Into The Light

by Wolfe, H. M.

  Suddenly, Alastair realized that he hadn’t offered the man a seat and he just stood there, in the middle of the room, with his head lowered, waiting for his host to permit him to speak. The former head of the CIA felt guilty, especially since Vincent didn’t seem to be in the best of shape.

  ”Do sit down,” Alastair gestured to one of the chairs on the other side of the desk. ”You don’t look very well,” he continued after a short pause, trying to make his voice sound as sympathetic as he could.

  ”Thank you very much,” Vincent answered, sitting with a sigh of relief. "You shouldn’t worry about me. It will pass...eventually. I’ve been through much worse, but I am not here to remind you of it or to question your decisions.”

  Alastair didn’t reply, lowering his head in shame. The pitiful condition the man in front of him came as a result of his actions. It was the first and only time the then Supreme Dragon lost control over his emotions, letting anger and fury take control, and Vincent paid a high price for it.

  Enraged by Daniel’s disappearance, he blamed the one obsessed with his nephew Sebastian, hunted him down like he was a rabid animal and ordered some CIA agents to torture him. For days, Vincent proclaimed his innocence, asking to be released, desperately pleading and begging for it, until Alastair finally let him go.

  The two men had crossed paths one other time, at Vincent’s express request. He was hospitalized then, treating the wounds the overzealous agents had inflicted on him. When Alastair came into the hospital room, the other man gave him a piece of paper.

  Looking at it, the red-haired man realized that it was Vincent’s will and, without saying a single word, he tore it in small pieces, throwing them into the other man’s face. Then, the Dragons’ House leader turned his back and left, ignoring the voice that desperately called his name.

  ”I am very sorry,” Vincent broke the heavy silence. ”I know how uncomfortable this must be for you, but there isn’t another way, I’m afraid.”

  ”Well, since you came all the way here, I’ll see what I can do for you.” Guilt overwhelmed Alastair, and he could barely stand to look at the man in front of him.

  ”I need your permission to speak to Sebastian one last time. In your and Joraan’s presence, no tricks, no nothing. I have nothing to hide. Ten minutes, no more. Please!” Vincent’s voice sounded desperate, in spite of his efforts to hide it.

  Saddened, Alastair shook his head. ”I’m afraid this is not possible. Sebastian and Joraan died eleven years ago, in a plane crash.”

  ”You hate me that much, Stark? Even now, after all these years?! I should have expected it, you are not the forgiving type, are you? But to tell me something like that only to keep me away from Sebastian...” Vincent hadn’t raised his voice. There was no bitterness in it, only disappointment and disbelief.

  ”Listen, Grant. I am sorry for what I’ve put you through, for what you’ve had to endure all these years. I wish I could turn back the time, I wish everything could have been different, but it doesn’t work that way.”

  ”I see. There is a lot more for me to pay for, isn’t there? Are you not done with me yet? What do I have to do? Kneel at your feet, kiss your shoes, crawl in front of you? Because I am ready to do all of this and more.” The man’s voice was more and more desperate, Alastair almost feeling his pain himself.

  ”Listen, Vincent. I am not lying to you. Sebastian and Joraan are dead. It took a long time for me to accept the harsh reality, but I have finally come to terms with it. As hard as it is, I think you should do the same.”

  Alastair left his seat and, getting in front of the other man, put his hands on both of Vincent’s shoulders, then waited patiently for the realization to hit him. The younger man flinched a little under his host’s touch, but he did nothing to remove his hands. After a while, lifting his head, Vincent met Alastair’s gaze.

  ”You know, Stark, if you would have read my will instead of tearing it up, all those years ago, you could have spared both of us of all this. But you couldn’t help it. You had to show me once more how much you despised me.”

  ”Vincent, don’t do this to yourself, please! I am immensely sorry for everything. I came to understand a lot of things after the boys passed away. All the mistakes I’ve made, all the bad decisions I’ve made... the past still haunts me, in spite of my efforts to straighten things up.”

  ”When you tore up my will...there was also a confession there. I confessed the only crime I committed. It’s not about loving Sebastian, although that was an unforgivable crime, at least in your eyes. No. I killed that Edward MacAllister bastard.

  ”What?! Why would you do such a horrible thing?” Alastair was utterly shocked. So, he was right all the time. Vincent Grant was a twisted, sick bastard after all.

  "Horrible thing?! I should have stayed with my arms crossed, watching how Sebastian was dying a little more each day because of the cruel treatment that soulless bastard subjected him to? I should have ignored his cries for help like you did countless times?"

  Vincent’s voice was passionate, he had sparks in his eyes, but an incredibly pained expression on his face. For the first time in a very long time, Alastair was questioning his beliefs and actions. What if the man in front of him had really loved Sebastian, and he wasn’t just irrationally obsessed with the younger man?

  For once, the former head of the Dragons’ House, decided to let Vincent speak. Alastair wouldn't interrupt him or even assume the worst as he'd done so many times, in the past. He owed him that much.

  ”Why did Sebastian need help? What problems did he have and what did Edward have to do with all of that?”

