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“You needed me out of the way, so you set me up,” I surmise. “You knew Father wouldn’t go to Russia without me. Also that me being away in prison weakened him. Am I right, Igor?”
His jaw clenches. “Yes.”
There.There’s the answer I’m looking for. I’m so glad he didn’t deny it.
Now we’re on the same page, and his mask is finally beginning to slip.
“Where did you find that?”
“It doesn’t matter.” I bare my teeth. “The contract piece belongs to Jason Bell, so you can figure out that part all on your own.”
“Jason Bell has proven to be quite unlike what I assumed him to be.”
“You mean he slipped up?” I smile.
“I do.”
“You killed my father and made it look like an accident, didn’t you?”
He chews on his bottom lip. “I think you already know the answer to that.”
“Why? Why would you do that to him? You’re his brother.”
“Yes. I was the brother who kept forgiving and taking the backseat so he could get ahead in life. But when it came down to choosing, he never chose me.”
“Now’s not the fucking time for riddles. Give me a straight answer.”
“Okay. This goes right back to Russia when I lost my sons. The whole massacre was mainly his fault, but because I was partly to blame, I tried to forgive him. I just couldn’t. When our enemies came for us to dole out vengeance, we were blindsided.” His eyes fill with pain. “That night happened because your father was reckless. Just like you. I was the level-headed brother who did everything by the book to lead and protect my family, but his wild nature caused me to lose my legacy. I was almost certain my father would have stepped in and changed the inheritance laws, so I would become Pakhan and the leader of the Creed when he died, but he didn’t. Nevertheless, I followed along, playing the part.”
“So, this was always about power?” I stare him down, wanting to rip him apart. I haven’t ignored his words about Russia or excused my father of his sins, but none of those make what Igor did right.
“Men like us always fight for power, my boy. But that wasn’t why I killed your father. I’d simply reached my peak of patience with him, and I wanted to take what should have been mine.” He clasps his hands and rests his elbows on the table, leaning toward me. “When you were doing the groundwork for the alliance with the Voirik Brotherhood, your father found out I was doing business with the Lithuanians—his enemies. His investigation revealed that I used money from our company and the Creed’s multinational account to fund steel production there so I could outdo Levitsky Corp. Behind my back, he put the wheels in motion to remove me from the company and hand it all to you. I was also to be excommunicated from the Zaitsev and the Creed. So, I simply took matters into my own hands.”
He's telling me a lot. Maybe too much.
Something isn’t right.
A sudden smile on his face fans the flames of my suspicion.
“Any more questions, Dante?”
“I think you’ve told me all I need to know.”
“Hmmm. I suppose I have.”
Suddenly, the sound of a gunshot slices through the air. It came from inside the house.
Igor widens his smile. “Oh, good, the other guests have arrived.”
We both look toward the double glass doors of the house as Levka walks out with a battered-looking Jason.
When Serenity walks out, too, behind them, with two armed guards at her side and a bomb vest strapped to her chest, terror sweeps over me, siphoning the life from my soul.
Her tear-filled eyes meet mine, and I realize I’ve fallen into my own trap.
ChapterForty-Five
Dante
