Page 120 of Rapunzel Is Losing It

Just like that,twenty years of loyalty to my uncle had become replaceable. Yury became nothing but a couple dismembered body parts about to be scattered in the Seine. Because he was a genetic rarity, and someone just as genetically rare had enough money to pay for a new identity and a new life.

My mask must have slipped again because Petya started grinning from ear to ear.

“You and Luka always think you’re more important than you are, like the main character in an action movie.” He shook his head. “But I have to thank your little girlfriend for the idea. Switching places with someone who looks like her? Genius.”

“So you don’t even need me to fight. You just needed to trick Yury into coming to Europe.”

“Eh.” He pulled his shoulders up. “You fight Silver, I don’t have to worry about making sure you keep your mouth shut. He’ll put you in the ground for me. Like I said, you have a bad habit of running off.”

“Well, we both know that you don’t like people running off.”

Petya clicked his tongue. “Still sulking over your dead parents like you’re a little boy. Your father would be ashamed.”

“My parents tried to leave. I doubt my father would be ashamed that I tried to do the same.”

“Grow up,” he snarled, “I got rid of your father because he tried to kill me and take my place. At least he had ambitions. You’re just going to die like a coward.”

“Guys, you do realize I’m on your side, right?” Luka leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Don’t look at me. There’s a million places I’d rather be.” Irina threw up her hands but she didn’t leave the kitchen. I wasn’t quite sure whether she stayed for my protection or for Luka’s, but she was also the only person not sitting down. She was ready to pounce if need be.

“It’s fine,” Del reassured him, “we’re just here to listen. Tell him we’re just here to listen.” She nudged Beck in the side, and he scowled.

“Depends on what he has to say,” Beck replied dryly. His eyes were trained on Luka, but his arm was draped over Del’s lap.

“Well, first of all, I really just need to talk to her,” Luka quipped and pointed two finger guns at me, “so this isn’t any of your business. No offense.”

“You made it my business,” Beck answered and tilted his chin in a quiet challenge. “Your father’s men were on the Montgomery estate while my fiancée was there. That means your family feud is putting my family at risk.”

Another pang of guilt shot through my gut. I hadn’t even thought that part through. The men who had been sent after me could have easily mistaken Del to be their target. My actions had put her at risk. Again.

“Anyway,” Luka huffed and turned to me, “as I said before, you’re wrong. My father isn’t putting Victor through all this crapbecause of you. I mean, shit,you’renot even going through all this crap because of you.”

“Don’t tell me it’s all your father’s fault. Victor tried that already.”

“No, actually,” he ran a hand over the scar on his neck, “this all goes way back to my uncle, Victor’s father. He married my dad’s little sister to be a proper part of the family, but he was my dad’s best friend way before that. The two of them were like brothers. Until the day uncle Nikolai decided he would be the better boss. He planned a whole coup. Just needed the funds to flip a few business partners, and get the right people to turn a blind eye when he’d shoot my dad.”

“Victor’s dad tried to overthrow your dad?”

“He never got that far.” Luka’s body stilled and his gaze remained zeroed in on me. “Nikolai needed twenty million. Turns out, you weren’t worth that much to your dad.”

Grab the girl, Nick.

“You know better than anyone that your kidnapping was a fucking disaster. Killing your mother turned up the heat on Nikolai and his right hand man. Then your dad negotiated for days. By the time Nikolai got the four million, my father had already gotten wind of everything.”

“Victor told me your father killed his parents because they tried to leave.”

“They did. Four million would have been enough to run.” Luka glanced up at the ceiling. “And he didn’t kill them. He had them killed. Important distinction. Just in case you’re filming this.”

“What? No. The cameras were only here for- Never mind.” I raised my hands to press my fingernails into my cheeks, just to stay focused, but before I made it that far, an orange landed in my palms. I glanced up at Irina who just shrugged. I dugmy fingernails into the fruit’s thick skin instead. “Victor doesn’t know any of this, does he?”

“No. He was in Vegas the week you got kidnapped. His trainer took him to some big fight night. With him out of town, it was the perfect chance for Nikolai to act without Victor being a liability. And after it was over, it was easier for my dad to keep Victor in check as long as he thought his parents were killed just for running, not for fucking mutiny.”

“And you?”

“I was fourteen at the time. Young enough to worship the ground beneath my father’s feet. Not old enough to legally drive. Certainly not old enough to be sentenced if I accidentally ran my uncle’s car off the road.”

“You killed Vitya’s parents?” Irina gasped.