18. MADDY

18

MADDY

Mathew Levi.

Twenty-seven years old.

Orphan.

Multiple foster homes.

Juvenile detention from age fifteen to eighteen for the manslaughter of a former foster parent by stabbing. GED credential received a year later. Medical records have reports of multiple broken bones throughout earlier years, as well as a partial amputation of two fingers on his left hand at the age of eighteen.

I go through Raven's files with a grim realization that his childhood was nothing less than traumatic.

I don't know much about him, and every opportunity to learn gives me bits and pieces, including the mysterious man named Mac who changed his life. Raven himself is a mystery on this island. Also, he is someone most people would rather not talk to.

The other day, Andrew Skiba came for a routine check. And while I filled in the paperwork, I inquired about Raven.

"You are on Raven's team, right?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Do you like it?"

He narrowed his eyes at me with a peculiar curiosity. "Define like."

I shrugged. "He is a powerful man on this island."

"Sure."

"You spend any time with him outside work?"

"Not really. He likes his privacy. Doesn't talk much about his girls."

Girls? Like in plural? "Girls?"

"The current one, Siena."

I stared at the computer screen, trying to focus on Skiba's file, as my blood simmered at this new piece of information.

"They've been together long?" I asked, not meeting his eyes.

"Don't know. It's an in-and-out kinda scenario, I guess." He chuckled, the sound of it low and somewhat bitter. "Why?"

I shrugged. "Just wondering. I like to know my patients."

And I didn't like Skiba. There was something abrasive about him—the way his eyes glided up and down my body, the way he narrowed them at me like he was trying to figure out how his words affected me. I see him here and there. Surprisingly, he occasionally hangs out at local restaurants at Ayana.

The info he gave me bothered me for days though. I looked for Siena's file, but she doesn't have one at Ayana. That's odd. She's been here for two years and not even once came for a routine check.

When Kat stops by to chat with me during my lunch break, I can't stop myself from asking. After all, Kat knows everyone at Ayana. She investigated everyone's files. The only person who knows more about Ayana residents is probably Raven himself.

"Hey, who is Siena?"

Kat sits on the couch in the lounge room while I make myself a cappuccino from the coffee machine.

"Siena Artrout? Why?"

I shrug. "Someone mentioned her. But she has no medical file with us."

"She's not the only one. Why are you interested?"

"No reason."

Her silence is a little too prolonged when she finally says, "Does this have something to do with Raven and her?"

There. So, there is a "Raven and her" situation.

"Are they together or something?" I ask carefully, trying to make it look like I'm super invested in that first sip of spiking cappuccino.

"I don't know what's up, but I'll ask Archer."

"Whatever. I don't need to know about Raven's personal life."

"Liar," she says barely audibly.

I meet her laughing gaze. "Excuse me?"

She chuckles. "I'll find out." She checks her phone and, right away, lights up. "If you are still curious, ask me later. But I gotta go."

"What's up?" I ask suspiciously. It must be Archer. "Spill, Kat. What's so exciting? Tell me something good, considering my life is turning into a disaster."

"It's Dad."

"Yours?" I widen my eyes at her.

She nods, a grin breaking out on her lips. "Archer is flying him to Zion"—she checks her watch—"in about two hours."

My heart thuds excitedly at the word "Dad."

"Kat," I whisper, smiling, "that's awesome!"

"Fuck yeah," she says as I pull her into a hug. "It's a little family time tonight. Well, considering Archer's father is gone. And I hope…" She pulls away from me and exhales a little nervously. "I really hope Dad loves him. They've been talking so much on video chat. And… Well, I hope my dad stays for a while."

"Oh."

"Yeah, considering Ayana issues and Butcher and all that. He and Bishop have a lot in common and have been talking about some security changes."

She gives me a meaningful stare, not saying much more.

"Yeah." I nod.

"Yeah," she mimics me, her eyes narrowing on me. "Okay, girl, ciao."

She leaves, and I smile at the thought that Kat is about to see her father. That makes me think of my own.

I wish I could see Dad. I wish I could sit down and talk about Russian classical literature that Dad used to trash for the most part despite knowing it by heart.

I wish we could talk about Italy and the vacations we used to take when I was a kid.

I wish we could talk about Mom, though he rarely did, because he suspected that the car crash she died in wasn't accidental and blamed himself, and my own memories of her are vague, because I was only ten.

I wish we could go fishing on a river, just the two of us, or with some older locals, not a single bodyguard in sight. That used to be a thing when I was little—less security.

The memories are distant. We used to do a lot of things together before his business started growing fast and more dangerous. Before I went to high school in the States, because it was "safer." Before talking to him became a burden. Before I grew old enough to be an asset, and he decided he could freely decide my own future.

That's what Raven is doing, though he doesn't realize it. He thinks he can bargain with me about my own life. I let him. What I didn't sign up for was being disrespected. I didn't sign up to be one of the "girls."

So, I'm going to make sure he gets a taste of his own medicine.