Probably drink myself unconscious.
After a few more minutes, I stand and grab my keys. Maybe I’ll visit them. And on the way, I might find someone else who deserves to die.
I step out the door.
It takes under an hour to reach the house. I would never stay any closer than that. An hour is still too fucking close.
As I pull up, I stare at the estate I am supposed to call home, tall iron gates and stone walls rising unchanged despite the years.
Everything looks the same.
A bad omen.
Even the guards haven’t changed.
I don’t know how long it has been since I last set foot here. Time blurs when a place holds nothing but rot.
This house is haunted. And not by ghosts, by my piece of shit father.
For a moment, I consider that perhaps it is time to kill him.
But first I get my revenge. Then I can deal with my sperm donor and free the world of him. And when the Pakhan finally comes for me, he’ll find me already dead.
I don’t hate the idea.
As I step out of the car, I question why I came here at all. It wasn’t guilt and it wasn’t pity either. It certainly wasn’t conscience.
I have none of that left.
And yet something brought me here. Some instinct I don’t fully understand.
Perhaps I should listen to it.
Still, my jaw tightens with every step toward the door.
Chapter 68
Milo
Just as I step inside the house, a sense of foreboding settles over me.
It creeps beneath my skin, almost nauseating. The air feels wrong, stale, heavy, thick with old memories that have long since soured. I step further inside when my phone vibrates in my hand.
Isaak.
“Speak,” I answer.
“I’ll send you an address,” he says. “We might have someone. Or it may lead nowhere. Either way, we’ll wait for you here.”
The line disconnects. A moment later, the location appears on my screen. I glance at it and see it’s around fifteen minutes away.
For a second, I consider leaving immediately. Instead, I step further into the house.
A woman approaches from the hallway.
Katya.
She has been with this family since I was a child. Her eyes lift to mine as if she intends to speak, but whatever words form die before they reach her lips.
