“My father was a liar,” I said bitterly, allowing real anger to seep into my voice. “Whatever happened to him, he deserved it.”
The words burned coming out and weren’t entirely true, but I needed to push harder. “Whoever pulled that trigger deserves a medal, not a prison sentence.”
Mario flinched at my words, and I knew I’d struck a nerve.
“You don’t mean that,” he said softly. “He was still your father.”
“A father who was going to hand me over to monsters,” I snapped. “Tell me, Mario, what kind of father does that? He was pure evil.”
“You saw it too?” he whispered, almost to himself. Something in his tone made me sit up straighter. In that moment, I knew I was close to the truth.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen that way,” he said, almost to himself. “The plan was just to use you as leverage. Your kidnapping was meant to remind him of his place, to show him how he could lose it all if he got too daring. He was taking all the power for himself, and he was getting out of hand.”
My blood turned to ice. “You… you arranged my kidnapping?”
Mario looked at me with something close to sorrow, but I wondered if that was an act, too. “Your father was becoming too powerful, too dangerous. I needed something to control him with.”
“And my father… he never knew it was you who led that kidnapping?”
“Well, I suggested it to a crew he controlled,” Mario explained. “The Volkovs. And they told him they made a mistake. It was never brought back to me. I am… sorry, Alisa.”
“Don’t be!” I gushed, wiping at my tears as I leaned forward and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “You saved me, you know? If I hadn’t been put up at that auction, I’d have ended up with that horrible Arko Pavlov.”
He looked at me with surprise, and I pulled back my hand. My heart raced so damn fast because I knew that I was close to getting something good out of him. We had enough to get him off the job, but I still felt like there was more to the story.
“Thank you, Mario,” I said softly. “You saved my life.”
A flash of guilt crossed his face, and then Mario looked down at his hands. “I just hope… You can forgive me… “
“I’ve already forgiven you,” I said, without skipping a beat.
“No.” He shook his head. “Marc was unpredictable. He thought he could outmaneuver everyone. When he started making threats… “ He trailed off and looked up at me, pale-faced, like he’d said too much.
And this was it. My chance to drop the bomb, the hunch I’d been carrying around.
“Tell me,” I asked, leaning forward, letting my voice go cold. “His killer was never found, were they? Could it be, Mario, that you know something about it?”
Mario’s face hardened. All the nicety was wiped right off.
“I did what was necessary to restore balance. This city needs stability, Alisa. Your father was disrupting that. When he wasn’t listening, things got out of control, and yes, I had him killed. He was evil… You know that already.”
I sat there in shock, my hands trembling in my hands. Had Mario Ruben just confessed to murdering my father?
The door behind me opened suddenly, and Mario’s face went slack with shock. I turned to see my husband standing in the doorway.
“Dante Lebedev,” Mario said weakly, rising to his feet. “This is a surprise.”
“Oh?” I feigned innocence, now just to fuck with Mario. “You two know each other?”
Dante let one side of his lip curl in amusement, as though he knew I was now just getting some kicks out of this.
Mario’s eyes darted to me in panic, then back to Dante. “This was a setup.”
“You set yourself up, Mario,” I said, standing to join my husband. “We just gave you the rope.”
“You’re exactly like Marc Montes,” Dante said coldly. “The kind of man who believes his own lies. You think you’re different, better somehow. But you’re just another corrupt official who can be bought.”
“What do you want?” Mario asked, his face no longer composed.
