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“Yes, and when he didn’t, Alexei almost lost his mind. All of those years searching for you, only to have you stolen from him by the very man he paid to bring you back.”
“So, he searched for the Wolf too?”
“Vigorously.” Vlad nods. “But there was never a trace of either of you. I tried to persuade Alexei that you were both dead. There seemed to be no other plausible explanation. But, well, now I realize that the Wolf is as good as the myths surrounding him suggest.”
“You think he’s still alive?” I ask.
“Yes,” Vlad states and my heart sinks through my chest. I believe he is too, but hearing someone like Vlad say that too is like confirmation that I’m not crazy.
“I do too,” I say quietly.
Vlad places his hand over mine and squeezes tightly. “I must go now.”
“One more question?” I ask.
“Of course,” he nods.
“Why didn’t Alexei have me killed too? Why was he so sure I was his daughter if my parents were having an affair?”
“Oh, you were his daughter.” Vlad narrows his eyes at me.
“But how could he know that? Even a DNA test couldn’t determine the truth if he and my father were identical twins.”
“True. But you were conceived while Boris was in prison.”
“My dad? In prison? For what?”
Vlad shakes his head. “Some charge relating to espionage that nobody ever quite got to the bottom of. At the time, Alexei made noises about how unjust it was and how nobody put an Ivanov behind bars. He made everyone believe that it was he who got your father out. But, now I think that it was he who put your father in prison.”
“He could do that?”
Vlad laughs softly. “In Russia, the head of the Bratva can do as he pleases.”
“How did he get out then?”
“I believe Alexei did get him out. He loved your father very much. He was not the same man when Boris wasn’t around. I suspect he believed that once your mother was pregnant with his child, that would put an end to any feelings between his wife and his brother.”
“But it obviously didn’t. And my father always treated me the same as my younger brothers. I had no inkling at all that I wasn’t his biological child,” I say as another rush of emotion almost floors me and I wipe a stray tear from my cheek.
“I appreciate that Alexei did terrible things, and hurt you badly, Jessie. But understand that in his own way, he loved you above all others.”
I stare at him, searching his face. I am convinced that my instincts are right and I can trust this man. “Is that why you helped him take me from the Ryan brothers?”
His eyes narrow and darken. “Yes,” he says solemnly. “I thought it was for the best. I didn’t realize he was going to drug you.”
“Why did he?”
“He was terrified that you would discover he wasn’t the father you knew. He wanted you to discover his side of the story, I suppose, and he needed time to make you dependent on him. To force you to need him. For him, need equaled love.”
“So, how did he find me?”
“This is more than one question, Jessie,” he says as he checks his watch.
“Last one. Promise.”
He stops in his tracks and turns to me, brushing a strand of hair from my face. “You are so very like her,” he whispers. “In so many ways.”
I smile at him, although I’m not sure if he means that as a compliment, but I will take it as one anyway, because my mom was the most amazing woman I ever knew.
