Page 92 of The Circle

He makes a “poof” gesture with his hand, like a mediocre, boardwalk magician.

“But in the world of the Russian elite, it didn’t matter to anyone where he came from and why no one had heard of him prior. All that matters is that he has shown himself to be three things that no one wants to upset: Wealthy, influential, and vicious.

“And when all those who were involved in the accident that claimed the lives of Zander and Yolandi van den Berg had been dealt with, Mr. Gorny gave explicit orders that that was that. Done. Finished. And his word had become law.

“I daresay that at this moment, Alexei Gorny is the most powerful man in the Russian Federation. Even though he doesn’t live there and doesn’t actually exist. But those are irrelevant details. Truth is only truth if you believe it, and people believe in the power and omnipresence of Mr. Gorny. For anyone of consequence, Alexei Gorny is the truth.”

He now moves back up the steps to the stage. Still talking.

“So, with those matters handled and my concerns about your safety assuaged, I was finally in a position to turn my attention back to the lone unresolved piece of business I needed to address…”

He once again sits in the seat beside the table with the diamond on it. He strokes it almost exactly like he was stroking Andra’s hair.

“My diamond. I did still want it returned. Obviously. I have no intention of selling it again or, indeed, ever letting it go. Too much pain has been endured over this diamond to let it out of my possession now that I have it back. But there was one problem. When I went to retrieve it… it was gone.”

He looks right at me when he says it. Because I’m the one who stole it. Me and Christine. During that period after we had taken it from Zander’s safe, before I walked away and went to work with Brasil. During that time when I was still unsure about Alec and thought that rather than just stealing it for kicks, Christine and I could use it to change our lives. We could sell it. We could take the money and run away to… wherever.

So, Zander has been watching us this whole time. All these years. He’s known what we’ve been up to all along. Everything we’ve been doing. And he’s just been lying in wait. And, more than anything else about him, that’s what makes him a threat.

Someone who can play a long game that long, that complex; someone who—as he just laid out—can convince an entire country that he is real and cause it to bow to his will, is someone to be feared. And that means that it’s not just us against him. It’s us against the whole fucking world.

The good news, if there is any, is those are basically the same odds as always.

“So, now we get to the part I’m sure you’re most curious about,” he goes on. “It was never my intention to remain shielded from you for so long, Alec. But you three”—he shakes his head, laughing a bit—“you three are quite something, you are. First, Danny walks away, then you and Christine find yourselves pregnant, then Christine loses it and you go off to bury your sorrows in Eliza’s bosom…”

What’s strange is that for all the things that have been said and all the intensity swirling around us at the moment, that’s the statement that causes Alec, Christine, and Eliza to react most visibly. As though for all the wounding and damage done by all of us, each to the other, that’s the thing that stings the most. I don’t really give a shit. I wasn’t there and only just learned about it all. But for them, hearing the sneering tone Zander uses when he says it triggers something.

No matter how strong someone’s will or how resolved their constitution, emotions are still emotions and deep hurts are still deep and hurtful, I suppose.

Whatever the reason, the temperature in here just rose a couple degrees.

“What a fokken mess the three of you have been, man! Heilig fokken kak! In any case, I had resolved to simply handle the matter in what would have been an inelegant but effective manner and just torture Danny until he handed this diamond back over to me, but I realized that wouldn’t solve my greater concern—putting my family back together. That, it seemed to me, would truly, truly settle accounts.

“Because, you see, it’s not the diamond unto itself that was the source of my, shall we say, consternation. It was this.” Again, he points at Alec, Christine, and me, sweeping his finger back and forth. “This… relationship of yours. This… thing you have. I fear it is the thing that poisoned my son against me. Ever since Alec met you, Christine, and you, Danny, it’s been one great drama after another. For ten years, it’s been nothing but stress and strife and conflict. And, honestly, my brush with the great unknown that is death caused me to realize something. The most important thing in the world… is family.”

Oh, go fuck yourself. This concerned father act does not wear well and I wonder how much of it Alec is buying.

“I knew, however, that until this thing of yours was dissolved, there would never be any hope of bringing you home. Of restoring what remained of the van den Berg legacy. So, I first reached out to Lars. Because… poor Lars. I knew he felt the same way. I knew all he wanted was to have you back. To be a part of your world again, Alec.”

Jesus Christ, the attempt at emotional manipulation is so fucking transparent it’s easier to see through than the perfect diamond sitting beside him.

“So, I reached out to him, carefully, slowly bringing him into the reality that I was still alive. And, as luck would have it, the easiest way to do that was through Mr. Fortnight here.”

The fuck? What does that mean?

“When Danny’s former—and now late—partner, Mr. Lynch, started trafficking women—specifically Russian women—without making proper arrangements with those who are responsible for such things, Mr. Gorny was asked if he could intercede in order to clean up the mess that was being made. In other words: Brasil Lynch was cutting into various bottom lines into which he need not have been cutting, and Alexei Gorny was called upon to restore order. What a happy coincidence, eh?

“At the start, I had assumed that the path of least resistance would simply be striking a deal with Mr. Lynch. He wanted to continue doing business. And living. So, the suggestion was made that if he would deal with Mr. Fortnight and retrieve this diamond, there might be an agreement to be reached that would allow him to continue his affairs unperturbed.

“But Lars, smitten as he had become by Ms. Keene, and eager to assume some autonomy apart from Alec’s doings, suggested an alternative solution.”

Here we are. Here it all comes.

“Lars asked me if I would kill Danny,” Christine cuts in abruptly, interrupting the monologue, “is what he’s saying.”

Zander doesn’t speak. He sits, waving for her to continue.

“He told me that he had something to tell me. Something big. That he had a, as he put it, ‘a way to get Alec back for all the things he’s done.’ And I was still so angry over… well, everything… that I told him I’d do whatever he wanted to make Alec… pay. I suppose.”