Page 98 of Vexatious Queen

“I came to see my son. You’ve been so hard to reach, but this is a nice surprise. I get to see both my children at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone and all that.”

He moved toward me, and I stepped back.

“You’re not my father,” I said, and the corner of his mouth turned up.

“So, it is true. Your mother whored herself out to Edmundo and got knocked up, and now you know.”

Anger burned in my gut at the insult.

“My mother was not a whore. You are,” I growled.

“You are so much like your mother. She didn’t know her place either, and it’s obvious that you inherited the same disrespectful behavior,” he said, glaring at me.

“Dad, don’t talk to her like that,” Sabastian said, grabbing Christov’s arm.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Christov said, glaring at Sebastian like he wanted him dead.

“He knows the truth,” I blurted, drawing his attention back to me. “I, at least, had the decency to be honest.”

“Oh, and what truth is that? One your mother made up in her deceiving mind to turn you against me. She was great at that. Twisting everything to make me look like a villain when all I ever wanted was to love her.”

“You’re full of shit,” I said, and took a step closer, holding his icy stare. “My mother never loved or wanted to marry you. You manipulated the situation and made it happen. The truth is that Sabastian is not her son but the product of your affair, and you’re the asshole who has lied to him for his entire life.”

Three things happened at the same time.

Ivy walked in with food and froze.

Christov raised his hand to strike me.

And I…reacted.

Expecting the hit, I used one of the moves Nash had taught me and grabbed his wrist before taking his feet out from under him and pinning him to the floor.

I’d been dreaming about this moment for a very long time.

“Get the fuck off of me,” Christov snarled.

I twisted his wrist and made him wince.

“Never mention my mother again. You’re a monster. You always have been and always will be, and the only good thing that came from the entire charade you call a marriage is Sabastian. He is everything you’ll never be and then some.”

“I always wondered if you were mine, and now I’m happy that you’re not,” he growled.

Letting him go, I stepped back and glared as he stood.

“The feeling is mutual.”

Sabastian moved to get between us, but I held up my hand, keeping him at bay.

“You’ll get what’s coming to you,” he said, and I smirked.

“I’ve heard that more than once from bigger assholes than you, and I’m still standing. So, bring it if you dare. But remember that I have the Mikhailov and the Genovese families backing me. Who do you have now that Lawrence is…no longer with us?”

He snorted, straightened his suit jacket, and then looked at Sabastian.

“I want to speak to you outside, right now,” Christov ordered and walked out.

Sabastian gave me a look that I couldn’t decipher as he followed his father, leaving Ivy and me alone.