Page 36

“Nuh-uh. I only want to be the cool aunt.” My sister glares at me. “You better hurry up and worship Sasha so she agrees to have your children.”

Sasha forces a smile, but her attention immediately slides back to me as she mouths, “What’s wrong?”

“Come and join us, Kirill,” Kristina says. “Viktor and the others, too, if you like.”

Karina grins. “Yes, join us!”

I give Viktor the signal. “Take him.”

Silence falls on the dining table as two of my men head to Konstantin. His eyes widen when he realizes the reality of the situation.

He has the audacity to look at me with a betrayed look, as if I’m the one stabbing him in the back and not the other way around.

“Kirill…?” he asks in a choked voice.

Karina latches onto his arm and glares at me, shrieking, “What are you doing? Tell them to let him go.”

Sasha swings up from her chair, but her tone is gentle as she asks, “What’s wrong?”

“He attempted to kill you and is vying for my position, among other things that I’ll fully investigate.”

Konstantin struggles against my men. “What the fuck are you talking about? I’ve never done that!”

“I wouldn’t expect you to admit it easily, but we’ll get to that point. Take him to the basement.”

“No, please.” Kristina’s voice and body shake as she gets to her feet.

She’s been watching the whole show with a pale face and bulging eyes as if she can’t believe the turn of events.

“There must be an explanation for all of this,” Sasha says, her attention on Kristina and Karina, who are trying to claw at the guards fruitlessly.

“I already know the explanation, which is why I’m taking him for his punishment.”

“Kirill, please…” Kristina’s eyes fill with tears. “He’s your brother.”

“It’s because he’s my brother that I have zero fucking tolerance for his betrayal. Viktor, take him to the basement. Now .”

He and the other guards comply. Konstantin is dragged away, despite fighting and cursing and asking me to talk this out.

Karina starts kicking and screaming and hitting me in one of her extremely dramatic episodes, but I have no time for her nonsense, so I push her away.

The most drastic of the bunch is Kristina. The more she sees her husband being taken while fighting, the paler she gets. Tears stream down her cheeks, but when she tries to go after him, she loses her balance.

Sasha catches her and sits her back down, then gives her a glass of water.

Konstantin goes crazier at that, and he nearly manages to escape the men’s clutches, but he has no chance when Viktor takes over.

Once he’s out of sight, I go upstairs without another word.

I choose not to hear Karina’s screams and wails, Kristina’s brittle pleas, or even Sasha calling my name.

The traitor will pay, no matter what those women say.

I go to my office, open the safe, and retrieve the old Russian copy of Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Although I found nothing weird when I first looked into this, I still kept it in the safe. Maybe because I already knew Roman wasn’t the type who did things arbitrarily. He wouldn’t have just put a book in the safe, even if it was his favorite.

The door to my office barges open as I’m laying the book on my desk. Sasha storms in, looking as fierce as a warrior, even though she’s wearing a loose navy blue dress. I think those are her style now, even though they’re staggeringly unflattering.

She stops in front of my desk, her eyes blazing with fire. “What are you doing, Kirill?”

“I told you. Punishing a traitor.”

“I don’t believe anything you’re accusing him of. You don’t have any proof.”

“Makar does. He showed me his exchange with my dear brother.”

“You…met with Makar?”

“And killed him, but not before he revealed the identity of who put him up to plotting your murder.”

She shakes her head a few times as if she’s not hearing me. “I refuse to believe that Konstantin would ever do that.”

“Then you’d be as na?ve as he made sure you’d be.”

“There’s more to it. You must feel it, too. This is Konstantin! He always respected you as a brother, even when he had to pretend he hated you.”

“Maybe the hate part is real, and this whole thing was a pretense.”

She releases a long breath, her shoulders drooping. “You’re not going to change your mind, are you? You’ll always be this man who’s doubtful about everyone, your family included. Maybe one day you’ll lock me up and torture me at the thought of betrayal.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“How is that ridiculous? If your own flesh and blood doesn’t get any benefit of the doubt, how would I? The moment I do anything you don’t approve of, you’ll suspect me.”

“And why would you do anything that I don’t approve of, Sasha? Hmm? Why the fuck have you been creating distance between us lately?”

“Because you’re a fucking idiot, that’s why!” She breathes harshly. “Are you going to release Konstantin?”

“No.”

“In that case, I’ll be staying with Kristina until you let her husband go.”

And then she turns and leaves, slamming the door shut behind her.

I’m tempted to follow after and yank her back by the hair, but that would just complicate matters.

So I take a few moments and release a deep breath before I focus on the book again.

Sure enough, two pages are glued together. I carefully peel them apart and find a small memory card and letter inside. I open the piece of paper and stare at the words scribbled in my father’s messy handwriting.

To Kirill,

If you’re reading this, then it means I’m dead, and you’ve become my heir.

There are a few things you need to know…

The more I read, the clearer the picture gets. On and on, it feels as if I’m in Roman’s head when he wrote this.

Once I finish, I know exactly what to do to punish the traitor.