"Zee."
"—men not washing for—"
Zen stood from the chair in an abrupt movement and came to her. "Zee, focus!" she snapped her fingers and Zephyr halted her rambling, frowning at the seriousness on her sister's face.
"There's only one man in the city I know about who wears an eye patch, and I sure as hell hope it’s not him because he's..." Zen bit her lip, her brown eyes troubled. “He’s dangerous”
Zephyr felt her brows furrow. "Wait, what are you talking about?"
Her sister tugged at the long sleeves of her nightgown, one she wore to bed like an old lady. Zephyr knew it made her feel secure. "A guy with the eye patch owns the SLF building. And Trident Towers. And half of the city. He's some big hotshot in real estate on the face of it. I never got his name but there’s a rumor he’s heavily involved in the underworld, and I kinda believe it. You don't get all this without being powerful, and that kind of power in this city—"
"—is dangerous," Zephyr completed, letting it sink in, wondering if he was the same guy her sister was talking about, and if so, why the hell would a man who owned half the city fight barefist in a shady basement illegally? It made zero sense.
"You never heard his name?" she asked.
Her sister shook her head. "I don't think anyone has heard of him in normal lives, per se. I only know about the eye patch thing because one of the girls at SLF told me about him. She was an employee of his, I think? Anyway, her father beat her up and the eye patch man sent her to SLF. She was there for a while, you might remember her. Jasmine?"
An image of a woman with the left side of her face swollen, a tattoo forcefully branded on the line of her jaw, popped into her mind. "I gave her a chic bob. She sobbed afterward. I remember. "
"Yeah," her sister's eyes were somber. "She told me a bit about the eye patch guy. Said he gave girls from the streets... security. And if some girls came through looking for it, I should definitely mention that and give them a number to contact. But I don't know if it’s your Alpha."
The silence continued for a bit as they both mulled over the news.
Was he the same man? Was he involved in the underworld? If he was, should she even consider trying to pursue anything? She’d always been a good girl. She paid her taxes on time, she helped old ladies cross the street, and she followed the law. And while Alpha had never had much regard for the law and his sense of morality had always been skewed, being involved in the underworld was an entirely different ballgame. If the eye patch man and Alpha were the same, should she even try to contact him again and involve herself in the midst of it?
Zephyr remembered the lack of recognition she’d seen in his gaze, and it didn’t hurt as much now that she was not overly emotional. But now that she’d found him, she was already itching to go see him again, to find out who he had become, understand his in-between, get his excuses. She wanted the stories of his scars, the workings of his mind, the intensity of his eye.
She wanted him, even if he was the underworld man.
And if he didn’t remember her, she needed to offer him something valuable, something that would make him give them the time to fall again.
The seed of an idea blossomed in her mind—an insane but enlivening idea.
"You said he owned the Trident Towers, right?" Zephyr voiced, the idea solidifying in her brain. She was crazy. Trident Towers were one of the most expensive office complexes in central Los Fortis.
"Oh no," Zen pointed at her face. "I know that face. Whatever you're cooking in your head, don't."
Zephyr blinked innocently. Her sister groaned. "You'll get yourself in deep trouble."
She waited.
"Ugh," Zen huffed. "Yes. Just don't get yourself killed."
"That's a low bar."
Her sister threw a pillow at her head before walking toward her door. "Knowing you..."
Rolling her eyes, Zephyr poked her tongue out as her sister left, the wheels in her brain turning.
Quickly opening her laptop, she spent the next hour diligently searching for the public records of ownership for Trident Towers and SLF, needing to confirm if the eye patch man and Alpha were the one and the same. It was all registered to one address.
AV Security
28th floor, Tower A,
Trident Towers, Zero Avenue
Los Fortis - LF001A