Silent Flyght – Chapter 20

“I told Mat you couldn’t be trusted, but he didn’t listen to me. But then again, he’s never really known what’s at stake here.”

Peter edges into the room, closing the door behind him.

“What’s in the cryocontainers, Peter?” I ask, jamming my finger at the wooden boxes along the far wall.

He licks his bottom lip as he considers both Jinzo and me.

“Fuck it. I know what’s in them, and you’re a bastard for getting involved with human trafficking.”

He holds up his hands. “Whoa! Everything is voluntary.”

“Little kids do not volunteer for stuff like this. And parents are deluded thinking this is better than a real life.”

“This is wrong, Peter,” Jinzo stresses. “Does Mat know? Or are you keeping him in the dark about this?”

Peter looks at me. “If you leave tonight, and break things off with Mat, I’ll keep my mouth shut about you.”

I inhale through my nose and hold my breath.

“I won’t say a word to anyone about your failed relationship. You want to stay out of the tabloids? Off OEN? Then go away and leave us alone.”

“Fuck you,” I spit out. “Do you honestly think you can boss me around like this?”

I press my lips together, ready to rip this guy limb from limb.

“Don’t think I won’t do it,” he threatens, raising his voice. “You’re a threat and a liability to everything we’ve built here. And I have a video of the two of you having sex. I’ve had his bedroom bugged for years.”

“My God! What is wrong with you? Why would you do that?” I gasp and think back on the night I just had. It was super sexy and definitely not something I want the greater universe to be witness to. Shit. This kind of extortion would do me in. I imagine all my guys seeing the footage, my parents, my family, my schoolmates, anyone I ever want to do business with.

This is the end. Right here. This is how I lose everything I’ve ever worked for. The sweet and sexy memories I have of my evening with Mat sour in my head.

“He’s way too into you for me to convince him otherwise. I’ve never seen him like this. Usually, women come and go, but you?” Peter’s laugh is bitter. “No. He wants to ‘commit.’” Peter’s air quotes are damning. “Fucking ridiculous. I mean, look at you.” He waves his hands in my direction. “You’re not even half as pretty as the women he normally dates.”

“Wow. You’re an asshole.” I can barely get the words past the blush rising to my cheeks.

“You better stop insulting or threatening Vivian right now,” Jinzo threatens, stepping up in front of me, “or I will deal with you.”

“Oh, yeah? Come try me,” Peter says, beckoning Jinzo to him.

I put my hand out to block Jinzo.

“No. This is insane.” I point at Peter. “You’re insane! Mat is your friend. Why would you betray him?”

“I did what I had to do,” he growls out between clenched teeth. “My back was against the wall, and I had no choice. Everything comes at a price. Everything does.”

The door opens again, and this time we all jump as Mat comes rushing into the room. He lunges for Peter, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him up against the wall. He knocks the air out of Peter with a thump. Peter’s eyes widen as Mat flips him around and hurls him to the ground.

I jump and grab for Jinzo. Jinzo angles me around, so I’m behind him.

I’m in awe as I watch Mat pin Peter with his legs so he can use his hands to communicate.

“Did I just hear you try to blackmail Vivian? That you spied on us having sex?”

I don’t need to hear a voice to understand Mat’s rage. It’s written all over his face.

“She will ruin everything. I told you not to date her,” he wheezes out through his compressed chest.

My world, which had focused to a pinprick, widens as I realize my life is no longer in danger. I really need to work on this whole panic-first mindset.

“Hey, Genius.” I squat down next to Peter and put my hand on Mat’s shoulder. “Think about it. We haven’t even opened the cryocontainer, but I already know what’s inside.”

I raise my eyebrows at him, and his jaw slackens.

“What’s in the container?” Mat asks, and my heart sinks. He doesn’t know. Peter kept him out of this mess.

I close my eyes as I squeeze Mat’s shoulder. He won’t like this news. Not at all.

“Don’t,” Peter warns me. But I’m done letting him dictate the situation. “It’s frozen chickens,” Peter declares to Mat.

I laugh, a spitting guffaw that makes Mat pull back.

