Tried & True (THIRDS 10)

Wait, what? Dex walked around Wolf to stand in front of Sparks. “You have a daughter?”

Sparks nodded.

“That’s why she’s been trying so hard to track me down.” Wolf turned to Dex, and Dex was taken aback by the sympathy in his blue eyes. “It’s why she allowed me to take you, knowing you would be tortured. She was desperate to get her hands on me.”

“Why?”

“While TIN was working to close in on the Makhai,” Sparks explained, “the Makhai was getting to us. I needed to make sure my daughter was safe. Wolf was the only one who knew where she was, and if he was working for the Makhai….”

“Then you had no way of knowing he wouldn’t betray you and give them your daughter.”

Sparks turned to Wolf. “I never believed you would betray me. I was afraid they’d leave you no choice.”

“Because they’d discovered who Hudson was.” Wolf cursed under his breath. His jaw muscles clenched, and he met Sparks’s gaze. “You were right to have worried.”

Hudson drew closer to Wolf, his expression pained. “You would have turned over a young girl to those heartless monsters?”

“And what would you have me do?”

“Not sacrifice a child to save me,” Hudson replied, indignant. “You should know better!”

This was insane. Dex didn’t even know where to begin with all these truth bombs that were being let loose. My God, did he know anyone who led a normal, uneventful life?

“Wolf,” Sparks pleaded. “Just tell me….”

“She’s a perfectly healthy, well-adjusted teenager, leading a very happy life,” Wolf said softly. “She was accepted into the college she’d set her heart on, with a full scholarship, all of her own accord with no help from me. Her boyfriend is a lovely young Human who worships the ground she walks on.” Wolf walked up to Sparks and put a hand to her cheek. “She’s happy, Sonya, and safe.” He smiled warmly, and for a moment, Dex saw Alfie, the man he’d been before betrayal had twisted his heart and turned him into a killer. “She has your eyes and that fiery red hair of yours. A force to be reckoned with, that one.”

Sparks covered her mouth with her hand, a tear rolling down her cheek. “Thank you.” It was then that Dex glanced over at his dad and saw the crushed expression on his face. Dex cursed under his breath. Tony had heard. As if coming to the same realization, Sparks whirled to face Tony.

“You let that psychopath kidnap and torture Dex?”

Sparks opened her mouth to reply, but Tony held up a hand to stop her.

“Did you see him?” Tony asked, pointing at Dex as he took a step closer to Sparks, the quiet fury burning in his brown eyes. “Did you see what he looked like? And I’m not talking about the blood or bruises. I’m talking about underneath.” He shook his head in disbelief. “I understand going to the lengths you did for your child, but you did it knowing that was my child you were doing it to. Jesus Christ, Sonya, he put needles underneath my boy’s fingernails!” As if remembering Wolf, Tony turned to face him.

“You coldhearted son of a bitch,” Tony growled before lunging at Wolf. Dex moved quickly, and it took Sloane, Dex, and Ash to hold Tony back. He spat in Wolf’s direction. “You listen to me, asshole. This isn’t over. I don’t care how long it takes me, I’m going to make sure you end up locked up in a hole somewhere, do you hear me? You’re going to pay for what you did to him.”

“Dad, please.”

Tony shook his head. “How can you even be talking to this guy, Dex?” Tony looked hurt and confused. Dex pulled him to one side, talking quietly.

“I know. Sometimes I don’t believe it myself, but it’s complicated, and no way am I excusing what he did, but if it wasn’t for him, Seb and Hudson might not be alive now. He, um, he’s Hudson’s brother.”

Tony stared at him. “What now?”

“It’s a long story. Basically, Wolf is Alfie, who supposedly died several years ago, but as you can see, he’s alive. He was hired by the Makhai to torture me and then kill me after finding Mom’s file, but when I got away, he voided the contract and pissed them off. We’ve kind of got a weird arrangement of sorts. He has a habit of popping up and helping me out. He helped us find you, and, uh—” Dex cleared his throat. “—he kind of has a thing for me, I think.”

Tony’s eyebrows shot up near his hairline. “I’m sorry, but are you saying the psychopath who tortured you, and was going to kill you, shows up to help you out because he likes you?”

“Yeah, and to protect Hudson.”

Tony narrowed his eyes. “Son, you hang out with some fucked-up individuals.”

Despite the current circumstances, Dex couldn’t help his bark of laughter. “Yeah, my world is pretty interesting. Would you mind if we talked some more about this later? There’s an army of trained mercenaries on their way to kill everyone, so I could really use your help.”

Tony’s eyes widened, but he quickly pulled himself together. “What do you need?”

“We need to put this place on lockdown, and get everyone to the most secure areas of the estate. Thomas is going to need help.”