“Lemme guess: Niklaus Varro.” A pause. “What happened?”
“The plan went south,” I answered. “Someone snitched and told him he was about to be framed for the bombing of a shipping warehouse.”
Her brows arched in disbelief, as if she was starting to connect the dots.
“That leaked information gave him an edge, and he used it to his advantage,” I continued. “He sabotaged our plans, erased every evidence linking him to the bombing, and then disappeared.”
Silence.
“By the time we realized that he was two steps ahead of us, it was too late. We’d already blown up the warehouse.” I paused, watching the mix of anger, shock, and disbelief in her eyes. “Someone needed to be blamed for that. And it couldn’t be him because he’d wiped everything that could link him to it.”
She rose to her feet. “So that’s where Vetrov came into the picture.”
I have a subtle nod.
“I don’t get it. Why would he take the fall? Was he under duress?”
“People will do anything when money’s involved,milaya.”
“So he was paid for it?”
“Not him,” I answered. “His family.”
Another pause.
“They needed the money badly at the time becauseheowed some dangerous people a shit ton of money,” I explained.“Vetrov was already drowning in debt, and the collectors had threatened to kill him and his entire family.”
Her expression began to shift, softening as though she were starting to see the whole thing through a wider lens.
“The Bratva offered him a good deal. We were going to pay off his debt so his family would be spared. In return, all he had to do was take the blame for the bombing.”
She stared into my eyes in silence, her previous anger dissolving into something I had yet to name.
I stepped forward, closing the distance between us. “Vetrov’s family is only alive today because he took that deal. So the man you’re fighting for owes everything to us.”
She swallowed hard, her chest heaving with slow breaths. “It still doesn’t change the fact that your organization blew up a building and killed six innocent people just to frame one man.”
“That’s the problem with you,milaya,” I said, halting close to her. “Everyone’s innocent until proven guilty. But sadly, that’s not how things work in my world.”
“They were dockworkers, Karik,” she said, her eyes boring into mine. “What could they possibly have been guilty of if not of working to feed their families?”
A pause.
“The warehouse was just a front,” I said. “Trust me, you don’t wanna know what really went on underground. So when I tell you those men were far from innocent, you’d better believe me.”
“Bullshit!” She pushed against my chest. “You’re just trying to justify your evil.”
“And you’re just being deliberately naive.” I grabbed her wrists midair. “Open your eyes! The world isn’t black and white, and neither is this case.” My voice had risen a bit higher than I’d intended.
I continued, much calmer this time, “There are powerful forces at work here that you don’t understand. So, for the love of God, know when to quit.”
She looked me straight in the eyes and said, “No,” bluntly.
I hesitated, watching a flicker of defiance dance in her gaze. “You’re the most stubborn person I’ve had to deal with.”
“And you’re the most unbearable person I’ve ever met in my whole life.”
Silence.
