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“But it wasn’t, was it?” she asked softly.
I took a towel from the rack and draped it around my shoulders.
“No, it wasn’t. Someone had ordered the hit. Someone who didn’t want to chance that his escapades with an escort might one day come back to bite him in the ass.” He was a ruthless man who silenced anyone who might stand in his way. Guess that was something we had in common.
“Who would do such a thing?” She sounded appalled.
“A politician. He was running for office and didn’t want anyone finding out about my mother. If one of his rivals had gotten their hands on her, she might have talked.” Which had been the most bitter pill to swallow. My mother wouldn’t have talked; she never had.
Katya shook her head. “I can’t believe it. How did you find out?”
“I know the man who had my mother killed because Sokolov told me. And over the years I’ve gathered proof. It’s probably not enough to convict a man like him in court.”
“It’s all about him, isn’t it? The reason why we…”
She didn’t finish her sentence, but we both knew what she was about to say. The reason we couldn’t be together.
If only that were true. If only I hadn’t vowed to hand her over to the man who’d groomed me to take down the politician. The man I’d sworn my allegiance to. The man who had earned his revenge as much as I had.
She grabbed my hand. “I can’t possibly know how you feel, but getting vengeance by killing someone can’t be the only way. It would hurt you as well.” She took a deep breath, as if bracing herself. “If it were me, I would try to let it go, just as I did with Baldy. I’m trying to forget what he did. I’m trying to put it behind me. Every day that he’s here, it’ll remind me of what happened. And when I remember…I can’t breathe right. I wish you could let it go as well.”
I shook my head. Never. I could never do that.
Her eyes strained. “You can just out the politician. Ruin his career. Let him serve time.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
I looked her in the eyes. “Because the politician is my father.”
25
KATYA
Viking and Elena got married after he narrowly missed taking a bullet in his brain. It was a sad affair, as the bride was obviously reluctant, and their daughter wasn’t even present. Viking had sent her away because of a threat from the Morelli clan, but not before I reunited her with her mother, even if only for a short while.
I tried to look at it on the bright side. At least after Viking married Elena, Sokolov and his dreaded nieces had finally left and peace had returned to the mansion. Over the few weeks since the wedding, things somewhat returned to normal.
All that drama had made me all the more determined to lead a normal life. I went to college, aced my exams, and stayed clear of Kristoff.
My smoking hot, damaged-to-the-core Russian Kingpin was off-limits to me. He’d chosen his path, and there was nothing I could do to steer him from it. Kristoff Romanov lived and breathed vengeance. He wouldn’t stop until the man who had ordered the murder of his mother paid. I couldn’t blame him. I remembered the first few moments after I’d found out my mother had died in a car crash. I had blamed her stalker, the man who had driven her to running from him and being in that car. I’d even told Kristoff that I’d wanted her stalker dead. Worse, in my moment of grief, I had almost given the kill order. Some days, when my grief overwhelmed me, I still wanted to go find the asshole and kill him. Why should he live, having caused the death of another? On other days, when I was more sane, I remembered my mother’s positive outlook on life. She wouldn’t have wanted me to go down a rabbit hole of vengeance, especially not in her name. Just as she wouldn’t have wanted me to pursue a man who wouldn’t put me first. I needed to honor that. For her, but most of all for me.
To give myself a push in the right direction, I’d agreed to go on a date tonight. I told Kristoff I was going to a friend’s. Yuri left me there believing I would spend the night. As soon as he was gone, I got back in my car and drove to a restaurant, where I met Josh for dinner.
So far, it was going well. Josh was charming, attentive, and amusing. He seemed a bit heavy on the alcohol, but maybe I was imagining things. Too bad I didn’t feel even a bit of a spark when he put his hand on mine. Maybe I should have tried harder. Or maybe my expectations were too high. I reminded myself to be realistic. Sizzling, life-altering attraction which steamed up your panties only happened in romance novels or movies.
Deep in my heart, I knew it was going nowhere. I wasn’t sure if he felt the same because he kept making not-so-subtle sexual innuendos.
Right now he was telling an elaborate story about wines and his parent’s vineyard. Finally, the waiter came to take our orders, and his monologue ended.
“What’s the special?” Josh asked.
“Shredded steak in a white sauce with asparagus.”
Josh nodded as if this tidbit was of great importance. “Ah, yes, your special steak. We’ll have two of those.”
No, we wouldn’t. “I’d rather have the salmon, please.”
