Page 287 of Vexatious Queen

“Christov…what are you doing,” Patricia asked, stepping back, hands up.

Either this was all part of the plan, or he was going off the rails. I was praying for number two.

Vicky looked at me and then her mother before finally holding out her hand for the gun. My pulse spiked, and my heart thundered in my chest as she wrapped her fingers around the handle.

“I don’t know how to shoot a gun.”

Vicky yelped when Christov yanked her closer to me.

“It’s not hard, just point and shoot. If you miss her from this distance, you’re an idiot,” Christov laughed, but neither the joke nor the sound was amusing.

She shook her head. “I’ve never killed anyone. Why are you making me do this?”

“You are Genovese’s daughter? Pathetic.”

Christov grabbed Vicky by the back of the neck. She screamed as he forced her to bend over at the waist so she was staring me in the eyes.

“Don’t you hate her? She took your life. She stole the love of your life. She took your family name. Your father. Now your legacy. The empire that was supposed to go to you is now hers. Everything she touches, she annihilates. This is your chance to take back everything she’s stolen from you.”

He let her go, and Vicky slowly lifted her arm. The gun was pointed at my chest, but her hand shook.

“He’s right, you have taken everything from me,” she said, voice soft and calm.

Christov gave me a smug smile.

“Loooook whoooo takkking,” I growled, but it came out muffled.

Christov smirked and then grabbed the edge of the tape and ripped it off. I winced from the sting but glared at the man who had systematically destroyed lives with a sadistic smile on his face.

“Have something to say? Any last words?”

He mocked me with a smile that only the devil could love.

“Do you really think this is going to work? And what is the plan here? Kill me, frame Vicky, and then what?”

He kept smiling, and I wondered if this insanity was what my mother saw before she shot him.

I was focused on Christov, but I noticed Patricia inching across the room to a duffel bag in the corner. It all made sense, now, and everything clicked into place.

“Vicky, this isn’t about revenge. It’s about control,” I said, leaning forward as much as I could with the restraints.

“You may hate me, but I’ve never lied to you. You know that. Deep down, you know that despite everything. I’m the only person who has ever told you the truth, even when it was hard to hear. They want you as a pawn to control our father. They know that he loves you and would do anything for you, even keep you out of prison for murder. But what would he have to give up to make that happen?”

I licked my lips when she didn’t say anything. Vicky’s light hazel eyes filled with tears, but behind them was pain and anger.

“The choice is simple. Kill Ren, or I’ll kill your mother,” Christov said. “Who do you love?”

“Vicky, this is bigger than me. Our father loves you with all his heart, and he would never force you to do something like this. He would never threaten or blackmail you. Christov plotted to kill me and my mother when I was just a child. That is why she ran. Is that really who you want to side with?”

Her hand shook harder.

“Vicky, I knew then what you know now. She needs to die,” Christov whispered in her ear. “All your problems will be solved. All you have to do is pull the trigger.”

“Please, Vicky,” I said softly. “I’m your sister, and I love you. No matter how we got here, you are my family,” I said, and the tears spilled from her eyes.

“I can’t do this,” she said.

“Yes, you can,” Christov urged, his voice edged with violence.