true. But that wasn’t what really bothered him. It didn’t matter that Vic’s family were malevolent, sworn enemies of The Organization. That was no reflection on her own character. The problem was that to everybody else Vic’s secret wasn’t such a major breach of trust because their perception, quite correctly, was that she was a benevolent agent doing what she had felt necessary to, successfully, bring down a major malevolent. But for Vale, it was a devastating sign that the woman he had been falling for hadn’t trusted or cared for him the way she said she had and had just been using him to achieve her mission—a fact that he felt was proven by her disappearance.

  Priyanka was confusing his emotions, so he decided to change the subject. In any case, there was something he wanted to ask her. He took her hand.

  “What is it?” she said.

  He met her eye, trying to signal to her that he was going to bring up a sensitive issue. “I want to ask you something.”

  “Go on,” she said.

  He hesitated. “It is about Gareth.”

  Priyanka’s eyes filled and she tried to take her hand from his, but he held on to it gently.

  He searched her face. “Tell me.”

  She took a deep breath. “We were…seeing each other for a while.”

  “For a while?” Why hadn’t he realized? Too wrapped up in my own problems.

  She nodded.

  “What happened?” he asked, gently.

  Priyanka blinked back tears. “I told him we needed to end it.”

  He took in her tortured expression. “Why?”

  She glanced toward the window. “I didn’t want our relationship getting in the way of my job.” Her voice cracked. “Basically, I chose my career over him.”

  Vale squeezed her hand. “Did you regret that decision?”

  She met his gaze. “At times. And now, all the time.”

  What was left of Vale’s own shattered heart broke for her. “I am sorry.”

  Priyanka shook her head. “It’s not your fault.”

  He sighed. “Yes, it is.”

  She squeezed his hand. “Don’t start with that nonsense about your relationship rule. Nobody obeys that, anyway…except you.”

  He smiled and managed to elicit a small smile from her in response.

  She shook her head. “It was my decision. I did what I thought was right at the time. Obviously, I’m questioning it now that he’s…”

  Vale’s mouth went dry. “I know.”

  She blew her breath out through pursed lips. “It’s something I’m going to have to live with.”

  “Can I do anything to help?” he asked.

  Priyanka lifted her gaze. “Yes.”

  He waited for her to elaborate. “What is it?”

  She looked him straight in the eyes. “Don’t make the same mistake I did.”

  His heart rate spiked. He decided it was safest to change the subject again. “You disobeyed my orders.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Which ones?”

  He smiled. “I told you to stay at the prison facility.”

  “And I told you that I would unless I didn’t hear from you,” she said. “Then I would come with the prototype. So I didn’t disobey anything.”

  He shook his head. “I do not know who I have been fooling. I think we have always been running this thing together. I never felt like your boss.”

  “You’ve had to shoulder all the hardest decisions, Vale,” she said, “so give yourself some credit.”

  He glanced out the window. “Amber and Hayden want me to go away with them.”

  “I know,” she said. “I think it’s a great idea.”

  He smiled again, but more carefully. “I had a feeling you were going to say that.”

  She laughed. “I’m sure we can anticipate each other’s every thought by now. We’ve worked together so long.”

  He studied her. “Why do you think I should go? You need me here.”

  She leaned in. “Everything will be fine. I can handle the situation. I already have an idea in which direction I want to take it.” She touched his arm. “And you need the break. It’s time, Vale. Time that you had a vacation. We both know that the rigors of taking on that anonymous persona are huge.”

  Vale’s anxiety about the idea started to abate. Priyanka’s confidence that she could manage without him was easing his guilt. “How long should I take?”

  She smiled. “However long you want.”

  He took her hand again. “You would have made a much better Mr. X than I have.”

  “No,” she said. “I think I would have done things exactly the same as you have.”

  * * * *

  Valentino bowed his head as the humanist spoke. He glanced over to where Gareth’s parents were standing on the grass across from him, holding the urn containing his ashes.

  He rubbed his forehead. Having parents who were around and actually cared wasn’t something he could relate to. Neither could any of his loved ones, not Amber nor Hayden. Not Victoria. Victoria. Every syllable pushed a spear of pain deeper into his chest. He shook his head. Why was he including her on a list of his loved ones? They had never said they loved each other. But I had been starting to think it.

