I take a deep breath while my eyes drop to my hands. "It's complicated."
"I have time, my love" he replies. I look up at him to search his face for any sign of mercy. "If I tell you then I need you to promise me something."
He frowns and asks, "What?"
"Promise me that whatever is happening between us will not change and that you will not hurt them." He doesn't say anything, but he reaches over and squeezes my hand. I take that as reassurance, though perhaps I shouldn't. "My father is Radimir Miroslav," I say quietly.
He stares at me with blank eyes. "How are you sure that man is your father?"
"I'm not completely sure yet," I admit. "The blood test has not been done, but he knew my mother and my mother talked about him. Plus he kind of looks like me since we even have the same mole on our neck."
He looks at my neck and then back at my face. "So you know who your father is."
"Yes." He leans back and runs a hand through his hair. "So now what? You don't want me to kill him just because of some blood relationship?" My blood runs cold, so I hold his hand tighter and nod. He laughs a sound that devoid of kindness. "My love, I don't know if you think I am stupid or some soft son of a bitch, but I will wipe out your bloodline for the atrocities they committed."
My eyes widen in panic. "Ilay, please listen to me."
"They kidnapped you," he says as his voice rises in volume. "They shot at me and they left you to almost be raped. Your father cannot take care of you. He never has and never will, because only I have the power to care for you."
Tears well up in my eyes. "That's not fair."
"Fair?" He stands up and lets go of my hand to pace the room. "Do you understand what I am saying? Your family couldnot even protect you. They let those men get to you and they let you get hurt, yet you are sitting here defending them?"
"They didn't know who I was," I argue. "I don't care!" he shouts, making me flinch. "They should have known! They should have protected you the moment you stepped into that house, but they did not! And you almost paid the price for their shortcomings, if you were with me you wouldn't have to fear for your life!"
I stand up and step into his line of vision, trying to make him see reason. "I don't understand what you are asking me, what are you trying to say."
He looks at me as his voice drops to a low and dangerous pitch. "I want you to choose."
"Choose what?" I ask.
"Me or them." I blink in confusion.
"What?"
"Choose," he says slowly. "Your family or me. Depending on your answer, that is how I will decide the fate of their lives."
I laugh dryly. "So this is how it is? You claim to love me but you still want to selfishly keep me from my new family?"
He whips his head around to face me. "You didn't even know they existed until they kidnapped you. That's pretty fucked up even by my standards."
I push his chest as anger flares in my gut. "So what? They didn't know who I was, and this only happened because I took on that stupid case! You killed multiple people in the span of a week and even planned to commit genocide! Do you not see that you are just as fucked up as my fucked up family?"
I am crying now with tears streaming down my face. He steps closer until his face is inches from mine. "Maybe I am, but at least I would have burned the world down to keep you safe. What did they do? They let you get hurt."
"They saved me!" I scream.
"After!" he roars back. "After you were already hurt and after those men already put their hands on you! Where were they when it mattered, my love? Where was your father? Where were your brothers?"
I am sobbing now with my hands covering my face because I cannot breathe or think.
He takes a breath, but he does not stop. "Your father never protected you," he says, his voice cold and cutting. "He was not there when you were growing up. He was not there when your mother was dying. And he was not there when you needed him most. So don't stand here and tell me he deserves your loyalty."
Every word is a knife because he is not wrong, but that does not mean he is right. I look up at him with my face streaked with tears. "And what about you? You think threatening to kill my family makes you any better?"
"I never claimed to be better," he says flatly. "I claimed to be the only one who would do whatever it takes to keep you safe."
I shake my head and back away from him. "Your insane."
