Arielle
Was it possible to question everything that you had previously known in a split second? I had always considered myself quite good at detecting lies, considering that I had spent half of my life pretending and hiding my side activities from my parents. Never had I found reason to suspect that Trey Alexander was a double agent.
I took a step towards the two. It was Isabelle who spoke next. "What the fuck, Arielle. I told you to stay in the office."
"I heard his voice in the hall..." I said in a tone that I didn't quite recognize as my own.
"Rebecca." Trey said almost calmly, but it was clear in his eyes that he was anything but in that moment. "You're alive."
I cast my eyes downwards as he walked forwards to close the distance between us. "I'm alive." I repeated quietly.
Trey turned around to face Isabelle. "Can we talk somewhere privately?" He said in a controlled tone, but I didn't miss that his fists were clenched tightly by his sides.
Isabelle opened her mouth to speak before I interrupted. "Please." She pursed her lips before nodding towards the office that the two of them were in earlier.
"You've got ten minutes." I nodded gratefully and turned to walk towards it, Trey following closely behind. I heard the door click shut seconds after I had stepped inside.
I turned around and Trey was leaning against it, his expression dark. "Why." He said quietly.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"
"Don't turn the question against me. I have my reasons. Why did Dominic send you." He gritted in a harsh tone.
"He...didn't." I said quietly, not looking at him. "I met Isabelle's father the morning after we tried to break in." I admitted.
"So you broke in and decided to sell us out?!"
"What the f*ck, Trey? If I was going to do that, I wouldn't have risked my life with the cops that day. Or with those thugs who tried to off you!" I slammed my hand harshly on the desk behind me.
"You needed me to trust you at the time! It's one thing to stick together when the cops are on your trail, but then to sell your friends out to another gang who can offer you something more-"
"You. Have absolutely no right to judge me!" I fumed. "If I understand correctly, you also work for Dominic Versailles, and you've been in this a lot longer than me. You have no loyalties to the Black Phoenix, clearly, so why the fuck are you treating me like I'm a traitor!"
"I have loyalties to my friends! You have no idea why I'm working for Versailles so shut your damn mouth." He snarled at me, starting to get in my face.
"Yeah? Well you have no idea why I joined the Black Phoenix either, so don't be such a bloody hypocrite." I scoffed. "And I never betrayed my friends! I told you I didn't meet Isabelle's father until the day after I broke in-"
"You f*cking got Rex killed."
The words didn't even process in my head for a moment. "Wait what?!"
It was only then that I noticed that Trey's eyes were red and he had dark circles beneath them, as if he hadn't slept well in days. When he spoke again, his voice was completely different. "Rex-Rex thought your had been captured and killed. We went back and I told him not to do anything stupid. He stormed into Vincenzo's office to scream at him, but it wasn't Tristan that was there. His father was. Victor Vincenzo is very rash and won't take no disrespect. He shot him on the spot."
Oh, Rex.
I felt as if a bucket of ice cold water had been splashed over me. I had just assumed that the two of them were fine. Naturally it had been too risky to let them know I was alive. I knew Rex cared about me but not to this extent. I slowly sank to my knees and held my head in my arms. "I-I didn't betray you guys. I really was caught." I spoke in a broken tone. "That night I broke into the office, Dominic wasn't in the estate, but some of his men were. I'm assuming some alarm went off when I came in through the window. I tried looking for the knife, but I couldn't find it. Then I was hit over the head."
"How are you alive then?" Trey asked stiffly. "I don't exactly recall Dominic being merciful towards rival gang members who break into his office."
I looked up at him. "Imagine dating a girl...and then finding out her father is the leader of the enemy gang and you broke into his office." I chuckled humourlessly. "Fate seems to be toying with me. Without Isabelle, I guarantee you I would've been dead."
Trey eyed me warily, as if in disbelief. "I'm telling the truth. You can ask her, or her father." I added and sighed after a moment. "Look, you were right that I lied about why I wanted to join the Black Phoenix. I did it...to find someone who was taken by them a long time ago." I lowered my gaze again. "But I never would have betrayed you and Rex. I never imagined that he would've-" My voice broke at that moment.
"I told you before that we all have our own reasons for joining a gang and while it's far too late to regret my decision, I don't think it's too late for you."
"Rex always stood up for the ones who mattered to him." Trey's voice went quiet. "I guess you mattered to him."
"I-does his mother know?" I added softly.
"Rex hasn't had contact with his mother in years."
"But he loved her. She would want to know that her son-"
"I haven't had time to do anything recently other than clean up Tristan's messes. He's getting reckless, Rebecca. It's more dangerous than ever to work close to him. Better to lay low."
"And you still risked coming here."
"I work for Dominic, like you said. I send him reports from within, but he hasn't requested my presence at a meeting for years."
"Why?" I asked, slowly standing up.
He stared at me for a very long time. "My parents had connections to the Sapphire Blood. Victor was, and still is, ruthless. He killed them both when I was younger and my aunt and uncle took me in. I found out what had happened to them when I was 13. My aunt and uncle kept that information from me because they didn't want me to be burdened with the knowledge and fall down the same path, but I did so anyways when I found out. I was only a teenager, but I tried convincing Dominic Versailles to give me a chance. He refused to drag a kid into this, he said, so I joined the Black Phoenix like you did. Tristan had just started taking the reins at that point, so he needed people. He gave me a chance and I started sending unprompted reports to Dominic through a connection. He refused my help at first, but I never backed down, and eventually I was recruited."
I stared at him for a long time, not knowing how to respond. I knew exactly how it felt like to have your family torn apart. At least Clara was still alive. I couldn't imagine how Trey felt.
"That's why I agreed to fight you that day, you know." I looked up again to see him staring intently at me. "I knew you were lying about your reasons, but you were so determined. That meant you had a good reason. I suppose... I saw myself in you."
"Trey-"
"I don't need to hear you say you feel sorry for me or any of that sh*t." His tone suddenly turned harsh again, causing me to flinch slightly. He closed his eyes for a second before his expression calmed a bit.
There was a loud knock on the door. "Time's up." Isabelle spoke in a controlled tone before stepping inside.
"Can't we have a few more minutes?" I started to say.
"No."
"That's fine. I've said all that needs to be said." Trey said flatly. "Keep yourself alive, kid." Then he turned to leave. "I'll walk myself out."
Isabelle and I both stood in silence for several minutes until Trey's footsteps faded. "Arielle Rebecca Reagan, what the f*ck?"
I balked a little. "What?"
"I give you a simple order, and you can't even be bothered to follow it!"
"That's not true!" I defended myself. "I wasn't trying to listen! I recognized his voice."
"What if you were wrong?!" Isabelle sighed in exasperation. "You can't just go jumping every time you have a hunch."
"Isabelle." I said quietly. "Trey was with me that night. He and Rex...did their best to keep me safe...and now Rex is dead because of me. This is all my fault." Hot tears began to stream down my face as I cried out loud and painful sobs. My hand moved to my chest and I thought about how Rex had tried to talk me out of coming here, and how stubborn I had been.
Through my sobs, I heard a sigh of resignation from Isabelle. She took a step forwards and pulled me into her embrace firmly. I automatically closed my eyes as the two of us just stood there. No words were exchanged, nor were they needed. At that moment, she was the only thing keeping me from completely falling apart.
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*edited*
Hi everyone,
Rex😭. I hate killing off characters, I do, but sadly his death won't be the last in this story.
Lots of love,
-Cindy