  The humanist concluded his words and Gareth’s father lifted the lid of the urn, letting his ashes scatter to the wind. Someone took hold of Vale’s hand. Amber. He squeezed as they watched the last piece of Gareth fly away on the breeze.

  Afterward, the small groups of people huddled together, remembering Gareth. Vale found himself intermittently glancing around the periphery of the group.

  Hayden nudged his arm. “Looking for anyone in particular, buddy?”

  Vale smiled weakly. “Not really.”

  Hayden searched his face. “I’m sure she wanted to come.”

  Vale looked at the ground. “Did she?”

  Hayden placed his arm around Vale’s shoulders and squeezed.

  Zaina approached the group and gave Amber a hug. “How are you all?”

  “Okay,” Amber said. “You?”

  Zaina sighed. “Yeah. I just wish things could’ve played out differently, you know?”

  Amber sighed. “We all do.”

  Zaina glanced toward the sky. “If Gareth hadn’t gone off grid, he would’ve been there with us at that meeting. I would’ve given him a vest, and he’d still be alive.”

  Amber touched her arm. “It’s not your fault. Gareth made the decision. And it was a sound one. He wouldn’t have wanted Lorenzo getting wind of what he’d discovered. He must have been planning on surprising him and getting him staked for questioning. But the slippery bastard was just too quick.”

  Vale watched Priyanka dab tears away from her eyes. She hadn’t wanted anyone else to know about her and Gareth, so he hadn’t said anything. He waited to catch her eye, then mouthed “Okay?” and she nodded quickly before glancing away again.

  Vale looked down. The rest of the group still didn’t know about his identity, so he had kept his thoughts to himself. Thoughts regarding the fact that if he had released the knowledge about those vests sooner, maybe it wouldn’t have happened. He sighed. He really was ready for the burden to be someone else’s.

  Hayden squeezed his shoulders again and Vale met his gaze. His brother clearly knew what he was thinking, because he leaned in to his ear. “Don’t you dare try to take this one on your shoulders. I won’t let you punish yourself anymore.”

  Vale smiled gratefully and placed an arm around his brother’s waist.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Vale leaned against the stone stack that sat atop the tallest point of Ben Nevis mountain and surveyed the panoramic view.

  “Spectacular, isn’t it?” Hayden said, drawing level with him.

  Vale smiled. “It certainly is.”

  “Move along,” Hayden said. “You’re taking up the whole of the pillar.”

  Vale raised his eyebrows. “It is actually called a ‘cairn’.”

  Hayden laughed. “You’ve only been here a few wee
ks and now you’re the fountain of all Scottish knowledge.”

  Vale shrugged, still smiling. “I like to find out the facts.”

  Amber joined them. “You two need to stop going so fast or people will work out who you are.” She gestured toward a young couple who was staring at them, then leaned against Hayden, who pulled her in front of him and wrapped his arms around her middle. “I know that humankind is aware of your existence now,” she continued, “but we can at least remain individually anonymous while we’re here.”

  The three of them were quiet for a moment as they took in the scenery.

  “Wow,” Amber said. “You can see for miles. What do you reckon those peaks are?”

  Vale pointed out over the view. “Those are the Torridon Hills, that’s Morven, Lochnagar and Ben Lomond.”

  The others were silent, so he glanced over. Amber had her head turned toward Hayden and he was raising his eyebrows at her.

  “What?” Vale said.

  Amber and Hayden both laughed.

  “You,” Amber said. “You’ve swallowed the encyclopedia again.”

  Smiling, Vale turned back to the view. “Well, you did ask.”

  Unexpectedly, Victoria popped into his mind. She would love the view. He had no particular reason to think of her, but as usual, she wasn’t far away from his thoughts.

  The three of them explored the summit a little more before making their way back down to the chalet they were staying in just outside Fort William. They paced their descent in order to not draw attention to themselves, all of them being faster than the average human.

  Vale poured them all a drink and took the glasses across the small open plan area from the kitchen to the sitting space. He took the armchair and settled in with his tumbler.

  Across the living area, Hayden was eyeing him as he took a sip from his own glass.

  “What is it?” Vale asked.

  Hayden leaned back. “Don’t you think it’s time we talked about her?”

  Vale’s heart sank. Thinking of Vic caused a painful implosion in his chest. Speaking about her was even worse. He sighed. “Do we have to?”

  “Yes,” Amber said from her seat next to Hayden. “You’ve avoided it ever since we left London. It’s time to thrash it out.”