“It’s not chickens.” I stand up and tower over Peter. “It’s not fish. It’s not any kind of produce or animals, and you know it. Shall I open it up and show him?”

I stride over to the cryocontainer. Carlos and Ai opened it for me last time. It’s the middle of the night, though, so it may be tough to get Carlos on the line.

“Go ahead,” Peter says, his jaw set.

“Are you willing to deal with the consequences if I open this? Because the last time I opened a smuggled cryocontainer, I still had to deliver the goods. And let me tell you, little boys often have a lot of questions to ask and a rebellious streak when they’re not sedated and frozen.”

Mat’s chest heaves with labored breaths. “Little boys?”

Tears stream from Peter’s eyes, streaking down his dirty face and pooling on the ground under him.

“Yeah, little boys with the Vir gene. Isn’t that right, David Garcia?”

“No,” Peter whispers, shaking his head side to side.

Mat deflates as Peter struggles to get up. “Please, Vivian. Tell me what’s going on.”

I press my hand to my forehead and sigh. This whole situation is giving me a pounding headache.

Jinzo lays his hand on my back, shrugs off his coat, and places it over my shoulders.

“Peter Banderas is an identity that David Garcia’s father bought him at the age of ten. He had passed down the Vir gene to his son and didn’t want him saddled with the stigma of being a carrier for the rest of his life. But now Peter has been trying to help other Vir boys by smuggling them for Athens Industries, delivering them to an elite academy where they’ll train to become…” Jinzo’s eyes lift to the ceiling. “Well, we’re not sure about that part. They go away to something called the Vir Lyceum, and that’s all we know.”

Mat’s eyes close as Jinzo finishes his explanation. He forms a fist and lets it go, once, twice. Then he sighs, and my body loses some of its tension.

“I’ve heard of this place, the Vir Lyceum. I thought it was an urban legend.” He hesitates before standing up and releasing Peter from the ground.

“There was nothing I could do,” Peter cries. “Athens Industries came to me three years ago. They knew my secret and threatened to expose me. I’d lose everything — all my savings, strip my education. I had no choice.”

“You could have come to me,” Mat says, his hands snapping in anger. “I’m fucking mute! You think I wouldn’t have been sympathetic?”

“I panicked,” he says to Mat. Peter lunges for me and grabs my arm. “I won’t let you ruin everything we’ve worked for.”

“Hey!” Jinzo yells, snapping his leg out at Peter’s stomach.

Twisting my arm up and over, I release myself from Peter and back away. Jinzo steps between us. “I want nothing to do with your human trafficking operation. Athens Industries already knows I’m aware of this, and they don’t want me involved.”

I glance at Mat, and his eyes are wide.

“Yes, I’ve known about this Vir Lyceum business for a few weeks.” Mat’s look of betrayal pierces my heart. “When I said I have a lot on my mind, I meant it.”

“It’s not her fault,” Jinzo says. “She was an unknowing participant.”

“I think maybe…” Mat’s hands stop as he looks at both Peter and me. “I think this might not work out between us. You are much more complicated than I originally thought. Fate appears to have been a cruel and lying mistress.”

I suck in a quick breath as I remember the night we just had together. It was fun and passionate and loving, and the mere thought of not having that again with Mat breaks me.

“Please…” I take a tentative step towards him, but he backs away as if I’m infected. I swallow and consider something else. I need Business Vivian to run damage control. “Please don’t let him release the footage of us.” I clear my throat and stomp my foot into the floor, annoyed that I’m no longer able to control my emotions. “I gave you my heart tonight, and everyone will be able to tell.”

Everyone will be able to tell that I was vulnerable, and he dumped me after getting a sex tape. God, how have I continually been so stupid?

“Let’s go, Vivi.” Jinzo urges me out of the room, so I break eye contact with Mat and storm ahead. At the door, Jinzo turns and says, “If either of you do anything to harm Vivian, I will make it my lifelong mission to hunt you down and deal with you in a way only I will enjoy. Do we understand each other?”

I don’t wait around for the answer, but I can only imagine they’re both scared out of their minds.

I know I would be.