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Mouth tight, I nodded. “I know he is.” That didn’t mean I had to like it.
“The body may be frail but the mind is not weak,” Kuznetsov rumbled, sinking back the final dregs in his wine glass. “This plan has been underway for a long time. Ever since you became involved with them, to be precise.
“You can judge me as you want, granddaughter, but I pushed back retirement from my position to ensure that you see justice for what happened to you.”
Discomfort tunneled its way inside me. His words would mean something if I trusted him, but how could I?
He could tell me anything and make it fit a narrative that would get me on his side.
There was one undeniable truth that he couldn’t run away from—he hadn’t come to me. I’d had to find him. The concerned ‘grandfather’ role, until he put weight behind it, was just an act.
Thus, I dismissed him and his help. “I could handle this on my own.”
“No, you couldn’t. This is power beyond anything you’ve come across. We’re not just talking about some dirty cops in the NYPD. They’ve infiltrated the most powerful offices in the US. And that’s not accounting for the European and Asian bodies—”
“If you’re so worriednow, where were you when I was being passed around as a cum dump?”
He flinched, his muscles locking up.
Good.
The truth fucking hurt.
When it didn’t look like he was going to reply, Conor frowned at him. “If this Brotherhood of yours is so all-fired powerful, and if you’ve existed for so damn long, then why did you let them come to be in the first place?”
“The Union protects, but we do not intercede unless necessary. My predecessors were staunch believers in that ideology.
“The Old World Sparrows came to exist because they were Brothers who were annoyed at our isolationist ideals. They believed we didn’t involve ourselves enough with active government so they created a body of power where they could fulfill their own goals.
“As with everything, it usually starts from a good place and quickly spirals out of control.Thisis why we stay back and monitor the global stage. Involving oneself too much can lead to corruption and manipulation of the society we strive to protect.
“It was only after the Sparrows came to be that we began to evolve our own methods. We pushed Brothers into office and we passed laws to protect a nation’s core values to stop them—”
“Why didn’t you keep gangs from forming? Why does the mafia even exist?” I butted in. “How is crime still a thing—”
He interrupted me right back, “Because we police laws, not people.”
“That’s bullshit,” I scoffed. “You’ve been doing a shitty job in the US recently then, haven’t you? Not so observant lately.”
Kuznetsov scowled at me, but Conor mused, “That makes sense.”
I gaped at him. “It doesnot.”
“It does. People die. Laws don’t.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Star’s correct, though. Those addendums to the Clean Water Act that just got passed were riddled with loopholes. Never mind all the other bullshit laws that get through every fucking day.”
“Loopholes that only exist because of dirty money flowing into political parties that is used to elect corrupt officials,” I grumbled, interrupting him.
Kuznetsov shrugged. “Would that act have even been voted in if it weren’t for our support?”
“Of course, it would—who’d be against clean water?”
Conor stilled. “He has a point, Star.”
I scowled at him. “Dammit, you’re supposed to be on my side, not his.”
“Iamon your side. Why would I be here otherwise?”
“Does it look like I don’t have a mouth?”
