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Fair enough. I wouldn’t appreciate a comment like that either.
The room falls silent, filled with tension between Vadim and me.
“Touching family reunion,” Kalash says through a laugh.
“Think on what we’re telling you,” Adrik warns Vadim. He shoves his hands in his pockets and leans on the wall behind him, blowing out a long breath before continuing. “Your father kept a low profile, and he was still a target. He lived as long as he did because he kept his identity silent, at least as much as he could. Pyotr Ivanov sold your father’s identity, and soon after that his enemies killed him.”
My back tenses, pulling me straight as a bolt at the name Adrik just said. That’s Tatyana’s father.
“Pyotr Ivanov… you’re sure of this?” I ask Adrik.
Adrik crosses his arms over his chest and sighs. He nods his head to confirm it.
Tatyana’s father gave away my father’s identity. He’s the reason the attack on the village happened. He’s the reason my parents were murdered.
I bite back my rage, but I can feel the skin on my neck grow hot and spread to my ears. I lean over the edge of Vadim’s desk to hold myself upright.
“Why is he still alive?” I ask Vadim in a low growl.
“He’s not a threat,” Vadim answers confidently. “I’ve talked it over with the elders and we agree it’s not worth pursuing.”
“Our father is dead because of him!” I roar back.
“This decision that was madeyearsago,” Vadim returns in an equal tone. “While you were in America, I was here, building what you see standing today. We’ve lost men to achieve this. Men who were more brothers to me than you’ll ever be.” He points to the rest of the men in the room. “This is my family, and I’m not sacrificing a single one on some trifling vendetta of yours.”
There’s so much more I want to say to Vadim right now, but I’m far past the edge of rational thought. I walk out, heading towards the elevators. When I’m inside, the silence just makes my mind race that much more. I try to quiet my thoughts, telling myself that I can just leave all this behind. I can get on a plane tonight and head back to America.
It’s in the past. There’s nothing I can do to change it.
But I know that’s bullshit.
I slam my fist into the metal wall of the elevator, warping it with each strike. I look at my deformed reflection on the doors, embracing the truth that I feel right now.
I can’t change the past. But Pyotr Ivanov is alive today.
That’s something Icanchange.
Chapter7
VIKTOR
Igave myself the night to consider whether staying here to kill Pyotr Ivanov is worth it and woke up feeling the same way.
It won’t bring my parents back. That’s not what this is about.
Pyotr Ivanov deserves to die for what he did. He needs to face the consequences of being responsible for my parents’ death, along with the death of many other innocent people.
I’m standing in Grigor’s office as he types away, pulling up what information he can find. He writes an address and hands it to me. I take the sliver of paper and read the name:Krasnaya Ptitsa.The Red Bird Cafe.
How quaint.
I march down the length of the hall and out the door, seeing nothing but my mission. When I slide into the driver’s seat, I think of Tatyana. The woman I crave so much.
Last night I saw a look on her I couldn’t place, but now I know. Her words drift through me.
I wish I could make it right.
She feels guilty. She knows something, and she’s keeping it from me. I thought she was innocent, but this changes my entire view of her. She is the daughter of my enemy, and that makeshermy enemy.
