The One That Got Away (The Bounty Hunter Trilogy)

Chapter sixteen

Alec stared at Magnus, who had his face in his hands, and then he moved to him, letting his hand go to the others back as if in support. Magnus raised his gaze, his eyes sad, but the look of shame overpowered all. Alec felt like his heart was aching, the goosebumps on his hands evident, but most of all, he felt like he wanted to comfort the other man, to make this look in his eyes fade and be replaced by the usual charm and cheer.

"Magnus, what are you talking about?" Alec asked, trying to understand and Magnus shook his head. He was silent, his hands twisting and the rings leaving marks in his palm. Alec placed his other hand on Magnus's, making the conman startle a bit as he raised his eyes back to Alec's. The bounty hunter exhaled and gave Magnus a reassuring look. "I trust you, remember? You can trust me. You can tell me." he said, his tone gentle and soothing and he felt Magnus relax under his arm a little bit. It filled Alec with slight joy, knowing he could do that.

"Asmodeous was never a good father. He was into some shady business, not as shady as Valentine, but... he specified in sex trafficking." Magnus started and Alec's insides twisted, the horror taking place in his stomach. "When I was young, there were a lot of things I saw, but didn't understand. But our house was like a literal drug den, I could tell you that much. So, when I was about 6, I was at home and playing in my room. My father used to let the very high end clients visit him in his mansion. They were there that night and I wanted to get a glass of water, so I went to the kitchen." Magnus gave an ironic smile as he remembered the incident. "I went in and they were all in the living room. I could smell the smoke of the cigarettes, the alcohol, and well, other stuff... There were a lot of female voices in there as well. I went to fetch the water, not knowing that on the table, there lay a package of cocaine, laid out in the open. I mean, I had no clue, I was 6. So I sat by the table and accidentally knocked it over. The water went onto the cocaine." he said and Alec could hear his voice quivering slightly.

"My father beat me after that and even though I was small, I still understood what was going on. I ran away, resulting in me being in various foster homes. But about a year back, our paths collided, again. He was... different. He wanted me to join him in his operations, talking about how it would be a son and father 'enterprise' and how we could make a lot of money. He knew of my skills by then, he had spies around. I told him know and left. But he didn't stop stalking me after that." Magnus kept telling his story and Alec felt like he was there, picturing the man he'd never met. "Then, we met again, here in New York. By the docks. I was currently here to meet Catarina and I had a place down there, one no one knew about, where I could lay low. But he found me. He always did, eventually." Magnus now took a deep breath, his eyes on the ring, as he twirled it in his hands. Alec's hand was now doing circles on his back.

Closing his eyes, Magnus inhaled again, this time more calmly and the opened his eyes. "I told him, if he didn't back off, I'd kill him. I didn't mean it of course... At least, I thought I didn't. I hoped that I could never be that cruel, to kill my own father. But we got into a fight, he took out a knife and when he tried to stab me, my gun went off. The bullet went through his abdomen, but I'm pretty sure i could've saved him. Taken him to a hospital. But we were so close to the edge of the docks and we stumbled and he-" Magnus's voice was now quiet, almost a whisper as he slid his hand from Alec's, taking it away and crossing his arms, hugging himself. "He fell. And I didn't jump after him. I could've. But I didn't." the conman ended his story, closing his eyes.

Alec stood still, his hand still on Magnus's back but now immobile. He processed this and realized, Magnus was waiting for him to call him out. To push him away, or even act disgusted. But all Alec felt was horror and sorrow, for the things Magnus had to endure in his life. "Hey." Alec said softly, moving to take Magnus's hand again. He would've liked to touch his face, but felt like it was too intimate at this point. "Asmodeous was abusive towards you, so you ran. Hell, with a home like that, I would've, too. And a criminal father, who wants his son to follow in his footsteps? You had a pure enough heart to say no to him. It wasn't your fault he attacked you. And it was an accident, that the gun went off. And if you'd followed him in, you'd both be dead right now." Alec reasoned, feeling his voice get intense, like he was demanding Magnus to understand.