"I saw the name on the papers in your study," I stammer as the memory rushes back. "The financial records I found in your desk. You have owed him for years, haven't you?"
"Don Moretti is a powerful man. He’s a man of vision. Unlike Morozov, who’s just a thug."
"A man of vision?" I choke out. "He’s a butcher! You aren't trying to save me. You're trying to start a war!"
"I’m doing this for the Blackwood name!" he shouts. "Morozov took everything!"
"The Blackwood name is dead," I tell him, unable to hold it back anymore. "I signed it away. I married him, Dad. I’m Mrs. Morozov now."
The line goes silent.
"You... what?"
"I married him. I’m his wife."
Konstantin’s hand moves up to my throat. His thumb rests against my pulse as it hammers. He leans down, his lips brushing my ear.
"Tell him," Konstantin whispers. "Tell him who owns you."
But my father speaks first.
"Then you’re closer than I thought," he says slowly, plotting. Scheming. "This is good. You’re in his house. You’re in his bed. You can find the records. The Italians need the exact route for theAnastasia."
Tears spill down my cheeks. He doesn't care. He doesn’t care about me. He doesn't care that I married a monster to survive. He only sees a tactical advantage. A spy.
"Do you even know who he is?" I whisper. "Do you know why he took me?"
"He’s a rival, Helena. It’s business."
"It's not business!" I scream. "He hates you. That’s why I’m here! He took me because of what you did to his family. He told me about the ambush, Dad. He told me about his father, his mother, and his sister all dying in that car!"
The line goes quiet. No gasp. No denial.
"One question," I whisper, gripping the phone tight. "Is it true? Did you give Don Moretti the coordinates? Did you help him kill them?"
I wait. I wait for him to call Konstantin a liar. For the outrage.
But the silence stretches on, thick with secrets, until it becomes a confession.
"That’s ancient history," he says finally, his voice devoid of remorse. "It was a necessary business realignment."
He calls the murder of a woman and a seven-year-old girl a business realignment.
Something inside me breaks.
"Helena, listen," he continues. "TheAnastasiais a deep-draft vessel. It can only leave on the high tide.I need you to confirm?— "
Konstantin snatches the phone from my hand. He taps the red button, severing the connection.
"He didn't deny it," Konstantin says softly.
"No," I whisper, staring at the black screen. "He didn't."
"Because he’s guilty."
He tosses the phone onto the sofa. It lands with a soft thud, signaling the end of my life as Helena Blackwood.
"You made your call," he says, turning me to face him. "You asked for the truth, and you got it. Your father is a snake who would use his own daughter as a spy."
