Fiona brought him to her private study. It was the only room Bradley didn't have a key to.
Yana was cleaning the cuts on Wolf's back. The alcohol stung, Fiona knew it did, but he sat like a statue.
Fiona was reading a personnel file she had pulled from the archives.
"Lenny is your father, isn't he?" Fiona asked.
Wolf's head snapped up. The pain in his eyes was sudden and raw. "How did you know?"
"Blood type," Fiona said, tapping the paper. "And the fact that he kept you here, hidden, instead of handing you over to the police. He hates you because you're proof of his infidelity."
Wolf looked down at his hands. "He said I was garbage."
"One man's garbage is another man's weapon," Fiona said.
She slid a piece of paper across the desk.
"This is an employment contract. Orozco Security Firm. It's a subsidiary of my family's company. If you sign this, you are no longer a squatter. You are a private security contractor."
Wolf looked at the paper. He couldn't read well, Fiona could tell, but he understood the intent.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because I need someone who hates them as much as I do," Fiona said. "I will give you a life, Wolf. A name. A purpose. In exchange, I own your loyalty. Until death."
He didn't hesitate. He picked up the pen and scrawled an X.
"Done," he said.
The door banged open.
Bradley marched in, Lenny trailing behind him like a whipped dog.
"Fiona!" Bradley shouted. "Lenny tells me you assaulted him and stole a prisoner!"
Fiona stood up. She didn't look at Bradley. She looked at Lenny.
"Yana," Fiona said. "Call the lawyer."
She picked up a document from the printer.
"This," Fiona said to Bradley, "is a draft of a lawsuit. The Crown vs. Leonard Smith. Charges: Child endangerment, violation of labor laws, and assault on a minor."
She threw the paper at Bradley.
"Lenny has been keeping an undocumented minor on palace grounds for five years. Enslaving him. Beating him."
Bradley scanned the paper. His eyes flicked to Lenny.
"Is this true?" Bradley asked.
"I... he's my son, sir, I can do what I want-" Lenny stammered.
"You idiot," Bradley hissed.
Bradley looked at Fiona. He saw the trap. If this went public, the 'Humanitarian Prince' would be ruined.
"You want to protect this... boy?" Bradley asked her.
"He is my employee," Fiona said. "Touch him, and I sue."
Bradley clenched his jaw. He turned to Lenny.
Slap.
Bradley backhanded Lenny.
"You're fired," Bradley said. "Get out. Before I have you arrested myself."
Lenny gaped. "But sir..."
"OUT!"
Lenny fled.
Bradley turned back to Fiona. "You're pushing it, Fiona."
"I'm just cleaning up the mess," Fiona said sweetly.
Bradley stormed out.
Fiona turned to Wolf. He was looking at her with something new. Awe.
"Go to the Regent's estate," Fiona said, handing him a slip of paper with an address. "Tell the man at the gate 'The serpent sends the wolf.' Vane will be expecting you. Train. Come back when you can kill a man with your bare hands."
"Yes, Mistress," Wolf said.
He left.
Fiona sat down, exhausted.
Her phone buzzed. An email from Icy.
Subject: Gala Schedule :)
Fiona opened it. It was a minefield. Icy had scheduled herself for the opening speech, the first dance, the toast. She had relegated Fiona to "greeting the elderly."
And at the bottom, a note: Special toast at 9:00 PM.
Fiona smiled.
9:00 PM. That was when Icy planned to drug her.
Fiona looked out the window. The sun was setting, painting the sky in shades of blood and gold.
Tomorrow, the garden would be a battlefield.
