Of course she hadn't forgotten her question. "I will if you eat like normal."
Rolling her eyes, she placed some bacon on her toast to make a sandwich and bit into it. She was probably unaware of the little noise she made in her throat, but it made Max smile. He cut his bacon and raised his fork. "We share a love of bacon."
He ate the forkful, swallowed, and then added, "As for my skills, well, that's quite the story." He searched her lovely brown eyes. "I just need your promise that it won't go beyond us. Not even the Skyhunter leaders can know about it."
Since the Skyhunter leaders had previously worked with Max and his brother on a treasure hunt, Honoria and Asher probably suspected the truth. However, Max couldn't tell them outright, or it could land the dragon clan leaders in a massive amount of trouble.
Lavinia sipped her coffee. "As long as it won't hurt anyone, I won't say a word."
He laid down his fork. "That's the thing—sometimes I did hurt people."
Saying the words lifted a weight from his shoulders, although the guilt churning in his stomach didn't go away.
Lavinia asked softly, "What do you mean? I need more details, Max."
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Right, well, the thing is…my brother trained me to work for his special government team. You could say I was a part-time spy. I mainly chatted with people, earned their trust, and, with enough alcohol, usually coaxed out their secrets."
Max met her eyes again, but apart from the pupils flashing from round to slits, he didn't see any sort of horror or disgust. Lavinia took another bite and then asked, "How did that end up hurting people if all you did was talk?"
He shrugged. "Well, sometimes I had to get family members or close friends to reveal secrets they usually wouldn't. And when their friend or loved one disappeared or was arrested, they felt crushing guilt." He swallowed. "And before you ask, I know because I often had to keep tabs on them after the fact, to ensure they weren't connected to whatever organization or individual we were pursuing."
He played with his fork. "The ones who suffered the worst were spouses or siblings. One of them even, well, he hung himself when he realized he'd revealed his husband's less than lawful deeds to a stranger, which led to the husband's arrest."
Stephen Lancaster. Max still remembered his name, even though Antony had always said never to dwell on the cogs in the greater machine.
How his brother had done that for so long—decades—without losing his entire heart and soul, he had no idea.
Lavinia's hand came across the table and gripped his. Her touch sent a rush of ease through him, and he met her gaze again. "I can see you feel guilty even now, which means you didn't destroy them for fun, right?" He shook his head, and she continued, "Are you still doing these jobs for your brother?"
"No. I only lasted a few years and couldn't take it anymore. Thankfully, I'd saved enough money so I could fund my own research for a time until I could find some funds elsewhere."He moved his hand to grip hers, and Lavinia didn't retreat. "I still occasionally help my brother when he asks. Although I have strict requirements as to what I will or won't do. I refuse to destroy an innocent person's life ever again. I'm all for justice, but not the cloak-and-dagger style. It doesn't sit well with me."
They stared at one another for a few beats, and then Lavinia smiled. "Well, I wanted honesty. And I'm not exactly a saint myself. After all, I ensured my father went to jail for the rest of his life."
Blinking, Max blurted, "Pardon?" When she hesitated, he squeezed her hand. "Tell me, Lavinia. I'm the last person to judge."
She smiled wryly, and he waited to see what she'd say.
Chapter Eight
Lavinia didn't know why she'd blurted anything about her father to Max. But she'd seen him hurting, his eyes more honest than she'd ever witnessed, and had wanted to connect with him.
What she'd done to her father wasn't well known. Only a handful of those on Clan RiverRock, plus various members of the Australian DDA, knew the truth.
When Max squeezed her hand again, she lifted her gaze to his. Given how he'd just shared his past and the guilt he still carried over what he'd done, she could reveal hers.
Her dragon spoke up.Remember, honesty is our foundation. Don't hide this from him. He already noticed the scar on our thigh. And if he's a former spy, then he's not going to let it go until he has the full story anyway.
Her dragon was right. Even putting aside the possible spy thing, Max had always followed a lead to the end for his archaeological research as well.
After taking a fortifying sip of coffee, she said, "My father is human. He met my mother while delivering some goods to her home clan in Queensland, which is in northeastern Australia.The clan was small and one of the few consisting only of Aboriginal dragon-shifters. Much like with human British and Irish convicts being sent to Australia centuries ago, dragon-shifter troublemakers had been sent from those countries too. For the most part, in the south, they'd mixed and banded together with the native dragons for survival. However, Clan Nanggurr—that's where my parents met—had been strict about no mixing. Ever."
She'd always wondered if her story would've been different without the purity requirements of her mother's clan. Maybe her parents would've been happy, and her father never would've done what he did.
Stop it.The past was in the past, and she couldn't change anything.
Lavinia continued, "It resulted in dwindling numbers as fewer and fewer dragon-shifters wanted to live under such strict rules, but the old clan leader had been adamant. My father, well, he's white. My mother had to fight to keep me at all. She was kicked out of her clan and transferred to another one that didn't care about interracial couples or biracial children, and from all accounts, my parents were happy for a time."
For years, Lavinia had wondered about that period of history. Because everything she'd learned of her father later on didn't match up to it. The only reason she could come up with was he'd loved her mother and had been a better man for her. Well, up to a point.