  ”That fucked up bastard was the problem! Your nephew was terrified of him, but he had no one to turn to! The poor kid put on a happy face every time he was around you because the union between him and that monster was everything you dreamed about! He was sixteen when you threw him into MacAllister’s arms. Sixteen, Alastair!”

  "But Sebastian loved Edward, he was madly in love with him, I saw it in his eyes, they shone so brightly, so... I don’t understand!”

  "Because you were too busy playing the savior of the world, you chose to turn a blind eye to everything that didn’t serve your purpose. Indeed, Sebastian loved the fucker with everything he had. The kid couldn’t believe how lucky he was to be the sophisticated aristocrat’s center of attention. He continued to love MacAllister long after that bastard started to become verbally and physically abusive”. Vincent’s voice broke, his eyes went dull.

  ”What happened then? What made you kill Edward?” Deep down inside, Alastair suspected the answer, but he wanted it confirmed by the other man.

  ”One day, almost four weeks before the wedding, Sebastian came to my place, looking very distressed. I waited for him to calm down, then asked him what had happened.” Vincent closed his eyes, inhaling sharply. ”The bastard broke his promise. He didn’t wait for the kid to turn eighteen, as he promised you. The night before, he’d ripped from Sebastian what was his to give away.”

  ”Are you saying that Edward...raped my nephew?” Alastair asked, brokenhearted.

  But Vincent didn’t answer. He just sat there, eyes closed, head tilted back, tears running down his pale cheeks. For the man, that day, when he held the love of his life trying to comfort him, was very much alive. Even then, after more than three decades, Vincent recalled every detail of it and he felt no remorse for taking that bastard’s life. The man gathered his strength because the hardest part was yet to follow.

  ”No, he didn’t. Not in the strictest sense of the word, anyway. The fucker barged into Sebastian’s room, drunk and carrying a knife. He ordered his fiancee to get naked and, when the kid refused, he brought the knife into the discussion. Sebastian had no choice but to submit, MacAllister taking him brutally and repeatedly.

  ”God damn son of a bitch! How dare he to do something like that to an innocent kid with no sexual experience whatsoever? Why didn’t he come to me, why didn’t he tell me? I would have..." Alastai
r sensed the anger rising inside him, but Vincent cut him short in his flat voice.

  ”You dismissed him, like you did so many times before. Don’t lie to yourself, Stark, you didn’t care about that boy, none of you did. For all the Starks and Blooms with an unstained reputation, Sebastian was a disgrace, the kid who got arrested and served a year in a juvenile detention center for drug possession. Never mind that the boy was framed, in your eyes he was a criminal.” Tired all of a sudden, Vincent fell silent.

  ”I am sorry for all the times I screwed up, so God damn badly,” Alastair started, repentantly. ”I regret immensely that I let the prejudices blind me, that I destroyed what you and Sebastian had, making my nephew fear you. Some two years ago, I finally realized what an asshole I’ve been all this time. Someone put me in my place.”

  Vincent looked at Alastair, a small smile playing on his pale lips. ”I am happy you found someone who could love you as you deserve. For me, Sebastian was the one and only, I put his happiness above all my needs.”

  The redhead studied his guest, a thought crossing his mind, making him imperceptibly flinch. Alastair started recalling how Sebastian had started dating Joraan only two months after Edward’s death and how, soon after the two of them officially became a couple, Vincent completely disappeared from the picture. The Supreme Dragon gasped at the realization.

  "Tell me, Grant, Sebastian, and Joraan... you brought them together, didn’t you?” Alastair asked, curiosity dripping from his voice with every word he spoke.

  ”I’ll tell you, but I also want to know something. What is the name of the man who put you in your place?” Vincent smirked.

  "Of course, I have nothing to hide, and his name is Daniel, the current Supreme Dragon and one of the best hostage negotiators in the country. He is a force of nature, nothing and nobody could stay between him and the things he wants to achieve."

  ”He seems to be a remarkable man, indeed,” Vincent gave Alastair a melancholic smile. ”Don’t let him go, Stark, don’t drive him away. As for Sebastian and Joraan...they were two lonely souls who needed each other and they found one another at the perfect moment.”

  ”Thanks for the advice, Grant, I will take care of Daniel, at least as much as he allows me to. You know, in some aspects, he is just like his father, while in others, the two of them are very different. Anyway, the resemblance is remarkable,” Alastair said affectionately.

  ”I don’t think I had the pleasure of knowing Daniel’s father,” Vincent replied, then he realized. ”Sebastian’s son? The one who disappeared without a trace fourteen years ago...you are talking about him, aren’t you?”

  Alastair smiled so brightly that the entire room seemed to lighten. ”Yes, the Daniel I am talking about is none other than the long-lost son of my nephew Sebastian.”

  ”How… how did you find him? When did he come back? Was it before or after...”

  Vincent stopped the questions flowing like a torrent from his lips, unable to continue. He wasn’t ready to admit the harsh reality of his beloved’s death. Knowing him safe and happy in another man’s arms was one thing. Vincent could live and had lived with that for more than twenty-eight years.

