My vision swims as pain throbs in jagged waves at the base of my skull, but I force myself to look at him, to show him I’m unafraid.
“You see, my dear Fiona…” He folds his hands in his lap like a priest about to deliver last rites. “Our families have been connected for a very long time, and I was so happy when I finally found you.” He shakes his head. “Then that pezzo di merda hadto kill one of my men before he could deliver you to me properly. But what can we expect from a savage, right?” He tosses a hand in the air. “We’re together now. So I choose to forget the past.”
My world turns upside down.
The break-in. The man Aleksei killed…
Oh my God.
But why did this man send someone after me? What am I missing?
The room suffocates me, as if the walls themselves are creeping inward with every breath I take.
“Who are you?” I whisper, already afraid of the answer.
“I am not finished with my story.” He tsks. “I have to get to the best part.” When he realizes I’m not going to interrupt again, his smile sharpens. “A long time ago, a woman was told she had to marry a man she did not want.”
He leans back, his features tightening like the memory of it is pissing him off.
“I did not blame her. The Russians can be…not very nice. But you should know all about that, no? Of course, you were in bed with the wrong Russians. History does love to repeat itself.”
What the fuck is he talking about?
“Can you just tell me whatever it is you’re dying to say and stop with this cryptic bullshit?”
He laughs. “I really like you. You’ve got that spunk, like someone I used to know.”
The more he talks, the more I wish he’d just get to the damn point.
“Are you going to kill me or not?”
He clutches his chest like I wounded him. “Of course not. I am only here to tell you a story. To make you understand why I had to do this. It is necessary for you to listen. Then you can talk.”
My God. I’ve dealt with men like him before. The ones who think charm is a weapon. Who smile while bleeding you dry.
And he has all of it. The charisma. The calm. The messiah complex woven into every syllable, like I should thank him for whatever horror comes next.
I dig my nails into my thighs, glancing around the large warehouse-type space, trying to find any chance of an exit. But there’s none. If I run, I know they’ll kill me.
“As I was saying, that foolish, reckless woman refused the path laid out for her. She did not want the marriage. So she did something unforgivable.” He pauses, eyes dancing with sick anticipation. “She killed him.”
Well, that’s not good.
“She ran off with her bodyguard instead.” He shakes his head. “Brought shame to my family. And I do not tolerate shame.”
His tone is light, but there’s something deadly curled beneath it. A rot in the foundation of his words.
“Her marriage would have ensured lasting peace between the Russians and my family. But instead, she set fire to all of it. And many men, good men, died because of her selfishness.” His gaze hardens and the mask slips, giving me a glimpse of the madness in his eyes. “And for that, you must pay the price.”
A tremor runs through me. “What do I have to do with any of that?”
His smile grows wider. Almost tender.
“Don’t you see yet?” He leans forward, elbows on his knees, and for a moment, it’s like time slows down. “Your mother’s sins are now yours, my darling granddaughter.”
A cold numbness floods my limbs. His words echo, rattling through my chest, ripping through everything I thought I knew.
Granddaughter?
