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“He’s just a baby. He won’t remember any of this. He can’t tell anyone what happened here. You don’t have to kill him. You can… You can adopt him off! Give him to someone who will love him.”
Anyone but yourself,I think.
“Sure, I’ll send him off to live in some nice suburb somewhere. Then he takes a DNA test and discovers his bloodline. Things will end exactly the same if he learns who he is and comes back for what is mine.” Kreshnik shakes his head. “Absolutely not. I’m going to claim the Viktorov Bratva as my own, and I can’t have any irritating loose ends coming to ruin that for me later. Even Sergey has to die, whenever he finally comes back.”
“But you two were working together.”
“The man is a means to an end,” he says carelessly. “They all have to die, Piper. If you don’t pull them up by the roots, the weeds grow back.”
I can’t even summon the words to argue. I stare at Kreshnik. He doesn’t look human to me. He is cold and vacuous. The kind of energy that drains you. Was he like this before Arber died? Or is this all from grief?
“You may think I’m a monster, Piper. But I’m protecting my family. I’m building a legacy.”
“A legacy of waste and bloodshed. Of broken families and dead children. How could you want to sit on that kind of throne?”
He shrugs, a sick smile on his face. “Human flesh adds a nice cushion.”
My stomach turns, but I can’t dissolve into despair yet. I can’t give myself over to hopelessness. Not while Benjamin is still breathing. Not while I still have fight left in me.
“You lost your son, and it was…” I shake my head. “It was horrible. I’m sorry it had to happen.”
Kreshnik’s smile vanishes in an instant. “You make it sound inevitable.”
“He stormed Timofey’s house armed to the teeth. He shot into a crowd of innocent people. How would you have handled something like that?”
“Arber was always… impulsive. I would have punished him for what he did. Timofey didn’t give me a chance.”
“I know you’re grieving. I feel bad for you, truly. No parent should ever have to lose their child.”
“I didn’t lose him!” His voice ricochets off the stone walls. Benjamin jolts in his arms. “Timofey Viktorovstolehim from me. You talk about my path of destruction, but my son was beheaded and left on my doorstep like the morning paper. What about the rot Timofey leaves in his wake?”
“Then be better than him,” I say. “If you think what Timofey did is so egregious, then be better. Killing an infant makes you just as bad as he is.”
Having been at the party Arber shot up, I don’t have any qualms with how he died. The man was deranged. He only would have gotten worse with more time and power to wield. But I can sympathize with Kreshnik all the same.
“Once you exact revenge, your son will still be dead. You won’t have an heir to sit on your throne. So… what’s the point?”
For a second, Kreshnik stops. He blinks and looks down at the baby in his arms.
It’s like he’s awakening from a bad dream. I’m sure he’s seeing everything around him in a new light.
And it gives me hope. I’m going to save Benjamin and myself… and I’m going to do it without violence.
Then Kreshnik laughs.
He tips his head back and cackles. The sound fills the room like a toxic cloud. It makes it hard to breathe.
“You’re so right, Piper,” he says, sarcasm thick in his voice. He holds Benjamin out as if he’s going to hand him to me. “Here’s the baby back. My mistake. Now, we can all be friends, right?”
I know he’s being facetious, but I nod anyway. “We could try.”
“Timofey is going to try to kill me whether I apologize or not. I don’t even blame him; I’d do the same thing. That’s what this world is. It is death and vengeance. If you can’t stomach it, I suggest you leave.” He scoffs. “Well, I would suggest that. But it’s too late for you. I hope your time playing House was worth it. Because the game ends today.”
He glances towards the door and then down at his watch. Sergey has been gone for ten minutes. They wouldn’t say where he was going, but I think I already know.
“If you hand Benjamin to me now, I can try to make Timofey spare you,” I say in one last desperate attempt to change the tide. “If anyone could convince him, it would be me. I’ll fight for you.”
He arches a brow and assesses me. Once again, I’m reminded of how few clothes I have on.