  But finding out that the one he loved so hard was no longer among the living was more than the man could endure. And yet, he had to be strong, at least for a while, to make sure everything would be all right for the one he cared for and protected over the last sixteen years.

  ”Alastair, what is Daniel like? Please tell me about him. I want to know everything about him. Don’t ask me anything right now, in the end, and everything will make sense, I promise.” Vincent looked pleadingly into the other man dark green eyes, waiting for his reaction.

  ”Well, there are so many things I could tell you about Daniel, that the rest of our lives wouldn’t be enough for me to finish, I’m afraid,” Alastair answered in a slightly amused tone. “He is wise, loyal, a trusted friend, a loving husband, a dutiful son and nephew, brilliant, a caring, affectionate father, a supportive teammate..."

  "Perfection, just like his father," Vincent said in a melancholic voice. "Sebastian and Joraan would have been very proud of him, I bet my life on it," he added convincingly.

  Alastair sighed heavily. ”You are right on that one, Grant. During the time he was missing, the poor kid endured hell at the hands of some cruel, twisted-minded monsters. Late at night, when I have trouble sleeping, I often wonder how he managed to survive.”

  Vincent was enraged at the idea that someone could mistreat his beloved’s only child. "What did the bastards do to him? Stark, tell me that they suffered thousand times more!"

  The cold, twisted, cruel smile forming on Alastair’s lips calmed down the other man, letting him know that justice was served. ”Those responsible for Daniel’s sufferings paid dearly for their crimes, he made sure of that himself. You killed Edward for abusing poor Sebastian. His son wasn’t as generous. He let his tormentors live.”

  The look on Vincent Grant’s face was completely relaxed and serene. In the beginning, the man dreaded coming to Alastair, but now he could see how much of an inspired decision that was. He needed to find out some more things before revealing to his host the real reason for him being there.

  "Does Daniel like kids? You mentioned earlier that he is a father of three. Are they adopted or did he use a surrogate mother, as his dads did?" Vincent fell silent, patiently waiting for the explanations.

  ”Gabriel, the oldest, is his biological son and the twins are Tarquin, Daniel’s husband’s, biological children. Anyway, they don’t show any difference between the kids, loving all three of them from the bottom of their hearts.” Alastair’s voice was soft and gentle when he spoke about the young boys.

  ”So, coming here wasn’t a bad thing, after all. Daniel is, according to you, a protective, loving man. I think he would welcome Hayden with open arms.”

  ”He sure would.” The same gentle smile played on Alastair’s lips when he asked. ”Who is Hayden? Is he your son?”

  ”No, he isn’t, although I wish he could have been,” Vincent replied, saddened. ”He is Daniel’s younger brother. Sebastian’s son.”

  CHAPTER 6

  ”What?!” Alastair couldn’t believe what Vincent had just said. There was no way his nephew would have cheated on his husband, the two of them loved each other too much. ”No!” he said, ”you must be mistaken, Daniel was the only child of his fathers.”

  Vincent raised his head, looking his host straight in the eyes. "The only one you and everyone else knew about, yes. Not a living soul, except his mother and me, was aware of Hayden’s existence.”

  ”How did you managed to get your hands on...” For some reason, Alastair was embarrassed, so he left the sentence unfinished.

  ”As usual, by stealing it. Back then, I hadn’t given up my ways completely. I promised Sebastian I would, but since the two of us didn’t end up together, I saw no reason to change my lifestyle. So, I planted someone inside the sperm bank and, at the right moment, the guy did the job for me.”

  "What about the mother? How did you get in touch with her? What was she like? What did she do for a living? Where is she now?" This time, Alastair didn’t stop in the middle of the sentence. If Vincent was telling the truth, and the former head of CIA had every reason to believe he was, then the redhead wanted to know everything.

  ”Shannon was a sweet, doe-eyed girl, who loved children and desperately wanted to have one of her own. The bastard she was with beat her once so severely, that she miscarried. However, she was still able to carry a pregnancy to full term, so I made all the necessary arrangements. When Shannon was six weeks pregnant, I took care of that scumbag she was with. He was another dead body in an alley no one gave a flying fuck about.” Vincent had a cruel expression on his face while saying the last words.

  ”What happened next?” In light of all the things he found out from and about his guest, Alastair didn’t judge the man anymore, he understood the reasons behind his actions. He was waiting im
patiently for the rest of the story.

  But Vincent wasn’t in a hurry anymore. Now, that Hayden’s future was secure, he could stall a few more minutes. It was his way of making Stark want to know more about this great-nephew of his. Also, he intended to find out more about Daniel before deciding who of the two men he would appoint as his beloved godson’s guardian. And there was, of course, Arnett.

  Finally, Vincent broke the silence, smiling brightly. ”The day Hayden came into the world was the happiest of my entire life, the day that marked a turning point in my life. The three of us were happy, we had each other, and it was enough. Shannon had a good job, and I'd started a small business, life was good. But then, Daniel was kidnapped, and everything went downhill again."

  ”When the agents brought you to me, why didn’t you mentioned anything about Hayden’s existence? You could have spared yourself from a lot of trouble and pain...” Alastair’s voice filled with guilt and regret.