Page 78 of Malicious Claim (Dark Inheritance #1)

Confession

LEILA’S POV

Pregnant. I was pregnant. One month in. Which meant... this had been brewing quietly while bullets flew and secrets detonated around us.

"A baby," I muttered under my breath, like maybe if I said it softly enough, it wouldn't feel real.

Makros drew closer and bent down to my level. "You're going to keep it. I don't care if the world's burning. We are keeping it."

I laughed dryly, my tone tinged with sarcs. "Right. We'll just feng shui the mafia and keep the baby. Nobody is going to use it as a weakness at all."

Makros placed a hand on her shoulder. "Nobody will dare lay a finger on you or this baby. I swear it with my life."

Yeah, nobody will, except for you. She instinctively touched her still pounding head.

She sat up slowly and he assisted her. "I'm not scared of keeping the baby. But if I'm going to, there are some things I need to tell you."

Makros groaned quietly, sitting up against the headboard. "What things?"

If she thinks this baby will make me let her set rules for me, she must be living in a telenovela fantasy, Makros thought.

She took a moment to collect her thoughts. "Stefanos—"

"Stefanos the father?" He asked sharply.

"God no," I shot back. "What do you take me for?"

His expression darkened. "Okay. So, what's this about?"

I could feel my heart beating faster, too loudly, I thought he might hear it. He was feeling antsy and I thought maybe it's better not to say anything.

But I knew I had to.

"Just listen to me," I said firmly. "Stefanos didn't contact Dimitri, I did. I got in touch with Vincenzo too. Met with the man in a yellow shirt and I killed a man called Dario Conti to prove my allegiance. Makros, I was vengeful."

I shut my eyes expecting him to kill me. One, two, three seconds... I was still breathing and not even a brush of his finger had touched me.

"You killed Dario Conti?" he mused.

That was it? That's the only part that interested him?

I nodded my head. "I killed him. But it was Nicolai who made it possible. I didn't know at first but he told me he's been working against you for... for killing his brother. He's secretly working for Vincenzo. And... he killed Dimitri."

Makros stood upright. "Killed Dimitri?"

"Yes, he did." My voice faltered.

"Why should I believe a word you say?" Makros asked, pacing back and forth with my eyes tracking the movement and my mind anticipating a sudden strike that never came.

"Nicolai did it to protect me from being exposed. He believed we were on the same side that I wanted revenge against you. He thought we could both destroy the Crete family together."

The silence in the room shifted, turning heavy.

And then after a while Makros said, "Alright. I'll have Nicolai on a flight back to the city. You rest properly."

Okay, that was super unexpected. Was it the baby or what? Makros' reaction didn't make sense to me. But I did as I was told. In fact, I had to do as I was told because I feared the slightest disobedience could instigate his anger for me if he had been suppressing it.

Within the hour, Dragon had Nicolai shackled in the basement interrogation room, his body already bruised from the initial extraction. He sat slumped in the chair, blood on his lip but defiance still burning in his eyes. I stood behind Makros, arms wrapped around myself.

Dragon circled him slowly, speaking coldly. "You're going to tell us everything. How long have you been working with Vincenzo? What's the endgame?"

Nicolai chuckled, spitting blood at Dragon's feet. "You think I'm going to tell you shit?"

Makros stepped forward, grabbing Nicolai's chin, forcing him to look at him.

"I understand why you did it. I've lost too many men and I swear I will spare your life and give you a second chance if you can put your hatred for me aside.

Now, answer me. Was Vincenzo responsible for the Volkov brothers' death? "

Nicolai raised an eyebrow. "That's the question keeping you up at night, huh?"

He looked past Makros, gaze landing on me.

"You exposed me," he said, coolly, "but didn't tell them about your involvement, did you?"

My brows furrowed. "My involvement?"

Makros pressed his jaw harder. "What are you talking about?"

Nicolai's lips twisted into a smile. "You want to know who killed the Volkovs? It wasn't Vincenzo. It was her mother. Eva Botega. E.B. means something to you, right?"

The bomb detonated without a countdown. Just like that I had been set up. I didn't even know my mother was alive. But would it matter?

Makros turned, eyes locking onto mine. "Is that true?"

My voice trembled even when I didn't want it to. "Makros, I swear to God—I don't know what he's talking about. I haven't seen my mother since I was five."

Nicolai laughed. "Liar. Like a mother, like a daughter. Her mother took over the Crawford family. Leila's here for the same thing. To destroy the Cretes and claim it for herself... with Vincenzo at her side."

"Makros—"

"Don't," he said, cutting her off.

My heart cracked at the ice in his voice.

But then Makros turned back to Nicolai. "I've seen men like you before. Rats. Desperate and drowning, trying to grab hold of anyone they can pull under."

He reached for the gun strapped behind his back and handed it over to me.

"You're not dragging my wife down with you," Makros said. "Thanks for confirming what I needed to know."

Nicolai's face shifted from smug to wide-eyed as I took the gun from Makros.

"Wait," Nicolai said quickly. "Leila, listen to me. You shoot them, and I'll take you to your mother. She's alive. You want answers? I have them. Don't throw it all away."

I hesitated, finger hovering near the trigger.

Then I lowered the gun briefly and said, "I have no mother."

I raised it again.

Three shots echoed through the chamber, one to the head, one to the chest, one to the stomach. Nicolai slumped lifeless in the chair, blood pooling beneath him.